Sparging Correctly for maximum efficiency

[Django-Parker]

My questions is mainly about the flow of fly sparging from the hot liquor tank to the mash tun, as well as the mash tun to the boiling pot. Many have said that it should be 45 minutes minimum (after vorlauf). Does that mean that it should be a very slow flow coming from both of those pots? I would assume the arm on the ball valve would need to be around 10% or less to prevent the 1" of water above the grain bed to stay for 45+ minutes.

Also, my friend and I have been using a silicone hose that flows the sparge water into the mash tun (1" above the grain bed), but it obviously hits one area. I've heard that one should have that flow be equally dispersed throughout the entire grain bed to extract more out of the grains. Is there some sort of contraption or a method that any of you long time brewers use to let the hot water gently flow over all of the grains? We're definitely coming a few percentages of ABV short the last 3-4 batches and are trying to get the right efficiency/yield from the grains.

Our system is this:
10 gallon Bayou mash tun with false bottom and ball valve
Two - 8 gallon kettles with ball valves
Silicon hoses
We use gravity (placing each kettle above the next) for the fly sparging.

I really appreciate any help or comments. We're trying to get a better efficiency. Thank you!

 

[bracconiere]

this is my sparge rate....don't keep track of minutes...

(if you want better efficiency try doing a second step at 160-162f....bumped my efficiency up a few points....)

 

[bracconiere]

Is there some sort of contraption or a method that any of you long time brewers use to let the hot water gently flow over all of the grains?

didn't catch that.....lol, you mean a spaghetti strainer? or in other words a colander?

edit: i can say i've been brewing for 14-15 years and still use a colander....

 

[Django-Parker]

View attachment 653598

this is my sparge rate....don't keep track of minutes...

(if you want better efficiency try doing a second step at 160-162f....bumped my efficiency up a few points....)

Thank you for your reply.

When you wrote second step, do you mean another amount of sparge water after the initial sparging?

Also, are you putting the colander directly on top of the grain bed?

I'm still new to some techniques, so I appreciate all the help I can get. Thank you.

 

[day_trippr]

- fwiw, if there's a standard wrt fly sparging, it'd be "1 quart per minute".
- wrt introducing sparge liquor, it wants to flow at the same rate so the grain bed remains covered with an inch or so of liquor
- there are "autosparge" valves that will maintain the wort height in the MLT as wort is drawn off. I use a Blichmann autosparge and it works perfectly, I only have to control the MLT outflow and the autosparge handles the rest. The autosparge does rely on a floating silicone hose but it works wonderfully with no significant gouging of the grain bed...

Cheers!

 

[Robert65]

This article explains the fundamental principles that need to be addressed in lautering, which apply no matter the configuration of your system. Understanding them will allow you to optimize your own system.

http://brewlikeapro.net/lautering.html

 

[bracconiere]

Thank you for your reply.

When you wrote second step, do you mean another amount of sparge water after the initial sparging?

Also, are you putting the colander directly on top of the grain bed?

I'm still new to some techniques, so I appreciate all the help I can get. Thank you.

when i do my second step for alpha amylase, i just draw off wort from the mash tun, bring it to a boil then add back, stir it in, until the mash is at 160-162f, then hold it there for a while before sparging.....i'm still not sure why it gives me a boost though, if it's alpha amylase or more complete gel'ing of the starches, but it helps...i get 83% without it, and 89% with it.....(store bought malt)

 

[doug293cz]

If you really want to understand why your efficiency is coming in below expectations, you need to know if your conversion efficiency or your lauter efficiency is low (it could also be both.)

Mash Efficiency (or pre-boil efficiency) = Conversion Efficiency * Lauter Efficiency
Conversion Efficiency = Amount of Sugar Created in Mash / Total Potential Sugar in Grain
Lauter Efficiency = Amount of Sugar in BK / Amount of Sugar Created in Mash​

Your sparge process only affects lauter efficiency. Determine conversion efficiency with the method here. Most brewing software will calculate your mash efficiency for you. Then calculate lauter efficiency as: Lauter Efficiency = Mash Efficiency / Conversion Efficiency.

Your target conversion efficiency should be above 95%, and 100% is possible. If your conversion efficiency is low you can try a finer crush (as fine as you can make it without getting a stuck sparge), mashing longer, or adding some higher temp mash steps to get faster (finer crush) or more conversion (others.)

Your target lauter efficiency should be above the highest solid line (green) in the chart below, since fly sparging is more efficient than batch sparging if done well.

You don't have to distribute the sparge water evenly across the top of the grain bed, as long as you have at least an inch of water above the grain bed, and the method that you use to add water doesn't disturb the top of the grain bed. You should set your flow with the MLT outlet valve. Then add water as needed to keep at least on inch above the grain bed. If you have trouble getting a perfectly matched flow rate, it's okay to let the level above the grain bed get higher (say two inches), let it drain back to one inch, and then add more water.

You will have to do multiple brews to see how fast you can sparge on your system before you start seeing decreases in lauter efficiency. Everyone's system is a little different, and there is no specific flow rate, or time that will be optimal for everyone.

You didn't give any information about your grain bill, pre-boil volume, pre-boil SG, or mash efficiency. If you provided this information, we could give you some idea of how far below a reasonable target your efficiency is.

Brew on

 

[kevin58]

I would just batch sparge. The difference in efficiency is minimal.

 

[SourLover]

- there are "autosparge" valves that will maintain the wort height in the MLT as wort is drawn off. I use a Blichmann autosparge and it works perfectly, I only have to control the MLT outflow and the autosparge handles the rest. The autosparge does rely on a floating silicone hose but it works wonderfully with no significant gouging of the grain bed...

day-trippr - Dialing in my sparge process is high on my priority list, and I was planning on ordering the Blichmann product. Are you using yours with a pump, or by gravity? I'm assuming it will work both ways? I'm thinking I could use it by gravity on my current three tier set up, or better yet, if I could pump to it, I could just leave the HLT right on the stove next to the MLT and just pump over to the MLT. I spend a little to much time checking and adjusting valves throughout the sparge process so it sure would be nice to dial it in better and streamline it a bit.

 

[Bobby_M]

I would only fly sparge in two circumstances.

1. If you run a RIMS or HERMS system.
2. If you have a way of starting the boil with only a couple gallons collected. If you wait until the kettle is full before you're able to start heating, forget that.

If you correctly keep an inch or two of water over the grain, the method of delivering the sparge water is meaningless as long as it doesn't dig a hole into the grain from the force. Otherwise just keep it gentle.

 

[day_trippr]

day-trippr - Dialing in my sparge process is high on my priority list, and I was planning on ordering the Blichmann product. Are you using yours with a pump, or by gravity? I'm assuming it will work both ways?[...]

I run a 2 pump 3 vessel herms rig, and the autosparge takes its input from the output of the hex, the input of which is pumped.
I've never run a gravity feed to the autosparge, but if there was enough head I expect it would work as designed...

Cheers! (fwiw, I always fire up the bk burner once there are a couple of gallons from the fly sparge in it )

 

[SourLover]

Bobby_M & day-trippr:

Thank you both for the information. I didn't even think of starting the boil in advance of collecting ALL of the wort. Knowing that I can pump directly from my HLT to the autosparge, I can actually run out of my MLT differently than I do now, and start the boil much sooner. Hopefully I can get an improvement on efficiency in addition to some time savings.