Your Batch Sparge Technique?

[PittsburghBrewer]

I just bought a mash cooler for my first all grain batch, and I'm planning to batch sparge. I've read numerous threads on this and other forums about batch sparging, and techniques seem to be all over the place. Since many of the threads are from 2008-2012, I would appreciate hearing what people do today on these two points:

1. If you aim for "equal runnings", what does that mean to you? Do you vary your mash water volume so that mash water run off is approximately equal to sparge water run off? Or do you use a constant mash thickness (such as 1.25 qts/pound of grain), then divide your sparge water into two equal batches?

2. Do you always heat your sparge water to the same temperature (168 to avoid tannin extraction? 180-190 to raise the grain bed temperature?)? Or do you use a varying temperature based on BeerSmith or some other calculation?

I've seen people recommend all of the options above, and I'm trying to figure plan my first AG batch. I'm planning to make a Boddington clone (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=21131) using around 8.1 lbs of grain in a 5 gallon cooler.

Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

I think it's way easier than that!

Mash in with 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain, more or less. Anywhere from 1.25-1.75 is fine, so I go with an "even number" approach. Then measure those runnings, (again, more or less), and sparge to give you your boil volume. In most cases, that will give you more or less equal runnings. Unless you're doing a "big" beer with a high OG where you have a larger amount of grain, your runnings will be about the same.

Here's my technique:
1. Mash
2. Drain MLT
3. Use my measuring stick to see how much the first runnings are.
4. Add sparge water to the MLT in the amount I need.
5. Stir like it owe me money
6. Vorlauf and drain.

Generally, I already know how much sparge water I will need, so the stick measuring thing is just to ensure I don't have way too little or too much.

If you figure a 10 pound grain bill, it'll look sort of like this:

1.25-1.5 quarts of water per pound= 16 quarts (cuz 4 gallons is nice round number for me to measure)

Mash will absorb approx 1.25 gallons of water. I should get out about 2.75 gallons of first runnings.

I want to have 6.25 gallons in the kettle since I boil off about a gallon an hour and I want to end up with 5.25 gallons in the fermenter.

So I will sparge with 3.5 gallons of sparge water.

It's not exact amounts in the runnings, but it's almost the same amount going into the mash and the sparge, more or less.

The sparge water temperature does NOT matter at all. You can sparge with ice water if you want.

 

[mashinary]

Congrats on making the jump to all grain.

1. I do this by doing a mash out, but honestly I wouldn't sweat getting equal runnings on your first attempt. Aim for getting the right volume in to the kettle. Doing no sparge, or 3 sparges isn't really going to much difference.

2. I put in near boiling water, the goal is to get the grain bed around 170. It takes some heat to bring that temperature up.

 

[schatzke]

I figure out my total water needed then mash in with 1.5 qt/lb.
I use a BIAB bag in a 10g water cooler so no need to vorlauf, just drain it after an hour.
Dump in my sparge water(total water needed - mash in water = sparge volume), not heated, just sitting in a bucket ready to go. Give it a good stir and drain it to the BK.
IMO the biggest benefit of the batch sparge is the time savings so I don't mess around.

 

[theowlman16]

As long as I hit my pre boil volume (usually 7.5 gallons), I don't worry about the sparge volumes at all - I usually eyeball amount in two sparges. I'll be more precise on the 2nd sparge (third runnings) to make sure total is correct. I do 170 degrees to hit 150 for mash and 195 to hit 170 sparge. Be sure to vorlauf.

 

[Sailingeric]

I use this tool and it has not let me down. http://onebeer.net/batchspargecalc.shtml

 

[pvpeacock]

I use 5 gallons of water for my mash no matter what the grain bill is. When the mash is over, I drain the mash tun and measure how much wort I got which is a function of how much water the grain absorbed. If I get 3.5 gallons and I want 6 gallons of wort in the pot, I just sparge with 2.5 gallons of water since the grain isn't going to absorb much if any additional water. Easy peasy. Could I get more efficiency with a double sparge? Maybe, but I'm already getting efficiencies in the high 70% or low 80%, so why go to the extra effort for minimal additional efficiency.

