Reasons not to sparge twice?

[Capped]

Capped, so the 1010 thats often quoted, is that at wort temp then? ie 66c ish?

Partly right,E.D! I've never bothered to measure the temp of the wort sample,so whilst it'll obviously be way,way above 20C (what my hydrometer's calibrated for accuracy at),it'll not be 66C either. After collecting the trickle into a heavy,cold,glass trial jar I reckon it'd be 50C,max. Out of curiosity,I will check the sample temp,next time.I know some folk will be gnashing at the inefficiency which results but like I say,it gives a huge 'safety margin' if you like,and to me personally it's not a problem. TC2642 - tell me more about refractometers!

[Eric]

If fly sparging is considered to be a very large number of very small batch sparges, the relationship and process is more readily understood. In the limit, all sugar will have been extracted but there comes a point where the sugar extracted is impractically small and undesirables become too great. If there is plenty sugar left after a second sparge then do a third or set out to do 3 sparges, just that on the scale of homebrew, a tad more malt saves both time and effort and batch sparging simplifies equipment.

[TC2642]

Capped, so the 1010 thats often quoted, is that at wort temp then? ie 66c ish?

TC2642, sounds a usful piece og kit, and only needs a drop of wort rather than a cup full, does your read in SG, and where did you get yours from?

cheers!

steve

Got mine of ebay £25 job from china, well made and probably from the same source as the £50 ones sold over here. It reads in brix so you have to convert it, I use a spreadsheet that was made by morebeer.com and it works extremely well.

[dave-o]

On balance, the best method of sparging is the 2 batch sparge for speed, simplicity and over all wort quality without compromising efficiency.

Just to be sure i completely understand you;

You mean the initial mash and two sparges, right? Not the initial mash and one sparge? I might be misunderstanding the terminology slightly.

[Northern Brewer]

You mash, top-up, run-off, refill then run-off again.

I've explained the volumes I personally use, and Chris puts forward other ideas, on this thread...

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27886

[Northern Brewer]

You mash, top-up, run-off, refill then run-off again.

I've explained the volumes I personally use, and Chris puts forward other ideas, on this thread...

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27886

Just in case anybody took any notice, one of the figures I mentioned on the other thread this morning was wrong, and has since been corrected.

[trucker5774]

What would be the result (bonus or penalty) of the following

1. Drain the mash, then top up and sparge, followed by a 2nd top up and sparge

2. Mash at a higher proportion of water to grain,.....say 3.5 litres per kg of grain

[trucker5774]

Chris, I'm being cheap and lazy...........I have not yet got round to buying and building a larger mash tun, the most I can collect in one sparge is 12 litres, resulting in a short brew, or diluting in the FV if I keep a large grain bill.

The idea was to start with a slightly higher ratio to increase the mash volume, run off without topping up, then do 2 normal top ups and sparges. What do you think? I will get round to a larger tun soon

[trucker5774]

Thanks Chris. I do a mixture of the techniques I described. I haven't made a bad all grain yet The mash tun is getting a bit tired now, but works very well. It filters well and has never given a stuck mash. Good advice to anyone building a new one is to make sure you can get a typical 6% ABV brew out of it in 2 sparges. That way a normal 4% brew will fit nicely without excessive head space and won't slop everywhere when stired and you can still squeeze the odd special one out too