Lylo wrote:Homemade, sparging with the BM is easy. Just have some hot (75C)water on hand to pour over the screen after you lift the pipe.
My usual method is to work out my TWN with the Biabacus, dough in with the slightly less water than BM suggests, then I top up the water close to the top of the pipe. This gives my the maximum volume of water that I can use. The remainder of the TWN I set aside for the sparge.
NB: I always dough in at 55c and ramp up to sacch rest temp. This is so easy with the BM, why not? This also negates the need for a specific strike water temp.
Hi Lylo
Thks for your tip, I have only done 3 brews in mine but I am enjoying it and pleased I bought it.
I haven't done any step mashing yet as our brew day is long enough while we get our systems down and I assume having to wait for each increase in temp will only increase the overall time?
I have been slack with exact strike water temps...I heat up to the predicted temp knowing that if it turns out abit low the braumeister will increase it without any effort from me
I couldn't see the harm in a degree or two low as long as it wasn't too hot?
I decided not to sparge for a few reasons: it "seemed" like a lot of mucking about and full volume "seemed" like it was a doddle....however I now perceive sparging being easier than I first thought and from experience full volume (in the braumeister) has its complications.
I don't have a gas burner so I perceive a problem heating or maintaining water at 75c for a sparge on the stove, which is obviously inside so id have to carry a big pot of water outside, although I think I have a pot big enough so it might not be too bad but I worry about mucking around with hot water being as accident prone as I am
I was also put off sparging as I thought it would add more time to the brew day and after several reads on this site I got the "impression" it (sparging) didn't gain much over full volume mashing? That's probably a big topic full of differing opinions so I might leave it alone for now and talk about my braumeister experiences instead....
I now (last brew) heat the full volume in Braumeister then remove a no chill container worth, mash in in the reduced volume then pour back the cube of water, i do this as it is easier to mash in in the reduced volume as the water doesnt spill over the malt pipe. during the mash i have found i need to stir at least a couple of times to stop gushing, which i assume is happening until the grain has fully absorbed water. To do it i simply fill my no chill cube again to lower the volume to below the top of the malt pipe, remove top plate and mesh, stir then replace mesh/plate/water/lid...so all told I am mucking about with hot water quite a bit
I've only done this on last brew but it seemed efficient enough that I'd decided this was the way to go for future brews.
I had some concerns about hot side aeration but after searching and reading up on it this appears to be of concern "after" the boil only? So I take care not to splash back the wort but I'm not too worried I am harming it.
I only stir when I see it is not flowing evenly over the malt pipe, I also listened to a podcast on BBR where this tip (stirring) was given as a means to improve efficiency.
After doing all that I was happy but you got me thinking....I guess you start your ramp up to boil while the sparge is happening so it doesn't add anymore time? If so I guess I need to balance heating and transporting the sparge water against what I did last time.
I bought a block and tackle pulley system which I will rig up for this weekends brew day so lifting the maltpipe and holding it there during the sparge should be easier. Mines the 50L so that maltpipe is quite heavy.
I also changed the original tap to a full bore type and I'm very happy I did that, much easier to get the feed tube to stay put while draining.
Anyway thanks for your input hope I haven't bored everyone too much