Single or Double Batch Sparge?

[zlandaal]

I'm about to do my second all grain brew. My first attempt left me with a brewhouse efficiency of 54%, with 19.5 lbs of grain (1.077 og). I mashed with 6.5 gal at 150 for 60 min and did a single batch sparge with 3.75 gal.

My next AG recipe calls for 17.25 lbs of grain, which, at a 1.3 qt/lb mash, gives me a 5.6 gal mash and a 3.5 gal sparge.

My question is, would it be wise to do a single or double batch sparge in this case? I have a feeling that double would make it too thin, especially only using 1.75 gal... This time I'm going to get a gravity reading before boiling to see how efficient my extraction is.

Would it be more efficient to do a thicker mash to get a larger sparge volume (and maybe be able to double batch sparge)?

Either way, I might just add 1-2lbs of base grain and see what happens That should take care of any efficiency losses!

 

[MrDustpan]

Do you mill your grains yourself? I've read many people saying that the key to better efficiency is a finer crush on your grain.

I've done about a half dozen all grain brews using a single batch sparge, getting about 68-70% extract efficiency (used LHBS mill to crush the grain). 54% seems pretty low, I'm guessing a double sparge will increase the efficiency a bit but probably won't make a huge difference.

I'll be interested to hear how the next batch turns out, cheers!

 

[zlandaal]

No, I have my lhbs mill my grain, which is probably the biggest contributing factor. But an extra few dollars for an extra pound or two costs less than a mil. I'd need to do 50 batches before I made my money's worth

 

[Malticulous]

I mill my own at .030 and double vs single is just 3-5% different, so I single batch sparge. Half the run off from the strike and half from the sparge. I tend to mash close to 2 qt/lb for normal gravity beers and my BHE is 85%.

Getting better sparge efficiency is really not good for the final product. You really need to work on your conversion problem.
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Understanding_Efficiency

 

[zlandaal]

Awesome resource, thank you!

 

[wilserbrewer]

$26 gets you fine corona mill....no more brewing with barely milled grain....priceless!

 

[logdrum]

$26 gets you fine corona mill....no more brewing with barely milled grain....priceless!

If you can't brew w/ barley then how do you make bee...Oh, never mind

 

[zlandaal]

I'll take a closer look at the grain when I get it today or tomorrow, see how well its crushed. I'll try to get a picture to get more opinions too.

I only stirred my mash once at the start and once at the end, should I stir it more frequently?

Also, how long should I wait after adding my sparge water? I don't think I waited too long last time.

I also had my ball valve all the way open after vorlaufing. I don't think this is a problem for batch sparge.

 

[turkeygecko]

I'll take a closer look at the grain when I get it today or tomorrow, see how well its crushed. I'll try to get a picture to get more opinions too.

I only stirred my mash once at the start and once at the end, should I stir it more frequently?

Also, how long should I wait after adding my sparge water? I don't think I waited too long last time.

I also had my ball valve all the way open after vorlaufing. I don't think this is a problem for batch sparge.

1. Just stir at beginning. Stir the hell out of it, but don't stir again until you are sparging. Once you add sparge water, same thing... stir the hell out of it, but one time only.

2. You can add the sparge water as soon as you've run all sweet wort out of MLT.

3. No problem at all when batch sparging. Wide open is faster, which is really the biggest benefit of batch sparging.

Happy brewing!

 

[cantrell00]

$26 gets you fine corona mill....no more brewing with barely milled grain....priceless!

Yup.. Single best improvement I have made in regards to my brewing independence is milling my own grain.

Also had the biggest impact in making my mash efficiency predictable & repeatable.

 

[Happydad1689]

$26 gets you fine corona mill....no more brewing with barely milled grain....priceless!

Can you point me to where I can see this mill? Seems much cheaper than I've seen elsewhere

 

[cantrell00]

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=m&ref=pd_sl_31agpmsljh_e

 

[zlandaal]

Awesome, thanks for the inputs. I ended up buying an extra 2 lbs of the base grain. The crush looked good to me, but I don't exactly know what I'm looking for . I think I'm fine with spending $2 more to get the extra grain.

 

[RM-MN]

I know I'm going to catch some flack for this but...

