Poll- Do You Double Batch Sparge

[Hogan]

I do 25 lt batches and up till now I have batch sparged in a 50lt rectangular esky (moving up shortly to SS MLT and temp step mashes). I do double sparge even though my MLT could handle the volume for a full single sparge. I do it because my head tells me I would get a better result from the lautering if I washed the grains twice instead of just once.

How many do you do and is there a rationale behind your thinking.


Cheers, Hoges.

Edit: May have made it difficult as you can only answer one question. Oh well......

 

[johnno]

I have a 45 litre esky and have never done a double.

I just cannot be bothered.

I get 75% efficiency and that is good enough for me.

cheers
johnno

 

[PostModern]

I have a 45 litre esky and have never done a double.

I just cannot be bothered.

I get 75% efficiency and that is good enough for me.

cheers
johnno

So you just run the mashout water into the tun, then run off into the kettle? Cool. I might try that next time. When I'm batch sparging, I generally add "some" hot water to mashout, then refill the tun with a second sparge. I suppose the single sparge method saves doing two recirculations.

 

[jayse]

At the end of the mash I just plonk all the water needed in and mix it up, recycle a little and run it out.
75% effiency.
Its so simply and a i love doing it that way, its best if you can keep the mash floating fairly well as if it sets with that much water on top it can become a drama.

Although for a 55litre batch I have to hit it twice of course, ussually get around 85% for those batches. I don't do it for the extra effiency its just 65 litres of water plus grain I haven't beable to fit into a 50litre mash tun yet. :blink:


B,B & BB.
Jayse

 

[Fents]

I do doubles only cause beersmith tells me to, and yes im aware i could tell beersmith to do single sparges....might just do that next brew actually.

 

[johnno]

So you just run the mashout water into the tun, then run off into the kettle? Cool. I might try that next time. When I'm batch sparging, I generally add "some" hot water to mashout, then refill the tun with a second sparge. I suppose the single sparge method saves doing two recirculations.

PoMo,
with my current setup I start with 40 litres of water. I use 20 to mash in with, hit mash temp and hold it for an hour then drain into the kettle.
Then I use the remaining 20 to sparge out with. This batch of water is at 85C.
Quick and easy.
Always get my efficiency right which is at 75% (apart from the time I was stuffing around with Powells malts). And I have nothing against Powells malts and would still recommend them, just my efficiency was never higher that 65%.

I strated doing this because my HLT is an 20 litre Birko urn and I could not be bothered heating extra water in another pot at the same time.

Have a new monster system now, but I have to learn to brew on that. :unsure: So in the meantime I will keep going the way I have.

cheers
johnno

 

[Sammus]

Which answer do I pick? I want to choose 1, 2, and 4. I do double batch sparging (When I do batch that is) even though I have room for single because I believe it is better and will give me better efficiency

 

[Jye]

I do double but have been wanting to try a single, just never tried it out of fear of stuffing up my eff and missing OG. Will definitely give it a go on the next simple ale I brew.

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Same as johnno here, the only difference is in the volumes of water I use, constantly 72% efficiency.
Always add my mashout/sparge water at 85C as well.

C&B
TDA

 

[craig maher]

Double sparges here.
Only because of limited mash tun capacity though.
If I could do a single sparge and efficiency didn't drop I probably would

Hoping to upgade to a 50 litre system soon though

Cheers

Craig

 

[Ross]

I get better efficiency with a double sparge, so that's what I stick with, plus not enough room for a single except on small brews. 85% efficiency on a 5% brew which lifts above 90% on a midstrength.

cheers Ross

 

[warrenlw63]

Double because my mashtun is 50 litres and I need a 60-65 litre preboil volume.

Warren -

 

[Screwtop]

In the days of 60% efficiency I used to. Tried everything known to increase efficiency in those days, changing manifolds, etc. Three factors increased efficiency, including a mash out step 77, hot enough sparge water to maintain the grain bed at 77 and changing to 90 min boils (more water through the grain). Efficiency was then often 80% or above, started fly sparging and eff went up above 85%. Since mucking around with direct heating of the tun and step mashing and now HERMS I have been single batch sparging until I sort out how to fly using the pump. Efficiency has been 78% - 80% so haven't bothered with double batch sparging again.

There is never a simple straight forward answer so I didn't vote. I always do a mash out step with a single batch. Never used to when doing doubles.

 

[SJW]

I mashout then do 2 equel size batch sparges. It works well and I am happy with 75% eff. I also pump both batchs as fast as my little March pump will go. No need for these slow run offs as it does not effect my efficiencies.

Steve

 

[snagler]

I use the same method as SJW but without the pump and I recirc anally. I am getting consistantly above 80% efficiency useing a very slow run off at around 77 degrees. Could have something to do with MHB's crush. Hard to tell for me because I have never done a single batch sparge (although I could) or had any other crush than what MHB sells to me.

 

[SJW]

I use the same method as SJW but without the pump and I recirc anally. I am getting consistantly above 80% efficiency useing a very slow run off at around 77 degrees. Could have something to do with MHB's crush. Hard to tell for me because I have never done a single batch sparge (although I could) or had any other crush than what MHB sells to me.

I used to run off very slow but then after listening to the Podcast http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/1293525 I started to run off flat out and it made no diff. Saves heaps of time too. A nice slow run off when fly sparging is essential but not with batch

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I mostly do double sparges. Mainly because of tun size, but usually I'll do it even when I dont have to, just for consistency.. I'm not sure but i think that there is a little confusion around what people call single, double etc so I'll define:

Mash tun up to mashout (direct heat) - Drain 10litres
Add 10 - stir -vorlauf - Drain 10litres
Add 10 - stir -vorlauf - Drain 10litres

All as fast as I can get it to go -for a pre-boil of 30litres and 90min boil.

I always think of whacking all the water in the mashtun and doing a single drain as "no" sparging, because really its just a very large step infusion rather than a distinct sparge.

Not that it matters thats just the way I think about it .. so I get confused when people start talking double single etc etc.

I'd probably cut a step out and just use two equal sized drainings if my tun was big enough to do it on all my brews. When I have tried it, I really only lost maybe a point or two of efficiency; and that could have been all sorts of things not just the sparge.

 

[blackbock]

Refractometer readings of double batch-sparge runoffs 1 & 2 suggest to me that efficiency is probably better with double batch sparge, because run 2 is always between about S.G 1.020 & 1.014 for me. I have never actually tried a single run, so perhaps the extra water would extract the same sugars anyhow.

The reason I do it is not for efficiency, but because my system is gravity fed and using two runs reduces the amount of heavy lifting needed.

Thirsty, to me what you describe sounds like a triple-sparge!

 

[tangent]

i mashout, which if i'm step mashing, fills the tun to the brim
i recirc about 4-5 litres, with a bowl.
when the sparge stops, i top up, mix, recirc and do another full sparge
the kettle is usually within the target volume by then, so it's only a matter of sparging with another few litres or boiling for a bit longer to get my target volume.
i don't give a sh!t about SG, in fact i rarely check it. i just hate 28L of wheat beer in a 30L fermenter

 

[matti]

As moving into ag and using more grain batch sparging seems the easiest way to go.
Never understood why one shouldn't rinse the grain again after intitial run off?
Only done 2 so far one single infusion and one step mash.
Both with double run off.
Will go back to fly sparge at first opportunity.
(when the mashtun+false bottom come.)