Sparge???

[Megaboil]

Ok guys I BIAB in a cooler mash tun. Mash with 5 gal. Drain and throw in 2 mor gal mix it up let sit 10 min then drain. Boil all the collected wort down to 5 gal. Always seem to be low on my projected OG. Any tips? Am I doing it wrong?

 

[GammaRay4130]

If your volume measurements aren't accurate you may be using more water than needed causing your OG to be lower. Do you use any brewing software that calculates the amount of water needed per batch? There are some free ones you can use online like brewers friend that can get you going in the right direction since mash and sparge volumes will be different for each batch based on grain size, boil length etc.

Since you're using a bag in the cooler using a finer crush may help you get a few more gravity points out of the mash.

 

[bracconiere]

i personally fly sparge, but 2 gal seems low for a 5 gal batches sparge?i brew 10 gallon batches, and sparge with 10 gallons.....how do you crush your grain is another thought....what temp is the mash?

 

[McKnuckle]

You're not doing anything wrong in your process. There are many viable ways to mash and sparge, so don't worry about being nitpicked by others who espouse this or that technique.

What you are probably doing "wrong" is in your OG estimation method. Either your mash efficiency is lower than your recipe assumes, or your volumes are not accurate, or both. If you provide water volume measurements and boil-off that accurately reflect what you're actually using, then the remaining variable factor in the equation is mash efficiency.

This is another way of saying that you can find the efficiency percentage that matches your actual result, and use that in your recipe the next time.

 

[bracconiere]

This is another way of saying that you can find the efficiency percentage that matches your actual result, and use that in your recipe the next time.

i guess, but back before i learned to sparge right, i hated having to use so much base with 62%....