Switching to Batch Sparging

[Buzz]

Apologies for a basic question but, I wondered if anyone could just clarify the process for batch sparging.

I don't have a sparging arm and have thus far used a pressure sprayer on a fine spray to fly-sparge. Trouble is, it takes a lot of time and the sparging process really extends my brewday.

Would I be better off batch sparging? I have Beersmith to work out the calculations - is it just a case of adding the required water at the relevant temp , giving it a mix, leave it to stand and then run-off? (how long to you leave it before running the wort off)?

And fnally, how does efficiency compare between batch sparging and fly sparging or, is it too difficult to say?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[steve_flack]

Basically the idea is you rinse the grains twice and each time you want the same amount of water to rinse off. The maths can look daunting but heres the idea.

1) Your preboil target volume is X liters
2) mash Y kg of grain with Z litres of water.
3) After mashing add (X/2)-(Z-Y) litres of sparge water. The Z-Y assumes the grains retain their own weight in water so the amount of water you'd get out of the mash is what you added to mash minus the amount retained. You then need to add enough extra water so you'd get half your target volume(the X/2).
4) Stir, recirculate and drain the tun.
5) Add X/2 liters of water, stir and drain.
6) You now have your target volume.

Daab has a calculator for this by the way it's in his sig.

[prodigal2]

I can heartily recommend DaaB's batch sparge calc and method. You will need to tweek the losses to empty space and losses to break material and hops over a couple of brew days.
It has been mentioned that you will get a drop in your efficiency from Fly sparging, but BS can be quicker and is less demanding on a brewer than FS.

Give it a go and see what you think, all you need is a big jug

[retourrbx]

batch sparging is cool - make sure you check the calculator(from DaaB) or your efficiency will suffer...

[DRB]

My efficiency went up from 65% to 70% to 80% on my last brew when batch sparging.

[eddetchon]

efficiency may or may not go down when you switch to barge sparging. a fully efficient fly sparge system will be more efficient than a batch sparge system, but an inefficient fly sparge system may well be less efficient than any given batch sparge system.

i batch sparge, because with my copper manifold system i seemed to get terrible results fly sparging, and batch sparging improved them dramatically. with a better lautering system i might go back to fly sparging.

it can be quicker, though in my view, once you have added the second 'batch', it pays to let it sit for 10 minutes and also not to rush the recirculation. all in all, i can be done in about 30-40 minutes where a fly sparge might take an hour. so it isn't a huge saving.

[Buzz]

Thanks guys for the feedback, much appreciated.

Once I've added each batch of water and recirculated, how long should I leave the grains to settle before draining the tun?

[Buzz]

Excellent, I'm going to try this out tomorrow.