Suggestions on no/little equipment sparging

[azazel1024]

I recently started brewing and I wanted to get in to partial mash and all grain brewing. Yesterday was my very first all grain brewing. I did a 2.5G batch because I have almost no equipment for sparging.

I have zero large stainless pots. I have a 12qt ceramic coated pot and a 6qt ceramic pot.

I also don't have a cooler.

Basically I did, what I believe to be, an English sparge.

I mashed in the 12qt pot, 7qts water and 5.75# malted grains. The grains were in a "brew in a bag" 24x24 nylon bag. 148-153F for 60min (I was not able to keep as fine a control over temperature as I had hoped) stirring about every 5 minutes after doughing in. I then raised the temperature to 170F and turned the heat off. I then held and drained the mash for several minutes until the drippings slowed to almost a stop.

I think dunked it in to the 6qt ceramic pot with 2qts of water at 170F for 10 minutes. Removed and drained. I dumped the wort in to the main pot, put 1qt of 170F water back in the 6qt pot and drunked a final time for 5 minutes, removed and drained and dumped the wort in to the main pot and then threw the spent malt in my compost pile outback.

So, with that said, any suggestions with limited equipment how I might improve efficiency?

My final OG was 1.062, but I also added a pound of honey (which I think would have raised it around .016 for 2.5G if my math is right). So the contribution from the malt was .046. I have no idea what efficiency that makes my process. I taste no extracted tanins pre/post adding honey to the boil.

The malt used was 4.5# pale, .5# Crystal 80l, .25# brown, .25# chocolate, .25# roasted barley.

At some point I need to get a couple of larger stainless steel pots, a cooler and the equipment to do fly sparging. However, other than one or more larger stainless steel pots, that is probably several months to a year in the future.

In the mean time most of my brewing is probably going to continue to be extract brewing with specialty grains as well as partial mash, with the occasional 2.5G all grain batch in there.

 

[45thparallelhopper]

I know it can be expensive, but I would get at least one large stainless kettle( size based on the batch size you are going for), a mash tun(sparge arm optional for now), wort chiller(plenty on the market and lots of DIY posts on the forum for making your own).
If it was me, I would go with a mash tun first, but I'm no expert or forum guru

 

[jvanraay]

One good place to start is Craigslist. It took me awhile, but eventually found 3 10 gallon igloo coolers and a five gallon cooler (she sold all together) for $40. Then bought false bottom for it the 10 gal. cooler. I eventually bought a direct fire mash tun, HLT from Morebeer deal of the day etc. I've also bought a few glass carboys among other things from Craigslist. It took awhile, but keep looking for deals online and with a little ingenuity you can have a nice set up that will work for you.

 

[Wynne-R]

You could put a manifold in a bottling bucket. I have been doing this for years. I upgraded to a ball valve, but this would get you going. Kinda like a Zappap, but works a lot better.

 

[Odin_Brews]

I heat strike water in my kettle. while mashing (cooler with stainless steel braid) I heat sparge water with kettle. Then I run wort into my fermentation bucket, sparge #1 continue filling ferm bucket. On sparge 2 my kettle is empty so I can transfer wort into the kettle and run my second sparge into the kettle with the heat on full bore to get me up to boiling faster. 75% efficiency but a bit more work and cleaning than neccessary, ah well, I have the time.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I do BIAB with no sparge vessel. Get a 5 gallon Homer bucket and drilled a series of holes in the botom. Place it into a 7.5 gallon fermenter and set the bag in it after you pull it out of the kettle as you are bringing the wort to a boil. The weight of the grains will press very rich runnings out of the grains. Pour it into the kettle. If your volumes are still low, you can heat and pour additional water over the bag. Don't forget to squeeze that sucker like it owes you beer. Rubber gloves or a pot lid will allow you to squeeze longer.

 

[azazel1024]

I thought squeezing was a no-no? Or is that only with "specialty" grains?

I have been trolling craigslist for a couple of weeks now with no luck.

Sounds like my first purchase probably should be a mash tun. Trying to do it on the stove top was not a wild success and also meant 60 minutes of standing around fiddling with the heat, thermometer and stiring occasionally to make sure that the temp wasn't going too high or too low.

