Ok, i have been playing with Beersmith 2 to build an all grain recipe. My plan was going to use batch sparging but i totally cannot get the software to swith from fly sparging. I’m gonna scream!!! Please help me and save my sanity.
Maybe switch it first in your equipment profile?
Or you can just skip it! Mash with 1.5-2 qt./lb. When you runoff your mash, measure how much you have in your kettle. Subtract that from the amount you want to boil. The answer you get is how much batch sparge water to use. Heat it to 185F, stir it in, vorlauf and runoff. See www.dennybrew.com for details
Go to Profiles > Mash Profiles. Open your profile. Enable the appropriate Batch Sparge options.
Denny, just to make sure I have this correct. For the recipe that I have drawn up, which requires 16lbs of grains. If I use 1.3 qts of water per pound, then I’ll have to mash in with 20.8 quarts of water. Assuming a .1 gal loss per pound due to grain absorption, I should expect to get about 14.4 quarts of wort from my first runoff. Per my experience with my extract batches, I’m thinking I’ll need anywhere between 6.5 and 7 gallons (26 - 28 quarts) to boil to end up with 5 gallons of wort. So if if assume 26 quarts and my runoff is equal to 14.4, I’ll want to cut the runoff short after hitting 13 quarts, correct? Since I’ll need 26 total quarts, do i batch sparge with 13 additional quarts or should I batch sparge by adding only 11.6 quarts? I assume the difference is negligible but I gotta ask. Also, have if grasped the concept accurately?
I hope this doesn’t mean you’re giving up on Beersmith. Very easy to use after you get your profile configured.
There are 3 batch sparge options. Mine is configured as follows:
- Batch sparge using batches that fill (enabled, 100%)
- Use equal batch sizes (disabled)
- Drain mash tun before sparging (enabled)
The instructions will say “Batch sparge with 2 steps…” I just ignore that and sparge in one step using the recommended volume.
Nope, absolutely don’t cut the runoff short. You’ll lose efficiency and leave sugar behind. Let all the runoff come out, then sparge with enough to get your boil volume. People always work way too hard to keep the run offs equal. As long as they’re within a gal. or so of each other it’s plenty close enough.
Nope, absolutely don’t cut the runoff short. You’ll lose efficiency and leave sugar behind. Let all the runoff come out, then sparge with enough to get your boil volume. People always work way too hard to keep the run offs equal. As long as they’re within a gal. or so of each other it’s plenty close enough.[/quote]
Always with the great advice! I like to mash a little thinner (again, using your advice) around 1.75 - 2.0qt/gal which usually makes my mash water about 60-70% of the total water needed. My sparge is 30-40% and my runnings are usually within a gal or so of each other.
What is the theory behind mashing thinner? Also, I’m thinking that I’ll have to do something along these lines given that my mashtun is a keggle with a jaybird falsebottom.
Oh and dobe, i don’t plan on giving up on beersmith, it will always be my go to for making recipes, i just can’t get it to obey me yet.
edit - Dobe, i applied your profile and it worked, it gives me the correct water volumes. Thank you.
Denny, thank you as reading your site helped me get a better understanding of batch sparging.
Cool. The other tip I have is to check “Water Avail from Mash” and “Sparge Vol” on the “Vols” page in the recipe to see if your getting close to equal runnings. If you need to adjust in either direction, you can easily adjust the Water/Grain Ratio on the Mash page within the recipe. Not worth obsessing over, but it’s easy to check and adjust if the difference is outside your comfort zone.
