Sparge Compromises

[dawsh2]

Hi all! I do BIABasket brewing on a Unibrau V3 10gal, and I'm wanting to maximize my efficiency, but also don't want a bigger / bulkier setup or significantly longer brew day (in terms of hands-on time, anyway), so a dedicated HLT or cooler is out of the question, imo. I recently purchased the Blichmann Autosparge (essentially just a float valve with a dispensing tube) for recirculating without fear of dry firing my element (replacements are expensive, so it seemed worthwhile since it lets me be more hands-off), but now that I have it, I'm giving sparging a serious consideration and want to know what sort of efficiency gains I might expect from this, given that I'm already doing the following:

• finely mill the grain (I insert a separate stainless mesh screen inside my basket for this so it doesn't clog anything This also lets me press my grain to squeeze out wort when done)
• whisk grain while doughing in, stir during mash
• monitor ph
• place basket over kettle, start boil, press to squeeze out wort

My new plan is to hoist the insert over the kettle, and run 160-170F water straight from my water heater, into the autosparge. The valve should prevent overflow, and coupled with a flow meter and pressure regulators to regulate flow rate and total volume, I think I should be able to achieve a pretty hands off sparging method that will, hopefully, save me at least a buck per batch.

What would you estimate such a procedure might increase my efficiency by? Any thoughts on this method?

 

[doug293cz]

Hi all! I do BIABasket brewing on a Unibrau V3 10gal, and I'm wanting to maximize my efficiency, but also don't want a bigger / bulkier setup or significantly longer brew day (in terms of hands-on time, anyway), so a dedicated HLT or cooler is out of the question, imo. I recently purchased the Blichmann Autosparge (essentially just a float valve with a dispensing tube) for recirculating without fear of dry firing my element (replacements are expensive, so it seemed worthwhile since it lets me be more hands-off), but now that I have it, I'm giving sparging a serious consideration and want to know what sort of efficiency gains I might expect from this, given that I'm already doing the following:

• finely mill the grain (I insert a separate stainless mesh screen inside my basket for this so it doesn't clog anything This also lets me press my grain to squeeze out wort when done)
• whisk grain while doughing in, stir during mash
• monitor ph
• place basket over kettle, start boil, press to squeeze out wort

My new plan is to hoist the insert over the kettle, and run 160-170F water straight from my water heater, into the autosparge. The valve should prevent overflow, and coupled with a flow meter and pressure regulators to regulate flow rate and total volume, I think I should be able to achieve a pretty hands off sparging method that will, hopefully, save me at least a buck per batch.

What would you estimate such a procedure might increase my efficiency by? Any thoughts on this method?

All else being equal, a sparge will increase your lauter efficiency by 8% to maybe 15% (for a perfect fly sparge.) You won't be able to get a perfect fly sparge with a basket, so you are more likely to be near the lower end of this range.

Depending on the alkalinity of your water, sparging from your home hot water heater could raise the pH of the grain bed to the point where you extract excessive tannins. If your water's alkalinity is low, this might work.

You can sparge with cool water (which would make treating to reduce alkalinity easier), but that would increase your time to heat to boil.

Brew on

 

[odie]

I started cutting my mash water a couple gallons. I pull my basket, place a perforated pizza pan on top of the grain bed, and pour the remaining water into the pan and is distributes evenly for a good sparge.