I have a 3 vessel setup (hot liquor tank + mash tun + wort kettle) in a single tier setup so I need to pump liquid from one vessel to another, but I only have one pump, so I batch sparge: transfer wort from the mash tun to the wort kettle, then top up the mash tun with sparging water from the hot liquor tank -- rinse and repeat. What is better, both in terms of wort quality and mash …
More specifically: Some time ago I switched from fly sparge to batch sparge. My motivation was that I noticed quite a bit of channeling on deeper grain beds with the fly sparge. Batch is quicker and at least as efficient, but seems to generate a fair bit of trub. I'm guessing this comes from the fact that I have to settle the grain bed multiple times, and run off multiple times. I vorlauf the friggin' bejesus out of it. I …
I'm new to all grain brewing and one of the things I haven't been able to find much information on is the importance of water volumes for the mash and sparge steps. There are a lot of calculators out there, and I'm trying to find out if water volumes play a key role in the extraction of sugars from the grain. It makes sense that too little water in a mash wouldn't allow for the extraction of sugars because not …
I just put my second AG batch into the primary, but I ran into an issue I need some help with. When I did my first AG batch, I used water that was treated by a water softener (I know, I know...it was all I had at the time). My calculated efficiency came in at 75%, using grain points and pre-boil gravity formula. BeerSmith confirmed reading. For my second batch I used a combination of water from a rural mountain …
Brewing all grain, my mash tun can't hold my full sparge volume. So I step it, a few gallons at a time. I've read that the sparge water should be 170 F to stop the enzyme reaction. But when stepping my sparge, do the later steps need to be 170, or just the first step to stop the enzymes? Can the enzymes restart between steps? Per the comments, by step batch sparge I mean a batch sparge of 5 or …
I am looking for some advice on what a good crush looks like, and whether it matters on my system. The opinions and pics online are all over the place on this. Background: I am buying small-batch all-grain kits at my LHBS, and the grains come pre-crushed. I am pretty new to all-grain. I batch sparge in a two-gallon cooler, using a paint strainer bag instead of a false bottom or bazooka screen. The crushed grains have mostly whole husks …
Mash in temperature was supposed to be 152 degrees. I forgot to adjust for temperature loss add simply mixed my grains with 152 degree water. I never calculated the final temperature. I did the same thing with the batch sparge (poured in 175 degree water). How will the affect my final product?
What do people like in terms of heat resistant measuring cups for batch sparging? I found this one on Amazon. I was wondering if there were other options that were better. I'm using it for re-circulation of the wort. I also was thinking of using it to add in the hot water for subsequent sparges after fully drained the lauter tun.
I'm still new to the all-grain scene and I've messed up my sparge more than once, leaving me with a pre-boil gravity that is too low. I got to thinking, if I fall short (in pre-boil gravity) in the future, I could simply do another sparge. Assuming I have room in my kettle, I don't see any harm in collecting a 3rd or 4th running --even if it gets my kettle volume higher than I want it to be. Naturally, …
First off: I realize there are a few somewhat related questions but I think my question will be specific enough to justify it's own question. Specifically this question, but I'm not looking for an alternative solution(s) such as the accepted answer. I am going to try my first partial mash this weekend, and since I have the equipment on hand, I want to use my converted cooler mashtun. Partially to get used to the equipment before going full mash. I …
This probably illustrates my lack of knowledge about mashing in general, but I'm going to brew a barleywine with first runnings, and a stout with the second runnings. I'm going to be adding 1 pound each of Crystal, black, and chocolate malts, and possibly a couple pounds of wheat malt after I have drawn off the wort for the barleywine. I'm planning on adding the additional water, add the grain, stir, but then I'm lost. On Denny's page describing batch …
My last few all-grain batches have been under the expected OG at least as far as the recipe is concerned. The beers still taste good and all, but I'd like to get my efficiency up. For example, my last one I really undershot. The recipe looks like it should have been in the 1.070 range, but I only got 1.050. I'm doing single infusion & batch sparge for my mash. I am hitting my mash temperatures pretty well (though I …
My 32 qt. aluminum stock pot was just delivered that I was planning to use this weekend. Taking it out of the box and inspecting it, there is a fairly sizable chip on the inside about 3/4 of the way down. The chip is about 1/4 in x 3/8 in. and is chipped deep enough to expose the inner material of the pot. I was planning on using this for my batch sparge water. Do you think it is safe …
Currently I'm an extract plus specialty grain brewer. I want to be an all-grain brewer. That said, I'm trying to figure out the whole sparging thing. I know I need more grain to get the same gravity of I batch sparge, but that I'm not in danger of the tannins that continuous sparging has. I don't really understand what to do specifically for batch sparging. I know I dump in water and then vorlauf and drain the water, but do …