Multiple sparges

[AnokaBrewer]

Thank you Dave. For more clarification, my all-in-one (Brewzilla 3.11) holds 8 gal max. Before I even start the mash, I heat all of the water I plan to use, to 160 degrees, then drain and retain most in a separate bucket, and start the mash, adding previously heated water and grain till I get the original mashing step, 152 degrees 60 to 90 minutes. Then 170 degrees for 10 minutes. I drain as much as I can, add hot water, heating it up to 170 for 10 minutes, drain, and repeat (I believe this is batch sparging) until I get my boil volume. Sometimes, it will take 2 to 3 sparges to get the volume. I could do more as my mash volume is usually around 2 gallons in a circulating, heat controlled system. I am just worried that excessive sparging will affect my final product. It all depends on who is advising.

Hi Matt. I have the RoboBrew version 3 which is about the same system and follow the same procedure that you do with the exception that I heat my sparge water on the stove in a separate vessel as it cools down to quick. After the mash out, I raise up the malt pipe and turn up the temperature to get it to boiling in the RoboBrew. I then take my 170 degree sparge water and dump some in to the malt pipe, washing the sugars off the grains. I dump in enough water to cover the grains in the grain bed. Usually about 3 to 4 liters. It usually takes me about 3 times to get enough water to reach my pre-boil amount. Usually about 10 liters total (I measure in liters as it is more accurate on the RoboBrew markings). I also often have to re-heat the water in my 2.5 gallon stock pot so I sparge at 170 and no greater. I have heard that sparging at temperatures hotter than that can also cause bitterness from the tannins in the grain, though we never ran into that at the commercial brewery I worked at and we sparged from our Hot Liquor Tank which was about 190 degrees.