sparging with wort

[shocker]

I was wondering....is there any value in re-sparging the grain mass with the run off wort ? I mean ,when all the fresh liquor/water has been used ,maybe the grain mass still has some of its magic still onboard.....so....in this situation would it be useful to pass the liquid through the grain again ,by pump or jug or watering can or whatever ? Or would this just lead to loss of content from the fluid to the grain mass ? If you had used up all the water allowance of your brewlength but had not reached starch endpoint ,f'rinstance ?

When my enforced sabbatical from brewing began I had only just started to play at the edges of all grain ,AG ,brewing and was mainly a malt extract + adjuncts operator.....well ,thats my excuse for my stupidity .That and the repeated head injuries .Nothing to do with the drinking .Oh ,no.Not at all .What was I on about ,again ? :? :? :?

 

[Mark1964]

dont know if it will be of any benefit resparging i would have thought all the sugar extraction would be complete ive never done it so who knows

 

[shocker]

So it would be better to sparge slower in the first place ,given the set amount of liquor ...? What happens if your fluid is still running out coloured and you have used up all the sparge water ? I lay awake worrying about this sort of thing......... :?

 

[Kev888]

I've never tried what you're suggesting, but just thinking about it the grain doesn't drain completely and by the end of the sparge its sodden with lower gravity, relatively unimportant liquor (and potentially tanins etc). If you recirculated wort afterwards I'd be concerned that this will potentially be washed out to dilute the wort, and (more importantly) the precious high gravity wort mixture you recirculate will be caught up in the grains instead..

If you want to recirculate the wort then I'd say you'd be better off doing that for a bit 'before' the sparge; I doubt it'll make a lot of difference to efficiency but at least its unlikely to make things worse and the runoff will be clearer afterwards.

EDIT: The stuff thats left after you've collected your intended volume is of comparatively low gravity, but it can be used if you reduce/boil it enough. I do this in a stock pot, reducing it down in volume to get the gravity up to say 1.030, and freeze the wort for making starters. If you wanted instead to collect it and use it in the main brew though, be careful that its not washing out too many tannins - people can taste for this or use a rule of thumb that anything much less than 1.008 or even 1.010 is risky.

Cheers
kev

 

[shocker]

Aaaah ,so its not necessarily best to sparge until clear ,then ? I see what you are saying and it makes sense .

Thanks guys ,put my enquiring mind at rest on that one ,you have . :thumb:

shocksi

 

[Mark1964]

no you sparge very slowly the wort from the mash tun should be the same flow as the hot water being used to sparge with. You should take samples in a trial jar as you sparge and test with hydrometer. When the wort reaches about 1.010 ish you need to stop or you will extract unwanted tannins which will give your finished beer off tastes. We dont use a hydrometer any more just do it by tasting the wort. At first it will taste very sweet when its nearing the end of sparging it will lose its colour and taste watery :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

I sparge at a flow ratw of 1l per minute that seems to extract all the goodness in the volume of liquor required for the recipe. If you sparge too quick then fermentables are left behind and you will end up being short of a few gravity points.