plankbr
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to share some tips that have helped me achieve higher efficiency with each brew batch sparging, the latest being 80%! It's taken me ~10 brews to achieve this through trial and error and a boatload of reading! I'm just trying to save you some time. My equipment consists of a 10 gallon Rubbermaid converted cooler from HD. I make 5 gallon batches. My pre-boil wort is always 6.5 gallons. I typically boil 1.25 gallons (60 minute boils) off to achieve 5.25 gallons post-boil.
1) Strike water: I use an app called Sparge Pal (free on smart phones) to calculate approximate strike water amounts and temperature. Depending on the grain bill, you will need to modify some settings. 1.25 qt/gal just didn't seem to cut it for me, so I bumped my amount to 1.5 qt/gal and couldn't be happier. This results in a 'soupier' mash but, hey, it's working better!
2) Strike temp: I usually mash around 152* and Sparge Pal says I need to use 163* water to achieve this. I usually preheat mash water to ~168*-170*, pour into mashtun, cover, let it sit for about 10 minutes to warm up the vessel, open lid, stir water, and then add grain. Temperature settles nicely to ~152* (+/-1*).
3) Mash: I mash for 60 minutes. I stir the grain like it's my biotch on mash-in, and subsequently stir thoroughly every 15 minutes, while checking temperature to see if it's maintaining (which it always is). I even stir right before I vorlauf and drain the first runnings. This 'stir' process has helped me boost efficiency more than anything Vorlauf and drain.
4) Sparge: With my last 2 batches, I have double sparged. My first runnings usually get me anywhere from 2.5-3 gallons. I always heat up roughly 4 gallons of sparge water to ~180*.
5) Boil and complete the process as you normally would.
I have seriously racked my brain as to why my numbers were coming up short. These few simple steps, IMHO, have helped me achieve 76-80% efficiency in my last 2 batches. I am happy hitting these numbers and hope to consistently achieve this on future batches. I hope this helps as refining my processes have definitely helped me! Enjoy!
:rockin:
1) Strike water: I use an app called Sparge Pal (free on smart phones) to calculate approximate strike water amounts and temperature. Depending on the grain bill, you will need to modify some settings. 1.25 qt/gal just didn't seem to cut it for me, so I bumped my amount to 1.5 qt/gal and couldn't be happier. This results in a 'soupier' mash but, hey, it's working better!
2) Strike temp: I usually mash around 152* and Sparge Pal says I need to use 163* water to achieve this. I usually preheat mash water to ~168*-170*, pour into mashtun, cover, let it sit for about 10 minutes to warm up the vessel, open lid, stir water, and then add grain. Temperature settles nicely to ~152* (+/-1*).
3) Mash: I mash for 60 minutes. I stir the grain like it's my biotch on mash-in, and subsequently stir thoroughly every 15 minutes, while checking temperature to see if it's maintaining (which it always is). I even stir right before I vorlauf and drain the first runnings. This 'stir' process has helped me boost efficiency more than anything Vorlauf and drain.
4) Sparge: With my last 2 batches, I have double sparged. My first runnings usually get me anywhere from 2.5-3 gallons. I always heat up roughly 4 gallons of sparge water to ~180*.
a) Sparge 1: I add 2 gallons of water to the mashtun. Stir rigorously again, vorlauf and drain. This will yield me ~4.5 gallons of wort.
b) Sparge 2: I add the remaining 2 gallons of water to the mashtun. Stir rigorously again, vorlauf and drain. This will yield me ~6.5 gallons of wort.
b) Sparge 2: I add the remaining 2 gallons of water to the mashtun. Stir rigorously again, vorlauf and drain. This will yield me ~6.5 gallons of wort.
5) Boil and complete the process as you normally would.
I have seriously racked my brain as to why my numbers were coming up short. These few simple steps, IMHO, have helped me achieve 76-80% efficiency in my last 2 batches. I am happy hitting these numbers and hope to consistently achieve this on future batches. I hope this helps as refining my processes have definitely helped me! Enjoy!
:rockin:
While the process may be 'fairly standard', I think many AG brewers starting out might encounter these frustrations while developing and fine-tuning their processes. Some steps could be missed along the way and I was simply lending a few thoughts. Like most of us, I believe fine-tuning is more evolutionary through research and trial and error. If this helps anyone starting out getting a head start, it sure can't hurt.
