No Sparge Question

[DSmith]

I want to try a no-sparge beer by:

1. Mashing with typical water:grain ratio (1.5) and hold for 60 min
2. Adding as much sparge water (168F) to the mash tun as possible to not overflow
3. Stir, vorlauf and begin running off
4. Gently add the remaining (1 gallon) sparge water volume that didn't fit in the mash tun during the run-off

Does any one see a problem with that last step of adding a little extra sparge water without stopping the run-off and vorlaufing again?

I expect lower efficiency, so for this is for a low gravity ale and will plan for 15% less mash efficiency than if it was a normal batch sparge.

 

[Osedax]

4. Gently add the remaining (1 gallon) sparge water volume that didn't fit in the mash tun during the run-off

This is sparging. Just a low scale version.

 

[corax]

Regardless of what you call it, the technique you describe should work fine. Give yourself some leeway on efficiency the first couple of times you do it, but in my experience it can be done reproducibly.

Personally, I'd skip the vorlauf altogether. The only good reason for it is to set the grain bed in fly-sparging.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'd like to know what you're trying to achieve by doing a "mostly" no sparge with a 1 gallon fly sparge. Of course you can do it but how well it does what you're hoping happens is depending on what you're hoping to achieve. You can also mash with the full volume (or as much as your tun can handle). Also, given your proposed technique, that bulk of water you add just before vorlauf and runoff can be MUCH hotter, like 190F since it's being stirred in immediately.

 

[DSmith]

I notice that vorlaufing/reciculating a few quarts and gradually opening the drain valve really decreases grain particles from getting into the boil kettle.

If not clear in the original post, I'd add the extra 1 gallon right at the beginning of the run-off, before the top of the grainbed is exposed just because the mash tun is too small to add all the extra water at once. This article explains the similar concept but isn't limited by the mash tun volume:

http://byo.com/stories/item/1375-skip-the-sparge

This is for a recipe with a very low OG beer (1.035), small grainbill, I would expect 85%+ efficiency based on some history with my equipment. The purpose is to decrease the efficiency without changing the crush to keep the grainbill a little bigger with marginal cost difference, probably hold temperature a little better and avoid potential tannin extraction from very large sparge volume. My typical beers would never work this way without a much larger mash tun. I've had to double batch sparge my last 3 beers because of the mash tun size for 1.090+ beers.

 

[corax]

I notice that vorlaufing/reciculating a few quarts and gradually opening the drain valve really decreases grain particles from getting into the boil kettle.

Sure, but a little grain material in the kettle is harmless: there's no tannin extraction at wort pH (otherwise decoction mashing would be a disaster) and any solids drop out with the hot break.

If not clear in the original post, I'd add the extra 1 gallon right at the beginning of the run-off, before the top of the grainbed is exposed just because the mash tun is too small to add all the extra water at once.

You might get a modest increase in efficiency by running the extra water through the system, but I just put any "top off" I need directly into the kettle. Otherwise I do pretty much what you describe. On bigger beers I do a full-volume mash; on smaller beers I'll add a "mash out" step just to bring it up to volume. I see a 15 to 20% drop in efficiency relative to a single batch sparge with the same equipment.

 

[DSmith]

I brewed the 1.043 OG beer today with a full volume mash (total water added after the 60 minute normal 1.5 qt/lb ratio). I planned for and coincidentally got 65% efficiency where a batch sparge would have been approximately 80%.

It saved a little time for a little cost and was interesting to try something different.

 

[Cider123]

Greetings friend! It 's not that there is anything wrong with what your doing. It's just that you're frustrated. What you really want to do is not sparge or deal with silly mash tuns anymore.

What you really want to do is join us. The brotherhood of BIAB

 

[BansheeRider]

Greetings friend! It 's not that there is anything wrong with what your doing. It's just that you're frustrated. What you really want to do is not sparge or deal with silly mash tuns anymore.

What you really want to do is join us. The brotherhood of BIAB

Ha don't kid yourself