to batch or fly

[doug293cz]

thanks for all the info guys, i love this site
ive been brewing for about 4 years, more specific 20 batches or so,and all my knowledge is from reading, you tube and HBT, so im trying to perfect my simple system, on my own, therefore, i might make some small mistakes that affect effiency. heres how i did the fly sparge

mashed @ 130 for 15 mins
infused hot water, got mash to 155, let sit at 155 for 60 mins, about 1.4 qt/lb
mash in 1 gal @170 stired voloffed and started running
introduced fly spargeing right away and ran till kettle full

should i have emptied the tun first, introduced the sparge water, stirred again , vorloffed and then fly?

Draining the tun completely, and then adding the sparge water is batch sparging. Batch sparging is a perfectly good method, easier to get good results with (no worries about channeling), and used by many. Stirring before each run-off is very important when batch sparging.

For fly sparging you can stir before vorlauf, but never after vorlauf (since stirring undoes what you accomplished with the vorlauf.) if there are more than two inches of liquid above the grain bed at the end of the mash, then it's recommended to drain enough to drop the liquid height above the grain bed to 1" - 2" prior to starting the trickle of sparge water, and then maintain the 1" - 2" liquid level throughout the sparge.

Brew on

 

[SilverZero]

I am going back to batch sparging (drain the mash, add the sparge water, stir and vorlauf, drain sparge water) because it's easier, faster, and is easier to calculate volumes from. Not to mention I'm getting all of those sugars in suspension into the kettle, instead of just getting a progressively thinner concentration from a fly sparge until I reach boil volume. Fly sparging always leaves me with a bunch of liquor in the mash tun that I have to drain and discard anyway, and it's always got enough color to it that I know I'm throwing out a lot of sugar. I'm all about quality over quantity, but I don't like feeling wasteful.

 

[day_trippr]

I don't think that's an accurate characterization of how a fly sparge works, as when done correctly with appropriate gear the extract efficiency will assuredly be higher than batch sparging.

Otoh, done improperly or with gear not up to the task extract efficiency can go all fubar...

Cheers!

 

[SilverZero]

I don't think that's an accurate characterization of how a fly sparge works, as when done correctly with appropriate gear the extract efficiency will assuredly be higher than batch sparging.

Otoh, done improperly or with gear not up to the task extract efficiency can go all fubar...

Cheers!

I agree, but I haven't figured out where I'm going wrong on my system (eHERMS) and my brew days are getting too long as it is. I'm personally more inclined to just batch sparge, knowing I get great results that way from past experience. I'm still getting my system figured out after building a new electric rig, so there are a lot 9f variables.

 

[applescrap]

Worked great , the problem is i got the exact same OG as when i double batch sparged. What gives?

My first thought to your question was this. Imho the answer to this question is that many things that people think matter, actually do not in the grand scheme of things. Yes there are sure to be some plausible variations in flavor and efficiency points but ultimately the grain will release its sugar and with some effort the brewer will get that sweet liquor into the boil kettle. Consider this, here on hbt, some brewers have done 20 min mashes and others have done overnight mashes. On this thread sparge arms, herms, coolers, garden hoses, fast runnoff, slow run off and other techniques have been discussed. Ultimately imo it seems most end up going towards wharever calls to them: ease, convenience, building a system, joy, cheap, or quick for examples. As I always say though, one can rub hop oil on their chest and dance with their kettle in the moonlight but in the end it just is what it is.

All that being said what interests me would be blind trianle tastings of the same beers. I think brulosophy did batch vs fly and people could tell the difference in the brews. Same recipe batch v fly, batch v biab, fly v biab, 20 min v 60min, 60 v 90, decoction v batch and so on. This is contradictory to saying that some of these things don't matter in the grand scheme of things. I guess I am saying that overall efficiency probably won't be that big of a difference especially since grain is so cheap on The Homebrew level. But I'm not sure what we know as a matter of fact about the different flavors of all these processes. And that being said just because there is a difference in flavor doesn't mean that difference is bad. Also even if there is a little flavor difference how much convenience and time is one willing to commit for that small difference. Even if I knew fly sparging was a little better than my Brew in a bag process flavor wise; that difference would have to be massive to make me switch.

 

[BonsaiBrewer]

yup, applescrap, your right. shes happily chugging away so i have made beer, it will be drinkable. I guess it comes down to how involved you want to be, im pretty happy with my ghetto set up, just trying to dial it in.
On a side note , i just watched a u tube of a guy "fly sparging" with a ladle and cottage cheese container with holes, sooooo..... matter of preference.

 

[BonsaiBrewer]

if anybody cares, i will reply to myself
i just brewed a pale ale, i adjusted my manifold for my lauter tun, i have copper pie with slats, it was just a rectangle before now i made it with pipes running through the center of the rectangle giving more even lautering, I think! and , again i tried the fly sparge, this time instead of just letting water run over the top,(with some parchment to prevent tunneling), I actually had a sprinkler like arm and moved it around while sparging. This gave me an extraction eff, of like 83%. I forgot to measure preboil last time so nothing to compare, but, my brewhouse eff went up to 76% and as far as i could tell i was only getting around 66% before( with the batch sparge). I know before yall bust my chops, this is not very scientific, because i changed too many things at once, but hey, Im improving my set up, so much so I am going to have a bit strong of an APA, it came in at 1.061OG

any way i like the fly cause i dont have to fiddle with setting the grain bed every time, but to each his own