Mash Out/Sparging Question

[yeqmaster]

So after doing advanced searches of past forums, I still find myself somewhat confused regarding mashing out and sparging. I have just started to do all grain and thus far have not done any mash out what so ever. Yesterday, I brewed an ESB in which I mashed at 152deg and held for an hour. I checked the mash at this time and starches had been converted. At this point I recirculated some of the mash until the stream was clean of grains and particles. I then proceeded to drain the mash while fly sparging with 169deg water (I got values and quantities from beer tools). This sparge only took me about 20 minutes which I was worried about based off what I have read which says it can take up to 45min to an hour.

Questions:
-Should my sparge time be longer than this to increase efficiency?

-I have read mixed things... should I drain the mash so that my sparge is applied over the grain bed?... or should there be a layer of water above the grain bed that the sparge is sprinkled onto?

-Should I be doing a mash out?

At no point during the process did I add any portion of significantly hotter water to the mash and drain to "mash out." When I took my pre-boil gravity, it read (corrected for the heat) 1.051. This gave me an efficiency of 79%. From what I have read, this is an appropriate efficiency and in less than 12 hours after yeast pitch, FERMENTATION!

 

[SC_Ryan]

Sounds like you did a great job. Congratulations!

If you mashed out and sparged a little slower it should increase your efficiency. I would say it's up to you. Sounds like you are getting a pretty good efficiency without a mash out. If it were me I wouldn't bother with a mash out, but I bet if you slowed your sparge down a little you could probably get your efficiency into the mid 80's.

 

[Piotr]

-Should my sparge time be longer than this to increase efficiency?

Well, yes, for many reasons (efficiency, grain blow-through etc) sparging shouldn't be too fast, 0.5L/min is a good estimation. But it is not so crucial - as you see your efiiciency is still OK.

-I have read mixed things... should I drain the mash so that my sparge is applied over the grain bed?... or should there be a layer of water above the grain bed that the sparge is sprinkled onto?

If you fly-sparge, keep the grain 'floating' in the water, keep 1-2 inches of water above the top of the grain bed. If you fail to do so, the grain gets compacted, the flour can cover grain surface etc. In such case you can stir it a bit on the top, or cut the surface.

-Should I be doing a mash out?

it helps with efficiency and lautering, but you can do without it.

 

[ajf]

You asked 3 questions.
In my experience, the answers should be yes, keep the MLT filled, and yes.
but my experience is limited to my equipment and my recipies.

If I sparged 5g of ESB in 20 minutes, I would get lousy efficiency. For an ESB, I sparge about 60 - 75 minutes. Efficiency starts to drop if I go faster than 60 minutes

When fly sparging, you want to keep the grain bed suspended. I haven't noticed any adverse effects from letting the water level drop slightly below the surface of the grain. If you let the entire grain bed dry out, you could have major problems like a stuck sparge (at least with my equipment).

I bumped my efficiency from 75 to 85% by doing a mash out and increasing the temperature of my sparge water from 170 to 180, This raised the grain temperature during the sparge to 165 - 170, but I sparge more slowly than you which would certainly have some effect.

Seems like a good excuse for some experiments to see what works for you.

-a.

 

[Jaybird]

I havent done a mash out for years. I do keep a good 2" of water above the mash and let it drain to finish. So if I calculate 9 gallons of sparge water I use 9 gallons and when I am done the MLT is void of water. Sounds like you have done a great job.
Cheers
JJ