Beer Forum

Got a question regarding minimum grain bed depth.

I've got two coolers I can use for my mash tun but am unsure which is going to be better. One is quite large but I am concerned that my grain bed depth may be too thin.

Is there any preferred minimum grain bed depth when mashing ? I'm planning on batch sparging as well if that would have any effect on the preferred minimum depth.

thanks

mexican

If you are batch sparging, dont worry about it. Grain bed depth really becomes an issue if you are fly sparging, but should not be an issue if you are batch sparging.

Batch Sparging RAWKS!


Sean

seanhagerty wrote:If you are batch sparging, dont worry about it. Grain bed depth really becomes an issue if you are fly sparging, but should not be an issue if you are batch sparging.

Sweet !

Thanks,

mexican

Mexican,

Your mash tun will probably drain out faster in the mashtun with the larger surface area. Thats an advantage if you're batch sparging.

What is the purpose of draining quickly in a batch sparge as opposed to fly sparge? Is it because the fly sparge can only introduce water at a slow rate and you do not want the grain bed to go dry?


H2

With a fly sparge, you want to go nice and slow to give the water time to really get in amongst the grains and rinse out all the sugar. You could do it fast, but you would get lousy efficiencies.

With a Batch Sparge, you are getting all your sugar into solution when you stir up the mash. So you dont have to go slowly. If you can drain out the wort nice and quickly, you save yourself time and lose nothing. Also, if you get it over with fairly fast, the top of the grain bed doesn't remain exposed to the air quite as long between batches

Thirsty

hey thirsty, does it matter if the grain is exposed to the air when you're about to boil the shit out of it? i batch sparge and i don't stir up the mash between batches as i am using the grain bed as a filter and that would defeat the purpose surely? what am i missing here dude. what am i doing wrong?

brewsters millionths wrote:hey thirsty, does it matter if the grain is exposed to the air when you're about to boil the shit out of it? i batch sparge and i don't stir up the mash between batches as i am using the grain bed as a filter and that would defeat the purpose surely? what am i missing here dude. what am i doing wrong?

If your efficiency is OK, then you don't need to stir. But my experience is that my efficiency sucks if I don't stir. It only takes me a qt. of vorlauf and maybe 2 minutes to reset the grainbed after stirring.