Brewing right now .. Batch sparge question.

[ohill1981]

Hey folks im brewing a robust porter at the moment... and just finished letting the grains steep in about 5 gallons of water for an hour... I have sparged and have heated my remaining 2.5 gallons of water and just poured it over the grain mixed it around again and letting it steap.. How long should i let ths second batch sparge to steap ?

 

[Scooby_Brew]

5-15 min, just make sure to stir it well. All you doing now is "rinsing" these grains out of sugars.

 

[ohill1981]

awesome i thought so... thanks for the clarification!!

 

[RLinNH]

I have alwats let my Batch Sparges sit for 20 minutes prior to sparging after I stir them.

 

[danlad]

Just to confuse things, I don't wait. But have a slow drainage rate out of my tun so it sounds as if it balances out.

Once it has converted, it's converted. Then you're just after getting the goodness out.

 

[RLinNH]

Just to confuse things, I don't wait. But have a slow drainage rate out of my tun so it sounds as if it balances out.

Once it has converted, it's converted. Then you're just after getting the goodness out.

I go with a flow rate of 1 quart ever 2-3 minutes with my Batch Sparging.

 

[Yooper]

With batch sparging, you can just let er' rip. No need to wait at all. Drain the runnings from the mash. Add the first 1/2 of the sparge water, stir like a madman, vorlauf and drain. Repeat with the second 1/2. No need to drain slow, wait after the addition of water, etc. You won't get a greater efficiency with waiting- the sugar is "pulled" into the water through the process of diffusion. Speed doesn't matter at all, and there is no advantage for a slower drain or waiting.

 

[RLinNH]

With batch sparging, you can just let er' rip. No need to wait at all. Drain the runnings from the mash. Add the first 1/2 of the sparge water, stir like a madman, vorlauf and drain. Repeat with the second 1/2. No need to drain slow, wait after the addition of water, etc. You won't get a greater efficiency with waiting- the sugar is "pulled" into the water through the process of diffusion. Speed doesn't matter at all, and there is no advantage for a slower drain or waiting.

I have to argue that point Yopper. Sorry. :fro:

When I first starting batch sparging, I let her rip for my first 2 batches. I was only getting 65%-67% Eff Rating. When I slowed the rate down to 2-3 quarts every minute, I bumped my Eff. rating up to 75%-80%. Hey, it worked on my system (20 gal. Stainless Steel Mash Tun), but it may not work for everyone else's. It's always worth a try to work with different flow rates when Sparging.

 

[KayaBrew]

With batch sparging, you can just let er' rip. No need to wait at all. Drain the runnings from the mash. Add the first 1/2 of the sparge water, stir like a madman, vorlauf and drain. Repeat with the second 1/2. No need to drain slow, wait after the addition of water, etc. You won't get a greater efficiency with waiting- the sugar is "pulled" into the water through the process of diffusion. Speed doesn't matter at all, and there is no advantage for a slower drain or waiting.

I always let the sparge water sit in the mash tun for 10 minutes or so to let the grain bed set up again. I only do one batch sparge instead of two. I guess it's one of those things where I do what works for me, although I've never done it differently.

 

[wildwest450]

Let er rip, 80% is good enough for me.

 

[ohill1981]

Thanks for all the reply's Folks!

 

[asdtexas]

I have this pet theory that it is like tea. Steep for 3 minutes and then pour/drain. Any thoughts on this?

 

[AKbrewer]

I have this pet theory that it is like tea. Steep for 3 minutes and then pour/drain. Any thoughts on this?

Like someone else said its already converted, now your just trying to rinse the remaining sugars from the grain bed. I think temperature is more important when batch sparging than flow rate. Warmer temps mean the sugars will flow out easier than cooler temps. I usually mash out at 170 drain the tun then add my sparge water at 170.