 

[IslandLizard]

I mash in at 1.5 qt/lb. Using the strike/sparge calculator at brew365.com it gives me the needed strike and sparge volumes. I then split the sparge water in (roughly) 2 equal volumes for highest efficiency.

 

[m1k3]

Malt really wants to become beer.
The acceptable tolerances in temperate and volumes are quite large.

That being said... set a goal and try to hit it. Take notes and adapt your process over time.

Here is my process for a 10-gallon batch (basically the same for a 15-gallon batch that I do quite often)
but when I do a 5-gallon batch I only sparge one time (after collecting the initial runnings).

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21906664/112015_Azacca_Brew.pdf

 

[pricelessbrewing]

The difference between a 4:1 ratio (first runnings to second runnings), and a 1:1 ratio is almost nothing. Usually it'll be within 2% mash efficiency. As long as you're doing some sort of sparge, it'll be close.

General batch sparge overview:

1. Heat strike volume to strike temp
2. dough in, stir like mad to eliminate dough balls and ensure good conversion
3. mash for desired mash time, and check mash temp. (60 minutes is typical)
4. drain mash tun
5. add sparge volume
6. stir like mad for 5 minutes
7. drain mash tun
8. combine first and second runnings, and heat to preboil. Check preboil volume and gravity to get mash efficiency.

overview for biab batch sparge

1. Heat strike volume to strike temp
2. dough in, stir like mad to eliminate dough balls and ensure good conversion
3. mash for desired mash time, and check mash temp. (60 minutes is typical)
4. pull grain bag, squeeze.
5. add sparge volume to grain bag (I recommend dunking into a volume of water, and opening the bag like a second mash). Some do a pourover sparge.
6. stir like mad for 5 minutes
7. Pull grain bag again, and squeeze.
8. combine first and second runnings, and heat to preboil. Check preboil volume and gravity to get mash efficiency.

Checking preboil volume and gravity helps you hit your target OG, as you can either extend the boil to hit your target OG, or add some dme, or dilute with water to hit target OG.

 

[BeeGeeBrew]

The sparge water temperature does NOT matter at all. You can sparge with ice water if you want.

Wow really? I thought you added the heated water to extract extra sugar, but I guess when they say "rinsing the grains" you are literally just rinsing the remaining sugar? I sparged at 170 on my first all grain batch because the instructions said "mash out at 170" and I thought it was the same thing, but I have since learned that has to do with something else entirely.

 

[FVillatoro]

May not apply to this discussion, but I don't bother with a sparge.
I use a mash filter bag over my cooler tun and do full volume mashing.

My calculation for this is simple - just use water loss per lb of grain. Currently I do 7.5 gallon boils and use water loss per lb of grain (gallon/lbs):

10lbs of grain x .115 gallons loss = 8.65 gallons needed to get 7.5
12lbs of grain x .115 gallons loss = 8.88 gallons needed to get 7.5
20lbs of grain x .115 gallons loss = 9.80 gallons needed to get 7.5

With the above calculation, I get 81% efficiency on my mostly pale malt beers, and no less than 75% on everything else.

Just chiming in.

 

[Bobby_M]

No sparge full volume works fine unless you can't fit it all in the container.

 

[jonny24]

So yeah OP, technique is pretty much all over the place.

One thing I'll say is write down all your in/out volumes, to help you better predict for next time. I keep a running average of my grain absorption, boiloff, efficiencies, etc that I plug into calculators each brew day, either my own or online.

 

[PittsburghBrewer]

Lots of good advice here, thanks all. (Like the importance of stirring after adding sparge water. I wasn't aware of that.)

