Batch vs Fly Sparg

[BillTheSlink]

In My thread "Is All Grain Rally This Easy" I posted a video and was told what the fellow was doing was batch sparging, as opposed to what my LHBS was wanting me to do is Fly Sparging. Is there advantages for each?

If I go with the fly sparg I was wondering what else I would need? I have a 7 1/2 gallon stainless kettle I could dough in and mash in I guess and could use as a boil kettle (which is what I have been using it for in extracts). I guess I could wrap it in a blanket to hold temps. I would be using the Phil's Lauter Tun which uses a two bucket system with a rotating sparg arm. The only other thing I would see me needing would be another pot, or would that even be necessary, and if so what size?

The advantages I could see with this would be that I could raise the mash temps by just reheating in the mash pot, which if I am not mistaken there is a system of mashing where you raise the temps in steps, but I am thinking more along the lines of missing temps when adding the grain bill and not having to worry about heat calculations when putting water into the cooler.

Bill

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I have yet to go AG (I'm hoping to have all of my equipment by the new year put together, it is my New Year's resolution), but I have been doing some research. Bear in mind this is my personal opinion. It is my understanding that batch sparging is the most simpl and least expensive way to start, and you can fly sparge with a MLT made from a cooler with some minor modifications. If you use your current kettle as a MLT you will definitely have to keep a close eye on your heat source and temps if you are going to step mash.

FWIW, personally I would try my first AG brew in as simple of a manner as possible and then build on that.

 

[COLObrewer]

It's a trade off . . . maybe. Fly sparging takes longer but MAY yield better efficiency, depends on your other procedures. If it's your first you should stick with simple until the process is down. If you want to go simpler, then "brew in a bag" however the resulting outcome usually suffers as it is over simplified. Batch sparging is a proven technique and we can get 82% brewhouse eff with it.

 

[IXVolt]

I'm a batch sparger, and it's so easy and I get good efficiencies with it, I see no need to complicate my set up and try flying. If you are concerned about efficiency, it's easy to add a lb more of grain.

 

[Brewsmith]

I fly sparge. Here's my reasons why I think it's better and easier:

1. Once I recirculate and get clear runnings, I don't have to touch the kettle, mash tun, or HLT until I've reached the volume I've needed.

2. I don't think there's much time savings. Going through a couple batch sparges, having to clear each one, heating water, and still waiting for it to drain, even if the valve is open all the way, is not really saving me much time.

3. I can do several other things during the sparge because I don't have to touch or hardly look at it. I can clean kegs or ferementers, weigh out hops, have a beer, chat with you guys etc.

4. My back appreciates not having to do any more lifting than necessary.

For all the batch spargers out there that want to counter with the checking pH, needing a sparge ring, super long time, or some of those arguments, my answer is no you don't.

I use a vinyl tube to go from the valve on my old 5 gallon cooler that holds the hot water, to drain into my 10 gallon cooler mash tun, which drains into my kettle. No sparge ring. No checking pH, no watching a clock to see that it is timed perfectly. I look at the kettle and if it appears to be filling at about a quart or less per minute, I leave it alone. That's it. Simple. Great beer, awards to prove it. No hassle with multiple pots, several volumes of water or anything. To me it's not worth the work.

 

[ajf]

I started AG using the Phil's Lauter Tun, and made about 3 - 4 batches before replacing the two buckets with 5g Gott coolers. The problem with the buckets was that they lost too much heat during the lauter, and the coolers didn't suffer from that problem. One of the buckets got destroyed, but the other is still in use (about 15 years later) for storing things, so I didn't waste much money on the buckets.

-a.

 

[lacykay]

Batch sparging is simpler to me read this

All Grain

 

[phatuna]

Just do this, in my opinion - it's the easiest and cheapest. Mash and sparge in the cooler. Boil the wort in your 7.5 pot. You may want to upgrade at some point, just buy a used keg on craigslist and find someone to cut open the lid and drill you a drain valve.
The kids from my local high school did it for me in metal shop.
This is the easiest mlt, start off batch sparging. pour 1/2 of your sparge in for a few minutes, stir and drain. then pour the other 1/2 of your sparge in and repeat. This will get you some very good efficiency. Good luck!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGqu2jWC5mg&feature=related]YouTube - Cheap and Easy Mash Tun[/ame]

 

[Brewsmith]

Batch sparging is simpler to me read this

All Grain

I'll quote from the link:

"While the sparge itself will take less overall time than fly, it is a bit more hands on or labor intensive"

I'm not being picky or trying to start an argument. I'm just saying I'm lazy and my back hurts! :cross:

 

[lacykay]

I'll quote from the link:

"While the sparge itself will take less overall time than fly, it is a bit more hands on or labor intensive"

I'm not being picky or trying to start an argument. I'm just saying I'm lazy and my back hurts! :cross:

lazy moogerfooger

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I currently batch sparge but designed a setup that I thought would be good if I ever decided to fly sparge. To kind of agree with Brewsmith my back does kind of hurt after a brew day. Not enough to take medication or see a doctor but just enough to know I did something that day. I have never fly sparged so I can't say that it's easier but apparently Brewsmith has and can testify that it's physically easier. Personally I just wanted to start all-grain and thought batch sparging would be the easiest and quickest method to allow this for the newbie. But like I said I designed my system so that if I did want to fly sparge it would allow me to do so effectively. This simply included making a copper manifold according to Palmer's directions and using a large enough mash tun to allow a proper grain bed depth for my normal size batch. Personally I don't know enough about fly sparging to say what you should do, I'm just telling you what I did. In the end you only have to make it as complicated as you want and you will still end up with awesome beer!

 

[dontman]

It's a trade off . . . maybe. Fly sparging takes longer but MAY yield better efficiency, depends on your other procedures. If it's your first you should stick with simple until the process is down. If you want to go simpler, then "brew in a bag" however the resulting outcome usually suffers as it is over simplified. Batch sparging is a proven technique and we can get 82% brewhouse eff with it.

When I first started I did fly. This was with a 5 gallon cooler and a screen. It worked well and I got good efficiency. When I moved to the 10G tun and manifold I found that the design flaws (channeling) were most noticable with fly sparging and my efficency went down. I brought the efficency back up to +80% when I switched to double batch sparge. I will stick with batch from here on out because the process is straightforward and simple and so predictable that it gets boring now. I hit every target number down to within .002 points every time now with Beer Smith set at 81%.

The way I do it now is basically 4 gallons into the mash (slightly adjusted due to grain bill), then 2 2.5 gallon sparges. This nets me 7.6-7.8 gallons of wort into the boiler. Boil for 75 minutes. Yield is 5.5G into fermenter.

 

[BillTheSlink]

Well, I decided to go with the Phil's set up, mainly because I don't have to build anything, because I don't have many tools and am disabled. I went today and got my stuff for my first AG, a Kolsch. I've never had one and can't wait to try it. If I like it as much as my all extract Hefeweizen I'll be happy.

Bill