 

[JayDubWill]

lots of good ideas here. when I was first starting out I used to set a large collander over my brew kettle and set the grain bag on it. I then sprinkled the hot water over it to sparge. I have this 10 gallon aluminum pot from Amazon ($48) and it works greats for all grain and full boil batches. One piece of advice I would give is to not short change yourself. I've bought the same thing more than once "scaling up." For example I would have saved money if I had just bought the 10 gallon pot in the first place instead of the 5 gallon.

 

[azazel1024]

Any suggestions on what to use to sprinkle water? Just lightly pour it out of a pot? Or are we talking like a spray bottle?

I think I actually have a collander that would work well to set the grain bag in. I do need a much bigger brew pot.

Just going back and forth between a bigger brew pot first or a mash tun first. I am thinking if I want to try high gravity beers (at least 5G batches and not 2.5G) I am going to have to get the larger brew pot first.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Next time try putting your kettle with the mash in a warm oven during the hour rest, it will keep the temp nice and steady.

An easier if slightly less efficient method for 2.5 gallon batches would be to mash in your 12 qt pot, at the end of the mash add 170 degree water to almost fill the kettle, and stir and let sit a bit then stir again prior to removing the grain, doing only one drain of the grains, perhaps slightly less efficient but easier. and likely less than a pound of grain difference.

Look for a 10 gallon aluminum or stainless pot on craigslist...or even a 7 gallon turkey fryer with a burner and then you can either get a MT or try a BIAB.

cheers!

 

[DrunkleJon]

I thought squeezing was a no-no? Or is that only with "specialty" grains?

I have been trolling craigslist for a couple of weeks now with no luck.

Sounds like my first purchase probably should be a mash tun. Trying to do it on the stove top was not a wild success and also meant 60 minutes of standing around fiddling with the heat, thermometer and stiring occasionally to make sure that the temp wasn't going too high or too low.

Squeezing does not release tannins. That is a mash PH thing. Squeeze away. Dont forget to squeeze the Charmin.

If you want to do AG with minimal equipment on the stove, I used this method to great effect. Very well written, lotsa pictures and made an amazing beer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

 

[azazel1024]

Thanks for the link!

I saw one of his other "How To's" on partial mash cooking and that is what I was attempting to copy, unfortunately without large enough pots.

I did just check and Amazon has a 24qt thick walled aluminum pot + lid seperate for $47. I think I am going to pick it up.

I did read the sticky on pros/cons of various things. It sounds like Aluminum is a bit more finicky, but should be fine? It is unlikely that I am going to moving to a gas burner setup anytime soon (ever?). Just convection cook top. Maybe down the line I'll get an induction stove (a dream of mine), but that probably isn't for 10 years+ on a planned future house renovation.

Would a 24qt pot be a good starting size? Its not likely that I'll ever do more than 5 gallon batches and most likely anything over 2.5G is going to be either partial mash or extract for the next few years. I am generally fine with all grain being only 2.5G batches (besides, the smaller the batch, the greater the excuse for my wife on having to brew again).

 

[JayDubWill]

Any suggestions on what to use to sprinkle water? Just lightly pour it out of a pot? Or are we talking like a spray bottle?

I think I actually have a collander that would work well to set the grain bag in. I do need a much bigger brew pot.

Just going back and forth between a bigger brew pot first or a mash tun first. I am thinking if I want to try high gravity beers (at least 5G batches and not 2.5G) I am going to have to get the larger brew pot first.

I used a soup ladle and took my time with it. As far as the brew pot or the mash tun first, if you had the mash tun you wanted do you have something big enough to boil the collected wort? Keep in mind for a 5 gallon batch I generally collect 6.5~7 gallons of wort. You could do smaller all grain batches but even for a 2.5 gallon batch you need 3.5~4 gallons of wort to account for the 60 minute boil.
You will need to figure out your evaporation loss as it varies place to place and even season to season if you live in a place like I do (gulf coast) where the humidity differance between summer and winter is like 60%.

 

[DrunkleJon]

yeah for 2.5 gal full boil a 24 qt (6 gal) pot should be plenty. I have a thick walled aluminum stock pot that I do full boils on and have no problems. Just boil regular water in it first to build up an oxide layer and you are fine. I have no fear of aluminum.