Sparge too fast... Why not?

[nickrjsmith]

Is the reason why sparging should take a long time because you won't get all the sugars out of the grains?

My last sparge (2nd time) was on a 3.5kg bag of grains and took about 20 mins which I think was too quick.

I poured boiled (chlorine free) water over the grains with a jug. The grains dried out quite quick but I kept pouring water through until it ran clear.

Does this mean my final gravity will be too low? or have i missed something else?

Thanks - N

 

[doulovebeef]

where u sparging on the fly? u should be taking gravity readings cuz u dont want anything less then 1.010 cuz youll start pulling tannins. and what do u mean it ran clear? you mean the vorlof? i think there is some confusion in ur post. and i hope that the water wasnt boiling when u poured it on ur grains, or again youll pull tannins.

 

[nickrjsmith]

Hi,

The sparge water I used was around 70-75 degrees.

I used a grain bag, mashed for 90 mins, then opened up the tap and ran out the water into my boiler. As I was doing this I drizzled the sparge water over the grains.

I did this until the colour of the brew began to run clearer (i'd heard somewhere thet you essentially sparge until the water begins to run clear, meaning you have all the essential sugars out.

How will I tell if there are tannins in my brew? What will it taste like?

 

[coypoo]

Hi,

I did this until the colour of the brew began to run clearer (i'd heard somewhere thet you essentially sparge until the water begins to run clear, meaning you have all the essential sugars out.

This sounds like fly sparging, and although I dont fly sparge, I think that slower is generally better b/c it gives the water more time on the grain. If you batch sparge, then it doesnt matter how slow/fast you drain the tun

 

[broadbill]

Is the reason why sparging should take a long time because you won't get all the sugars out of the grains?

My last sparge (2nd time) was on a 3.5kg bag of grains and took about 20 mins which I think was too quick.

I poured boiled (chlorine free) water over the grains with a jug. The grains dried out quite quick but I kept pouring water through until it ran clear.

Does this mean my final gravity will be too low? or have i missed something else?

Thanks - N

Did you get a pre-boil gravity reading? Had to tell if your FG will be low if you don't know what your SG was!

 

[nickrjsmith]

i don't know... i don't have a hydrometer.

it seems to have fermented well. bubbling away nicely for 5 days, then stopped bubbling for two so just dry hopped and added finings.

i just think my sparge was pretty quick compared to the posts. 20 mins at most. a few stirrs of the grains as well to get all the sugar out (was that a bad idea?)

 

[PT Ray]

If you fly sparge you have to take some time so the flow to the spigot doesn't create a channel and funnel water mainly from the top of the mash. This will leave a measurable amount of fermentables in the grains.

 

[nickrjsmith]

that totally makes sense. thanks

 

[osagedr]

i don't know... i don't have a hydrometer.

I hope it's on your Christmas list.

 

[broadbill]

I hope it's on your Christmas list.

Me too. I appaud you efforts of jumping right into AG brewing and fly sparging....but your beer will thank you if you take some time researching the fundamentals (hydrometer readings for example!).