I got one of those cheap Corona mills and then avoided the mash tun and the batch sparge altogether and went BIAB. My first batch I did as a no-sparge and only got 80% brewhouse efficiency. That was my lowest efficiency for many batches until I made a batch with 30% unmalted rye and milled it separate whereas I usually have it mixed in with the barley. Most of the time I can count on 85% efficiency. It doesn't take many batches with that kind of efficiency and the cheap mill to make the difference in grain cost pay for the mill. Since I have my own mill I buy base grains in bulk which also cuts the cost.

 

[Aonghus]

I know I'm going to catch some flack for this but...

I got one of those cheap Corona mills and then avoided the mash tun and the batch sparge altogether and went BIAB. My first batch I did as a no-sparge and only got 80% brewhouse efficiency. That was my lowest efficiency for many batches until I made a batch with 30% unmalted rye and milled it separate whereas I usually have it mixed in with the barley. Most of the time I can count on 85% efficiency. It doesn't take many batches with that kind of efficiency and the cheap mill to make the difference in grain cost pay for the mill. Since I have my own mill I buy base grains in bulk which also cuts the cost.

There is nothing wrong with BIAB, you can make terrific beers using it. I used that method for my first year of all grain brewing. As a positive one can get into all grain brewing for less money that way as well. I have no opinion on the Corona mill (so no flak there!).

 

[RM-MN]

There is nothing wrong with BIAB, you can make terrific beers using it. I used that method for my first year of all grain brewing. As a positive one can get into all grain brewing for less money that way as well. I have no opinion on the Corona mill (so no flak there!).

I really expected to catch flack from some who think that I and several others push for BIAB too much.

 

[cantrell00]

I know I'm going to catch some flack for this but...

I got one of those cheap Corona mills and then avoided the mash tun and the batch sparge altogether and went BIAB. My first batch I did as a no-sparge and only got 80% brewhouse efficiency. That was my lowest efficiency for many batches until I made a batch with 30% unmalted rye and milled it separate whereas I usually have it mixed in with the barley. Most of the time I can count on 85% efficiency. It doesn't take many batches with that kind of efficiency and the cheap mill to make the difference in grain cost pay for the mill. Since I have my own mill I buy base grains in bulk which also cuts the cost.

80%+ efficiency regardless of the method is a hell of a number. Period.

 

[zlandaal]

Here is a picture of the grain crush, is it a good crush?

 

[cantrell00]

Looks good to me... It is hard to dial in a corona...

You can easily go from what you have to flour that is too fine...

Is this BIAB? If yes, you could run it back through again..

 

[brewbama]

Though I agree my mill is a valuable piece of equipment, how do you know you got 54%? Is that mash efficiency, brew house efficiency, or what? Careful using these terms especially when comparing your process to another. Ask yourself questions like: How much dead space do you have? Can you eliminate it?

 

[zlandaal]

It was brew house efficiency. I'll know what my efficiency is for this batch ( mash efficiency) in another few minutes

 

[zlandaal]

Just shy of 70% mash efficiency this time. Not bad.

 

[brewbama]

I imagine you're using a software program that tells you your efficiency. This is really important for commercial brewers because every drop equals revenue. Not so much for home brewers.

There are things you can do to eliminate loss like: If you have dead space in your brew kettle simply dump it in the ferment and voila...efficiency increase.

Personnaly I wouldn't and I wouldn't stress over it. As long as I hit OG and volume in the fermenter I'd be thrilled.

 

[zlandaal]

I was only worried because when I got 55% brew house efficiency, I'd need almost 50% more grain to match someone at 75%

 

[brewbama]

I was only worried because when I got 55% brew house efficiency, I'd need almost 50% more grain to match someone at 75%

Careful. That's only true if you and the person you are comparing to are measuring the same.

If you are hitting OG and volume in the fermenter then why worry about minor losses?

 

[cantrell00]

Careful. That's only true if you and the person you are comparing to are measuring the same.

If you are hitting OG and volume in the fermenter then why worry about minor losses?

I used to look at it this way until I started hitting low 90's mash efficiency...

Get and extra batch or two out of a 55 lb sack is nice! If for no other reason than the hassle of sourcing another bag in bulk..

 

[zlandaal]

Now that I know I get 70% efficiency, I don't care about it anymore. That's good enough for me!