No Sparge Brewing Method

Whenever I make a 5 gallon batch of sub-1.055 OG beer, I use the no-sparge brewing method. The main arguments I’ve heard against this method have to do with the high liquor to grist ratio and the hit to efficiency. I use this method quite a bit and in my experience, the beers come out with great body/mouthfeel and my efficiency is about 3-5% lower than when I batch sparge. One apparent benefit of this method is that the finished beers seem to have better malt character, not to mention it shortens the duration of the brew day. I always mill my grain and collect all my water volumes the night before brewing.

Here’s what a typical no-sparge brew day looks like: No-sparge brewing takes me about 30 minutes less than when I batch sparge. Given the slight hit to efficiency, I usually opt for the latter on beers with an OG higher than 1.055. Unless the grain bill is very small, meaning I’m making a Mild or something with a similar OG, my MLTs aren’t voluminous enough to hold the grist and entire liquor volume of a 10 gallon batch.
 * Heat full volume of brewing water water to ~7˚F above target strike temp
 * Transfer all water to MLT to pre-heat for 3 minutes
 * Mash-in, stir to reach mash temp, set timer for 60 minutes
 * Once mash is complete, vorlauf, collect 5 gallons of sweet wort in a bucket, and pour into kettle
 * Collect rest of sweet wort and pour it into the kettle (I have a 6 gallon bucket, it takes 2 trips)
 * Start boil and make hop additions as usual
 * Clean MLT and other unneeded equipment while wort is boiling
 * When boil is complete, chill to pitching temp, transfer wort to carboy
 * Place carboy in fermentation chamber, clean kettle, put everything away
 * Pitch yeast and wait…

Article used courtesy of http://brulosophy.com for the purposes of this assignment. Original article located here: http://brulosophy.com/methods/processes/no-sparge-method/