Batch Sparging Help
Northern Ike wrote:
Corky, you should try Brewchez' technique of doing a mashout with the first running of wort. He recommends about 1.5 gallons at about 200F. Check out page 1 of this thread.
From my experience last weekend, and my set up, 1.5 gallons @ 200F is not enough to heat the mash up to 170F. I am going to try 2 - 2.5 gallons at 200F next time.
I think the mashout -- if you're not doing one already -- should kick you up a few efficiency points.
Glad to hear of your successes! The other thing you can do to raise your mash to mashout is simply add another infusion of hot liquor when ready fo MO. If you normally mash say 1.25 per # of grain, say you mash 12# total of grain. Instead of adding 15 qts to your initial mash you can add 12 qts, mash a little thick, then add another 6 qts of near boiling to bring the mash temp up, that will now give you a 1.5 per qt mashout, if still not at 168, then runoff what you need to to heat and recycle. This will give you a headstart.
Northern Ike wrote:
I use a 50 quart Igloo Icecube for my tun
I have not all grain brewed yet, but I have done a lot of homework, according to the Palmer book, you should use a smaller cooler for for a 5 gal. batch for your mash/lauter tun, or else your grain bed gets too thin for a decent extraction. Like a 24 quart cooler. Could that have be an issue? Sorry if I'm way off.
firewater wrote:
Northern Ike wrote:
I use a 50 quart Igloo Icecube for my tun
I have not all grain brewed yet, but I have done a lot of homework, according to the Palmer book, you should use a smaller cooler for for a 5 gal. batch for your mash/lauter tun, or else your grain bed gets too thin for a decent extraction. Like a 24 quart cooler. Could that have be an issue? Sorry if I'm way off.
I hit 75% efficiency rate using the above techniques. I am pretty happy with this rate. I am confident that my tun is a good fit for what I'm doing.
You make a valid point about cooler size. This was a key decision when I decided to go with the Igloo Ice Cube. The beauty of an Ice Cube -- versus a standard, rectangular 50 quart -- is the very small footprint in comparison to total volume. This allows for a sufficiently deep grain bed, even for 5 gallon batches. At the same time, I can bump up to 10 gallon batches without skipping a beat.]
firewater wrote:
Northern Ike wrote:
I use a 50 quart Igloo Icecube for my tun
I have not all grain brewed yet, but I have done a lot of homework, according to the Palmer book, you should use a smaller cooler for for a 5 gal. batch for your mash/lauter tun, or else your grain bed gets too thin for a decent extraction. Like a 24 quart cooler. Could that have be an issue? Sorry if I'm way off.
These are great thoughts and practices. But good beer can be had in one cooler. Its just matter of trial and experimentation to know how your rig react with different batch sizez and gravities. I have made 10 gallons of Belgian Tripel and 5 gallons of English bitter in my 50QT Cube Igloo. But I have to be wary of my mash thickness and my sparging volumes for both extremes.
Everyone like pictures right...they came out huge...so I did some type of post onto photobucket. Not very technically savvy.
I love Igloo Ice Cubes!
I got about a 7% jump by doing a mashout. The thing that really tipped the balance for me was milling my own grain, 15% or so jump. I've been experimenting with how finely I can mill. The last batch I did I hit 78% without getting any sort of stuck sparge. I don't know yet how clear the beer is, but I am kegging it tomorrow night and will be able to see soon. This weekend I'll crank down the mill a bit more. My thought is just keep going a little more each time until I hit a problem and then lighten up a little. My LHBS's mill is set to crack grain so lightly that what I am milling looks like flour compared to it.
Can someone clear up this question for me? What is the difference between fly sparging and batch sparging? I am moving to AG and want to get info on both before I do.Thanks
Fly sparging is rinsing the grains with a continous stream of water sprinkled over the grain bed......Batch sparging is draining your wort and adding a new infusion of water and draining again......google fly vs batch sparging and you will find a wealth of info....
http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/
thanks!