Sparge

[Smokey21]

About to do my second all grain brew, my first although the beer was drinkable was quite right.

I am thinking of ways to sparge as I don't have a lot of equipment.

I was thinking of using my fermentation bucket that has a tap on the bottom.

Would this work?

What are the draw backs with it?

Thanks

 

[SilverZero]

What are you mashing in? I just drain my mash tun (a cooler with a CPVC manifold) then dump in all of the sparge water at once in 1 or 2 batches, usually just 1. Stir it up and let it settle for a few minutes, then drain that too.

Or are you saying you don't have a vessel to hold the sparge water after you've heated it? In that case, I'd say you need another cooler or kettle to use as a HLT, but you could use the bucket if you're not using really hot sparge water (I use 185F so I'd be afraid of deforming the bucket, let alone leaching stuff out). I also wouldn't be patient enough to drain out of the tap on a bucket, I'd just use a 4-cup Pyrex or something similar to scoop the water out until I could lift it to dump.

 

[daksin]

Batch sparging is the easiest way to sparge as a homebrewer, there's really not much need to do a continuous (fly) sparge. Just drain your mash tun completely, then add all of your hot sparge water to the remaining grain. Easy.

 

[Smokey21]

Thanks for your replies.

I took your advice and drained my mash tun and added the sparge water to this, I think I was trying to over complicate it.

I don't have a great deal of equipment at this stage. I mashed in a 8 gallon pan. I drained my mash into a sanatized fermentation bucket, I used a large jug to take the liquid out of the pan, I then added my sparge water to the grain in the pan, removed my grain bag and added the mash water for the boil.

Given the equipment I have is this the best way to do it?

Thanks

 

[SilverZero]

Oh, so are you doing a BIAB? Regardless, your method is probably fine. Basically, you just need to mash the grains at the right temperature to get all the starches converted and extracted. However you can make room for a sparge volume to rinse out all the sugars that are still hanging on to the grains, is just fine. As you expand your hobby you'll have larger vessels to do full mashes in, but the principle never changes.