Mashout and Fly sparge

[annasdadhockey]

Is a mashout necessary when fly sparging?
I'm making BM's Centennial blonde, mashing @ 150F. Promash says to mashout with almost 3 gallons of 210F water to achieve 170F mashout. This would be pushing the limits of my 10 gal Igloo's capacity.(18.25 lbs grain, 1.25 qts. per lb, then adding 3 gallons on top of that for mashout)
My sparge water will be @ 180F.
Is it necessary?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

no



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[giligson]

If you don't mashout then feel free to sparge with higher temp water - as long as the water in the grainbed that you will be collecting (wort) doesn't go above about 75 Celsius. It doesn't matter if the waste water at the top of the lauter tun is 99 degrees - yes it will leach tannins but you're not going to collect it.

I think mashout is of value if you are trying to do a short mash and limit starch hydrolysis (ie trying to make a heavy bodied wort)- that way you kill the enzymes at a specific time point.

 

[ajf]

When I started doing a mashout (with a fly sparge), I increased my efficiency from 75% to 85% with no adverse effects. I have since found that I can get the higher efficiency by raising the mash temperature into the low 160's. If I don't raise the temperature at all, I find the sparge only raises the temperature to the mid 150's, and my efficiency drops.

-a.

 

[foxtrot]

I totally agree with ajf, as I also improved mash efficiency by doing a mash-out. I actually do a decoction mash-out, which adds a little more time to the brew day, but is well worth it. It will also address the issue of a full mash tun.
Check it out:
Building A Better Mashout Through Decoction - Maltose Falcons Home Brewing Society (Los Angeles Homebrewing)

 

[knowltonm]

+1 vote for mash out. I finally started taking temp readings of the top of my grain bed before and after sparging; the closer the temp to 170F the better, my efficiency went from 75-80 to around 85-87.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

The question was "is it necessary?". The answer to that question is absolutely not. You've got some good answers and there may be some benefit as far as efficiency, but it's in no way necessary. In fact, Kai did some cold water sparge experiments and hit 86%. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/cold-water-sparge-110856/

 

[ghack]

I fly sparged with a Phils Phalse bottom in a five gallon bucket for years (I was off of all grain for a few years and then off of brewing completely and now upgrading my equipment). I temperature mashed with a mash out to 168, sparge water was heated to around 170. Then the grain went into the tun and I'd often see the grain bed temps drop several degrees, particularly when recirculating at the beginning. I'd always heat some of the sparge water up to 180 or so an add it to compensate.

Despite these lower temps, the yield never seemed to suffer much. I honestly think sparging may be one of the more forgiving aspect of brewing.