Haze

[Northern Brewer]

OK, OK I give in!!

He he he - a convert at last!

Unfortunately, I came up with a duff figure above, which I have now corrected

I mash with 12.5 litres and once this is under way I refill the boiler with 22 litres, which I heat to 80C. After 90 minutes I jug 8 litres of this across to the mash tun and stir in before commencing the first run-off. After that has drained I stir in the remaining 14 litres and perform the second run-off. I therefore use 34.5 litres in total, and I collect approx 31.5 litres of this over two run-offs; hence the 4kg of grains absorb approx 3 litres.

Your larger grain bill is going to absorb approx more liquor than mine, but the additional mash water should compensate for this. If you want more than 31.5 litres, then split the desired extra between the two top-ups. Say you want 35 litres then top-up with 10 litres then 16 litres.

One of the beauties of batch sparging is that when it comes to the second top-up, the volume going in pretty much equates to the volume coming out, because the grains are already wet. Bear this in mind and keep a record as things unfold so you can adjust things next time around if necessary. Once you've found your way, a good tip is to mark your boiler or HLT to indicate the water levels for your standard mash volume and the total of the top-up volumes for future ease.

Edited (06/11/09) after a brewday during which I took more care to note my actual run-off volumes. I am sure that there will be calculators elsewhere on this forum, but here's another example anyway...

Decide upon how much wort you wish to collect. Halve that figure to determine the second top-up volume. Call this X
Grain absorbs 750ml per kg, so add the total absorption figure to X to determine the total of the mash liquor and the first top-up. Call this Y
Deduct your regular mash liquor volume from Y to determine the second top-up volume. Call this Z.
Commence you mash as normal then heat X + Z to 80C in preparation for batch sparging.
Once the mash is complete jug across Z, stir-in and drain.
Once drained stir-in X then drain again.

[Scooby]

Continuous sparging what's that

[befuggled]

OK NB, you lose approx 6.5L in 4500 gms of wet grains, so I can expect to lose just over 8L in 5653 gms.
If my required total liquid in the boiler = 30L, I need 38L into the tun which ties up pretty well with GW's Beer Engine. I am going to add 0.5L to allow for evaporation during RIMSing it.
So, Mash liqour = 14L, (+1 for pipe loss), add 9L at 80C at end of mash, drain, then add 15.5L at 80C stir, wait a bit and drain.
Pretty straight forward if I have got it right
Grains and hops ready for tomorrow, I will report back (but wearing dark glasses and a long mac)

The little darling has just phoned me from Asda at Wheatley to check she is getting the right water!!
She says she can only fit 30 bottles in her cart and it is heavy to push, so I asked her to see if they had any Proper Job on the shelves!!

[Northern Brewer]

So, Mash liqour = 14L, (+1 for pipe loss), add 9L at 80C at end of mash, drain, then add 15.5L at 80C stir, wait a bit and drain.
Pretty straight forward if I have got it right

Spot on. Easy innit

[Scooby]

so I asked her to see if they had any Proper Job on the shelves!!

After searching high and low I found some at Arkwrights not that far to go and you can have a chat with Ken

[befuggled]

Arkwrights I though, he's takin the pee, Ronnie Barker RIP
If it were not for deliveries today and tomorrow, I would be up there like a rat up a pump!!
(Some sort of quaint northern expression, must be something to do with all the froth on the beer).

I will get there as soon as I can. Arkwrights had not come up on my searches for HB, but stick in "homebrew swindon" and there he is!
Thanks for that Scooby!
I was going to say it will save some carriage as well, but PM=£58.72 . Paul still get the next order when he gets back off holiday!

[befuggled]

Thanks to all of you, I now have an FV of very clear wort, a sample of which showed exactly the crystal clear wort with trub forming as I watched - as Adm, quoted earlier.
I am now a confirmed member of the dirty mac brigade. It was very straight forward and I acheived an efficiency of 86%, plenty good enough!
I always thought that fly sparging was the "proper" way to do it, I have made rotating arms, fixed arms and even bought a wiper motor on eBay for the next generation.
It appears, on the face of a single brew compared with the previous twelve, that this is a load of b*ll*cks...
Whether my problems were one or a combination of the previously described, - and Graham, page 8 says it all!! - I am now expected a clear final product in 3-4 weeks.
If not, I vil bee back

[Northern Brewer]

I always thought that fly sparging was the "proper" way to do it...
It appears, on the face of a single brew compared with the previous twelve, that this is a load of b*ll*cks...

I'm delighted to hear that it all went well for you. You'll never return to the the buggering about method.

Did the calculations work out roughly as expected?

[befuggled]

Here's hoping Chris
NB, lost a bit less in the wet grains than expected and compensated for that with a bit more boil.
Easy to make the appropriate allowances next time though

[Scooby]

I was going to say it will save some carriage as well, but PM=£58.72 . Paul still get the next order when he gets back off holiday!

Arkwrights is definitely a corner shop, support your 'local' whenever possible or they'll disappear. Not the place to regularly get stuff but is handy when stuck for something if you don't mind digging through his stock. Ken will get anything in that he doesn't have in stock, he has a good selection of beers and whiskey and always has time for a chat