Best sparge method

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Gustavo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
377
Reaction score
0
Looking around I found three major types of sparging. Just wondering which one was more effective, and if it matters on the type of beer your brewing
 
A lot of people do batch sparging (myself included), because it is easy, effective, and requires no extra monitoring or equipment (high efficiency and no pH monitoring!). Just my two cents.
 
Hmm the two ways of sparging i know of is capable of getting the same result...
As long as you have a good setup for the sparge you choose you will probably not notice the difference
 
I started doing fly sparging, because I thought it was superior, but my last brew was batch sparge and I had my best efficiency and best beer to date! It's much simpler to control your sparge temps cause you are adding it all at once too and less work than fly sparging.
 
The one beer I screwed up the worst was with a half baked fly sparge setup. I totally get the desire to do it, but it's not worth it for me. All batch, all the time, all brews. Even throw in the small batch biab on the stove once in awhile. Couldn't be happier.
 
fly sparging usually gets around 4-5% better efficiency, but batch sparging is easier. i batch-sparge about 90% of my brews for convenience, even though i soldered a fly-sparge irrigation unit for my setup a long time ago ...
 
I have fly sparged for a while and consistently got 85% efficiency. I also got tannins and husky off flavors. I plan on moving back to batch sparging.
 
This like asking a bunch of rednecks if ford or chevy is better.

Bottom line. They both work just fine and many folks have success with either. It all comes down to personal preference.
 
I fly sparge and love it. In no way do I think it is superior to batch sparging or that it makes better beer. I think it is two ways to reach the same product.

With that said, I built my MLT specifically for fly sparging for a few reasons. I needed a small tun that doesn't take much space for storage since I either live with my parents or in my small house at school. When I found a 7 gallon cooler on sale at CVS of all places for $12, it was perfect. I can mash up to 19 pounds of grain (ABSOLUTE maximum) since I don't need to worry about having enough room to batch sparge. My regular 83% efficiency without tannin extraction allows me to brew big beers in my little tun. Although big beers do cause a drop in efficiency!

When I graduate and get out on my own, I already have a 10 gallon cooler lined up to build a bigger tun. But until then I couldn't be happier with my 7 gallon tun and 83% efficiency!
 
OK, He said 3 methods. I have heard of batch and fly. What would be the third and would it be a BMW or a Hyundai? Going all grain soon so I will be researching all this...
 
Do you guys batch sparge in one batch or do 1 water addition open valve til empty and do a second sparge? I found if I batch sparge in two steps I get better efficiency.
 
well with my small mash tun the spent grains had no sweetness left at all after a triple sparge
While with my new bigger one(who let me make bigger then 1.060 beer)
the spent grains are still sweet after single sparge...
 
well when i looked it up there was fly sparging, batch sparging and two step batch sparging
 
Two-step batch sparging is great for upping your efficiency on higher gravity beers. I've been able to get 75+% efficiency for batches above 1.070, even as high as 1.090. So If you're a batch sparger, it's nice to do a two-step for those higher-grav ones.
 
This like asking a bunch of rednecks if ford or chevy is better.

Bottom line. They both work just fine and many folks have success with either. It all comes down to personal preference.

They both suck, Dodge is the best. What kind of question is that, you must be one of those nut job Ford guys.
 
DrJerryrigger said:
They both suck, Dodge is the best. What kind of question is that, you must be one of those nut job Ford guys.

Lol. I don't give a rats foot. I drive a Honda.

I guess I technically do double batch. Though I have always called it batch sparring. I figured everyone did double batch sparging. I guess not.
 
Lol. I don't give a rats foot. I drive a Honda.

I guess I technically do double batch. Though I have always called it batch sparring. I figured everyone did double batch sparging. I guess not.

And I drive a Subaru, but I mostly FS, but right now I'm doing a double, or maybe triple batch sparg. Just trying it out. I'm using this run as sparge water for a high gravity batch I'll be mashing later tonight. I'm not sure if I like it more or less. It's a lot more hands off (why I'm looking a HBT right now). I kind of like the fiddling that's necessary with FS.
Oh crud, my sparg seems to be getting clogged up....
 
I actually do both at once. I fly sparge and when I get to my last gallon, I cut off the valve, stir the hell out of it, then batch sparge the final runnings. Then I will rinse them again with another gallon or two, boil that in a pot with some DME added to bring it up to 1.030, then can the wort for future starters!
 
I actually do both at once. I fly sparge and when I get to my last gallon, I cut off the valve, stir the hell out of it, then batch sparge the final runnings. Then I will rinse them again with another gallon or two, boil that in a pot with some DME added to bring it up to 1.030, then can the wort for future starters!

