Sparge Temperature for 2 Rinses?

[Aschecte]

Hmm...I'm not sure what you mean by sugar density. Your sugar is in solution, so its density would really be calculated independently of the water under most conditions. Are you talking about viscosity? There's an argument to be made that colder temperatures increases water retention in the grain bed, but that never was my experience. That might have an impact on lautering rates for fly systems, though I still can't see why it would on a batch system like the one the OP is using.

Yooper explains the cost thing, though bottlebomber correctly mentions some degree of savings that would be had, specifically for the heat left in the grain bed. Like often happens in breweries, there's a tradeoff here between energy use and time.

Yeah you are correct I got so caught up in the temperature itself i forgot this thread was about batch Sparging. And yes I meant viscosity of the sugars.

 

[MalFet]

Yeah you are correct I got so caught up in the temperature itself i forgot this thread was about batch Sparging. And yes I meant viscosity of the sugars.

The viscosity question is an interesting one. It's certainly possible that the higher viscosity of cooler runnings could lead to something akin to channeling for fly spargers. That could in theory decrease efficiency.

 

[Aschecte]

The viscosity question is an interesting one. It's certainly possible that the higher viscosity of cooler runnings could lead to something akin to channeling for fly spargers. That could in theory decrease efficiency.

That was my point but I have zero practical expierence as I fly sparge not batch I can only acedemically imagine the colder water would "gum" up the sugars inhibiting the flow and leave residual sugars behind. I will concede though if people are doing this with equal efficiency and results who am I to argue not to do it. I personally love when real world expierence wins out over what the books say is "the only way".

 

[mcleanmj]

For batch sparging, draining at 1 quart/minute is not necessary. Since you stir in the sparge water thoroughly, you can just vorlauf and drain. It doesn't hurt, obviously, but one of the main advantages of batch sparging is the time savings. You can drain with the ball valve wide open, and get the same results.

Really? If this is true this would really cut down on my brew time, but I would be really cautious to even try it. How can full speed be sufficient enough to rinse all the sugar?

 

[bottlebomber]

Really? If this is true this would really cut down on my brew time, but I would be really cautious to even try it. How can full speed be sufficient enough to rinse all the sugar?

I don't think anything rinses ALL the sugar. I can tell you that I mill my own grain, batch sparge, and get 77-80% efficiency every time with beers 1.080 and under in a 10 gallon cooler. I can't imagine getting better efficiency, or that a few extra points would be worth an extra half hour on the brew day.

 

[MalFet]

Really? If this is true this would really cut down on my brew time, but I would be really cautious to even try it. How can full speed be sufficient enough to rinse all the sugar?

Rinsing is the wrong image to have of what happens during batch sparging. By the end of your mash, the sugars are no longer trapped in the endosperm of your grain, but rather are evenly distributed in solution through your mash water.

You drain your mashtun, but inevitably some quantity of sugar-rich water is left behind with the grain bed. When you add water for a batch sparge, what you are doing is diluting this water so you can reclaim more of the sugar when you drain again.

There's no rinsing, and likewise once you mix thoroughly you can drain as fast as your system allows.

 

[mcleanmj]

So drain the first running at 1 qt/minute, and once I sparge drain full flow and I will get the same efficiency?

 

[MalFet]

So drain the first running at 1 qt/minute, and once I sparge drain full flow and I will get the same efficiency?

There's no need to slow down your drain for either the first runnings or the sparge in a batch system, really.

 

[mcleanmj]

from my experience when I've drained full speed my extraction was horrible, and when I've drained slowly my extraction was excellent

 

[MalFet]

from my experience when I've drained full speed my extraction was horrible, and when I've drained slowly my extraction was excellent

If you're collapsing your stainless braid or something, and thus getting a stuck sparge, that's a different story. But, there's no reason your rate of draining should affect the gravity of your first runnings.

 

[histo320]

This is a really interesting thread for me as my efficiency has been low and I believe the culprit to be using too much sparge water at once. I added just under 5 gallons and ended up with 1.030 - expected was 1.050ish. I am happy to see that the speed of the draining doesn't matter as I don't have a valve installed yet (possibly doing today with toilet braid.

I am using a 5 Gallon cylindrical cooler in a paint straining bag and I am using 10lb grain bills. I still had about 1.5 gallons of dead space so I want to increase my grain bill but I am worried that too much grain may hurt my conversion.

My next batch I am going to do a 2 or 3 step sparge after draining mash tun. Adding 1.83 gallons for each rinse. My question is how long do I let the sparge rest before draining?

 

[bottlebomber]

This is a really interesting thread for me as my efficiency has been low and I believe the culprit to be using too much sparge water at once. I added just under 5 gallons and ended up with 1.030 - expected was 1.050ish. I am happy to see that the speed of the draining doesn't matter as I don't have a valve installed yet (possibly doing today with toilet braid.

I am using a 5 Gallon cylindrical cooler in a paint straining bag and I am using 10lb grain bills. I still had about 1.5 gallons of dead space so I want to increase my grain bill but I am worried that too much grain may hurt my conversion.

My next batch I am going to do a 2 or 3 step sparge after draining mash tun. Adding 1.83 gallons for each rinse. My question is how long do I let the sparge rest before draining?

99% of the time someone reports low efficiency it is because they are getting poorly milled grain. I've gotten poorly milled grain before and gotten 35% efficiency. After getting my own mill, I clock 75-80% every time using the same process.

 

[MalFet]

My next batch I am going to do a 2 or 3 step sparge after draining mash tun. Adding 1.83 gallons for each rinse. My question is how long do I let the sparge rest before draining?

It doesn't need to rest; it just needs to mix. How long that takes depends on how good your stirring arm is.

 

[Varmintman]

And you beat it like it owes you money....And then stir it some more.

 

[krackin]

Obviously starting the boil with a higher temp wort means less flame time to get to boil and less chance of scorching. This is important for my personal brewing.

 

[histo320]

99% of the time someone reports low efficiency it is because they are getting poorly milled grain. I've gotten poorly milled grain before and gotten 35% efficiency. After getting my own mill, I clock 75-80% every time using the same process.

I actually crush my own grain. IMO I think I crush it to what I seen on pictures here. I use a Corona Mill set to about the width of a credit card. Is this okay or should I run it through twice. I'm not sure but is it possible to crush grain too much?

 

[Aschecte]

I actually crush my own grain. IMO I think I crush it to what I seen on pictures here. I use a Corona Mill set to about the width of a credit card. Is this okay or should I run it through twice. I'm not sure but is it possible to crush grain too much?

I'm no expert on corona mills but when I used to get my grain crushed at my LHBS I would get around 65-70%eff. I was never really happy witht he crush but I couldn't accurately adjust it to where I wanted it to be. Fast foward to about 14 months ago I bought a barley crusher and set my gap to .034 inches which is a bit on the tight side but I have never had a stuck sparge though the vourlauf can be a bit much and I have sat steady at 85% eff ever since even going as high as 90% on 1 occasion. I am a strong believer in your crush will directly influence your overall eff. as well as a good mill makes all the difference.