Because the grain bill I'm planning is small (8.1 lbs.), even if I mash at 2 qts./lb., I will only run off 2.5 gallons of my 6.5 gallon pre-boil volume from the mash. For cases like this, the calculator linked below has the following advice:

I use this tool and it has not let me down. http://onebeer.net/batchspargecalc.shtml

"Because batch sparging is ideally done with two equal runoffs, you might need to add some heated make-up water (mash infusion) to bump your first run up to 1/2 the desired pre-boil wort total"

For my first AG recipe, I think I'm going to mash around 1.5 qts./lb. and top up my mash water after 60 min. with some of my sparge water, so I'm in the ballpark of having two equal runoffs.

 

[Mothman]

Lots of good advice here, thanks all.

"Because batch sparging is ideally done with two equal runoffs, you might need to add some heated make-up water (mash infusion) to bump your first run up to 1/2 the desired pre-boil wort total"

For my first AG recipe, I think I'm going to mash around 1.5 qts./lb. and top up my mash water after 60 min. with some of my sparge water, so I'm in the ballpark of having two equal runoffs.

I read that as well, and was confused by it (I'm a noob... not yet done my first batch, super noob lol).

If you are interpreting that advice correctly, what is that process? Mash for 60 minutes, add heated water immediately before draining the first run? If so, what is the benefit of adding water moments before draining, as opposed to including that water with the sparge?

 

[mongoose33]

I read that as well, and was confused by it (I'm a noob... not yet done my first batch, super noob lol).

If you are interpreting that advice correctly, what is that process? Mash for 60 minutes, add heated water immediately before draining the first run? If so, what is the benefit of adding water moments before draining, as opposed to including that water with the sparge?

Just brewed three days ago. Had an 11# grain bill. I added about 4 gallons of strike water to the mash, let it go for 60 minutes, drained off about...2 3/8 gallons as first runnings. I could have drained off a bit more if I'd have wanted to sit there and wait and wait and wait....

So when I get down to just a trickle, I add my sparge water. In this case, another 4 gallons. I pre-heat the sparge water not because it makes a difference to the sparge (see Yooper's comments above), but because it reduces the time for the wort to come to a boil.

Typically I'll drain off the same amount of 2nd-runnings as I added in sparge water, as the grain has absorbed all the water from the dough-in.

BTW: i always stir up the mash with the sparge water in it to make sure it's all mixed together well. I'll wait about 5 minutes for it to settle, then begin vorlauf. Meanwhile, I'm already heating the first runnings and adding the second runnings to the boil kettle as I go.

BTW, II: My mash tun has a torpedo screen in the bottom; I tie a hop sock around it and that allows the vorlauf to go much, much faster. But you have to wait after stirring for particles to settle before beginning vorlauf, or all those little particles will settle against the hop sock giving you...a stuck sparge! They can be dislodged by stirring again, but not while the valve is open. Stir. Let settle for a few minutes, then start again.

 

[Kent88]

Advice is all over the place, but I feel compelled to add this. Do not blindly sparge to just reach a certain pre-boil volume.

I'm not saying it wont work. It may even work a majority of the time, but if you are brewing an exceptionally strong or weak beer it will likely cause you problems. Either you will oversparge, potentially extracting unwanted things, or you will undersparge, and leave lots of good, fermentable sugars behind.

For what its worth I'd recommend you use the pre-boil target volume as a starting point, if you can. After a sparge or two, as you approach your desired pre-boil volume, start using different kettles to collect the remaining wort and try to test as you go with a refractometer or hydrometer, and add wort to the main kettle as you confirm that the wort is good to go.

I usually keep the sparge water temp just a little above mash temp, but certainly below 170F. I figure I want it warm to improve extraction, but trying to hit 168F exactly is to much of a fuss. I aim for 158F-165F. I just don't want to increase the amount I worry about the beer by extracting things I don't want, and I don't want to delay sparging to hit a certain temperature dead on.

