Best way to sparge or rinse bag?

[jimmyjusa]

I have a 10gal kettle, when i do a 5 gallon batch i do a full volume mash and it's no problem. A few times I've tried to do a condensed 10 gallon batch by starting with 9 gallons preboil. In order to do that i can't do a full volume mash. A couple questions i have:
1. If i know I'm not going to do a full volume mash should i stick with as much water as possible or do a slightly thicker mash to utilize the rinsing more?
2. I'm using a wilserbrewer bag so i tighten the draw string then tie the bag and hoist it up, should i use a dunk sparge or rinse the grains?
The two times I've done a double batch I've squeezed the bag then i would loosen up the grains and slowly pour the hot water over the grains, sometimes holding the grains up as well (while wearing gloves off course) with the goal of avoiding channeling and hopefully get as much sugars as possible.

 

[wilserbrewer]

The jury is still out on this one...

You can either dunk sparge aka batch sparge the grain bag in another pot or bucket, or you can do a pour over the grain bag sparge aka fly sparge.

What’s better depends on your goals and technique.

I prefer a pour over, actually more like a trickle over as you pour over very slowly.

I think it is easier than dunk sparging, and you can also easily monitor volume in the kettle and sparge until PB volume is reached.

Of course ymmv

Try it both ways if so inclined.

 

[jimmyjusa]

I like doing the pour over/fly sparge to better know the volume, plus it's simpler for me to have the bag over the kettle and it stays there instead of back and forth. I had a thought of a sprinkler head inside the bag attached to a hose and funnel or something.

 

[doug293cz]

The pour over is easier, if you have a way to suspend the bag over the pot, but a dunk sparge is more deterministic w.r.t. lauter efficiency. Both work. With a pour over sparge, the amount of sugar rinsed from the grain will depend on how fast you pour, how well you distribute the water across the grain, and how much channeling you get as the sparge water flows thru the grain. It's difficult to get all the variables the same every time. With dunk sparge, as long as you stir well enough to get the retained wort and sparge water mixed completely, the only variable is the grain absorption rate, which is fairly easy to control consistently. If you are shooting for consistent efficiency, the dunk sparge is the better choice. If you care more about ease of process, and are willing to accept a little more variation in efficiency, then pour over is the better choice.

Brew on

 

[jimmyjusa]

Any thoughts on as full as possible mash then topping up vs using more water in the sparge process?

 

[RM-MN]

Any thoughts on as full as possible mash then topping up vs using more water in the sparge process?

When you sparge you collect some extra sugar from the mass of grain. When you top up you are simply diluting the wort. Neither way is wrong.

 

[jimmyjusa]

When you sparge you collect some extra sugar from the mass of grain. When you top up you are simply diluting the wort. Neither way is wrong.

Sorry i didn't word it correctly. When i do a concentrated 10gal batch I'm limited to my 10 pot so i start boil with 9 gallons. I can't fit that volume plus the grains in my pot so my question is doing as full of mash as possible then sparging to volume vs smaller volume mash then using a higher volume to sparge to get to volume.

 

[doug293cz]

Sorry i didn't word it correctly. When i do a concentrated 10gal batch I'm limited to my 10 pot so i start boil with 9 gallons. I can't fit that volume plus the grains in my pot so my question is doing as full of mash as possible then sparging to volume vs smaller volume mash then using a higher volume to sparge to get to volume.

You get the best efficiency when the first running and second (sparge) running volumes are about the same, at least for batch (dunk) sparging. For a pour over sparge it would depend on how well channeling is minimized.

Brew on

 

[jimmyjusa]

Thank you

 

[jimmyjusa]

Did a big double batch friday night and got around 80% efficiency using 7.5 gallons, 19lbs of grain, squeezed the bag then loosened the grains and poured over up to 9 gallons preboil including squeezing along the way. This is using a 10 gallon kettle. I am liking this method over a dunk sparge personally. When doing a 5 gallon batch i like to have the bag draining over the kettle as it's heating up then once the wort has gotten to around 180 i lower the bag down and move it around for a few minutes then hoist it back up to hopefully get the sugars warm enough to run off.

 

[W7JRR]

I’m currently doing my second BIAB right now. 8 gal pot 17 pounds of grain. Started with 5 gal of water, then dunk sparge with 3.5. Return was 7 total. I’ll boil down to 6.25 before starting my 60 mins. This one is heavy enough my burner is having trouble bringing it to a boil.