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**BierMuncher** · 08-07-2008, 07:37 PM

Don’t give up on fly sparging completely. I improved my efficiency by 8 points when I went from a batch to a hybrid fly sparge.

Sounds like the ring may be your cold-water culprit.

Next time consider this method:

Heat your sparge water to 185 degrees.

Instead of using the ring to continually add sparge water to your mash, use a simple pot to gently ladle in the hotter water on top of your mash liquid…keeping about 2 inches of the hot liquor on the grain bed. Drain the wort from the tun slowly…but faster that you did with a ring-drip system.

On one hand you’re ladling in the water in the same fashion as a batch sparge…but you’re not stirring and hence moving the clean water through the grain bed in the same way fly sparging does.

My wort continues to flow out of the tun at better than 150+ degrees.

Batch sparging is quicker…but it’s generally agreed that fly sparging improves your efficiency.

**ajf** · 08-07-2008, 08:35 PM

BM,

Quote from his previous thread.
"I am using a keg with a copper lauter ring in the bottom."

I read that as he is using the ring to collect the wort, not dispense the water.

Matt,
I just realized you are using a keg as a MLT. How much grain depth do you have. I suspect it could be very shallow for a fly sparge for a 5g batch, but could be better for 10g. Also, is the tun insulated? An uninsulated tun will cool very quickly.
Could you add some cross members to your lauter ring so that it could collect wort from the middle as well as the edge? That would improve your efficiency with a fly sparge.

-a.

Matt Up North · 08-07-2008, 08:56 PM

BM, I am using a copper lauter ring in the bottom, not to dispense the water. I think that I just need to up the temperature of my water to around 185-195.

AJF, the grain depth is pretty good actually, around 6 inches. The keg holds the temp the entire time I mash and I'm not worried about insulating. Might have to start mashing out at 175 before lautering though.

With the shape of the keg, you might be able to get some cross members in there, but then the simplicity would be gone from the ring. I mean, next step seems to be a false bottom, though for that kind of investment I don't mind losing a little bit of efficiency.

All in all, it comes down to being one more thing to try and improve next time. Hotter water, hotter wort, batch sparge and on and on.

**BierMuncher** · 08-07-2008, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajf

BM,

Quote from his previous thread.
"I am using a keg with a copper lauter ring in the bottom."

I read that as he is using the ring to collect the wort, not dispense the water.

-a.

My bad...