Question about time to drain MLT

[bjack2]

Hello and a preemptive thanks to all who respond. I batch sparge and use a 70qt coleman extreme with a hose braid (about 8 inches long) and a 1/2 inch ball valve. Each of my runnings is taking about 30 minutes (to collect 3.5 gallons each for a total pre-boil volume of 7 gallons). Does this seem long for this system? Any thoughts on how to drain it faster? Also, during my last brew day when I was calculating efficiency, I hit my pre-boil gravity pretty well but then missed my OG by a significant amount (1.057 instead of 1.067). BTW I was using one of the recipes from "Brewing Classic Styles". Any thoughts on why that happened. So many questions in this hobby! Thanks again,

Ben (beginning AG brewer)

 

[goodgodilovebeer]

I wouldn't worry about speeding up the sparge. If you're hitting your pre-boil gravity, your system is doing it's job effectively. As for the gravity discrepancies, that would be a boil off issue (not enough evaporation). A more rapid boil will solve that, or try lengthening the boil to 90 mins. Hope this helps.

 

[theo1069]

I use almost the exact same setup at you. Has worked well for me. It can take a while to drain, half hour sounds about right. If I'm in a hurry I will throw a handfull of rice hulls in with the mash, which seems to speed it up. Usually I'll just open a beer and wait.

 

[Catt22]

You should have hit your OG target if the pre-boil gravity was where you wanted it. I suspect there was an error in your volume measurements. You should be able to easily calculate what the batch sparge volume yield will be. Water in = water out, less grain absorption and maybe residual wort that you cannot recover for one reason or other. When batch sparging, the runoff rate is largely determined by the how finely the malt is crushed and the type of manifold, screen or false bottom you are using. Open the valve fully and let 'er rip. Rice hulls will help as will conditioning the grain prior to milling if possible.

 

[bjack2]

Thanks everyone!