Robobrew 65L "No-Sparge" batch size question

[Silver_Is_Money]

Is it possible to brew a 12-13 Plato (1.048 OG to 1.052 OG) batch in the Robobrew 65L via the no-sparge method, and yield in the end (post fermentation) sufficient finished beer to comfortably fill to capacity 2 x 5 gallon kegs? Or is the Robobrew 65L too small for this, whereby adding a sparging step would become a necessity?

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

For a bit of refinement, lets initially presume that the grain bill for the above is 22 lbs. (10 Kg.)

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

OK, lets make it even easier. If I start with 22 lbs. of Pilsner malt crushed to 0.032", plus 55 liters of mash water, will it all properly fit into the Robobrew 65L Bruzilla, and after all processing and fermentation is said and done will I likely end up with sufficient gallons of post fermentation beer to comfortably fill 2 x 5 gallon Corny Kegs to nominal capacity, without any need to add a sparge step, and will my beers OG likely be in the neighborhood of 12-13 Plato?

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I emailed Kegland on this question, and their response was a "conditional" Yes. The condition being ones efficiency. So I guess the question I posed sort of sets an upper limit as to what can be accomplished on one of these units without the need to add a HLT with which to prepare and by which to dispense sparge water. If you can live with making 12 (to perhaps 13) Plato beers and intend to fill 2 x 5 gallon Corny Kegs this single unit is all you will need, but it seems that you will likely need to grind mighty fine to gain efficiency, and potentially risk a stuck run-off now and then.

 

[RePete]

Why no sparge? I have a smaller Robobrew, but haven’t tried mashing without sparging. I’m mentally taking your figures and cutting them in half to apply to my unit. Normally I can easily get to that OG for 5 gallons. For no sparge, you may have to mash, and then add water to get up to enough boil volume. I have to start out boiling 6.5 gallons to end up with 5 in the keg.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Why no sparge?

Economics and simplicity.

 

[RePete]

Ok. This might work for you. I don't have another way to heat sparge water in the garage. What I do is to boil the full the full kettle of water in the Robobrew. Mine holds 8 gallons. I draw off 5 into a cooler, which leaves 3 in the kettle. Then I add a gallon of cold water which brings it to about the right temperature to mash. The water from the cooler is about the right temperature to sparge by the time I finish boiling. This works well, but just makes for a long brew day, because of how long it takes for the initial kettle to boil in this 110v unit.

 

[cactusgarrett]

OK, lets make it even easier. If I start with 22 lbs. of Pilsner malt crushed to 0.032", plus 55 liters of mash water, will it all properly fit into the Robobrew 65L Bruzilla, and after all processing and fermentation is said and done will I likely end up with sufficient gallons of post fermentation beer to comfortably fill 2 x 5 gallon Corny Kegs to nominal capacity, without any need to add a sparge step, and will my beers OG likely be in the neighborhood of 12-13 Plato?

I know this is over a year old, but I'm expecting my 65L unit soon and I am considering the idea of no sparge and I want to walk myself through this exercise. Seems like a slam dunk for 5gal batches, so I looked into this conceptually for double batches (2 x 5gal). I pieced together a theoretical brew day sheet, including recoverable dead volume, grain absorption, etc. and here are my thoughts:

• From my research, it seems like the max mash volume of the unit is 58L. Adding 22 lbs of malt and 55L of strike water effectively puts this at 2.5 qt/lb (excluding the recoverable dead volume it's 2.0 qt/lb). This (theoretically) is almost 59L - probably above the capacity of the unit.
• Max strike water (assuming the 58L capacity) would be 54 qt (51L). This would be 2.45 qt/lb (excluding the recoverable dead volume it's 1.97 qt/lb).
• At this 51L (54qt) strike volume, and 22 lb grain, with absorption you'd get about 10.5 gal runnings if you just pulled the basket and let it drain.
• Coupled with the above no-sparge volume (10.5 gal) that wort would be 1.080-1.090 (depending on your mash efficiency)

Tl;dr - seems like the unit would max out at 10 gal into the fermenter with an OG of 1.080-1.090, so I definitely think this is doable if you shot for a lower OG (with less grain)

 

[jtratcliff]

Why is the max volume only 58L in a 65L unit?

I realize the maltpipe will take some space but 7L?

Shouldn't you be able to mash almost to the top? Or is 7L what takes to drop the level to an inch or so from the top?

 

[DuncB]

@cactusgarrett
Hi I have just started experimenting with no sparge and tiny sparge with the Guten 70 litre.

Certainly managed 11 kg grain and 50 litres of mash water but due to poor record keeping, I remember taking the volume reading but can't find it,
had runnings gravity of 1060 and at end of boil ( 75 minutes with condenser ) had 48 litre reading on the kettle. This resulted in 42 litre divided between two fermenters. I had 84g of hops so a 6 litre kettle loss after boil.

A further brew that day I had 5 litres of kettle loss with hops and trub ( measured vol in bucket afterwards ).

Reason for trying the no sparge was poor pre boil efficiency with 2.5-3.0 l / kg mash and then sparge. I found that on a few high gravity brews I had a lot of sugars remaining in the malt pipe after sparge. I actually did a parti gyle on one brew from the second sparge and made a 14 litre 1070 second brew. Hence me tinkering with bigger mash volumes and paying more attention.

I seem to get about 5-6 litres of end of boil to fermenter loss which is consistent and 65 % by volume of liquid loss to grain. ie 8 kg of grain lose 5 litres of volume after drain and squeeze.

Sorry can't be more help this is the chart I've been referencing re no sparge