[IBU] New Batch Sparge Technique

[Adam Draeger]

Many IBU'ers convinced me to get the refractometer and it was a worthwhile
investment because doing what Edwards mentioned eliminated all my tannin
astringency problems.

I "almost" used the same method Young mentioned last weekend during our Big
Brew which we made a Barleywine.  my mash tun wasn't big enough to add all
the sparge water for a batch sparge and my sparge arm was out-of-service
(for fly-sparging) so I tried to calculate what I needed in 3 batch
runnings.  Turns out that my second runnings were only 6Brix  and I was
afraid to water it down with another 3.5 gallons in fear of dipping below my
comfort threshold of 1.016 in wort collection.  Since we were supplementing
with DME anyways, I said "screw it" and didn't worry about efficiency.

This post got me thinking.  if the 3rd batch in batch sparging was still
above 1.016 am I still in fear of tannins?  also if pH is one of the
variables, could a person just adjust the pH for the 3rd runnings only (more
work, but if efficiency without astringency is desired...)?
ADAM

On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 11:27 AM, Mike Edwards <
Mike.Edwards at edwardsbrewing.com> wrote:

> The best brewing investment I ever made was a refractometer so I could
> watch the gravity as my fly-sparging proceeds.  I err on the side of
> caution and stop when the runoff is around 4°P (roughly 1.016 SG).
>
> Mike
>
> On Thu, 2008-05-08 at 11:16 -0500, Rob Emmerson wrote:
> > I agree with Andy, you need to watch the gravity of your final
> > runnings. (not below 1.010)  You may gain efficiency but risk off
> > flavors with too many tannins extracted.
> >
> > Rob
> >
> >
> >         ______________________________________________________________
> >         Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 09:53:38 -0500
> >         From: myoung at mikeserve.com
> >         To: amesbrewersleague at yahoogroups.com;
> >         ibu at iowabrewersunion.org
> >         Subject: [IBU] New Batch Sparge Technique
> >
> >         While checking online forums, I came across a new batch sparge
> >         technique that I tried last night for the first time.  Instead
> >         of equalizing the first runnings and second runnings, I
> >         decreased the amount of sparge water and added a third sparge.
> >         This increased my efficiency by over 10% which I thought was
> >         pretty amazing.
> >
> >         My standard procedure has been to mash in with about 1.4
> >         qt/lb.  After 60 minutes, I would add enough water to get to
> >         half of my desired pre-boil volume.  I would then add the
> >         remainder of my sparge water, vorloff, and drain the mash tun.
> >
> >         What I tried last night only took about 5-10 minutes longer
> >         and was well worth it.  Instead of adding a lot of water at
> >         the end of the mash, I only added .5 gallons, stirred, and
> >         drained.  Then I added 2.5 gallons of sparge water, stirred,
> >         and drained.  I followed up with a 3rd running using my
> >         remaining 2.5 gallons of water.
> >
> >         I calculated the recipe at 75% efficiency which is what I
> >         usually get.  After taking a refractometer reading, my wort
> >         was already at the SG it was supposed to be after the boil.
> >         Since it was supposed to be a fairly low-gravity beer I ended
> >         up boiling a little less vigorously and only increasing my
> >         gravity by 4 points instead of my usual 8.  But plugging this
> >         recipe into beersmith with the gravity I would have gotten
> >         from a vigorous boil, I got 87% efficiency.  This method will
> >         definitely become my new SOP and I look forward to trying it
> >         out on some higher gravity beers to see what kind of
> >         efficiency increase I get.
> >
> >         --Mike
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________________
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-- 
Adam "Basscat" Draeger
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