Ending a fly sparge - drain the tun or not?

[shoobs]

I'm a new AG brewer.

For my first two brews, I attempted to calculate the amount of water in my mash tun not absorbed by the grain and drained the mash tun at the end of my fly sparge. I had fairly limited success. The first time I had to add top up water before the boil, the second time I ended up with too much wort after the sparge.

I've had a look around the internet, and it seems to be divided as to whether the last part of the fly sparge should be to drain the mash tun or not. Some say that it should be done to maximise efficiency, others say that the instant the wort at the outlet hits 1.010, the sparge should stop.

Any idea?

 

[JDW81]

Why not batch sparge? Far easier, efficiency is comparable and you don't have to watch it like a hawk to match in-flow to out-flow.

 

[Helles]

I do turn off HLT water flow when nearly finished sparge but never drain it completely
Never had a problem with it only do it cause i would run out of sparge water anyway

 

[shoobs]

Why not batch sparge? Far easier, efficiency is comparable and you don't have to watch it like a hawk to match in-flow to out-flow.

I have an autosparge system that automatically balances the flow in with the flow out. I don't have to watch it, either.

I also have a recirculation system, and I don't want to ruin my nice filtering grain bed by batch sparging and stirring.

 

[Kodos]

Sparge until you collect the desired kettle volume, then stop. Doesn't matter what's left in the mash tun.

If your runnings are getting below 1.010, then stop - in my experience this is rare unless it's a low gravity beer to start with.

 

[JDW81]

I have an autosparge system that automatically balances the flow in with the flow out. I don't have to watch it, either.

I also have a recirculation system, and I don't want to ruin my nice filtering grain bed by batch sparging and stirring.

Fair enough. Your system is obviously much flasher than mine.

 

[S.E]

I'm a new AG brewer.

For my first two brews, I attempted to calculate the amount of water in my mash tun not absorbed by the grain and drained the mash tun at the end of my fly sparge. I had fairly limited success. The first time I had to add top up water before the boil, the second time I ended up with too much wort after the sparge.

I've had a look around the internet, and it seems to be divided as to whether the last part of the fly sparge should be to drain the mash tun or not. Some say that it should be done to maximise efficiency, others say that the instant the wort at the outlet hits 1.010, the sparge should stop.

Any idea?

I always drain the tun but close the tap if the last running’s start to look cloudy. Do you use a program like BeerSmith? Will calculate water etc for you.

 

[Truman42]

I have an autosparge system that automatically balances the flow in with the flow out. I don't have to watch it, either.

I also have a recirculation system, and I don't want to ruin my nice filtering grain bed by batch sparging and stirring.

Interested in hearing more about your autosparge system Shoobs? Sounds like it could be my next project.

 

[Kranky]

Sparge until you collect the desired kettle volume, then stop. Doesn't matter what's left in the mash tun.

If your runnings are getting below 1.010, then stop - in my experience this is rare unless it's a low gravity beer to start with.

This is what I do. If you over sparge your grains you can get astringency issues. Also don't stress too much if you don't hit your targets exactly, it takes a while to get to know your system.

 

[seamad]

Interested in hearing more about your autosparge system Shoobs? Sounds like it could be my next project.

Maybe one of these, have read mixed reviews of them
http://www.ibrew.com.au/collections/blichmann-boilermaker-brewpots/products/blichmann-autosparger

 

[S.E]

This is what I do. If you over sparge your grains you can get astringency issues. Also don't stress too much if you don't hit your targets exactly, it takes a while to get to know your system.

True but if you Sparge until you collect the desired kettle volume, then stop you are leaving behind and wasting a lot of hot water depending on the size of your brew/system, in my case between 20-30 litres.

 

[Truman42]

Cool..okay so its basically a toilet float valve type setup. Might have to look into making one myself. Ive seen the valentines arm that some poeple use but its really only good if you gravity feed through all your vessels where as I pump to my kettle.

 

[jamier]

I use a Blickman auto-sparger and turn the outlet pump down so low that it just trickles into the kettle. Using Beersmith volumes it always works out : by the time the tun is drained, I have the correct volume in the kettle and the last run off is at 1.010. Takes about 20minutes to do the sparge, and don't have to keep an eye on it too much.

 

[shoobs]

Interested in hearing more about your autosparge system Shoobs? Sounds like it could be my next project.

Take a look at a thread I started here. I didn't get much interest in the system on AHB, although r/homebrewing enjoyed it.