Lautering & Sparging

[homebrewnewbie]

I just read a chapter about this in Dave Miller's book "Brew Like A Pro", and he basically stated that the grain bed should be mostly drained into the kettle before the sparging begins.

"...recirculation ends and the wort is run into the kettle. However, much of the wort will remain trapped in the spent grain solids, SO AFTER DRAWING OFF AS MUCH LIQUID AS POSSIBLE, the grain bed is usually rinsed, or 'sparged'."

I've read in other books (The Brew Master's Bible, Extreme Home Brewing) that the grain bed should never appear dry when doing this process.

Anyone have an informed opinion about this?

 

[smizak]

Don't worry too much about that. Build your tun to minimize dead space. I've never heard about any concerns with dry grain beds.

 

[fmr_army]

I think you're talking about two different types of sparging: batch and fly. In each technique, it's good to recirculate (manually or with a pump) to set the grain bed so that it acts as a filter and will keep sludge, hulls and guck out.

In batch sparging, you drain off the wort and then add a batch of sparge water, stir everything up and re-lauter to get as much sugar out as possible. This can be done multiple times, each time with diminishing returns. You drain every little bit of sugary-good-wort out each time.

In fly sparging, you start draining the tun, and at a certain point start trickling your sparge water onto the top of the grains to rinse the sugars out. You want to keep the water a little above the grain bed as you fly sparge.

There are pros and cons to each method, and particular techniques to each.

I hope this helps!

 

[Cyclman]

+1 If Fly Sparging, exposing the grain can compact it and cause a stuck sparge.