No-sparge brewing

[Foxy74]

I recently read about no-sparge brewing on Brad Smiths (Beersmith) blog. It couldn't be more appealing to me as I've always been going to upgrade my sparging technique, but never did. I use a HERMS to brew and it would be easy to modify water usage to use the no-sparge method. Has anyone tried it? I guess it has similarities to BIAB in that it uses a single batch to mash. Since I've not been brewing for a couple of months due to a relocation I'm keen to try this. My first brew in my new home is going down next weekend and I'll be road testing the no-sparge method to brew an ESB.

The link, for those interested http://beersmith.com/blog/2014/01/11/no-sparge-beer-brewing-for-all-grain-brewers/

 

[mckenry]

Sure. Its just like the original BIAB. What I dont understand is, if you have a HERMS, why would you go 'No sparge'?
No sparging just means you need ALL your water in one pot from the start, (your MT i assume) which will lower your efficiency, (but that is not everything).
If you have HERMS, then you have the ability to sparge, so why wouldnt you?

 

[S.E]

I recently read about no-sparge brewing on Brad Smiths (Beersmith) blog. It couldn't be more appealing to me as I've always been going to upgrade my sparging technique, but never did. I use a HERMS to brew and it would be easy to modify water usage to use the no-sparge method. Has anyone tried it? I guess it has similarities to BIAB in that it uses a single batch to mash. Since I've not been brewing for a couple of months due to a relocation I'm keen to try this. My first brew in my new home is going down next weekend and I'll be road testing the no-sparge method to brew an ESB.

The link, for those interested http://beersmith.com/blog/2014/01/11/no-sparge-beer-brewing-for-all-grain-brewers/

No sparge brewing is just a simple form of brewing, most likely the original form of brewing. It cuts out some of the later improvements in brewing technique but simple is good also.

 

[Foxy74]

Sure. Its just like the original BIAB. What I dont understand is, if you have a HERMS, why would you go 'No sparge'?
No sparging just means you need ALL your water in one pot from the start, (your MT i assume) which will lower your efficiency, (but that is not everything).
If you have HERMS, then you have the ability to sparge, so why wouldnt you?

Mckenry this is what I was alluding to when I mentioned my sparging 'technique' - I only have one pump.

 

[S.E]

Mckenry this is what I was alluding to when I mentioned my sparging 'technique' - I only have one pump.

What exactly is your sparging technique, and how did you intend to upgrade it? You don’t actually need a pump to sparge.

 

[Foxy74]

What exactly is your sparging technique, and how did you intend to upgrade it? You don’t actually need a pump to sparge.

Well I got a copper coil and drilled some holes in it, coiled it around for the fly sparge. I intended to get the second pump to run this, but never did. I always just sparged by slowly pouring jugs of water over my mash while I pumped the wort to the brew kettle. In my opinion it's a pretty crude way to do it, but it can be done without disturbing the grain bed too much. And if its pumped nice and slow my BH efficiency is always good, but if I get impatient with the pouring and rush it, efficiency suffers. It will be interesting to see what sort of efficiency I get by trying the no-sparge method.

With the recycle system I consistently get a high mash efficiency, I'd like to see what effect that has on a full boil volume.

EDIT: grammar

 

[squirt in the turns]

Why not try batch sparging? Less stuffing about than fly sparging with either your copper coil or current jug method, and although you'll likely drop a few percentage points in efficiency (which you kind of imply is important to you), the penalty is probably not going to be as great as the no-sparge method.

 

[user 31093]

Why not try batch sparging? Less stuffing about than fly sparging with either your copper coil or current jug method, and although you'll likely drop a few percentage points in efficiency (which you kind of imply is important to you), the penalty is probably not going to be as great as the no-sparge method.

+1

I've batch sparged with both BIAB (bag in esky) and using a mash tun, both ways yielded 75-80% efficiency depending on the grain bill. I'm more than happy with this.

I actually did the former method yesterday, as I only did a 10L batch because it's all I had room for. I ended up double batch sparging, first sparge at 78 degrees and secondly doing a rinse a the same temp.
I assumed an efficiency of 75% and got about 82%.

 

[Rubix]

After reading the same article I have brewed my last two batches using the method. The first of which will be ready to keg in the next week or so. So far the samples form each have been great. The only thing he didn't cover was the drop in efficiency. Mine dropped from 72 to 66. Not a huge drop by any means but it seems to make for a smoother brew day so I'm happy to take the hit on shortened brew days. Also, when he says to 'select any BIAB mash profile as your all grain mash profile' you can actually just use any mash profile by ticking the 'BIAB Mash with Full Boil' tick box within the mash profile.

 

[Foxy74]

Why not try batch sparging? Less stuffing about than fly sparging with either your copper coil or current jug method, and although you'll likely drop a few percentage points in efficiency (which you kind of imply is important to you), the penalty is probably not going to be as great as the no-sparge method.

Yep, this would work fine Squirt and I've considered it. But I'll be in a better position to comment on wether or not it is more efficient compared to the full boil volume method after this weekend. I could even run a comparison on consecutive brews.

At the end of the day I value a smooth running brew day and a good final product.

Thanks for the comments guys

 

[Beerisyummy]

Hey F74,

I've been doing this for 20+ brews with a HERMS. The mash efficiency should be around the 80s if you get the system working well.
I still prefer to mash out and drain, before adding some more water for a final flush through the HERMS. The difference can easily push you up to 100.

The biggest pain for me ( with no sparge) was letting the grain drain. Short of squeezing it, you'll find it keeps dripping for hours and the drippings are thick with sugar.

Nothing smoother than setting the PID to run a HERMS. Heck, I was at a meeting with a client and picking up equipment during my last brew day.

 

[dr K]

Krap....
George Fix wrote at some length about no-sparge brewing, he may have even coined the term.
No sparge brewing is not a primitive form of full voume mashing (or BIAB).
The concept is that whilst sparging may increase efficiency it brings with it a compromise, that is, unwanted flavours or profiles.
Your efficiency will be greatly lowered, you may use up to 50% more grain.
But it does have two major plus points (I am dismissing time saving here):
1. A much bigger malt profile which allows 2. a much bigger hop profile.
I, as always, invite disapproval, general rejection and so on to my comments. I have an errand to run but may check back later.

K

 

[elcarter]

I do full volume mashes now after a old time brewer mentioned it. If your mash tuns big enough you just work out your required "full volume of water" heat it and throw the grain in, recirculate with a pump. I use a sparge arm just for re-circulation now.

I've dropped about two% in efficiency so I add a little bit more grain. I do know of a few others that dropped quite a bit more...

It's stupidly simple, saves a huge amount time, stuffing around and provides consistent results.
Well it works perfectly for me.

I do batch sparge for doubles but usually go to the maximum my mash tun can handle and sparge with the required water to make up my bre boil.

I guess don't knock it until you try it,