New to ag brewing, Sparging questions.

[THURN1S_HALEY]

So..im new to all grain and I've not been able to find definitive answers to these questions, maybe someone can help. Sorry for the noob questions in advance.

What is the actual definition of batch sparging, fly sparging, and mash in/ mash out?

Also, the step by step processes on how to do each, and the effects of each on your final product.

I appreciate any help you can give. I've brewed a bunch of nice partial mashes with bags but I'm looking to move up with the big timers and lower my ingredient cost in the process.

Cheers!

 

[dawgmatic]

Take a look at the wiki. You can find quite an abundance of info there

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Mashing

 

[RonPopeil]

mash in/out. mashing in is when you add grain to water. step one. you overshoot your goal water temp so when you add the cold (room temp) grain you get your target temp (fingers crossed). you then stir out the balls(blobs) of grain and let it settle. depending on style/recipe the amount of water used is anywhere from 1 to 2 qts of water per lb of grain. generally 1.5 is recommended. this typically sits for an hour in the mash tun. 30 minutes is technically sufficient but 60 is more common just to be thorough. after 60mins you start to drain into the kettle.

mashing out is also called sparging. again you over shoot your water temp a little so when you add it to the grain bed/mash tun it reaches your target temp. in a batch sparge you add all the water to the mash tun at once and let it settle for 20-30 mins then drain it out as normal. in a fly sparge you continually add sparge water through a collander/grate/screen/etc while the mash tun is draining thus sparging on the fly or fly sparging. again drain into your kettle.

the idea behind sparging is that there's still sugars sitting in the grain bed. more-so true for larger grain bills. by rinsing the grain again with water hot enough to move the sugars yet too hot for enzymatic actions to continue you're able to collect the sugars left in the mash tun and add that to your first collection of wort. by this time you should have your boil volume which is generally .5 gallons more than your final volume for every 60mins of boil time. ymmv depending on equipment and accuracy of boil.

there's also a twist to the batch sparge worth mentioning. it's called a partigyle. basically you do two seperate batch sparges and instead of combining the two into one collection you collect them seperately and make two beers out of them. this is mostly for when you make a really big beer (at least 1.080 OG i only bother when i do 1.1~ OG brews like big IPA's and barleywines). you collect your first run and boil that then collect your second run and do a second boil from that wort. in this method you will end up with one big beer and one very light beer. there's some tricks to this as well like mashing for shorter times. as mentioned before 30mins is usually enough to convert sugar from grain. if you plan on a partigyle brew mash in for 45mins or so rather than 60 just to give yourself some room. soaking your grain for too long will extract tannins so 45 +30 for your sparge water to settle on your second collection is really all the time you want to expose the grain. sometimes you will need to add extract or steep grains to bump your OG up enough to end up with a wort worthwhile. the point is you can get two full batches and offset the cost of making the bigger beers. if you're not a cheakskate then save this for when you want to spend all day brewing.

 

[boilerbrewer]

Couple things...
Following your mash, before you drain your mash tun, you perform the mash out. The purpose of the mash out is to stop enzymatic activity to preserve the wort sugars profile. This is really more important if you are fly sparging which can take a considerable amount of time. You want to hit about 170F and rest for 10-15 minutes. Then vorlauf (run some into a pitcher until it is clear and return it to you tun) and run out your first runnings. After this you sparge.
Also, mashing for extended periods (at mash temps) does not extract tannins. Some homebrewers even mash over night.

 

[RonPopeil]

Couple things...
Following your mash, before you drain your mash tun, you perform the mash out. The purpose of the mash out is to stop enzymatic activity to preserve the wort sugars profile. This is really more important if you are fly sparging which can take a considerable amount of time. You want to hit about 170F and rest for 10-15 minutes. Then vorlauf (run some into a pitcher until it is clear and return it to you tun) and run out your first runnings. After this you sparge.
Also, mashing for extended periods (at mash temps) does not extract tannins. Some homebrewers even mash over night.

:rockin: awesome news. guy at my LHBS told me i would get tannins. now i'm worried about my barleywine.