Mini Mash/sparge

[dreadhead]

Looking at having a crack at my first AG brew on a much smaller scale as money and space aren't on my side. I was going to use the following steps:

1) Mash the grain bill in a pot on the stove (15L Stainless, no tap)
2) Syphon the first runnings into the kettle through a mesh strainer with a chux in it.
3) Add sparge water to the residual grain in pot, stir and let settle, repeat step 2.

Does this seem like a decent plan? Any improvements would be appreciated.
And Finally, since I can't recirculate the wort using the grain bed as a filter, will my wort be cloudy and full of tiny grain particles , and will that affect the clarity or flavour of the finished product?

Thanks guys :icon_cheers:

 

[browndog]

Hey DreadHead,
Go with your plan mate and good luck, it is great to see someone keen enough to get into AG with the absolute minimum of gear. You are correct, your wort will be cloudy and have bits in it. It will not affect the final product though so rejoice. What you will find is that just before your wort comes to the boil is that all the bits and even the particles that make up the cloudiness will start to seperate from the wort and form a thick scum on the surface. Some people like to skim this off, others leave it thinking that it aids head retention. Either way, just before or after the boil starts you can get a sieve and wave it though the wort to get all the bits of grist out that have got into the kettle. I would not bother with the chux if I were you, just try and hit your mash temp, get a good boil going in the kettle and add you hops at the right time. If you are chilling your wort or no-chilling for that matter, be very careful with your sanitation, pitch some good yeast and ferment under 20C and Bob is your mothers brother.

cheers

Browndog

 

[raven19]

and Bob is your mothers brother.

It is a scary fact that my mother's brother is indeed Robert...! :lol:

Look forward to hearing how it goes DreadHead. Record all relevant information so you can make it again if it turns out well - am sure it will!

 

[Brewtus]

You can try a mini mash in a bag. If you or a friend can sew, it is easy to make the bag. refer to BIAB in the wiki.
You can dunk the bag in new water to batch sparge.

 

[RobB]

You can try a mini mash in a bag. If you or a friend can sew, it is easy to make the bag. refer to BIAB in the wiki.
You can dunk the bag in new water to batch sparge.

I've done this and it worked well. It's sort of a hybrid between BIAB and batch sparging.

I had a bag the same size as my first pot, in which I conducted my mash. By the end of the mash, my sparge water was waiting at the right temperature in my main kettle, so I just lifted the grain from the mash pot, let it drain for a minute and then dunked it it the sparge pot/kettle. I let it sit in the sparge pot for 5-10 minutes while stirring the grain inside the bag and then lifted the bag out. Then I just combined the contents of both pots and I was good to go.

It's basically batch sparging, but I was taking the grain to the water rather than the other way around. Just make sure you hold a bowl or jug under the bag as you transfer it from one pot to another or you'll drip wort everywhere.

The swiss voile to make a bag for a 15 litre pot will cost peanuts.

Which ever way you go, good luck.

 

[Brewtus]

The swiss voile to make a bag for a 15 litre pot will cost peanuts.

Get the 'fake' polyester, not the 'real' cotton. 1m should be plenty and leave plenty for a hops bag or three. I even had enough to make a bag for carbon filter material for my fish tank.

 

[dreadhead]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Browndog, should I have any worries about tannin extraction in the boil from such small particles of grain in the wort? or is this only a problem with larger pieces of the grain husk?
Might have the give the BIAB a miss for now, got no idea how to sew, and pretty sure none of my mates do either, but on the other hand if I could sew I wouldn't be letting everyone know about it
Think I'll just wing it for now, guess you can only learn from your mistakes when you actually make em. Will post results when I get around to brewing.

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[matti]

It surely will be interesting to hear how you go about it.
You'll be pushing it if you want to mash more then 3 kgs.

I suggets you have a look at bucket mashing.

2 buckets. you drill holes in the bottom of one and insert it into the bucket without holes.
Tip the grain into the hot water in buckets.
Time to drain just remove inner bucket and run off into kettle.
Do it again for second running.

Just make sure the bucket can handle high 70s temperatures.


matti

 

[wabster]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Might have the give the BIAB a miss for now, got no idea how to sew, and pretty sure none of my mates do either, but on the other hand if I could sew I wouldn't be letting everyone know about it

Cheers :icon_cheers:

You don't have to sew the bag. I use swiss voile and just line the "drink cooler" with it. I then add the grain, then the water at strike temp, place the lid on and tie the swiss voile into a knot above the top with a rubber band. I found if you let the voile hang down the side of the cooler you get a siphon effect, especially if the voile is wet to start with.

Cheerz Wabster

 

[dreadhead]

Matti, only brewing a 9L batch (got a few 10L jerry cans from Bunnings for test batches), so according to Beersmith the grain bill is only around 2.5kg, so hopefully I'll have plenty of room, might even get a little esky rather than using pot on the stove for the mash, don't want to risk scorching the grain.

Wabster, decided to use a fine mesh strainer rather than any material just because I already have one, if it doesn't work out will give the BIAB method a go.

Cheers