I usually try to get really close to pre-boil gravity after sparging twice, and any further sparges I reduce the volume I sparge with. I keep pretty close tabs on the gravity of the wort running off.

 

[TravelingLight]

Wow really? I thought you added the heated water to extract extra sugar, but I guess when they say "rinsing the grains" you are literally just rinsing the remaining sugar? I sparged at 170 on my first all grain batch because the instructions said "mash out at 170" and I thought it was the same thing, but I have since learned that has to do with something else entirely.

I'd love more insight to this as well. Someone smarter than I am. I've always sparged with 170 (or close to it). Would be nice to know I don't have to be that precise.

 

[mongoose33]

I'd love more insight to this as well. Someone smarter than I am. I've always sparged with 170 (or close to it). Would be nice to know I don't have to be that precise.

You don't have to be that precise.

And I don't know if I'm smarter than you are.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I'd love more insight to this as well. Someone smarter than I am. I've always sparged with 170 (or close to it). Would be nice to know I don't have to be that precise.

Braukaiser (tremendous resource, look up his website) showed that the difference in lautering efficiency is negligible.

The classic claim is that the higher temperature decreases viscosity and allows for more sugar to be run off, more easily. However the viscosity barely changes from 140F to 170F, so don't worry about it. @doug293cz has a nifty chart tucked away somewhere.

The other benefit is that a "mashout" is performed for fly sparging, and in probrewer systems due to the long time period involved in their sparging process. This is done to lock in the fermentability, as the extended time may cause a higher attenuation than is desired. This is completely irrelevant to a batch sparge or no sparge process.

 

[J_Brewer]

I'd love more insight to this as well. Someone smarter than I am. I've always sparged with 170 (or close to it). Would be nice to know I don't have to be that precise.

From what I understand and have read, the reason the mash out doesn't really matter with batch sparging is because the sweet wort is being brought up to a boil.

The point of the mash out according to How to Brew "...stops all of the enzyme action (preserving your fermentable sugar profile)"

Essentially the boil is preforming this step in a batch sparge. Now if you where to fly sparge this step would be necessary and important.

 

[TravelingLight]

You don't have to be that precise.

And I don't know if I'm smarter than you are.

Braukaiser (tremendous resource, look up his website) showed that the difference in lautering efficiency is negligible.

The classic claim is that the higher temperature decreases viscosity and allows for more sugar to be run off, more easily. However the viscosity barely changes from 140F to 170F, so don't worry about it. @doug293cz has a nifty chart tucked away somewhere.

The other benefit is that a "mashout" is performed for fly sparging, and in probrewer systems due to the long time period involved in their sparging process. This is done to lock in the fermentability, as the extended time may cause a higher attenuation than is desired. This is completely irrelevant to a batch sparge or no sparge process.

From what I understand and have read, the reason the mash out doesn't really matter with batch sparging is because the sweet wort is being brought up to a boil.

The point of the mash out according to How to Brew "...stops all of the enzyme action (preserving your fermentable sugar profile)"

Essentially the boil is preforming this step in a batch sparge. Now if you where to fly sparge this step would be necessary and important.

Wow. Thanks, y'all. Learn something new every day. I'm now having flashbacks to when I first started AG brewing and my first sparge I was all pissed off because I had stopped heating my sparge water too soon and it was down to like 165 degrees. Hell, from now on I'm just gonna heat it up and roll with it as long as it's over, like, 140. Thank you all for improving my brew day!

 

[kh54s10]

I do a mash at approximately 1.25 qts per pound of grain. Drain, measure what is collected in the BK, sparge with about 168 degree water +/- 5 degrees. I sparge with about 1/2 of what I need for boil off. Measure again, then sparge with what I still need for boil off. I do two steps just to more accurately get the right volume leaving as little behind in the mash tun as possible.

 

[Mothman]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but it's realted as we're talking about mash vs sparge volume...

