I've got 7 AG batches under my belt at this point and I'm getting my efficency pretty well dialed in (just bought a grain mill to improve consistency, retailer crush has been all over the place). At this point I'm trying to improve my process and I've got the following question about water usage:
Can I drain the ~8" of water to 2-3" above the grain bed (mostly due to the mashout water addition) before sparging without hurting efficiency?
Would less water over the grain bed in the mash tun be a way to improve efficiency somewhat?
Here's some background info, if you want it:
I've been using a mash thickness of ~1.5 qt/lb to prevent stuck sparges, etc. I've also been mashing out, which can require a fair amount of water.
For example, my last batch had an 11.75 lb grain bill. So my mash water was ~18 qts and the mash out water was ~11 qts (in order to get the mash temp up). So all up, my mash tun contained about 7.25 gal of water. For sparge water I heated an additional 6 gal (based on 2qts/lb)
When I go to sparge, the grain bed usually has about 8" of water over it. Over the process of sparging, i keep the water level pretty much constant until closer to the end when I run out of sparge water but still need a bit more to reach my pre-boil volume (usually around 6.75gal). Even then there's still about 5-6" of water left above the grain bed. So I end up draining quite a bit of left over, low-sugar water (<1.020) from the mash tun at the end of the day.
Can I drain the ~8" of water to 2-3" above the grain bed (mostly due to the mashout water addition) before sparging without hurting efficiency?
Would less water over the grain bed in the mash tun be a way to improve efficiency somewhat?
Here's some background info, if you want it:
I've been using a mash thickness of ~1.5 qt/lb to prevent stuck sparges, etc. I've also been mashing out, which can require a fair amount of water.
For example, my last batch had an 11.75 lb grain bill. So my mash water was ~18 qts and the mash out water was ~11 qts (in order to get the mash temp up). So all up, my mash tun contained about 7.25 gal of water. For sparge water I heated an additional 6 gal (based on 2qts/lb)
When I go to sparge, the grain bed usually has about 8" of water over it. Over the process of sparging, i keep the water level pretty much constant until closer to the end when I run out of sparge water but still need a bit more to reach my pre-boil volume (usually around 6.75gal). Even then there's still about 5-6" of water left above the grain bed. So I end up draining quite a bit of left over, low-sugar water (<1.020) from the mash tun at the end of the day.