Brewing Activities (2021)

how do you purge the headspace after dry hopping?

I'm just doing what my friend who also brews does. I've oxidized two NEIPAs in a row now and I'm determined not to screw this up.

 

Tapped the new German Pils! 5.3% and 30 IBU.

Decocted Pils hopped with Perle, Mittelfruh, Tradition and Czech Saaz. Fermented with Bavarian Lager WLP2206.

 

Looks mighty pale! Where did you pull your decoction(s)?

 

Kegged a west coast ipa and a bourbon Oaked Dubbel.

Brewing up a blonde with minute rice, 2 row. Hopping with cascade at 60 and flameout.

 

About to keg a WCIPA, 2/3 Strata - 1/3 Azzaca - 1/3 Chinook. All strata in the boil. 100% Two Row. Shooting for around 6.7/7% abv. First samples seem hopeful!

Looking to switch over to a traditional cooler mash system. Not fully satisfied with my Anvil Foundry system. Low efficiency, and boil is just too weak. Can anybody point me in the direction of a good resource on batch sparging? I'm doing 2.75 and 3 gallon batches (the later if I have a big dry hop) for reference. I'm typically using somewhere around 4.5 gallons of total water on my Anvil system but looks like ill need somewhere in the 5 to 5.5 neighborhood for batch sparging.

Cheers!

 

Don’t.

 

The total water you'll need is:
Batch Size (into the fermenter) +
Grain Absorption +
Mash Tun Unrecoverable Dead Space +
Hop Absorption +
Boil Off +
Kettle Unrecoverable Dead Space (if any)

Pre-Boil Kettle Volume =
Batch Size (into the fermenter) +
Hop Absorption +
Boil Off+
Kettle Unrecoverable Dead Space (if any)

The most efficient single batch sparge will be where your first runoff and your sparge runoff are equal volumes. To get that...

Strike Water = (Pre-Boil Kettle Volume / 2) + Grain Absorption + Mash Tun Unrecoverable Dead Space
Sparge Water = (Pre-Boil Kettle Volume / 2 )

 

My original source: http://dennybrew.com/ (although I must have found it prior to the 2008 revision). I batch sparged from 2006~2016, before switching to an electric BIAB system. My efficiency is about the same, on average, ~72% based on total wort volume at the the end of the boil, but I have think I get more consistency with my electric system. That may have more to do with my modifications to the BIAB method (bag squeezing) and changing batch size.

I did 5 gallon batches in the batch sparge system and my electric system is designed for 5 gallons. But I am doing 3 gallon batches on it. I am getting a decent boil, because my volume is lower. And I squeeze the bag in the BIAB, so am recovering a small but significant amount of wort that contributes to my efficiency. And I can recover this wort consistently. If I do 5 gallons in the electric system, my efficiency and boil drops -- a 5 gallon batch has more grain, so I am less effective at recovering liquid than with 3 gallons, and the boil takes longer. With a 3 gallon batch, my brew day is shorter than with a 5 gallon batch, on either system.

In many ways I miss the cooler system. There is a lot nostalgia in that sentiment. It also was easier for me to clean in my kitchen sink, but that's a personal circumstance, not a universal one. What I do not miss is stuck sparges. This does not happen with BIAB, but did happen infrequently with my cooler. And it could be extremely frustrating. In fact, the reason I switch to BIAB was because I had a stuck sparge, and the solution was to scoop the mash manually and repeatedly into a paint strainer nylon bag to facilitate drainage. Light bulb moment.

 

Thanks for all the info folks. I need to find out my boil off from my old BIAB system (nylon bag with a SS kettle), I think I was probably close to 1G per hour. Ill also have to find out the dead space in the new mash tun, which couldn't you just get that after you've fully sparged? Empty out grains and collect the remaining under the false bottom?

Anyway, one more question. What do folks typically do for water chemistry for batch sparging? On my current Anvil ill throw in all my salts and acid into the water and the mash in which is what I'm thinking about doing for the batch sparge. For example should I

1. Have a full 5ish gallons warming up, throw in all salts and acid and then put in half or so of the water for the mash and the other for the sparge?

Or 2. Heat up water two different times and put in 50% of salt editions in each?

 

M



Celebrated big brew day in a big way brewing up 55 gallons of janets brown ale.

 

I wanted to brew on big brew day but didn’t have time. I did get my Red X grains in so a red ipa is up next. Kegged my NEIPA yesterday. May pour a glass in a couple days. Came in a 8.4% super tropical nose.

 

In case you’re interested (and maybe you're already aware), the March/April 2021 BYO magazine has a clone recipe for Stone’s Pataskala Red X IPA using 100% BesMalz Red X.
Recipe/article linked below, not sure if it's behind a paywall.
https://byo.com/recipe/stone-brewing-co-s-pataskala-red-x-ipa-clone/

 

It is.

 

That’s killer, man. How’d you get that kettle with a ¼ ton of wort from the burner to the pile o' pallets?

 

Thanks for pointing that out. After deciding to log out of BYO and check (which I could/should have done previously), I see there's a 14-day free trial.

 

Since conversion should be complete, the main reason to adjust sparge water is to maintain pH as you are diluting the wort in the grain bed. If the pH were to rise, there would be a risk of extracting tannins and creating astringency. This is more important in a fly sparge than a batch sparge, because batch sparge is not a continuous dilution. Unless your sparge water is naturally alkaline or you add alkaline salts (don’t do this!) your sparge water shouldn’t need any treatment. If your salt additions were designed both for mash control and flavor, maybe you want to maintain your gypsum and CaCl additions per unit volume so as not to dilute the anticipated flavor impact.

 

The volumes of strike & sparge water for batch sparging can be calculated if the mash tun dead space is known in advance. It’s simple to determine and there are at least a couple ways:

• Add a known volume of water to the empty mash tun, above the drain valve. With the tun on a level surface, drain the water through the valve and into a container until it naturally stops (without tipping the tun). Measure the volume of water that was collected to the container and subtract that amount from the original known volume; that’s the mash tun dead space volume.

• Add water to the empty mash tun just above the drain valve. Drain the water until it naturally stops (without tipping). Measure the amount of water remaining in the mash tun; that’s the dead space. No need to save the drained water to a container unless you intend to use it.

Personally, I’d determine and correct the contributors to low efficiency in the existing system before revamping my process, unless the new equipment is already on hand...but that's just me. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If it is broke, fix it. If it can’t be fixed, replace it.