Hello all,
This is my first post here on this forum though I've been referring to this forum when I have questions ever since I started all grain brewing and bought BeerSmith which I guess will be about ten months now.
I have a question concerning batch sparging (one more to add to the long list I assume). Specifically, I'm wondering how many rounds will produce the highest efficiency. I realize conventional wisdom (If I have it right, I may very well not) says that you should take your first runnings and then batch sparge with enough water so that your second runnings will equal the first. So for example, if I want to boil 7 gallons to yield something in the neighborhood of 5.5 gallons of wort I would calculate the mash volume (e.g. 1.25 qts per lb of grain) which for a typical batch of beer will not yield the 3.5 gallons in the first runnings. So, to make up for this I will calculate how much liquid the grains will hold (roughly its weight in liquid?) and then compensate for this volume plus the extra I need to yield the 3.5 and I would add this in a mash out step?
Provided I do this, I would then batch sparge with approximately 3.5 gallons of water to yield the 7 gallons headed to the brew pot (My system has very little deadspace). Does this sound right? I'm wondering what would happen if you changed the volumes of the additional infusions (mash out and batch sparge) and added an additional round of sparging?
For example, instead of doing one batch sparge round with 3.5 gallons what would the effect be if I broke it into two rounds of 1.75 gallons?
The reason I ask is although I've never done it exactly like this I have messed with the mash out volume. For instance only adding whats been taken by the grain and then adjusting the sparge volumes based on how much my first running was. I also seem to be more efficient when I have more rounds though I'm wondering if this is due to other factors like sparge and mash out temp?
Any insight would be helpful.
Thanks
WR
This is my first post here on this forum though I've been referring to this forum when I have questions ever since I started all grain brewing and bought BeerSmith which I guess will be about ten months now.
I have a question concerning batch sparging (one more to add to the long list I assume). Specifically, I'm wondering how many rounds will produce the highest efficiency. I realize conventional wisdom (If I have it right, I may very well not) says that you should take your first runnings and then batch sparge with enough water so that your second runnings will equal the first. So for example, if I want to boil 7 gallons to yield something in the neighborhood of 5.5 gallons of wort I would calculate the mash volume (e.g. 1.25 qts per lb of grain) which for a typical batch of beer will not yield the 3.5 gallons in the first runnings. So, to make up for this I will calculate how much liquid the grains will hold (roughly its weight in liquid?) and then compensate for this volume plus the extra I need to yield the 3.5 and I would add this in a mash out step?
Provided I do this, I would then batch sparge with approximately 3.5 gallons of water to yield the 7 gallons headed to the brew pot (My system has very little deadspace). Does this sound right? I'm wondering what would happen if you changed the volumes of the additional infusions (mash out and batch sparge) and added an additional round of sparging?
For example, instead of doing one batch sparge round with 3.5 gallons what would the effect be if I broke it into two rounds of 1.75 gallons?
The reason I ask is although I've never done it exactly like this I have messed with the mash out volume. For instance only adding whats been taken by the grain and then adjusting the sparge volumes based on how much my first running was. I also seem to be more efficient when I have more rounds though I'm wondering if this is due to other factors like sparge and mash out temp?
Any insight would be helpful.
Thanks
WR