Sparging on Partial mash for an Imperial IPA

[xxkiskekyxx]

I'm new to this and I've seen so much information on how to sparge properly at home and get a halfway decent extraction efficiency that I'm at a loss on how to proceed. There are very elaborate setups but I'm not in a position to build one of them. I saw a few ways to do it effectively using a cylindrical or rectangular cooler but I'm not really understanding the grain bed concept or false bottoms. I've never seen a rectangular cooler with a false bottom or understand the need for one. Also There are so many different techniques on sparging I'm not sure which one to choose. Any help?

 

[bobbrews]

Try the BIAB method (Brew-In-A-Bag).

All you need is a nylon mesh bag to hold the grain. Mash-in, in a smaller kettle for the allotted time/temp/volume, and then after an hour, dip your spent grain bag in the larger kettle containing approx. 170 F plain water. This sort of acts like a mashout + sparge for BIAB brewers. Afterward, place the spent grain bag in a large bowl (or hang it above the bowl), let it drip, and pour any residual runnings back into the main kettle. I consistently get 75-80% mash efficiency with this method. As a side benefit, clean up is also much easier. These bags usually come in sets of two, so you could use the other bag to hold your boil hops.

Since partial mash brewers have less control over controlling body/dryness/abv than all grain brewers, I recommend mashing real low for this beer style (the mid to upper 140s F). The extract may balance out the "real" mash temp to approx 151 F. Let me know if you need any advice on the recipe. I brew PM IIPAs all the time.

 

[xxkiskekyxx]

Try the BIAB method (Brew-In-A-Bag).

All you need is a nylon mesh bag to hold the grain. Mash-in, in a smaller kettle for the allotted time/temp/volume, and then after an hour, dip your spent grain bag in the larger kettle containing approx. 170 F plain water. This sort of acts like a mashout + sparge for BIAB brewers. Afterward, place the spent grain bag in a large bowl (or hang it above the bowl), let it drip, and pour any residual runnings back into the main kettle. I consistently get 75-80% mash efficiency with this method. As a side benefit, clean up is also much easier. These bags usually come in sets of two, so you could use the other bag to hold your boil hops.

Since partial mash brewers have less control over controlling body/dryness/abv than all grain brewers, I recommend mashing real low for this beer style (the mid to upper 140s F). The extract may balance out the "real" mash temp to approx 151 F. Let me know if you need any advice on the recipe. I brew PM IIPAs all the time.

Thank you so much your info is invaluable.

 

[pgrebus]

The general rule of thumb is that 5 lbs. of grain is the max for a mini-mash. If you want to go beyond that, building a mash tun will make sense. Brew magazine has a decent DIY walkthrough to build one - a cooler, some copper piping, and a saw.

Pete

 

[xxkiskekyxx]

It's only 2.5 lb so I think I'm pretty good