Re: Re: Thoughts on Sparging.....

Well, nice job from Mr. Computerbrainless here. Sorry. I wanted to mention: FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO MAKE ALL-GRAIN, "FROM SCRATCH" KINDS OF BEER!! Mashing is fun but more complicated than using malt extract to brew beer. You need a functional mash/lauter set up. Many different configurations work well, including homemade mash tuns and sparging devices. For myself, I mimic Dr. Jim Ellingson's mash-in-a-Coleman cooler set up, with a slotted copper manifold to drain the sweet wort. One modification I've made is wrapping the manifold in a fine-mesh grain bag. Helps with getting clear wort faster and less volume in the vorlauf (recirc.). I mash for short times if I have a FRESH, well-modified malt. AND, I have well-crushed malt kernels - popped open, mostly intact husks with endosperm exposed nicely and not too much "flour"...thanks to my cool, good ol' hand crank MagMill. Since I brew ales and no lagers (yet)...I use a single-infusion mash, mix the mash bed, let it rest 5 minutes and check the mash bed temp. in multiple spots...mix a bit more and adjust with hot (pH adjusted) mash water if need be....then let the enzymes do their thing for another 15 minutes. At that time I add my first aliquot of sparge water and begin to collect the cloudy first runnings. These runnings are collected until the wort runs very, very clear; then the runnings are heated to almost boiling and added back SLOWLY to the mash bed. That usually amounts to less than 3/4 gallon of cloudy wort. Then I start my sparge. I've figured out how much water I need (varies a bit depending on the beer I'm making, amount of grain I've mashed and the target OG) and I add it (at pH 5.3 - 5.5) gently on top of the grain bed. Believe it or not I use a big SS strainer and run the hot sparge water through it. Not fancy but it is gentle and also helps drop the temp. a bit on the hot mash water. I am a believer in sparging at "cooler" temps. This minimizes tannin extraction. However, you need to keep up the overall pace of the brew day 'cuz you really don't want the mash bed temp. to drop below about 140F, lest you may start to invite nasty spoilage organisms to your mash party. Also, I cut off my final runnings probably higher than some (many?) brewers. Again to minimize tannin extraction. I give up some maltose this way, but hey it is my beer, right?! :) I oftentimes cut off runnings at about 1.014 or so.... depends on my kettle volume also. So if you were to calc. my %yield and extraction efficiency it is always on the low side. Water, pH and temperature will affect overall mash quality and extraction efficiency. Lousy tasting brewing water, at a neutral or alkaline pH, will result in a lousy tasting beer. Mashing at too cool of a temperature or way too hot will affect enzyme activity and their interaction with starch and protein molecules. The happy news is, water is easy to clean up for brewing, pH adjustment is also easy, and thermometers work well for hitting mash temp's. If anybody wanna get technical about that there mashing thang, read some of Greg Noonan's writings, or start an email exchange with Dr. Michael Lewis (yep, he is wonderful and does reply to most postings he gets). Better yet, talk and brew with people in our club..there are some really great brewers around town!! I've got more to mention, but am wondering if I've already went tooooo far! Who wants to brew?? I'm in the mood for brewin'.... :) Cheers, Steve Weiland ------ http://USFamily.Net/info - Unlimited Internet - From $8.99/mo! ------