AG6 - Bodgegarden

[Scotty]

Brewed this yesterday loosely based on dave-o's cheap and easy wit recipe...

Bodgegarden

40l brew

Lager Malt - 3.7kg
Wheat Malt - 2.5kg
Flaked Wheat - 1kg
Porridge Oats - 0.7kg

Saaz - 40g @ 60 mins
Bobek - 35g @ 0 mins

Crushed Coriander seeds - 15g @ 15 mins
Orange Peel - 10g @ 15 mins

Yeast - Safbrew WB-06

Est SG - 1.046
Est FG - 1.010
Est ABV - 4.7%

Above was the plan but what actually happened..........

1....It took an age to get my alkalinity figure correct from 143 to 40 ish mg/l CaCO3.
2....My Totton pump was jammed so had to strip that down and rig up the little solar project pump.
3....I went for a 67c mash, but it ended up at 68c, no problem though.
4....Homemade sparge arm was acting up again, sparging too quickly and not spinning at all, so used the Totton pump again
which doesn't seem to like a restriction on the outlet using a ballvalve.
5....Had trouble collecting enough wort but somehow managed it.
6....I weighed out my 60 minute addition hops, only to realise when weighing out my 0 min additions I had added Bobek instead of Saaz . I then just added the 0 min Bobek as normal.

As a brewday, it was pretty crap but as an upshot I managed to achieved all targets with an efficiency of 81%

For my next brew I am going to go back to basics and may try batch sparging until I can sort out my sparge arm issues (both getting it to spin properly and with a lower flowrate (currently at 4l per minute on its lowest setting))

[staplefordbill]

Hi Scotty,

How about Jubby's suggestion for sparging?

It is easily possible to reach 90%+ efficiency by just resting the pipe supplying your sparge liquor on top of the grain bed in the mash tun. A little tin foil with holes punched in it covering the grain bed helps to stop any disturbance and hold the bed temp. As far as equipment goes, mash tun shape/size and manifold design is what will affect your efficiency, not a sparge arm. I like to keep it simple........if it's possible to achieve a good extract efficiency without a sparge arm. why make it more complicated by using one?

I tried it yesterday and it worked really well. I haven't measured my efficiency but easily surpassed the 75% in the Graham Wheeler recipes.

[DrewBrews]

Hi Scotty,

How about Jubby's suggestion for sparging?

It is easily possible to reach 90%+ efficiency by just resting the pipe supplying your sparge liquor on top of the grain bed in the mash tun. A little tin foil with holes punched in it covering the grain bed helps to stop any disturbance and hold the bed temp. As far as equipment goes, mash tun shape/size and manifold design is what will affect your efficiency, not a sparge arm. I like to keep it simple........if it's possible to achieve a good extract efficiency without a sparge arm. why make it more complicated by using one?

I tried it yesterday and it worked really well. I haven't measured my efficiency but easily surpassed the 75% in the Graham Wheeler recipes.

I've heard it referred to a "Ghetto sparging"

I always do it these days. Just rest some foil over the mash, poke a few holes and rest the pipe from the HLT on top. I always seem to get good efficiency (~80%)

[Spud395]

So how do you regulate the temperature in your HLT during this process??

This seems like the next logical step for me, but I dont have a thermostat on my HLT.
Cycle the elements on and off, with a thermometer in there?

Sorry for going along with the threadjak Scotty, I made a beer very like yours and it was a cracker, so no worries I reckon.

[Garth]

it's not that important to regulate temp in the hlt as long as it keeps the mash bed over 75C as you're also wanting to halt enzyme activity.

[DrewBrews]

So how do you regulate the temperature in your HLT during this process??

This seems like the next logical step for me, but I dont have a thermostat on my HLT.
Cycle the elements on and off, with a thermometer in there?

Yep, I just use the elements in the hlt and check it with a thermometer.

You could easily use a temperature controller wired to the hlt element (i've seen a few people on here do that) but I've never really felt the need. Maybe when I run out of other projects

[Scotty]

Sorry for going along with the threadjak Scotty, I made a beer very like yours and it was a cracker, so no worries I reckon.

Not a problem Spud, infact I was hoping for this kind of discussion also What is the lowest flow rate you can achieve when sparging?

I find that if I get my HLT temperature upto the 90c region, sometimes as good as a boil, then by the time I have pumped it to my mash tun the temperature drops to around 82-83c

[WishboneBrewery]

Sorry for going along with the threadjak Scotty, I made a beer very like yours and it was a cracker, so no worries I reckon.

Not a problem Spud, infact I was hoping for this kind of discussion also What is the lowest flow rate you can achieve when sparging?

I find that if I get my HLT temperature upto the 90c region, sometimes as good as a boil, then by the time I have pumped it to my mash tun the temperature drops to around 82-83c

At work we sparge at 76-77c, I've started to do this at home too but I used to always sparge at over 80c... I can't say I've noticed any difference in quality of finished product either way.

[staplefordbill]

So how do you regulate the temperature in your HLT during this process??

I've covered my HLT in thermal insulating foil from B&Q. With the (insulated) lid on it doesn't lose much heat. Certainly not enough to worry about. I had some of the foil left so cut a circle out, poked loads of holes in it and use it on top of the mash. It's fairly thick so I can reuse it.

I have a good idea now when the HLT is near 80C. I check with a thermometer and if it's slightly over I just leave it to cool with the lid off for a couple of minutes.

[Spud395]

Got a brew on today after and gave this "Ghetto/Jubby" sparge technique a shot.
Seemed to work fine, only I got my water wrong, was 3 L short and 4 points high.
I reckon that's down to me and not the sparging though