Idiot's guide to batch sparging?

[Monkeybrew]

I'm going to be brewing AG#2 on Saturday, and want to try batch sparging this time, and just want to get the method clear in my mind before the big day.

I will be using the calculator on here for the water quantities, but I'm not totally clear on the process

Cheers

MB

[boingy]

When the mash is done, add the first batch of sparge water, stirry stirry, wait 10 mins, drain as fast as your manifold will allow.
Add second batch of water, stirry stirry, wait 10 mins, drain as fast as your manifold will allow.
Done.

[Monkeybrew]

Excellent, Cheers!

[gnutz2]

If you confused with volumes just drain the mash tun after your finished mashing, then deduct this amount from your pre boil volume and that's how much sparge water you need.

Cheers Baz.

[Horden Hillbilly]

Click here.

[mark4newman]

Hi

When the mash is done, add the first batch of sparge water, stirry stirry, wait 10 mins, drain as fast as your manifold will allow.
Add second batch of water, stirry stirry, wait 10 mins, drain as fast as your manifold will allow.

I do it slightly different.

When the mash is done, add the first batch of sparge water, stirry stirry, wait 10 mins,

I then Recirculate until it runs clear.
Then, slowly drain

Add second batch of water, stirry stirry, wait 10 mins

I then Recirculate until it runs clear.
Then slowly drain

This will make the wort clearer, and so, in theory lead to clearer beers.

But then each to their own.

[Andy__]

I'm doing 30 minutes.

Too much

[orlando]

You could listen to Denny Conn on BeerSmith who talks about batch sparging at some length.

[seymour]

...I then Recirculate until it runs clear.
Then, slowly drain...

That "vorlauf" step makes a BIG difference in clarity later on.

[PaddyX21]

I recirculate (ok that makes it sound a damn sight more fancy than the reality of collecting the cloudy wort in a jug then adding back to the MT, and repeat, until running clear) but I do drain as fast as I can.
This seems to compact the grain quicker, leading to it forming a 'filter' quicker, leading to less recirculation needed.

It's a work in progress though, I try different things, some of them are even intentional

[boingy]

Yeah, I used to recirculate too, worrying too much about the clarity of wort into the boiler. It's clarity of wort OUT of the boiler you should worry about and that needs a decent boil, a decent hot break and a decent hop filter bed. I've seen no difference in the final beer quality as a result of mash recirculating or not so I do what I always do in these circumstances: take the path of maximum laziness...

[Jim]

There's also a guide on this site:

Batch Sparging

[seymour]

...It's clarity of wort OUT of the boiler you should worry about and that needs a decent boil, a decent hot break and a decent hop filter bed...

Yeah, that's important too, I definitely agree with that. But too much grain matter in the boil can lead to some harsh astringency, and even with a strong boil and decent break, can produce some hazy proteins, starches, etc, which take longer to clear from the finished beer than would otherwise be the case with a little more care coming out of the mash tun. Especially when you're using a poor-flocculating yeast strain to begin with, no sense making things even harder on it.

It's not a deal-breaker--obviously you can make good beer without vorlaufing--but it's a quick and easy technique to produce slightly better beer. By the way, I'm not talking about time-consuming, labor-intensive recirculation. I'm talking about letting the tap drain into a beer mug which I then gently pour back in the mash tun, repeat a couple times, then attach the tube to my boil kettle and let it rip. No big deal.

[boingy]

There's also a guide on this site:

Batch Sparging

Jim, I reckon you need to add a few links to the Technique and All-Grain sections that point to the Knowledge Base. I thought I had seen a decent thing on Batch Sparging but I failed to find it. The All-Grain link has a section on sparging but nothing on batch.

[Jim]

There's also a guide on this site:

Batch Sparging

Jim, I reckon you need to add a few links to the Technique and All-Grain sections that point to the Knowledge Base. I thought I had seen a decent thing on Batch Sparging but I failed to find it. The All-Grain link has a section on sparging but nothing on batch.

I still have an upgrade to the navigation system for the whole site on my things to do list, but it's finding the time.