Sparge methods

[Sprocker]

I usually sparge by pouring from a jug straight onto the grain bed, but I'm wondering if I would get more efficiency if I put the top plate onto the grain bed and sparged through that?
Can anyone suggest a reason not to do it that way?
Also, if I were to 'squeeze' the grain after sparging by pressing down on the top plate would that be a good or bad thing to do?

 

[Agentgonzo]

A perforated top plate will help distribute the sparge water a bit better, but it probably won't achieve a great deal

I see squeezing as a good thing. I do it - get more wort out of the grain. BIABers do it as well (mostly)

 

[Caramel Ox]

I don’t think the top plate will improve efficiency but I would squeeze. Equally you could just move the basket to rest over a bucket and gravity drain until halfway through the boil. Then you can measure quantity and gravity of your extra runoff and add to the boil. You can find out then if you would get any more by squeezing.

 

[Agentgonzo]

The main reason that I squeeze is that I don't have to find a bucket large enough to hold the grain basket, and I can walk out to the compost bin with it without it dripping sticky wort all over the floor

 

[Twostage]

A perforated top plate will help distribute the sparge water a bit better, but it probably won't achieve a great deal

I see squeezing as a good thing. I do it - get more wort out of the grain. BIABers do it as well (mostly)

I was a squeezer when I BIAB'd, how do you do it in a malt basket/pipe ?

 

[Caramel Ox]

I was a squeezer when I BIAB'd, how do you do it in a malt basket/pipe ?

Load some barbell weights on top, or depending on the strength of its support glove up and press by hand.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I expect any improvement will be marginal assuming you move the jug around as you sparge.

Squeezing is okay, I used to use a potato masher to press down.

I now batch sparge after trying a multitude of techniques because all those improvements resulted in more washing up for little improvement over a good batch sparge.

 

[MmmBeer]

I'm a non-squeezer.

The idea of sparging is to dissolve as much of the remaining sugars, without drawing tannins into your wort. Tannin is present in the grain husks and if you sparge at too high a temperature (roughly over 80°C) or continue to sparge after the sugar levels have dropped too low, you risk harsh tannins ending up in you finished beer.

It is recommended to stop sparging when the SG of the sparge flow drops to 1.008, as there is very little sugar left and that risk of tannins becomes significant. If you are worried that you havent collected enough volume in your kettle, it is safer to add more water or any remaining sparge liquor directly into the kettle.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I was a squeezer when I BIAB'd, how do you do it in a malt basket/pipe ?

Have a top plate and push down on it for a minute

 

[Twostage]

Have a top plate and push down on it for a minute

Got it. I usually put the grain pipe in a big stock pot and leave it there until the boil is under way and then add whatever has been collected. Usually a couple of litres. Might just try the squeeze.

 

[The Baron]

Carry on jug sparging as the other methods may give you a few extra points but waste 1.5 hours of your life that you will never get back

 

[Clint]

I did get the desired results from changing my sparge method by putting a Dutto special perforated tin foil sheet on the grain bed,maintaining sparge water temp and taking my time,probably up to an hour! But like said you have to decide whether a few extra points you could get from a bit of extra malt or even sugar without breaking the bank or your sanity is worth all that extra time.
Time being the factor why my own brewing is suffering.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Are the end of the day, efficiency is just a number.

 

[The Baron]

As long as the efficiency is reasonable do not chase it is my opinion. You can add slightly more grain to compensate however if your efficiency is well down you may need to look at your process or the recipe/grains used

 

[Clint]

For me,after consultation with Rob at Malt Miller he suggested swapping out the bazooka filter in the mash tun for a copper manifold ladder type with lots of drain holes. It jumped by at least 10% immediately.

 

[jof]

I vary my sparge depending on time & how I feel.
I'm effectively using my BIAB like a malt pipe and run the wort out to a bucket.
It's either jug sparge or batch sparge. I'm not entirely sure which gives best results & it seems to vary quite a bit.

But after sparge, I put BIAB malt in a collander over a stockpot & squeeze a bit later when it's cooler & add back later in the boil.