Setup testing - what do you think of my numbers?

[CraigH78]

Ok I was doing some tests for my new MT and HLT setup, it is a fly sparge setup. I purchased the setup off ebay, take a look at item # 300309026896 for the setup I bought. Anyway, I wanted to post my results here just to see what the experts thought. I basically did a mock batch with just tap water into a bucket.

I used 4 gal total (2 gal in each) of water plus 1 cup extra in the HLT and 2 cups extra in the MT which was what I measured in loss. I cracked the valve open 3/4 of the way on the HTL and about 5/8 the way on the MT which made the flow rate almost dead even. Started a stop watch and off it went.. at 19min 33sec the HLT was empty.. 15min and 17 seconds later the MT emptied for a total of 34 min and 50 seconds to put 4 gal in my bucket. So doing the average minutes per gallon I'm looking at about 47 min for a 5.5 gal batch.

So what do you think? Is that too long of a sparge? Seems to me it should be great but having never done an AG yet I don't have any experience to know. Another question is can I expect the same or similar results when grain is involved?

Can't wait to try it, now just need do it to it!

 

[kanzimonson]

I keep hearing 1pint per minute when it comes to lautering, so that's 1quart per two minutes, and 1gal per 8 minutes, and 56minutes for 7gal (my typical preboil volume). To be honest, 56min is a little longer than I'm willing to wait so I lauter a little quicker than this. The only time I'm ever conscious of my lautering speed is if I'm worried about my efficiency. If you're hitting the numbers like I expect, then it's not worth changing to me.