Nearing completion on a 3 tier setup. Now I've always batch sparged in the past but now with the new setup I'll be fly sparging. How fast should one fly sparging? How long should a 10 gal batch take to sparge?
Fly sparge speed
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Don't know about 10g, but I try to aim for two pints (90 minutes) on a 5g batch, and usually end up within 10 minutes either way of the target time.
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jcarson83
Well-Known Member
Why are you changing to fly sparge? Is there an advantage in taste or efficiency? Just curious.
OP
OP
Efficency. I have heard some claims that batch sparging can be just as efficient, but I have been experincing an efficiency of 60-70% tops. I can only get an efficency of 75-80% if I over sparge then boil it all down the excess water.
CheaperPlease
Well-Known Member
No idea if it helps but i make my sparge.. Fly
sparging.. last atleast 40 min, im pushing for
an hour. "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
" discribes sparging as a "gentle washing of
the grain" the slower the more gentle. I have
never had a stuck or slow sparge, my grain is
always fluffy, and going to fast can compact
the grain.
sparging.. last atleast 40 min, im pushing for
an hour. "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
" discribes sparging as a "gentle washing of
the grain" the slower the more gentle. I have
never had a stuck or slow sparge, my grain is
always fluffy, and going to fast can compact
the grain.
Brewiz
Well-Known Member
I shoot for 1 qt/min and I am getting about 80% eff.
CheaperPlease
Well-Known Member
This is sort of a long artical but I thought it would work with this question, its from BYO magizine this month.
"In a fly sparging home brew set-up the speed of wort collection is related to extract efficency- the faster you go the more ineffecent you are. Excessively fast wort collection can compact the grain bed, slowing or even stopping spange. this is the dredded stuck sparge.
in a commercial brewery, brewers want to rince there grainbed and extract as much from their grain as is practical. There is a point where slower runoff would yield more extract, but it would cost too much in the trems of time. Fore home brewers, a total collection time of around 60-90 minutes has 2 main benefits. First, you get a thorough rincing of the grainbed. Second , as this speed, the chances of encountering a stuck mash are very slim. Even when working with wheat or rye."
"In a fly sparging home brew set-up the speed of wort collection is related to extract efficency- the faster you go the more ineffecent you are. Excessively fast wort collection can compact the grain bed, slowing or even stopping spange. this is the dredded stuck sparge.
in a commercial brewery, brewers want to rince there grainbed and extract as much from their grain as is practical. There is a point where slower runoff would yield more extract, but it would cost too much in the trems of time. Fore home brewers, a total collection time of around 60-90 minutes has 2 main benefits. First, you get a thorough rincing of the grainbed. Second , as this speed, the chances of encountering a stuck mash are very slim. Even when working with wheat or rye."
I generally sparge 5 gallons and take 30-40 min.... My efficiency averages mid 70's
Brewsmith
Home brewing moogerfooger
I think I'm around 45 min. Including mashout it's about an hour. My efficiency has been around 75%. I've had a couple about 80%. I took my time on the hefeweizen I did two brews ago, due to 6.5 lbs of wheat malt and no rice hulls. No stuck sparge.
mysterio
Well-Known Member
Usually takes around an hour for me. Be very careful with your technique, though - you're not guaranteed better efficiency. If you're using a sparging arm set the flow low enough so it just manages to turn it.
OP
OP
Ok, for 10 gallon batch I sparged for 90 and got about 85% but the last batch I made the neighbors came over an invited me over for some single maly scotch and my sparge was a bit quicker, say 45 minutes and my effic. was 74%
Ragutis
Well-Known Member
My 10 gallon fly sparge takes me 90-100 minutes. My efficiency stays in the mid 80's.
Sawdustguy
Well-Known Member
+1 on 45 minutes to an hour. I usually have an honest 85% efficiency. I am always skeptical of efficiency claims. I have read some posts where there were claims of 90% with no sparge at all.
I am relatively new to All grain but I have dialed things in for my system (I brew 13-14 gallon batches and collect roughly 15-16 gallons of wort as my target start size for most batches).
I take 90-120 minutes on the sparge and usually hit between 82-84% efficiency. I tend to walk away for 10-15 minutes at a time once I have the flow rates roughly matched and the temps within target range. I tend to err on the side of slower flow rates. Doing this "slow sparge" as I am always antsy and never short of things to do around the house. (This weekend I will be brewing at the same time I am running a couple new electric lines in the basement and building an entertainment center shelf out of a nice kickass piece of sapele wood).
For example, last batch I collected only 13 gallons of wort and had to top off in order to reach my target OG. The original 13 gallons was too "rich" and I had to stop collecting wort for risk of my batch size growing or my OG being too high. This ended up as @ 84% efficiency.
OP
OP
When I fly sparge it's usually an hour and aroung 85% to 90%. I fly sparged for a few years but I have generally gone back to batch sparging and haven't noticed a difference.
I am using a RIMS. I drain, then add sparge water, circulate for a while (15min or so) then drain.
I am using a RIMS. I drain, then add sparge water, circulate for a while (15min or so) then drain.
menschmaschine
Well-Known Member
It really depends on the details of your system... mash tun geometry, sparging equipment, drainage equipment (manifold, false bottom, etc). I fly sparge 10 gallon batches (about 14.5 gallons into the kettle) in about 30 min. That's about the same time as a double batch sparge (from what I hear). My efficiency is high 80s to low 90s depending on the beer.
I know that's against convention, but I know it works for me and, with my system, it makes sense that it works. I used to do 90 min. sparges and decreased my time over a series of batches until the mash tun valve was open all the way. My efficiency was virtually unaffected (maybe a point or two). I have a cylindrical mash tun, a false bottom, and my sparge is done simply with tubing from the HLT... sprinkling the water manually and randomly over the grain bed. I purposely allow the flow of water to disturb the grain bed at random various points all over the surface area of the grain bed. I believe this helps push the wort down quicker. There's another brewer on here who does it this way and has the same results.
If I used a sparge arm and/or had something other than a false bottom in the mash tun, I wouldn't expect the same results.
So, depending on your system, you could start slow (90 min. or more) and over a number of batches, decrease your time by 5 or 10 minutes until you see your efficiency affected.
I know that's against convention, but I know it works for me and, with my system, it makes sense that it works. I used to do 90 min. sparges and decreased my time over a series of batches until the mash tun valve was open all the way. My efficiency was virtually unaffected (maybe a point or two). I have a cylindrical mash tun, a false bottom, and my sparge is done simply with tubing from the HLT... sprinkling the water manually and randomly over the grain bed. I purposely allow the flow of water to disturb the grain bed at random various points all over the surface area of the grain bed. I believe this helps push the wort down quicker. There's another brewer on here who does it this way and has the same results.
If I used a sparge arm and/or had something other than a false bottom in the mash tun, I wouldn't expect the same results.
So, depending on your system, you could start slow (90 min. or more) and over a number of batches, decrease your time by 5 or 10 minutes until you see your efficiency affected.
Chuck_Swillery
Well-Known Member
I have a Phil's sparge set up and 90 minutes is pretty close for a 5 gallon batch. My last AG batch I managed a 85%. I attribute that to my fly sparge set up, keeping the sparge just evenly paced with the lauter, and having stirred the mash ever 20 minutes before sparging.
user 19629
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I keep it simple
6 gallon preboil volume
1 hour sparge =
1 gallon in 10 minutes
0.5 gallons in 5 minutes
1 quart 2.5 min
6 gallon preboil volume
1 hour sparge =
1 gallon in 10 minutes
0.5 gallons in 5 minutes
1 quart 2.5 min
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