Is there a basic explanation available (sure it exists somewhere) to explain, in easy terms, why the water/grain ration in the mash is so important?

Like... what happens when the mash is too grain-heavy? What happens when too water-heavy? Is it simply to try to leave an appropriate amount of water for a sparge to benefit efficiency? Or is there some other reason for the mash constancy?

And if there is a reason for that certain range of water vs grain, then how do BIAB folks get around that, when doing a full-volume mash?

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but it's realted as we're talking about mash vs sparge volume...

Is there a basic explanation available (sure it exists somewhere) to explain, in easy terms, why the water/grain ration in the mash is so important?

Like... what happens when the mash is too grain-heavy? What happens when too water-heavy? Is it simply to try to leave an appropriate amount of water for a sparge to benefit efficiency? Or is there some other reason for the mash constancy?

And if there is a reason for that certain range of water vs grain, then how do BIAB folks get around that, when doing a full-volume mash?

I'll give it a whirl.

Too thick (too much grain / not enough water) mashes will have slow conversions due to osmotic pressure. Basically the mash will have a higher gravity, which slows down conversion and makes the enzymes less effective.

Too thin mashes will have higher mash ph, and will almost always need some acid addition (especially in lighter grain bills). The higher amount of water necessities using less sparge water, and your lauter efficiency decreases as a result. However as long as you're sparging some, say 4:1 run off ratio (first runnings from the mash to second runnings from the sparge) then the difference in lauter efficiency is relatively minor.

Ideally it should be close to 1:1 for maximum lauter efficiency, but I usually go for a thickness in the 1.75-2.25 qt/lb range to get a good conversion and a good (but not ideal) lauter efficiency.

The consequence for full volume / no sparge BIAB-ers is that by not sparging your losing some lauter efficiency, usually 5-8%, but they compensate by doing fine grinds, long mashes, and squeezing, which tends to brings it back to the 75-82% range. If they sparged, it would be average in the 80-86% range.

More info on mash thickness, lauter efficiency on the braukaiser wiki pages, and on my efficiency blog post.

 

[Mothman]

Priceless, thanks a ton! That's very informative.

Is this the efficiency blog post you are referencing? (https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/methods/Efficiency/)

 

[deepbluegroove]

Batch sparge full time mash overview: 4 Gallons Mash, 4 Gallons sparge. (5 Gallon recipe)

1. Heat strike volume to strike temp ~160F ish depending on style
2. add strike water to Mash tun (dough in) , stir / no dough balls
3. mash for desired mash time, and check mash temp. (60 minutes is typical)
4. add 1/2 sparge volume @ 170F
5. stir a little bit for even distribution, let it sit for 5 mins
6. drain mash tun (till it drips) into kettle (with FW Hops) . Get that going on stove top.
7. add second 1/2 sparge volume @ 170F to mash tun, let it sit for 5 mins
8. drain mash tun into secondary pot used for sparge water.
9. When it drips, turn off spigot, empty into kettle already heating up.
10. open spigot and drain remainder into secondary pot. This wort I use to vitality starter the yeast once it has cooled off.

Batch sparge Quick mash overview: 3.75 Gallons Mash, 3.75 Gallons sparge. (5 Gallon recipe)

1. Heat strike volume to strike temp ~160F ish depending on style
2. add strike water to Mash tun (dough in) , stir / no dough balls
3. mash for desired mash time, and check mash temp. (20 minutes is typical)
4. add 1/2 sparge volume @ 170F
5. stir a little bit for even distribution, let it sit for 5 mins
6. drain mash tun (till it drips) into kettle (with FW Hops) . Get that going on stove top.
7. add second 1/2 sparge volume @ 170F to mash tun, let it sit for 5 mins
8. drain mash tun into secondary pot used for sparge water.
9. When it drips, turn off spigot, empty into kettle already heating up.
10. open spigot and drain remainder into secondary pot. This wort I use to vitality starter the yeast once it has cooled off.