Sparging in an all in one system

[531Man]

Oops, posted in wrong thread.

 

[Bogdweller]

Most all in ones recirculate during the mash. This is something that simply does not happen with a traditional infusion mash in a standalone mashtun (like a converted coolbox that many folks use). In such a mash tun, where the mash has just been sat there and there has been no real active mixing during the infusion, you need to sparge slowly to ensure that as much of the sugar gets washed out as possible and to ensure that the run-off is slow so that it does not suck the mash down causing the sparge to stick.

An all-in-one is simply a different mashing system that operates differently from the traditional mash tun....the recirculation alone will drive efficiency upwards as it washes more sugars out of the mash, which in turn means you can sparge "differently" (not necessarily better or worse) than you would in a traditional standalone pot.

This is the problem when folks try to apply a brewing process that works on one system, to a different system that operates differently....they suddenly start seeing issues with the "other" system that in practice do not really exist....you just need to adapt your process to suit the new system.

Granted that, when you lift the malt pipe up in an all in one, there will be some settling of the malt in the pipe....but this, in practice (unless using a large proportion of say wheat or similar), has very little effect on the sparge process.....you can simply carefully jug sparge water on top of the mash and let it drain through or, you can still use a rotating sparge arm or similar (I use a silicone shower head) to create a sprinkle effect. By regulating the flow from the vessel holding the sparge water you can control the time that the sparge takes. No you wont be matching the flow in with the flow out....but you don't need to on an all in one.

The only thing you wont have (unless you have a higher rate of flow) is the mash constantly sitting in mash liquore and other than helping the malt to "float" a bit allowing the sparge liquor to mix easily and wash the sugars out (which has largely been achieved in an all in one by the recirculation process) the only other benefit to this is it prevents that flow of sparge water disturbing the grain bed.....and if its as slow as it should be then disturbance is not an issue.

I'm not saying to the OP that he shouldn't find a way to raise his malt pipe slowly.....if he feels that it would benefit his beer then give it a go....it certainly wont make things worse....but what I am saying is that in all likelihood it isn't as big an issue (and that's the opinion of someone who has used both all in ones and 3 vessel systems) as people are making out....all in ones have compensatory features/functionality that, as I've said previously, mean you can sparge in a different manner to what traditional systems require you to do.

 

[buddsy]

I have been sparging the standard way of pouring in a litre jug at a time after the drips have slowed.

The malts after a couple of jugs full look to be pretty clean with any sugars washed away.

I feel Im just basically increasing the wort volume to achieve the OG & volume pre boil I was aiming for.

I bet if I collected the liquid from the last couple of litres it would almost be pure water. I guess it would be an easy thing test.

Might try that next time

buddsy

 

[hoppyscotty]

Well with my 3v system I monitor the gravity of the sparge. The spurge takes alot longer than with the Brewzilla as you control the sparge rate rather than letting gravity do the thing. The theory is you sparge till you hit boil volume or a gravity of 1.010, the thinking below 1.010 you are potentially starting to pull tannins from the grain. It usually works out that by the time I've hit boil volume the gravity of the sparge runnings has hit 1.010 anyway so works out nice. the whole process takes from about 45 mins to an hour and the runnings are pretty clear for most of that time, so not sure that is a good indicator of sugar content. The faster the sparge the less efficient the sparge and you risk compacting the grain bed and creating a stuck sparge.