After running the worts through the same counterflow chiller into identical fermentors, dilute the worts as needed to identical prefermentation gravities. Dilute each to the same preboil gravity and volume, and then boil, hop, and kettle fine each batch identically. To test the conventional wisdom and O’Sullivan’s hypothesis, I devised the following experiment: Prepare two beers from the same mash, with one made exclusively from first runnings and the other from a mixture of first and sparged (but not oversparged) runnings. Thus, sparged and unsparged beers of equivalent gravities may, in fact, have comparable amounts of sugars and other compounds responsible for malty taste, but the consumer perceives that sparged beer is duller tasting than beer made exclusively from first runnings because the higher polyphenol levels partially inhibit taste sensation. Even at lower levels, however, they tend to adhere to proteins on the tongue, coating the taste buds and partially blocking some of the taste sensation. At high levels, of course, tannins and other polyphenols impart an unpleasant astringent or husky flavor. He hypothesized that beers made exclusively from first runnings taste maltier and richer than beers of equivalent gravity made from sparged wort because sparged wort is higher in reduced polyphenols (especially tannins) and other compounds. Mort O’SuIlivan, a masters degree candidate at the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling in Edinburgh, Scotland, articulated one possible answer. In modern terms, Cade’s proposed expansion of the three-hooped pot would be akin to a politician promising to make all six-packs contain 20 beers. A “three-hooped pot” was a serving vessel used in taverns of that era, with “hoops” or gradations showing the approximate volume. *William Shakespeare, King Henry VI (Part II), Act IV, Scene 2. But why should this be? Sparging primarily rinses trapped sugars and strong sweet wort from the spent grains, so what’s the big deal, as long as you don’t oversparge? As a skeptical BJCP master judge once asked me, what’s the difference between the “points” from first runnings and those from sparged runnings? Most respondents echo Fix’s finding that this technique yields a richer beer with a more intense, higher quality malt flavor. The conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence I’ve collected over the past few years from other amateur brewers indicates that it does. Since learning of the “no-sparge” method, I’ve brewed dozens of batches using variants of this simple technique (see box, “An Overview of No-Sparge Techniques”), and in my opinion it produces a superb beer in a shorter, simpler brew cycle.īut while it cannot be disputed that using a no-sparge regimen shortens and simplifies the brew cycle (at the expense of using slightly more grain) and produces good beer, the question remains whether it truly produces tastier beer. To browse our top-selling all-grain brewing kits, click here! Indeed, fly sparging and the “entire” method of boiling all of the runnings of a mash together are fairly recent innovations, born of the economic need to maximize industrial brewhouse yields and spurred on by the technological advancements that allowed the fabrication and firing of large kettles. There shall be in England seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny: the three-hooped pot shall have ten hoops and I will make it felony to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in common and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to grass: and when I am king, as king I will be … -Jack Cade* When Shakespeare’s Jack Cade promised his followers that when he became king besides killing all the lawyers (!) he would make it a felony to drink small beer, he was alluding to the technique of using the first runnings of the mash to create strong or premium beers and using the second, third, or even fourth runnings to make inferior “small beers.”īe brave, then for your captain is brave, and vows reformation. Though I’d never heard of the technique before (it is rarely mentioned in modern brewing literature), making strong or premium beers exclusively from the “first runnings” of the mash is an ancient technique. Both of them immediately told me, “Don’t sparge.” Will skipping the sparge step create beers with superior flavor? A home brewer’s experiment sets out to determine whether objective differences can be discerned between sparged and nonsparged worts.Ī few years ago, I asked George Fix and Paul Farnsworth what techniques I should use to make the finest possible all-grain beer. No-Sparge Brewing - An Old Technique Revisited « Back to Articles No-Sparge Brewing 11/30/-1
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