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re: Homebrewing - Weekend Recap
Posted on 8/6/12 at 10:43 am to Fratastic423
Posted on 8/6/12 at 10:43 am to Fratastic423
Could sparging have anything to do with it?
My sparge water was heated to 170. I had a slow runoff from my mash tun to my brew pot. I then tried to copy that rate going from my sparge (fly sparge) to my mash. My sparge water ran out quicker than my mash water. I also had to add about 1 gallon to my brew kettle to get the 6.5 gallons to brew.
During this process i couldn't wrap my head around the fact, that if i have too much sparge water, that it will dilute the extract from the grains. Is this correct? When i read, the books talk about adding a 1/2 gallon of water here if it is too cold, or more if it is still to cold. But in my mind, it seems that the more water you add, the more you dilute the extract.
Or does the water serve more as a vacuum when you sparge, sucking out sugars, as it is drained into my brew kettle?
My sparge water was heated to 170. I had a slow runoff from my mash tun to my brew pot. I then tried to copy that rate going from my sparge (fly sparge) to my mash. My sparge water ran out quicker than my mash water. I also had to add about 1 gallon to my brew kettle to get the 6.5 gallons to brew.
During this process i couldn't wrap my head around the fact, that if i have too much sparge water, that it will dilute the extract from the grains. Is this correct? When i read, the books talk about adding a 1/2 gallon of water here if it is too cold, or more if it is still to cold. But in my mind, it seems that the more water you add, the more you dilute the extract.
Or does the water serve more as a vacuum when you sparge, sucking out sugars, as it is drained into my brew kettle?
1
Posted on 8/6/12 at 10:54 am to BugAC
I am slightly confused by your question but lets see if we are on the same page.
You mash in with roughly 4.5 gallons of water at 165ish, which would take your 11.5 lbs of grain up to about 150. You let that sit for about an hour (length of time is debatable). Once that hour is up you start sparging with 170 degree water. Since you are fly sparging you attempt to have the wort draining at the same rate you are adding sparge water. The goal is to end up with enough wort that after your boil you have your target amount of wort (some people want 5.5 gallons into fermentor, some want more or less).
Depending on how well you did with your mash and sparge procedure, you should ideally get about 70-75% of the convertible sugar out of the grain which depending on your final volume will give you your OG. Towards the end of your sparge the wort leaving the mash tun is probably very weak, so typically you are just trying to get to your pre-boil volume.
The water does not act like a vacuum but rather a method to remove the water soluble sugars. So adding an extra gallon or so of water will probably not hinder extraction that much.
You mash in with roughly 4.5 gallons of water at 165ish, which would take your 11.5 lbs of grain up to about 150. You let that sit for about an hour (length of time is debatable). Once that hour is up you start sparging with 170 degree water. Since you are fly sparging you attempt to have the wort draining at the same rate you are adding sparge water. The goal is to end up with enough wort that after your boil you have your target amount of wort (some people want 5.5 gallons into fermentor, some want more or less).
Depending on how well you did with your mash and sparge procedure, you should ideally get about 70-75% of the convertible sugar out of the grain which depending on your final volume will give you your OG. Towards the end of your sparge the wort leaving the mash tun is probably very weak, so typically you are just trying to get to your pre-boil volume.
The water does not act like a vacuum but rather a method to remove the water soluble sugars. So adding an extra gallon or so of water will probably not hinder extraction that much.
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