1rst all grain APA with no sparge enough water?

[djavet]

Hi from Switzerland!

After years of partial mash, I jump next week to my first all grain brew: an American Pale Ale with a no-sparge method.

I've done the recipe into Beersmith also for the first time. May I ask you if the sparging water is correct? Or something else to correct?

Mata Hari APA
Batch Size (fermenter): 23,00 l
Boil Size: 32,13 l
Boil Time: 60 min
Equipment: Pot (17 Gal/65 L) and Cooler (48 Qt/45 L) - All Grain DJ
End of Boil Volume 27,86 l
Final Bottling Volume: 20,16 l

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5,58 kg Pale Malt (Weyermann) (7,0 EBC) Grain 1 95,7 %
0,25 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (140,0 EBC) Grain 2 4,3 %
21,00 g Magnum [15,20 %] - Boil 60,0 min Hop 3 30,7 IBUs
28,00 g Cascade [5,90 %] - Boil 20,0 min Hop 4 9,6 IBUs
28,00 g Cascade [5,90 %] - Boil 0,0 min Hop 5 0,0 IBUs
1,0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50,28 ml] Yeast


Est Original Gravity: 1,057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1,015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5,6 %
Bitterness: 40,4 IBUs
Est Color: 15,9 EBC

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 5,83 kg
Sparge Water: 0,00 l
Sparge Temperature: 75,6 C

Mash Steps
Mash In Add 41,00 l of water at 71,4 C 68,9 C 60 min
Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 0,00 l water at 75,6 C

Thx a lot in advance for your feedbacks!
Dom

 

[BobC]

I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to sparge since it helps get sugar left behind with the grains. I would reconsider that part even if it's with a pitcher.

 

[djavet]

Hi!

Because I don't have a hot liquor tank and will collect the wort directly in my brew pot, wanna save time, especially because I wish a smooth experience for my first AG batch.
I've tought also to the BIAB method but I've this Coleman 48qt chest cooler around me since years, so it's time for a second life. I will look later in a HLT.

 

[ApothecaryBrewing]

You dont need a HLT necessarily. I batch sparge and collect my wort in an empty fermenter while the sparge water heats in a brew pot. Then once the sparge water is all in my Mash tun, I transfer the collected wort to my kettle.

 

[kombat]

Because I don't have a hot liquor tank and will collect the wort directly in my brew pot, wanna save time, especially because I wish a smooth experience for my first AG batch.

If you're going with a conventional mash/batch sparge profile, then there won't be that much wort from your first runnings anyway (with a regular gravity beer and adhering to the 1.25-1.5 qt./lb. ratio). You'd probably only be adding 3.5 - 4 gallons of strike water, and you'll lose a gallon of that to grain absorbtion and mash tun dead space, meaning you really only need a pot to capture 2.5-3 gallons of wort from your first runnings. Do you have a decent-sized stock pot in your kitchen? Just use that to capture the first runnings while you use your kettle to heat your sparge water. After you've added the sparge water to your mash tun, transfer the first runnings from the stock pot to your boil kettle and proceed as normal.

By skipping sparging, you're sacrificing efficiency and leaving a lot of precious fermentable sugars in the grains to be discarded.

 

[djavet]

Hi!

Yes, I've a 3 Gal/12l pot. Was my brew pot where I steep the grain in my extract brews.
I will do my math tonight ) As I'm new with AG, I'm a little confuse with all the water calculation... I'm sure it's pretty simple, and try also to fix my correct profile in Beersmith.

But, you do just one sparge? You runoff a few liter to clear the wort, and then collect the first 3 gal, then add all the rest of strike water at the same time gently on the grain bed? Was thinked that the batch sparge, was in 3 or 4 times pooring strike water on it.

Thx a lot for your feedback. And what about the recipe? Looks good for you?

 

[kombat]

The water math can be a little intimidating at first. Here are the key aspects.

For your mash, you want a water-to-grain ratio in the neighborhood of 1.25 - 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. Your recipe is in metric, so convert to imperial units and see what you end up with. That's how much strike water you should use. For the moment, forget about grain absorbtion and mash tun dead space. Just go with that ratio and use exactly that much strike water.

After you've mashed for 60 minutes, gently drain off a couple of quarts of wort until it runs clear. Then gently pour that (cloudy) wort back into your mash tun and slowly drain the entire wort into your boil kettle (or a temporary pot if you only have one boil kettle, as I described in my previous post). You will get substantially less liquid than you added initially, as much of it has been absorbed by the grains and remains below the drain outlet of your mash tun (dead space).

Now, you need to calculate your sparge water volume. This is the part where you account for things like grain absorbtion and your mash tun dead space. However, an even simpler way is to simply measure how much wort you drained for your first runnings, and subtract that from your desired pre-boil volume (which will simply be your target fermenter volume plus however much you expect to boil off, say, 1 gallon per hour).

Add that sparge water (no need to be gentle for this part) and stir the grains well to mix them up. Note that this will be considerably more water than you used for strike water, since you probably only got 2.5 - 3 gallons out of your first runnings, and you'll likely need 6.5 - 7 gallons pre-boil. That means you could be sparging with up to 5.5 gallons of water.

After the grains have been well-mixed, close it back up and let it sit for 10 minutes to settle again. Then vorlauf again, and drain the entire amount into your boil kettle. Note that this time, you should get out the same volume of water you put in, since the grains are already wet (and will not absorb any more water) and your mash tun "dead space" already has wort in it, so you'll lose no more water to it.

Then proceed with your boil and the rest of the process. Your recipe looks fine, should be a good brew.

 

[sloose]

I batch sparge exclusively (although I have a HLT for fly sparging, I find its too much work) ... I collect my first runnings in a bottling bucket, clean kitchen pot, whatever is around. My blichmann is alway busy heating the sparge water at the time of the first runnings. In beersmith select "single infusion, batch sparge) and whichever malt profile you want. I tend to like drier beers so I always use a light body profile. The calculations are almost dead on for me, as my blichmann dead space is .13 gal and my MLT igloo cooler is about .25gal dead space.

My IIPA brew this weekend was 86% efficiency and couldn't have been easier.

 

[djavet]

Whoww, that's one of the best explanation of batch sparging I read. Thank you so much. It's clear.
@Kombat: You said it's around 1.25 - 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. It is a common rule of thumb for batch sparging, or it's depending the recipe and mash method?

Thx for the beersmith setting. I've select "Single infusion, batch spage, medium body", but in the process, it said a 2 steps sparge:
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (9,60l, 20,05l) of 75,6 C water (liters of water are fake numbers). Can I simple ignore the 2 steps and make it only one. Ex.: 6 + 20.05 = 26.05l at once?
or I miss a check box somewhere?

I appreciate your help. It's much more easest as I thinked!

 

[kombat]

The 1.25-1.5 qt/lb ratio is a standard ratio for all infusion mashes. But note that this only applies to the strike water. Sparge water can be significantly higher than this ratio.

The 2-step batch sparge that Beersmith is suggesting can be configured by customizing your equipment. It probably doesn't think your mash tun is big enough to hold all the sparge water in one go. Make sure you're using your own equipment profile and accurately specify your mash tun's volume and dead space.

 

[sloose]

what Kombat said - you can combine them if you like =)

i also tend to purposely overshoot the sparge water heat - i usually dump in about 180degF water for my second runnings - as this will mix with the ~145degF grain and get it somewhere close to 168degF to better sparge the sugars out. A couple experienced homebrewers turned commercial i talked to made this suggestion when batch sparging - overshoot the sparge temp and the grain bed will get somewhere around 168degF

 

[djavet]

Thx a lot!