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Batch/fly sparge options

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Leard6891

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I'm curious about the different options around sparging when creating your mash in Beersmith.

I use a BrewZilla G4, and so I don't drain the mash tun before sparging. Although the entire grain bed is lifted from the water, and so I guess this could count as draining? I tend to batch sparge, but don't measure out each addition. I just fill a jug from the available sparge water and pour in until it's all gone or I've reached my estimated pre-boil volume.

So for this, it seems easiest to label my sparge a fly sparge, and ignore the batch sparge option. If I select 'batch sparge' with 'use equal batch sizes' then it increases the overall sparge water amount, for some reason. I keep my sparge water at around 10L for ease when no options are selected (and so defaults to fly sparge). Where is this extra water coming from?

Am I overthinking this? Shall I just let it remain as the default option on fly sparge, even though I don't technically fly sparge?
 
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Your technique is the same as I use in my all-in-one unit. It is BIAB or full volume. In the mash profile that you use check the box that says BIAB with Full Boil.

Marshall at Brulosophy used to have several Beersmith profile customization videos on their YouTube channel but is difficult to locate since the channel was updated a while back. Those videos can still be found with a deep dive into the Brulosophy website however and I highly recommend that you create custom profiles. Here is the tutorial for creating a customized BIAB with Full Boil mash profile...

brulosophy.com

BeerSmith Tutorial: BIAB Mash Profile Setup

Author: Marshall Schott In this second video, the focus it on setting up a mash profile for Brew In A Bag (BIAB) brewing. Hopefully this is enough information to get you hitting your numbers and ma…
brulosophy.com brulosophy.com
 
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I don't think he is doing full volume or BIAB. He is sparging. Correct Leard6891?
I use a Grainfather G40, which I think is similar to your G4.
I have it set as fly sparge. I always make an extra gallon of water and just sparge until I get the right preboil volume.
 
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You should set your mash style to "BIAB Mash with Full Boil" in the mash profile and add your sparge water as "Top Up Water for Kettle" in the equipment profile (Mash and Lautering Adjustments section). BeerSmith will take your total required water, subtract the kettle top-up and figure your mash with the rest. I have used this procedure many times.

--GF
 
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GigaFemto said:
You should set your mash style to "BIAB Mash with Full Boil" in the mash profile and add your sparge water as "Top Up Water for Kettle" in the equipment profile (Mash and Lautering Adjustments section). BeerSmith will take your total required water, subtract the kettle top-up and figure your mash with the rest. I have used this procedure many times.

--GF
Click to expand...
Can you explain why this is better than using the sparge options? He isn't using BIAB or topping up, he is sparging. I'm not sure I understand why using BIAB is better? - Thanks!
 
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I have the grainfather G30, which is the same process as the brewzilla

I have always used the fly sparge setting.

It'll calculate how much you need to hit your preboil volume, based on your other parameters. I may make tweaks to the mash volume in the mash tab, which will make a corresponding adjustment to the fly sparge volume. I find that there is minimal water absorption from the sparge water. Any variance in the final volume comes from variance in the absorption during the mash, making calculating the sparge water amount quite simple.

I would suggest that setting it to BIAB mash and then entering the sparge as top-up water complicates things more than they need to be.
 
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The all-in-one systems are essentially BIAB systems. The reason to use kettle top-up is that the BIAB mash in BeerSmith doesn't allow for sparging. Using kettle top-up is a way around this. If you have another way that works for you that you like better, then use it. This one works for me.

--GF
 
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stevebonny said:
I don't think he is doing full volume or BIAB. He is sparging. Correct Leard6891?
I use a Grainfather G40, which I think is similar to your G4.
I have it set as fly sparge. I always make an extra gallon of water and just sparge until I get the right preboil volume.
Click to expand...

I believe you are right. I re-read the question and I misunderstood.

@Leard6891 you should not check the use equal batches option. That is for traditional and true batch sparging where efficiency was optimized by making sure you had equal volumes coming out of the mash as in your sparge step. What I would do is use either the batch sparge or fly sparge option but then go into the mash profile and change the volume of water in the sparge step to match what you are actually using irl.

I would also consider constructing a custom mash profile for this method that you can select with every recipe you create.
 
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