Efficiency

[Denny]

In regard to what you said prior, that's your experience and I certainly wouldn't argue that. But you really want to correct my use of the term "rinse"? Really? Come on now. You are effectively rinsing the grain to get all the wort off them. From dictionary.com's 2nd and 3rd entry:


2. to douse or drench in clean water as a final stage in washing.
3. to remove (soap, dirt, etc.) by such a process (often followed by off ).

We are removing the wort. To get it out of the tun you are draining, obviously.


Rev.

I still see a difference. If you don't, no problem. Fly sparging adds water continuously to rinse the sugar out of the grain. Batch sparging adds the water all at once, then you stir to get the sugar in solution so you can drain it out. Sure you have drain the wort from fly sparging, too.

 

[Rev2010]

Batch sparging adds the water all at once, then you stir to get the sugar in solution so you can drain it out. Sure you have drain the wort from fly sparging, too.

That's still rinsing since you are getting the sugars off and out of the grains and into the solution that you then drain out. Just like one can "rinse off" their hands by dipping them in a lake.


Rev.

 

[Denny]

If that's the way you'd like to think of it, be my guest. I disagree, but I'm not going to get into an argument over semantics.

 

[sneakymeade]

OK I hate bringing up an old(er) thread, but this is the thread that I used to improve my efficiency. I have made 6 all grain batches, and my efficiency has hovered around 65-70% until today's batch. I went to my LHBS today, and ran my grain through the mill twice instead of once. I had no issues with stuck sparge, and my efficiency went up to 77%. Boom. Proof is in the pudding; the grind has a lot to do with it.

my $0.02

 

[diS]

Sure, one of reasons why I bought grain mill is that I can condition my malt and crush it tighter than LHBS would.

 

[Tyru007]

Can draining the mash tun slower when batch sparging increase efficiency?

I have found that I get a clearer wort and a little better efficiency by not just opeing the valve and draining as fast as I can. The increased velocity tends to compress the grain bed and I get more fines for a longer period of time. It also seems to trap more wort in the grain bed.

I have tried a full open drain and closed the valve. I then openned the valve and was able to collect another 1 qt of additional runnoff over a 15 minute period.

With my equipment, I get the clearest wort and best efficiency running about 1/2 full open flow rate. Just something to try.