Help, channeling during batch sparge!!!

[airlocksniffer]

I have a 10 gallon round cooler with a 10" domed false bottom. If all goes as planned, I usually run around 65% efficiency, which I can live with. First running usually drains evenly, however when I do my batch sparge I' am getting channeling down the sides of the cooler. At first I though the bar stool the mashtun sits on was not level, then I thought maybe I was leaving the mash unevenly distributed after stirring. addressed both issues and still getting channeling during sparge. Should I not be draining the first running completely dry and then adding all the sparge water?

 

[Cbaddad]

Channeling should not be an issue with batch sparge. It does not matter. You are draining the whole thing twice. Are you stirring it up once you add your second amount of water?

 

[JLem]

As long as you are fully draining after each sparge addition, you should be fine - channeling is really only an issue when fly sparging.

 

[airlocksniffer]

I stir between runnings, there is about a 3/4" gap between the grain bed and one side of the cooler. I assume that the majority of the sparge water is flowing down this gap and not through the grain bed. When this happens my efficiency drops by about 10 pts.

 

[JLem]

I stir between runnings, there is about a 3/4" gap between the grain bed and one side of the cooler. I assume that the majority of the sparge water is flowing down this gap and not through the grain bed. When this happens my efficiency drops by about 10 pts.

If you are batch sparging, and especially if you are stirring after each sparge, it shouldn't matter if the water drains by going left, right, or center - the sugars will be dissolved in the water an the water carries the sugars out. Not sure why you seem to be getting lower efficiency, but I cannot think of how channeling would be the culprit here.

 

[kiblerjd]

Do you recirculate at all? Also are you doing 5 or 10 gallon batches? I get WAY better efficiency doing 10 gallon batches in my 10 gallon coolers because there is so much more sparge water. I just get a lot better rinsing i think but that may just be my setup. Anyway like everyone else said channeling doesn't hurt anything with batch sparging because you drain everything.

 

[hnycrk]

I have the same set up, I find that if I drain to fast I get the channeling. If I slow down the drain it doesn't happen. Give it a shot your next run and see if it helps. But since your batch sparging it shouldn't matter.

 

[sabo38]

I have had that happen after I varloufed (sp) and poured those runnings into the mash. I now pour over a spoon to
Distribute the flow over more of an area.

 

[JuanMoore]

I stir between runnings, there is about a 3/4" gap between the grain bed and one side of the cooler. I assume that the majority of the sparge water is flowing down this gap and not through the grain bed. When this happens my efficiency drops by about 10 pts.

If the efficiency drops, then you're obviously not stirring near enough after you add your sparge water. You should be stirring really really well, since unlike fly sparging, it's the agitation from stirring that gets the sugars off of the grains and into the sparge water. It can take 2-3 min of constant and vigorous stirring to get all the sugars into solution. Once it's stirred properly, it doesn't matter one bit if the runnings flow through the grain bed or not on their way out.

And the gap between the wall of the mash tun and the grain bed is perfectly normal if you're draining fast, which is fine to do when batch sparging properly. It's actually caused the grain bed compacting after the runnings have been sucked through, so it doesn't really cause channeling since most of the liquid has left the compacted section by the time it happens.

 

[airlocksniffer]

Thanks for the help. Now that I think about it, what you guys are saying about channeling makes sense.