Switching Back To Batch Sparging

[vlbaby]

I did a batch of IPA on saturday and decided after reading some recents posts here, that i would try batch sparging again.
I have to say, I really dont know why i switched to fly sparging in the first place now. My brew day went so smoothly doing it this way. No more running back and forth to the kitchen to cool hydrometer samples. No more baby sitting the mash tun level and sparge rates. No stuffing around setting up the height of the sparge manifold. Knocks about an hour of my brew day, and i still managed to achieve
75 % efficiency. Brilliant!

I'm keeping it simple from now on i've decided.


vlbaby.

 

[Stuster]

We have another convert. Hallelujah! :super:

 

[warrenlw63]

Yep.

After 8 years of fly sparging, believe it or not I'm going to have my first crack at batch sparging on the weekend.

Hearing more about the benefits and less about the pitfalls not to. Watching sparge water levels and HLT flow vs runoff rate starts to get a bit tiring. :beerbang:

Warren -

 

[Ross]

Better beer, less time, far less hassle, - against - possible slightly lower effiency.

No contest IMO

 

[Justin]

That's exactly my feelings and thoughts vlbaby. Did my first proper batch sparge a couple of weeks back and I will not be going back to fly fot the reasons you outlined above. I've fly sparged since I started AGing about two years back but my mash tun didn't have the capactiy to batch sparge. Anyway, it took a nice chunk of time out of the brew day.

I got 73%.

Cheers, Justin

 

[Darren]

You will get better efficiency if you fill then you stir and leave the second "spargeate" for half an hour

 

[Ross]

You will get better efficiency if you fill then you stir and leave the second "spargeate" for half an hour

[post="88972"][/post]​

Darren, how will leaving it to cool for a further 20 mins aftern a good stir & a 10 minute rest make any appreciable notice to the efficency?

 

[Darren]

Shouldn't cool if you add 75+ degree sparge water to it (as you would if you were fly sparging)

 

[Darren]

I should have added that by stirring and allowing to sit for another half an hour will drastically increase your efficiency. I reckon this is how Colnel Sanders from up your way gets his 100% efficiencies

 

[Ross]

I should have added that by stirring and allowing to sit for another half an hour will drastically increase your efficiency. I reckon this is how Colnel Sanders from up your way gets his 100% efficiencies

[post="88976"][/post]​

Darren - have you totally lost the plot, or is your sparkling wit just going straight over my head? :blink:

 

[Crispy]

Sometimes I leave the sparge for 15 minutes sometimes 30, I always get about 5% more efficiency when I leave it the extra 15 minutes.

If you have a well insulated Tun, it shouldnt loose any heat over 30 minutes.

Cheers, :beer:

Crispy

 

[Darren]

Colonel Sanders=Graham Sanders. He is a fellow Queenslander who claims to acheive 110% mash efficiency.

 

[warrenlw63]

Darren.

Guru of the North (Colonel Sanders) gets his "claimed" efficiency because he uses a HERMS.

Also he's in Townsville not Brisbane.

110% I'd like to see that. :lol:

Warren -

 

[PeterS]

Darren.

Guru of the North (Colonel Sanders) gets his "claimed" efficiency because he uses a HERMS.

Also he's in Townsville not Brisbane.

110% I'd like to see that. :lol:

Warren -

[post="88992"][/post]​

I am not going to back to Batch Sparging since I have only tried Fly Sparging to date. I will give it a go next time I brew to compare efficience and ease of use.

I must say that I can not brag about my efficience since I only achieve between 60 to 75% at the best of times depending what I am brewing. If I can achieve the same in Batch Sparging, than there is nothing to loose. The question remains though of what formulas these 110% ers use to get that figure and are they quoting "Efficience into Boiler", "Efficiency into Fermenter". or "Brewhouse Efficency Based on Target Volume" as reported by BrewSmith for example.

In any case, after reading this topic I am persvaded to give Batch Sparging a a fair go...

:chug:
PeterS....

 

[Darren]

Darren.

Guru of the North (Colonel Sanders) gets his "claimed" efficiency because he uses a HERMS.

Also he's in Townsville not Brisbane.

110% I'd like to see that. :lol:

Warren -

[post="88992"][/post]​

Yep, true Warren,
Even with herms you still need to sparge though
I bet he does a "sorts" batch sparge though. Drains, fills, stirs,, recirculates, drains, fill, stirs, recirculates, drains. You would be soprised how close to 100% you will get by doing this (probably get lots of tannins too if you push it too far)

 

[Tony M]

OK Gurus,I need help here. I batch or fly sparge depending on which side out of my mouth my tongue is hanging on the day. I want to go away from fly sparging as it requires more attention but but "batching" always leaves me with bed compaction and a stuck sparge on the first running with about 5 litres to go. Second running is never a problem. I use a direct heated mash tun with false bottom.
Procedure:
Make up mash vol. to 20 litre with water at 82C.
Heat mash to 77C.
Run dry.
Make up mash vol with enough water to give my boil vol.
Run dry.
Looks straightforward to me. I should add that I run at about the same rate as when fly sparging but that rarely gets stuck.

 

[shmick]

Recirculating 2 or 3 extra times is a bit of a pain with a basic set-up like mine but at least you don't have to babysit it the whole time.

I've tried both methods and found batch sparging a lot easier.
However I did get clearer wort with the fly sparge. That'll learn me to stop being impatient and recirculate a bit more.

110% - I'm not that fussy - I'll just stick to 109.9% and be happy

 

[big d]

chiller has posted an article on the grain and grape site all about batch sparging.its what got me batch sparging in the first place.chiller has been a great help to me.its well worth a read.
he suggested a stir and 10 minute wait between runnings so im keen to give it some extra time to see how the efficiency goes.

cheers
big d

 

[KoNG]

I've only ever batch sparged, and of course topics like this dont entice me to experiment with fly sparging
On average who has done both and can hint towards what the difference in effeciency is..? 5% - 10% - 15%...???
is fly sparaging or batch sparging better for any specific MLT design.?

will definately search out chillers article...

KoNG

 

[JasonY]

I've only ever batch sparged, and of course topics like this dont entice me to experiment with fly sparging
On average who has done both and can hint towards what the difference in effeciency is..? 5% - 10% - 15%...???
is fly sparaging or batch sparging better for any specific MLT design.?

I'm in the opposite boat, only ever '*******' fly sparged. I don't bother with this balancing flows stuff but just top the tun up and run off slow and top it up a couple of times along the way. My system seems to average 80 - 85%, is it due to my sparging, who knows?

Have had a go at batch sparging after an all day mash, worked fine enough, I just don't enjoy having to recirc after each top up. (I know its only once more than usual but hey ...)

As long as the end product is good I say sparge how you please