Hey all,
Buddy of mine has a 10bbl brewery with a unique situation. There is no HLT but there is a larger-than-normal-but-still-not-big-enough commercial hot water tank (70 gallons) that gets set to 190*.
Mash water is heated in the kettle. Pump into mash tun, mash in.
Sparge begins at 190* and gradually decreases in temp until it is just cold water. By the time volume is reached, the grain is cold.
It is a tall, slender mash tun. He gets about 70% efficiency regardless of grain bill. 70% isn't great but considering the shape of the mash tun it doesn't seem out of this world. Lautering takes about 60-75 minutes.
I have looked into this and so far all that I can find online is on a home brew scale, but from what I've gleamed, here are the conclusions:
-does not have an appreciable effect on efficiency
-does not affect final gravity
-wort is cloudier and resulting beer may be hazy (hello NE IPA!)
-the major downfall for brew day is the increased time it takes for the boil to take place in the kettle due to lowered runoff temperatures
Wondering if anyone may have some insight on this. Any thoughts on improving the process given the equipment he's working with, etc.
Here is a 2 page thread on HomeBrewTalk. Interesting regardless of scale! The difference here is that my buddy's sparge starts hot then finishes cold, as opposed to this fella who just starts cold.
Interested to hear perspectives and feel free to go full chem nerd on this. Interested in learning more.
Buddy of mine has a 10bbl brewery with a unique situation. There is no HLT but there is a larger-than-normal-but-still-not-big-enough commercial hot water tank (70 gallons) that gets set to 190*.
Mash water is heated in the kettle. Pump into mash tun, mash in.
Sparge begins at 190* and gradually decreases in temp until it is just cold water. By the time volume is reached, the grain is cold.
It is a tall, slender mash tun. He gets about 70% efficiency regardless of grain bill. 70% isn't great but considering the shape of the mash tun it doesn't seem out of this world. Lautering takes about 60-75 minutes.
I have looked into this and so far all that I can find online is on a home brew scale, but from what I've gleamed, here are the conclusions:
-does not have an appreciable effect on efficiency
-does not affect final gravity
-wort is cloudier and resulting beer may be hazy (hello NE IPA!)
-the major downfall for brew day is the increased time it takes for the boil to take place in the kettle due to lowered runoff temperatures
Wondering if anyone may have some insight on this. Any thoughts on improving the process given the equipment he's working with, etc.
Here is a 2 page thread on HomeBrewTalk. Interesting regardless of scale! The difference here is that my buddy's sparge starts hot then finishes cold, as opposed to this fella who just starts cold.
Interested to hear perspectives and feel free to go full chem nerd on this. Interested in learning more.
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