If you are doing a 5gal batch, and want, say 6.5-7 gallons in the boil kettle, and your mashtun is 10gal and can hold it all in one pass, is there a need to mash with lower volume and then sparge? Or could you just give it a good stir at the end of the mash and do it all in one step?
Can you do a "full volume mash"?
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Yes it is called no sparge. You take a hit to efficiency but you could add an extra pound or 2 of grain to make up for the loss in gravity points. You could also boil longer to end up with a higher OG and less wort. There are many options. If you use a calculator like brewers friend or something I would estimate about 60 percent efficiency.
Yes that’s pretty much it. When you drain the initial mash water there are still sugars left behind that can be extracted with a sparge. No sparge can save you time though. I batch sparge every time just for the time savings. The efficiency loss doesn’t bother me.
North_of_60
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I get 80 to 82% mash efficiency doing full volume mash. I mash for 90 minutes then squeeze the bag real good. I mash with the full volume calculation less 1/2 gallon. That way I can add water after the mash and squeeze to hit my preboil volume. Or, if I miscalculated, I and I’m already at the correct volume I don’t add it.
I usually hit my post mash/preboil gravity within a point or two. The last one was .002 over, the one before that it was .001 under.
I used to hold back 1 or 2 gallons when I had a smaller kettle that wouldn’t hold enough for full volume mash. I would then use that water to sparge the grains before squeezing the bag. I didn’t get as high a ME then as I do now. But, I’m milling my grains much finer now too.
I usually hit my post mash/preboil gravity within a point or two. The last one was .002 over, the one before that it was .001 under.
I used to hold back 1 or 2 gallons when I had a smaller kettle that wouldn’t hold enough for full volume mash. I would then use that water to sparge the grains before squeezing the bag. I didn’t get as high a ME then as I do now. But, I’m milling my grains much finer now too.
I take it you are doing brew in a bag? I think the OP is using a traditional mash tun. I am thinking of going BIAB myself since I already use an electric kettle anyway. I had a bad experience doing BIAB with propane.
Yes I'm using a regular mash tun.
Sounds like it is kind of personal preference, and whether you want to get that last little bit of efficiency?
I don't mind sparging; just trying to understand whether there was more motivation to do it that what I'm seeing based on one batch.
Sounds like it is kind of personal preference, and whether you want to get that last little bit of efficiency?
I don't mind sparging; just trying to understand whether there was more motivation to do it that what I'm seeing based on one batch.
Just try it out and see how it works for you. Couldn’t hurt. You can also use some DME to bring up your OG if you aren’t opposed to using DME. I did it on my last batch. It was a sweet stout and I used 1 pound of DME so I doubt there will be any kind of flavor impact.
FVillatoro
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Full volume mashing is much easier than sparging, but you definitely will need a bigger mashtun for larger gravity beers.
On my old system there was approximately a 10% loss of efficiency, but mash PH, one less kettles, and not dealing with an extra volume of water and temperature adjustment was worth it.
On my old system there was approximately a 10% loss of efficiency, but mash PH, one less kettles, and not dealing with an extra volume of water and temperature adjustment was worth it.
LittleRiver
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That is true, assuming a traditional system and assuming coarse ground grains (to avoid stuck sparges).
I BIAB full volume, no sparge, no recirculation, with finely ground grain (.025"), and get about 83% efficiency. I could go higher if I sparged, but there's no need.
Change the assumptions and you can change the outcome.
Do you use a wench to drain the bag? Sorry to get off topic here. I want to go BIAB but not sure how I would pull that heavy a$$ bag out of my 15 gal kettle while it’s sitting on the kitchen counter to drain the bag. What do you do?
LittleRiver
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A full bag is easily hoisted with one hand, using 1/4" rope and a couple of pulleys. I got my pulleys from Wilser when I bought my bag. One of the pulleys is latching, which keeps the bag from going back down (unless you want it to, in which case you push the latch).
A winch is overkill, big time.
A winch is overkill, big time.
Do you have the pulley attached to the ceiling? I brew in my kitchen so installing pulleys in the kitchen may be hard to convince my wife to do.
LittleRiver
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I brew just inside the dock door of my shop. I made a simple wooden bracket to hold the pulley out over the center of the kettle. I raised the burner up so I can drain directly into a fermenter after chilling.
Very nice set up.
You could still sparge in a regular mash tun in a bag, definitely makes easier clean up and you could grind a bit finer for better conversion. A simple ratchet pulley makes it easy to lift out
