Fly sparging without mashing out

[Qualia]

G'day.

So I've been typically mashing ~10kg of grain in my 37L cooler.

I normally batch sparge, but have recently bought a pump and am keen to fly sparge to increase my efficiency and reduce labour.

Being a cooler without a direct heat source I cannot mashout before sparging.

Should I:
1./ fly sparge out at a higher temperature (85 degrees) in an attempt to mash out? If so, what is the maximum temperature to sparge at without effecting the flavour?
2./ don't worry about mashing out and just sparge at 75 degrees?
3./ go back to batch sparging?

Thanks!

 

[razz]

2.

 

[mtb]

Yup, definitely 2. In lieu of a mashout, maybe add 15-30min to your mash to be certain you've achieved full conversion.

 

[TheWiggman]

I think you should be asking yourself what the purpose of mashing out is out before deciding whether you do it or not. The main purpose of mashing out is to reduce/cease enzymatic activity and assist in the fluidity of the bed to aid lautering. This is typically only necessary if you have a thick mash or if you get issues with stuck sparges. There may be other reasons to mash out but I don't know them.
Evidence I've seen shows a high sparge temp improves mash efficiency. Generally speaking -

• Keep your sparge water pH low
• Once the runnings get to 1.010, stop sparging
• Sparge water temp shouldn't exceed 80°C

The main reasons for the above is to keep the runnings pH in checks and avoid astrigency.
Personally, I mash out at 78°C as a matter of course, acidify the sparge water a little and sparge with 78°C water. Pushes out the brew day by 20 mins but no stuck sparges since I've been doing that. Considering your system limitations I would sparge with 80°C water.
By the way, you don't really need a pump to fly sparge if you just mount the HLT above the mash tun

 

[MHB]

Wigman pretty much covered it, if you are as you say mashing 10kg of grist in a 37L cooler you are going to be mashing a thicker than I would choose to, depending on the style, but for most beers. So you are going to have a fairly large sparge water volume, somewhere around 4:1.
If you have your sparge water at 80oC and have it acidified you wont have any unexpected tannin extraction issues.
With sparge water the hotter the better, but over 80oC and at higher pH's you will extract tannins!
You do have the volume available to do a batch sparge (just enough to cover the bed) with 80oC water, leave it rest for 20 minutes or so, drain down then start a sparge, or even to do 2 batch sparges. Worth playing around with the options to see what works best for you.
Just remember it takes time for the sugar to migrate out of the grist and go into solution, the slower the sparge the better your yield.
Mark

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Are you planning to re-circ ?

 

[Qualia]

Thanks for your reply. Cheers!

 

[Qualia]

Ducatiboy stu, yes planning on recirculating the first few litres.

My keggle doubles as my HLT so it's a bit of a juggling act—I'd re-circ by pump then fly sparge from a temporary HLT (another esky) while draining into my keggle.

A second keggle is on my todo list.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Why not just sparge with near boiling water and re-circ until clear, drain, repeat

 

[Hermies]

Why not just sparge with near boiling water and re-circ until clear, drain, repeat

QLD Kev sparges with cold water so I don't see a problem .

G'day.

So I've been typically mashing ~10kg of grain in my 37L cooler.

I normally batch sparge, but have recently bought a pump and am keen to fly sparge to increase my efficiency and reduce labour.

Being a cooler without a direct heat source I cannot mashout before sparging.

Should I:
1./ fly sparge out at a higher temperature (85 degrees) in an attempt to mash out? If so, what is the maximum temperature to sparge at without effecting the flavour?
2./ don't worry about mashing out and just sparge at 75 degrees?
3./ go back to batch sparging?

Thanks!

Same as razz 2. In the early days of all grain brewing I used a 35lt esky never could get it up to mash out so I just sparged with 77*C water beers turned out great.