No Sparge?

[BeerBaron]

Hi, I haven't done an all-grain batch yet, but I'm probably going to give it a try in the next couple months or so, as soon as I can get the equipment I need rounded up. My question is... if I build a big enough mash tun to hold the grains and enough water for the full boil, would this give me better or worse efficiency than doing a batch sparge with a smaller mash tun? Thanks in advance, and any other input is welcome.

 

[Reverend JC]

You efficiency will depend alot on your manifold. Your mash tun needs to be big enough to hold the amount of grain you plan on using.

Wait, are you saying you want to mash and boil in the same pot? If that is what you meant i would advise against that. big pain in the ass.

 

[the_bird]

There's no reason NOT to sparge, IMHO. Batch sparging is EASY. You can take a no-sparge approach, but you'll likely hit 50% efficiency and therefore need to use half as much again grain as you would with a very simple MLT.

Why don't you want to sparge? You're still going to have to separate out the grains from the wort, you're still going to have to vorlauf to get most of the particulate matter out of the wort. The only step you are saving is adding some hot water and waiting a couple minutes.

 

[aseelye]

There is indeed a reason to sparge. If you were to put all your hot water and grains and let them sit, you'd have to wait a lot longer to get your mashing done. The enzymes like to be close to the starches, and if they're more spread out, they won't be as fast, and you might not get full efficiency due to some of the enzymes deactivating at mashing temps (beta amylase enzymes don't last long enough at 155 in a diluted solution for instance).

You might be interested in batch sparging, which would strike me as a compromise that'd still be able to give you 70% efficiency rates. I've never done it myself, but plenty on here do and are very happy with it.

 

[BeerBaron]

Thanks, I figured there had to be some draw backs. Looks like I'll start off with batch sparging and see how that goes.

 

[Brewsmith]

You can no-sparge, but you will need more grain. The reason to sparge is to be more efficient with getting the sugars out of the grain. Palmer mentions no-sparge brewing in his book. www.howtobrew.com