Extract efficiency vs sparge steps

[DVCNick]

I'm about to do my second ten gallon batch.
My mashtun is 10 gallons, so I need three total drain steps to get to my full preboil volume. (My five gallon batches are usually two smaller drain steps, but can sometimes do one if I wanted to with a light grain bill).

Anyhow, on my first 10 gallon batch, everything else equal, my extract efficiency went from ~76 to 82%. Enough to change the numbers a little bit. I'd also added a little bit more than just doubling of the grain to get the calculators to give me numbers that matched the 5 gallon batch, so in the end I started 6 points higher OG than I really wanted to based on the recipe.

My question, was this some kind of one-off quirky batch, or should I assume that I'm going to get a similar increase in efficiency any time I'm doing a 10 gallon batch with three drain steps in the mash?

 

[Keith81]

With batch sparging each additional sparge should rinse more sugars assuming that the previous step left some behind, so from that aspect yes you should see added efficiency from the extra step.

However, I only do 5 gallon batches so I don't have experience with the grain bills required for 10 gallon batches so depending on the rest of your setup and processes the additional grains could impact your overall efficiency numbers.

 

[rburrelli]

You likely got a little better with the sparging, but you will have to see on the next brew if it is a consistent thing or just a one-off. Then dial in from there going forward.

 

[LittleRiver]

Here's something that @doug293cz has created and posted that may be helpful.

It'll give you a good idea of the difference you can expect between 0, 1, 2, or 3 sparge steps.

 

[doug293cz]

With batch sparging each additional sparge should rinse more sugars assuming that the previous step left some behind, so from that aspect yes you should see added efficiency from the extra step.

...

There is always sugar left with the spent grains after draining, no matter how many sparge steps you use. That's why lauter efficiency can never be 100%. As a general rule, the remaining sugar is significantly less after each subsequent sparge step. The more sparge steps, the less remaining sugar at the end of lautering. See my chart in the post above.

Brew on