Fly sparge disaster. Help needed!

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suffolkbeer

suffolkbeer

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Had a bit of a disaster today and ended up throwing out my wort......

Fist time I tried fly sparge as I have done batch sparge before and not had any problem with that.

I mashed for 60min as normal and collected the wort. I then laid tin foil over the malt and perforated with a toothpick. I then poured the sparge water over the foil but couldn't retain 1" of liquid over the foil (have read this is what one should do). The sparge ran through the grain very fast and as a result I'm guessing didn't rinse out the sugars properly? The gravity after this process was very low.
Should I have closed the run-off tap partially to slow the sparge draining out of the tun????
 
I'm guessing if I did slow the outflow the sparge water would wash more sugar from the grain?
 
Could you not have just filled wort into a jug and run it back thru the grain? As it's pre boil the gravity will be a bit low and you have no need to worry about infections at that stage, boiling the wort evaporates water and increases the gravity by concentrating it a bit.
 
I guess so but I basically threw my toys out of the pram, lol.

My question I guess basically comes down to: should i slow the run off from the mash tun by partially closing the tap? I've read that I should expect to collect a quart per min while fly
Sparging?
 
Yes you need to control the outlet when fly sparging. I'm not sure, but from your description it sounds like you collected the first runnings before you started the sparge? The sparge water should go in the top at the same rate as the wort comes out the bottom, nice and slow, while maintaining an inch or so of water above the grain.
 
suffolkbeer said:
I guess so but I basically threw my toys out of the pram, lol.

My question I guess basically comes down to: should i slow the run off from the mash tun by partially closing the tap? I've read that I should expect to collect a quart per min while fly
Sparging?
Click to expand...

You will need to shut of your valve to achieve it.Best way is to fill your mash tun with say 10 litres of water leaving container below the valve and time how long it takes to fill to your desired amount and mark the angle of the lever which will give you a ballpark figure each time which may only need a minor tweak once your sparging.
You could also do the same when your sparging,mimicking the setup with your foil and a jug of water to see how long it takes to pour and drain allowing you to set a happy medium to run both to your timings.
 
I did, you're right collect the first runnings then start the sparge (with the outlet fully open) oh dear.
Off to get more malt tomorrow and I'll try again!
 
Seemed like a good idea at the time, to broaden my experience.
Just had a dry run and worked out tap position for a flow of 2pint per min.
Although I was lead to believe that fly sparging took a long time to complete. Based on a maximum of 30l (50pint) that would be a 25min sparge? Does this sound about right??
I guess it will take longer if I add the time it takes to recirculate at the beginning.....
 
suffolkbeer said:
Seemed like a good idea at the time, to broaden my experience.
Just had a dry run and worked out tap position for a flow of 2pint per min.
Although I was lead to believe that fly sparging took a long time to complete. Based on a maximum of 30l (50pint) that would be a 25min sparge? Does this sound about right??
I guess it will take longer if I add the time it takes to recirculate at the beginning.....
Click to expand...
Your in control so it's down to yourself as other people have other opinions but at the end of the day you'll be trying to maximize your efficiency.

Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk
 
suffolkbeer said:
Seemed like a good idea at the time, to broaden my experience.
Just had a dry run and worked out tap position for a flow of 2pint per min.
Although I was lead to believe that fly sparging took a long time to complete. Based on a maximum of 30l (50pint) that would be a 25min sparge? Does this sound about right??
I guess it will take longer if I add the time it takes to recirculate at the beginning.....
Click to expand...

That's a perfectly good reason :thumb:
I usually aimed for a slower sparge than that because I had efficiency problems with anything faster. Have a go at 2 pints/min and see what your efficiency is like. If it's low then try a bit slower next time.
 

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