I've used similar systems with great success. I haven't hammered out a system I'm 100% happy with yet, but I always like to tweak with things.
 
I thought the third kind was decoction mashing.

But yeah, "no sparge" is a kind of sparging, I guess.
 
Total newb question but how do u know which dme I need to buy. Does it matter on the type of beer, gravity, color or all of the above? Does it matter if it's Dme or Lme. Sorry just want to get it right the first time. THANX
 
If you are brewing all grain, then you don't use DME at all. And if you are doing a partial mash, then you would probably want to add it with 15 minutes left in the boil.

And batch sparging simply is:
1.You drain the mashtun. Stop here for no sparge.
2. Refill it, stir like crazy, drain again. This is a batch sparge
3. If you want, repeat step 2. This is still a batch sparge, but with two sparges
 
I thought I batch sparged... But that's not what I do... So what would it be if I start the sparge and drain slowly in one slow batch... Until I get the calculated volume for the boil ... ?
 
I thought I batch sparged... But that's not what I do... So what would it be if I start the sparge and drain slowly in one slow batch... Until I get the calculated volume for the boil ... ?

No sparge? Do you never add fresh water to the mash when lautering (sparging). This is a common technique that gets good results as well, but not as common as batch sparging!

If you add water at the same rate you drain it, then that is fly sparging
 
Batch sparging is very easy.

This link is a quick explanation of what it is:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Batch_Sparging

How its done can vary. A couple of common ways are drain the mash, add a "batch" of new hot water to bring up to sparge temp, then redrain. Repeat if desired. Another way with BIAB is simply drain the bag from the mash tun/pot and then put it in a second pot containing hot water and mix. Then drain the bag again and combine the wort. This is what I do.

As far as how many sparges, I do two. But here is another link:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/maximizing-efficiency-when-batch-sparging-77125/
 
No sparge? Do you never add fresh water to the mash when lautering (sparging). This is a common technique that gets good results as well, but not as common as batch sparging!

If you add water at the same rate you drain it, then that is fly sparging

my bad... I got the two swapped in me brain... TX!
 
How long are you guys that batch sparge letting each "batch" sit in the tun before draining? I usually let it go for 15 mins, but am trying to trim some time off my brewday. Ive started doing 90 min mashes and boils, and vorlauf for up to 15 mins, and my brews are starting to bump near six hours. This really wouldn't bother me as I love the process, but I have a finite time off from work
 
How long are you guys that batch sparge letting each "batch" sit in the tun before draining? I usually let it go for 15 mins, but am trying to trim some time off my brewday. Ive started doing 90 min mashes and boils, and vorlauf for up to 15 mins, and my brews are starting to bump near six hours. This really wouldn't bother me as I love the process, but I have a finite time off from work

When I finish with a batch sparge I let it sit probably 15-30 minutes depending on if I get distracted by something. I want to give it enough time for the denser, more sugar-filled wort to sink to the bottom. That way if I over shoot my volume all I am getting is the weak final runnings so I can just shut the valve off!

If I am in a hurry, I pour in the sparge water, stir like hell and seal it up. I check it about five minutes later and the grain bed is usually reset by that time. Then I check it in another 5 minutes and if the top liquid looks clear, I start the vorlauf.
 
I like to fly sparge because I'm lazy and don't like to stir. When I get a quick disconnect on my mash tun I'm not even going to stir the grain when doughing in - I'll just dump the grain in and let the water in from the bottom. :D
 
Ok correct me if I'm wrong but Bach sparging is good for high gravity beer? To batch sparge you drain mash that was mashing for an hour at aprox 150*. Then add sparge water hot enough to bring it up close to 170. Drain and repeat? But batch sparging might get a low OG ? Did I sum up?
 
Ok correct me if I'm wrong but Bach sparging is good for high gravity beer? To batch sparge you drain mash that was mashing for an hour at aprox 150*. Then add sparge water hot enough to bring it up close to 170. Drain and repeat? But batch sparging might get a low OG ? Did I sum up?

Almost, except batch sparging should be sufficient for a high gravity beer. With any sparging method, you wont get as good as efficiency with a high gravity beer, but both batch and fly sparging work effectively for them!
 
They both suck, Dodge is the best. What kind of question is that, you must be one of those nut job Ford guys.

You're off your gourd! If you've ever driven a pickup, you know F150 surpasses everything on the road.

And THAT pains me to say as I work for Toyota! :mad:
 
Back
Top