New AG'r - No Sparge Guidance pls

[Turk10mm]

So I'm looking at breaking out into AG and No Sparge seems to be the simplest way to get into it, and by some accounts produces better wort in some instances. I don't really care if i have to buy a few extra lbs of grain, as its a small price to pay for simplicity. I just want good beer.

So here's my dilemma. I've read people's posts about their efficiency as low as 55% all the way up to 75%. I guess I just don't understand how there is such a wild swing.

I understand from looking at the charts in the Wiki that the bigger the grain bill the lower the efficiency from this method, but it s

The recipe I'd like to do is a 17.5lb grain bill with .75lb of belgian candi syrup in the boil. At 75% eff its OG is 1.094 and FJ is 1.014.

If i scale that down to 65% eff i'm looking at a 20.25lb grain bill which becomes harder to handle in the MLT.

The graph at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Batch_Sparging_Analysis shows roughly a 73%eff for 17.5lbs

 

[kaiser423]

I ended up with ~55% of my first no sparge. My problem was not the extra large grain bill, but rather all of the extra water that needed to go in wouldn't fit in my MLT.

I'd say aim low

 

[Turk10mm]

ewwww. at 55% I'd need a 12 gallon MLT cause I'd need 9.7 gallons of water.. maybe i will be batch sparging after all.

 

[Rich_S]

I can understand not wanting to deal with fly sparging, but no sparging at all? Batch sparging is little more than just dumping in more water and draining. Why not do it?

 

[Turk10mm]

There are some benefits, the primary of which is you are only using first runnings so you don't have to worry about your mash ph. The only real negative is that you have to use more grain and need enough MLT to hold all the grain and water.

Just seems faster and easier to me.

 

[Chipman]

The wild swing could be due to differences in equipment, a larger dead space for example. Different grain crushes, if they stirred up the mash periodically, how well they stirred it up to begin with, the PH of the mash due to the water composition. I get different efficiencies compared to my buddy with regards to a few of those things, or between batches even.

I would encourage you to re-investigate batch sparging. It really is simple, just as simple as mashing and vorlaufing. You mash once, vorlauf, drain it, then mash again (for much less time) vorlauf, and drain it again. Takes a little more time, but hopefully increases your efficiency.

 

[RobBug]

Honestly, batch sparging is really not bad at all. As stated above, it's just adding hot water (~170 - 180F) to rinse the grains and get your final volume. For small batches you don't have to really worry about pH and all that other stuff.

Each to their own though.

And +1 to chipman's explanation to why there is such a wide variance to efficiency.

 

[Turk10mm]

Ok I'm looking further into batch sparging, (according to Beer Tools) If I want 7 gallons of wort, and i batch sparge, and my grain bill is 17.5 lbs, I need 5.5 gallons to get to 1.25qt/lb in the mash. That means I'll only be addiing 3.5 gallons of sparge water. Is that enough water for the sparge?

Thanks for the comments and replies!

 

[Turk10mm]

It looks like I could drop the sparge water to 4.5 gallons and i end up with 4.5/4.5, but I end up with a 1.03qt/lb mash ratio. Is that enough to not risk a stuck sparge?

 

[addis29]

stick with the BIAB you originally wanted to do. I average 83% to the kettle to the "T" every time. I feel its all in the crush. I double crush and stir occasionally during the mash and then do a mash out. I bet if you try it you'll enjoy it. I used to double batch sparge and tried BIAB just for the hell of it and I'm hooked saves me a little time as well. GOOD LUCK with whatever method you choose.

 

[lumpher]

i batch sparge, simple because that's how i started. i hit 75% consistently mashing for an hour and sparging for 20 minutes, so i'm good with it. you'll really have to try different styles and see what works for you and your equipment

 

[Turk10mm]

i'm totally down with BIAB, and i probably will, but this particular beer is a really big grain bill for doing BIAB. I keep seeing 35lbs of grain and bag and trying to picture how I'm going to manage it.