How Much Sparge Water Do I Need

[lokpikn]

Ive just got into the all grain setup and done one on the weekend with a few mate how said they know what they are doing :blink: (but we all know those guys) any way the final boil was way of im sure we did not add enouge sparge water.
I started the mash at 3ltrs of water per 1kg grain at temp. The problem comes when its time to sparge we collected the run off and filterd as required but how much water do i need to sparge with per kg of grain?
I know this question has been answerd before if some one can put a link would be great.

 

[James Squire]

G'day lokpikn,

Im no expert so don't take my word as gospel but from what I have read around the traps I believe a good mash ratio is 2.5L to 1Kg and sparge at around 3L to 1Kg.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

JS

 

[Archie]

Yeah I would agree with James Squire on that one,
I mash in with 2.5kg of water and then Fly Sparge with around 3 litres per kilo.

If you are unsure just download the free version of Promash and it tells you exactly how much you need

Cheers Archie

 

[Trent]

I just put up a post on "will sparge astringency ferment/mature out?" (dunno how to put them little link thingies in there), and the general consensus is that you should continuous sparge to about 6L/kg grain at a max. If you are batch sparging, it doesnt really matter the amount, just go till ya get your volume. Eg, if you need 30L preboil like I do, and you have 5kg of grain, then you would put in your 15L mash water, and then for mash out, you may add another 5L (this is just an example) to hit your mash out temp. Thats 20L in the tun, you will lose 1L/kg of grain, so your first runnings should be about 15L. This leaves you with another 15L to get to your 30L, batch with that, let it sit for a while, then drain. If you are continuos sparging, then the same applies, only you will start adding that 15L sparge water while you are still draining. I always sparge to volume, rather than guess (all my water bottles are marked, so I know exactly how much goes into my HLT). You only need to worry about oversparging in this case when you are aiming for a gravity of 1.045 or less, depending on your efficiency, or if you are sparging too fast.
Hope that helps clear it up a little
Trent
EDIT the 6L/kg I am talking about is all up, not 6L/kg on top of the 3L/kg!

 

[bindi]

Have look a buying Beersmith which I use .
Or Promash makes it easy and they are not expensive, also plenty of free programs if you do a search.

 

[Rocket]

I mash with 2 - 2.5L per kg and sparge with a hydrometer.
If im doing a 25L brew I will sparge untill I my hydrometer reads 1010 for a pale lager or as low as 1006(when cooled) for other brews. Most times I sparge the final volume sometimes more if there is still goodness in my mash, this means i dont have to add water for loss durring evaporation.
The reason I sparge like this is because I have read that the tanins will flow into the kettle if sparge water is to hot or the runoff drops below 1010/1006.
So I sparge the h3ll out of my mash.

 

[lokpikn]

Ok guys this sound to easy let me see if i got it
I mash with approx 2.5 to 3.0 lts of water per kg grain to temp and time.
I lose approx 1 lt of water per kg of grain
I than sparge with a max of about 3ltr of water at temp
I lose approx 9% to 10% in the boil(Is this right)???

Ok so heres another question what is batch spargeing and continuos sparging.

HERES WHAT IM DOING
Im using an esky with a copper manifold i made. Which works well. Im covering my grain fully for the hour lossing only about 2.c in the hour.
I than do my clear running to create a filter bed.
Than start to drain the wort out quite slow. About 1lt per min.
Than i start adding the sparge water to keep the grain fully soaked while i sparge out the only time the grain runs dry is when i finish off.
Which type is this????? :unsure:

Thanks for all the info guys the fulll grain really is quite simple just time consumming.

 

[Trent]

Lokpikn
The type you are using is called continuous, or fly, sparging. and is probably the best way for efficiency, but only by a percent or 2 (I have found about a 5% increase since I have come back to fly sparging). batch sparging has slightly less eficiency, but is a bit less hassle. What you do is drain your first runnings into the kettle, add all your sparge water into the mash at about 75C (or a little higher), give it a good stir, and let it sit for 15-30 mins, like another mash. Then just recirculate, and drain that into the kettle aswell. If your runnings sizes are equal (say 2 lots of 15L) your pre boil gravity should be an average of the 2, like first running @ 1080, and 2nd runnings @ 1040, your preboil gravity should be 1060.
As far as the evaporation goes, it varies from system to system. I lose about 4L per hour in mine, no matter if I am boiling 30 or 60L. The wider the mouth, the more you will lose to evaporation. Maybe put a known quantity of water into your kettle, boil it for half (or an hour) and then re-measure after it is all cool again, to give you a good idea of how much you will lose per hour, and allow for that.
Your process sounds quite good, so no need to change that. Once you get a feel for your system, you will find your brewdays are a bit (though not alot) quicker
All the best
Trent