No sparge water volume seems high.

[Jamesman]

Hi everyone, I've just started using brewfather and scaled a Greg Hughes brown porter recipe down from 23l to 5l biab no sparge. It says I should heat up 8.21litres of water then add the grains and mash for 60 mins. Does that seem like a lot of water for a 5l batch? It says the boil volume will be 7.73 litres. I haven't really got a clue but it just seems a lot. Thanks for your help. Cheers.

 

[Clint]

You have to account for grain absorption,boil off and kettle loss.

 

[Jamesman]

OK cheers Clint. I'll just leave it like that then.

 

[moto748]

I'd like to ask a question about 'no sparge'.

During a recent discussion on a thread about efficiencies, the comment was made, "the best way to improve your efficiencies is to polish up your sparging technique' (or words to that effect).

Well, that's fine, but where does the 'no sparge' technique stand with all that? I was looking at a 'no sparge' recipe just now which claimed 68% BHE. I would be happy with that, but how can sparging be, on the one hand, the best way to improve efficiency, and other the other hand, able to be dispensed with altogether?

 

[smcc]

I wouldnt put the no sparge method in an efficiency discussion as its clearly not. I have worked in a few commercial breweries and each one will sparge. no sparge is usually done due to lack of equipment or reducing the overall brewtime.

When separating wort from liquid sugar by nature is sticky, I know I spilled boiling wort on my leg and have the scar to prove it. so some of that residual sugar will cling to the grain when separating. You sparge to get as much of that into your preboil wort and improve overall efficiency. The skill comes in the method as you want to usually equalise flow in with flow out and go slow. You can sparge to a target preboil volume or if you have a refractometer you can continually measure the output and stop once you hit about 1.010

 

[The Baron]

Most Full volume or BIAB method brewers do not worry about efficiency and some just add a little more grain to compensate if they have to. Once you have a perfected a good method it does not make a vast difference albeit lower than a simple sparge.
Not all brewers focus too much on getting the highest efficiency as it can mean spending hours sparging and not everybody has or wants to waste that much time it does not make you a better brewers to say I am getting efficiency of 85%.
Everybody to their own

 

[moto748]

Yes, agreed, Baron, that's how I am looking at it these days. As long as you keep a record of your own brews, you can make adjustments on the future, as you say.

 

[Galena]

Batch sparging takes 5 minutes