I gotta upgrade

[Whamolagan]

Been there done that. Maybe get a little more than I need and add a little longer boil

[alb]

... had to top off the pre-boil volume with water to get it where I wanted it, and I know I didn't collect all the runnings I usually do from the mash tun.

Whenever I come up short on pre-boil volume ... I do a mini-3rd sparge. More better than plain water ... IMO.

Even when the pre-boil volume doesn't come up short ... a mini-3rd sparge produces wort -- in addition to the pre- and post boil hydro-samples -- for the next starter. Why buy starter DME when you get the starter wort for free?

So, there's no problem with over-sparging either, like I've seen mentioned?

[Gymrat]

I have read that over sparging can start to extract tannins.

[mashani]

I squeeze my BIAB bags too. And then I do a tea-bag sparge (dunk in small pot of water) squeeze some more, do it again, squeeze some more, repeat until it is running clearer, add it all back to the pot. No tannins from doing that.

Only beer I've ever got tannins in, I used way too hot sparge water by accident.

[FedoraDave]

A few comments I'd like to respond to; I hope I remember them all.

Roger -- I don't get much of a violent hot break, because I'm boiling on a stove-top and it takes forever for the temperature to rise with that much wort volume. If I remember correctly, you use a propane rig, which raises the temp much faster, so the hot break may be more of an issue. I recall Yankeedag saying he's developed the technique of holding the temp right around 210 for a bit, just when hot break starts, and that helps keep it more under control. I guess I'm doing the same thing, but more as a result of my heat source.

Re: tannin extraction from squeezing BIAB, I've never had a problem, either.

Herbmeowing -- I didn't want to attempt a third sparge, since things weren't running as smoothly as they ought, and I didn't want it to stick completely. It ran slower and slower each time, and I know I had a lot more liquid in the spent grains than I usually do.

I'll have to revisit my technique on this one. I used 1/2 pound of rice hulls, which I thought would be enough to do the job, but maybe I was wrong. Or maybe I'll just steep the flaked rye next time.

I'm definitely upgrading to a ten-gallon tun as soon as some of the dust settles in my personal life.

[Jon]

... had to top off the pre-boil volume with water to get it where I wanted it, and I know I didn't collect all the runnings I usually do from the mash tun.

Whenever I come up short on pre-boil volume ... I do a mini-3rd sparge. More better than plain water ... IMO.

Even when the pre-boil volume doesn't come up short ... a mini-3rd sparge produces wort -- in addition to the pre- and post boil hydro-samples -- for the next starter. Why buy starter DME when you get the starter wort for free?

So, there's no problem with over-sparging either, like I've seen mentioned?

There CAN be--but it's usually more of a risk with fly sparging than batch sparging. Again, it's mostly a pH and temperature thing (or so I've read).

So with batch sparging, a 3rd sparge, especially when you're not at your full boil volume (meaning there are likely sugars still trapped in the grains) will probably not get your pH up to where tannin extraction is a risk. Especially if you do it at a lower temperature (aka just dump some hot tap water in there because you don't want to take the time to heat it up to 170* for the sparge).

Now I've never had tannin extraction from doing multiple batch sparges but I also have never taken pH readings...so all this info is just what I've read and retained over the years. So take it with a grain of salt.