How to Make Beer (Cheaply, Simply): Step-By-Step Guide

Step 3 Straining and Sparging

This instructables was first published in Popular Mechanics

Step 3: Straining and Sparging
Pour the mash into a lauter tun, a big strainer used for separation of the extracted wort, to drain the sweet liquor from the grain. For our budget lauter tun, we drilled 1/8-inch holes into one 5-gallon bucket and placed this strainer on top of another 5-gallon bucket.

Capture the runoff liquor in your brewpot. This liquor is called the first runnings. Once all the liquor has run off, heat the rest of the water1/2 gallon per pound of grain at 180 degrees F (according to this recipe)over the grain in the lauter tun. Again capture the runoff (second runnings) in the brewpot.

The sweet liquor in the brewpot is now what's known as a wort, and it's ready to boil.

Comments

[21bose]

Im not completely sure on this step on what you mean by capturing the first runnings? i thought you just strained all the grain out of the mixture?