Batch vs Fly: Steve Holle article in BYO

[mr x]

If the comments attributed to Colby are in fact true, BYO needs to get their act together. I can't believe they would actually allow that article to run.

 

[Jolly McStanson]

Well iv read over just about every Sparge/ Lauter article I could find today. Lots of interesting reading. I have a little bit of a Tannin problem in my beers, so I'm looking for other methods of lautering/sparging/mashing. Now I'm completely confused as to what the best method is,

Like others have said If your beers are coming out great dont change anything. Mine aren't yet so Ill keep reading and learning. Hopefully The Sparge thing wont be as confusing.

 

[Bobby_M]

Well iv read over just about every Sparge/ Lauter article I could find today. Lots of interesting reading. I have a little bit of a Tannin problem in my beers, so I'm looking for other methods of lautering/sparging/mashing. Now I'm completely confused as to what the best method is,

Like others have said If your beers are coming out great dont change anything. Mine aren't yet so Ill keep reading and learning. Hopefully The Sparge thing wont be as confusing.

Well, you have a tannin problem but you didn't mention your process. I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's directly attributed to either method, but rather a subtle variance in the process.

 

[FlyGuy]

Well iv read over just about every Sparge/ Lauter article I could find today. Lots of interesting reading. I have a little bit of a Tannin problem in my beers, so I'm looking for other methods of lautering/sparging/mashing. Now I'm completely confused as to what the best method is,

Like others have said If your beers are coming out great dont change anything. Mine aren't yet so Ill keep reading and learning. Hopefully The Sparge thing wont be as confusing.

There really is no 'best' method when it comes to sparging, other than what works best for you. I always find these batch vs. fly debates so pointless -- it should be about what the DIFFERENCES are, not which is 'better'.

One difference that may be relevant to you is that batch sparging generally is much less susceptible to tannin extraction than fly sparging. Regardless, if you keep an eye on your mash temp and pH while lautering, neither should be prone to extracting tannins.

If anyone is interested, Chris Colby was interviewed in the Feb 28/2008 radio podcast at BasicBrewing.com. He actually presented a much more rounded view of that Steve Holle article, acknowledging a lot of the criticisms that the article has received on many internet forums. He also mentions that BYO will be doing some actual tests to collect data in attempts to find support/refute the conclusions of the article. It is a good listen.

 

[mr x]

That's good of them. Errors are forgivable if people acknowledge them.

 

[Jolly McStanson]

I think the beers that I had a tannin problem with was when I sparged with two much water. The last runnings had almost no wort in it. I have beer smith, but I goofed up.

I had a good tasting batch a wile back. I used less sparge water in that one. I bet my efficiency was low, but the beer tasted great with out that grain husk taste.

 

[bigben]

this is why I'm building a 2-vessel, 2-tier system based on the Brutus 20 system. Its sorts a batch/fly sparge combo.

 

[vmpolesov]

I fly sparged on my 1st and so far only AG batch yesterday. It wasn't that hard, I have two rubbermaids and a polar ware. I put 170 deg. F sparge water in one rubbermaid, drained it to the mash rubbermaid, and drained the mash to the polarware.

Each of my containers has a ball valve, is that the extra $$ that people don't want to fly sparge or am I missing something here?

I used the plastic coffee lid method to distribute the sparge water rather than anything fancy like sparge arms.

I did partly cover the mash rubbermaid with the lid during this procedure to lower heat loss.

I didn't calc my efficiency ( i have no way to accurately measure volumes at this point - I guess I need some sight glasses - separate thread). I wound up with about 5 gallons of wort at about 1.038 (recipe called for 1.046 so I guess that means low efficiency). Oh well, if it turns out good I'm not going to sweat it.