How thin can I go on my sparge?

[atromic]

I started doing big partial mashes (6lbs) in a 3 gal cooler with stainless steel braid a couple months ago, and have dialed my process in to the point that I am getting 75%+ efficiency.

I've been mashing at 1.25 qts/lb, then doing 2 1.5 gallon sparges, which gets me to about 4 gallons total (the max I can boil on my stove top). I feel like I could go a little thinner on the sparges, and in turn mash more grains. So my question is, how thin can I go on the sparges without sacrificing efficiency?

 

[ajwillys]

I do 1.75 qts/lb. which is thinner, but it sounds like you want to go thicker, no? So that you can get more grain with less water, right?

 

[EvilGnome6]

I do 1.75 qts/lb. which is thinner, but it sounds like you want to go thicker, no? So that you can get more grain with less water, right?

I think what he's asking is if he can keep the same mash ratio and sparge with less water.

Personally, I would just mash thicker and keep the same sparge volume. My conversion efficiency actually improved when I started mashing thicker. Most people seem to find that they're efficiency improves with a thinner mash so go figure.

Either way works but only experimentation will tell you which way will work better for you.

 

[Orfy]

I'm not thinking clear at present so I'm not sure what you are wanting to know.

Here's some info that may be relevant.
1. Rule of thumb is mash until you have the required volume the runnings are down to 1010.
2. There is no minimum spare quantity. If you have enough grain yuo can do no sparging.

1 will give the best efficiency you may have to boil off more to get the required volume for the fermenter.
2 will give the least efficiency with the least boil off required.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Like Orfy said...you can sparge as much as you want, but should stop when you get your predicted pre-boil volume or your gravity reaches 1.008 (Orfy suggested .010).

This is because you don't want to get too many tannins into your boil/brew pot.

 

[EvilGnome6]

Like Orfy said...you can sparge as much as you want, but should stop when you get your predicted pre-boil volume or your gravity reaches 1.008 (Orfy suggested .010).

You can't sparge as much as you want when you can only boil 4 gallons.

 

[twoodward15]

You can use as much water as that cooler will hold. I do it all the time. I mash in with enough water to get half of my preboil volume regardless of the qts per pound, which I can honestly say I've never even taken the time to figure out. I always mash in with enough water to get half of my preboil volume out,and it works wonderfully.

 

[david_42]

OP is batch sparging, so "sparge until" doesn't work. I think you would lose efficiency with more grain and smaller sparges. Hotter sparge water might make up for that, I shoot for a grain bed at 165-170F in the sparges.