Sparging Rate Question

[gopherhockey]

I did my first all grain yesterday. One thing I thought I needed to do was to sparge at the same rate as the runoff. The problem was with only 5 gal. of water the sparge arm would not rotate and it was difficult to get the rates the same and not have the grainbed go dry.

Should I have instead let it run off slowly but ran the sparge at regular intervals at a higher volume just to keep the water above the grainbed? Only at a high rate would the sparge arm spin.

What is the timing I should be shooting for with a 5 gal. batch? I figured about 20-30 minutes.

 

[ajf]

Should I have instead let it run off slowly but ran the sparge at regular intervals at a higher volume just to keep the water above the grainbed? Only at a high rate would the sparge arm spin..

That's what I do. Gives me something to do while drinking/sparging

What is the timing I should be shooting for with a 5 gal. batch? I figured about 20-30 minutes.

I shoot for 90 minutes. Slow is good with fly sparging.

-a

 

[gopherhockey]

I think part of my problem was that I put too much water in my mash, and possibly because it was a wheat beer?

The runoff was very very light... not thick at all. I could see a thicker runoff allowing for more time. None of it looked thick.

 

[Mikey]

What kind of sparge arm have you got? Mine spins quite quickly and takes 60 minutes for 24 liters to go through.

 

[user 574]

Should I have instead let it run off slowly but ran the sparge at regular intervals at a higher volume just to keep the water above the grainbed? Only at a high rate would the sparge arm spin.

What is the timing I should be shooting for with a 5 gal. batch? I figured about 20-30 minutes.

Correct - I sparge for about 45-60 minutes and you basically need to micro manage a bit the sparge arm. I'd also take gravity readings since you're new to the process when you get to about 4 gallons just to see how the sparge is doing. You should quit after you get below 1.010 or have enough wort rinsed for your boil. Another final gravity check of your captured wort to check efficiency of your mash/sparge as well.

 

[MrSaLTy]

An important thing to remember if you are taking gravity reading of runoff is to compensate for temperture. If your runnoff is still pretty hot, your hydro readings will be a lot lower then they would be at 60 degress which is what the hydrometer is usually calibrated at.

 

[ajf]

I've never had a brew where the initial few quarts of run-off was not thick, and this weeks brew took over two hours to sparge with the spigot wide open.
Could it be that your grain was not crushed sufficiently? That could explain the symptoms.

-a.

 

[Lost]

You're sparging too fast. Your efficiency would definitely benefit from some slower sparging.

While I think the fancy spinning sparge arms are cool, I don't think it's essential that they spin (mine's attached to the top of the cooler FYI) but I understand that it would be nice to have the thing work as it's supposed to.

Keep a good inch or two above the grainbed at all times. Check periodically to make sure you're not getting too far ahead or behind the drain rate. The way I see it, having a bit too much water in there is better than not enough.