After years of fly sparging, I would like to try a batch sparge on my next beer. One thing that I’m a little uncertain about is, how much water should I be using, and does it even matter? I ask mainly because my mash tun has limited volume available. I’m hoping to do a moderately high-gravity saison in the near future, and anticipate having to do to two rounds of sparges to get my boil quantity, given the volume limitations I face. I’m guessing that really isn’t a problem- I would stop collecting runoff once I’m at my desired boil quantity- but am interested in the thoughts of experienced batch spargers. Thanks in advance!
The simple method is to see how much wort you get from your first runnings and then sparge with the difference to reach your preboil volume target. You can do that with multiple sparges if necessary.
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Brewed a few days ago, and batch sparged. Ended up sparging twice to reach preboiling. I see it as getting most of sugar out as possible.
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The answers you’ve gotten are for the most part correct and functional. Just don’t over sparge. Your runoff should not drop below 1.010 or exceed 5.4-5.6 pH. Try to get at least 50% of your boil volume from the mash to keep this from happening. Otherwise you could have trouble hitting your OG or end up with astringent or “watery” beers…
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Thanks for the feedback and advice, guys. I especially appreciate the reminder regarding low gravities in my runoff. I was aware of the potential issues, and will keep an eye on it when I’m sparging. Thanks again, much appreciated!
