I was thinking of fly sparging with Phil's thingy but now I'm not sure.
I thought spraying the grain bed with fresh water was the best way. But now I'm getting the idea it's better and easier to just mix in all the sparge water at one, mix and then drain. (Batch sparging)
Do I have that right?
This is difficult to follow after a few HBs.
Yes and no, Fly sparging like you would be doing with the Phil's sparge arm is more effecient (extracts more sugar) but there are more details to watch like maintaining water temps, controling flow rate, monitoring ph / gravity of your run-off toward the end.
With batch sparging, it's just much simpler, less to focus on, and only slightly less effecient (extracts less sugars) than fly sparging. Heck, grain is cheap, a little extra to compensate won't break the bank.
__________________
Scott
Primary: Empty
Secondary #2: Empty
Bottle Conditioning: Oatmeal Stout
Drinking from Keg: Ordinary Bitter, Kolsch
Drinking bottled: Brown Autumn Wee Heavy
Hefe Weizen
Peaches and Cream Weizen
"This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption... Beer!"
-Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Friar Tuck.
Next up: Hefe Weizen
So for a beginner, batch sparging seems to be the way to go. I have an insulated cooler so I need to add a spigot and some type of false bottom or filter.
I cheat and use "5.2" pH stabilizer in both the boil and batch sparge water. I have naturally soft water here. At a tablespoon per 5 gallons, I suspect the jar will last four or five years.
I've seen that stuff and have though about it. Does it really work? Have you tested the ph at the end of the sparge to make sure it does?
__________________
Scott
Primary: Empty
Secondary #2: Empty
Bottle Conditioning: Oatmeal Stout
Drinking from Keg: Ordinary Bitter, Kolsch
Drinking bottled: Brown Autumn Wee Heavy
Hefe Weizen
Peaches and Cream Weizen
"This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption... Beer!"
-Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Friar Tuck.
Next up: Hefe Weizen
A sparge arm is simply not necessary. Others have reported a significant temperature loss by using the arm as well. IMO it's not worth the effort or the money. Here's how I sparge:
Take a hose from the HLT and lay it in the middle of the grainbed. Adjust the flow from the HLT to match the outflow from the mash/lauter tun (1qt per min max).. set it and forget it. I do check the grainbed temp every 15 or 20 minutes and I also check to make sure I still have an inch or two of water over the grainbed at all times. I routinely hit 29 - 32 efficiency points.. while sparging certainly is not the only factor I do believe that it helps.
I've seen that stuff and have though about it. Does it really work? Have you tested the ph at the end of the sparge to make sure it does?
I was looking for the 5.2 stabilizer at my LHBS and couldn't find it, but walked out with lactic acid instead. My city water is ~7ph and a teaspoon of the lactic acid seems to get my mash water in the neighborhood (hard to read those damn strips). My efficiency has gone up a consistent 5 points since using it (65%->70% in Promash) which isn't huge, but is noteworthy. I suspect I can fine tune and raise it a few more points. I always forget to add it to my sparge water, so that could help, as well.
Hard to read is an understatement! When I started brewing in California, we would have Michael's girlfriend read the strips (she's an illistrator/artist). Neither he nor I could tell the differences.
5.2 is a buffering compound, so it can deal with a little acid, neutral water or a little base.
I've seen that stuff and have though about it. Does it really work? Have you tested the ph at the end of the sparge to make sure it does?
Yep, it works! I have very hard water with a pH of well over 7 - probably closer to 9. I almost always use filtered tap water, measure during the sparge and usually hit 5.0-5.2
A good read explaining the various sparges! I got this from the "similar threads" box and wanted to top it. If it is in bad form, I apologize. I just thought it would be neat for some of the frustrated noobs like myself to see that even the veterans of the board were new guys at one time as well.
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