First bath sparge.

Not looking to debate on sparging methods, but I wanted to try bath sparging on my next AG brew. I was wondering if I needed to raise the temp of the grain bed To 170 before sparging? Or would the bath sparge be enough? And is there any other aspect I need to consider, As in voraugh speed, time, temp of water ect....

Gustavo said:

Not looking to debate on sparging methods, but I wanted to try bath sparging on my next AG brew. I was wondering if I needed to raise the temp of the grain bed To 170 before sparging? Or would the bath sparge be enough? And is there any other aspect I need to consider, As in voraugh speed, time, temp of water ect....

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You don't have to do a mash out (raise the grainbed to 170) before your first addition of sparge water when you batch sparge. You can use hotter water for your first round of batch sparging, to get your grainbed up to 168 or so if you'd like. Usually 2 gallons of 202 degree water do that for me- bringing the grainbed from mash temps from 152ish to 168ish.

You simply drain the MLT, then add your first round of sparge water (if doing two additions- try to make them equal-ish). Stir well, and then vorlauf and drain. No need to go slow- you can just crack open your valve to vorlauf, then open it fully to drain. Then repeat if doing another round.

Perfect. Thank you

Yooper said:

You don't have to do a mash out (raise the grainbed to 170) before your first addition of sparge water when you batch sparge. You can use hotter water for your first round of batch sparging, to get your grainbed up to 168 or so if you'd like. Usually 2 gallons of 202 degree water do that for me- bringing the grainbed from mash temps from 152ish to 168ish.

You simply drain the MLT, then add your first round of sparge water (if doing two additions- try to make them equal-ish). Stir well, and then vorlauf and drain. No need to go slow- you can just crack open your valve to vorlauf, then open it fully to drain. Then repeat if doing another round.

Click to expand...

What do you use for a tun Yoop? I have a 10 gal. Rubbermaid and I've been batch sparging (each step) with about 180 degree water. I had read that much over that could warp the plastic of the cooler. I'd love to be able to use something closer to 200, but have just been afraid of f'n up my mash tun.

The tongue biting in this thread is admirable.

I'm a complete newbie...but won't sparging with water over 170 degrees cause tannin extraction from the grain?

Jayhem said:

I'm a complete newbie...but won't sparging with water over 170 degrees cause tannin extraction from the grain?

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The idea is that you are adding hotter water and bringing the temperature of the mash already in the tun up to around 168.

--Jimbot

BigTerp said:

What do you use for a tun Yoop? I have a 10 gal. Rubbermaid and I've been batch sparging (each step) with about 180 degree water. I had read that much over that could warp the plastic of the cooler. I'd love to be able to use something closer to 200, but have just been afraid of f'n up my mash tun.

Click to expand...

Oh, yes, if you add hot water to the cooler it will warp. BUT- I'm not adding just the hot water. I'm adding it to the grainbed, which means that the grain + the hot water never exceeds 170.

Jayhem said:

I'm a complete newbie...but won't sparging with water over 170 degrees cause tannin extraction from the grain?

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No, bringing the GRAINBED up to over 170 degrees, combined with a high pH, can cause tannin extraction. Think about this- I do some decoction mashing which means I boil the grains. Having the proper pH and temperature at the same time means no worries about tannin extract.

Yooper said:

Oh, yes, if you add hot water to the cooler it will warp. BUT- I'm not adding just the hot water. I'm adding it to the grainbed, which means that the grain + the hot water never exceeds 170.

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I had a near freezing mash tun (i.e. Rubbermaid Cooler) in the garage and added 180 degree water to it once... Thing snap, crackle, and popped for nearly 15 mins while it preheated... My cooler now resides in the brewroom before adding strike water - no more bad noises!

Komodo said:

The tongue biting in this thread is admirable.

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Agree

Yooper said:

Oh, yes, if you add hot water to the cooler it will warp. BUT- I'm not adding just the hot water. I'm adding it to the grainbed, which means that the grain + the hot water never exceeds 170.

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Makes sense. I've had the same thinking but never had the balls to go over 180 with my sparge water. I'll be shooting for closer to 200 with the sparge water next batch.

mccumath said:

I had a near freezing mash tun (i.e. Rubbermaid Cooler) in the garage and added 180 degree water to it once... Thing snap, crackle, and popped for nearly 15 mins while it preheated... My cooler now resides in the brewroom before adding strike water - no more bad noises!

Click to expand...

Mine did this the first time I used it. I thought for sure I was going to have a couple of gallons of hot ass water flowing through my kitchen.

mccumath said:

I had a near freezing mash tun (i.e. Rubbermaid Cooler) in the garage and added 180 degree water to it once... Thing snap, crackle, and popped for nearly 15 mins while it preheated... My cooler now resides in the brewroom before adding strike water - no more bad noises!

Click to expand...

I like to heat my cooler up very gently. I have a two-tier system with the MLT and HLT higher than my stove (rebuilt electric rangetop - see the Stovezilla thread). I start heating the water in a kettle, pump it up to the MLT, then let it slowly drain back through my March pump in the reverse direction. When the kettle is nearly full again, I turn the pump back on and pump it back up to the MLT. Each time I fill the MLT, the water is about 20ºF hotter than the previous time. I end up with the water in the MLT about 165ºF or so, and using the same process with my HLT, end up at about 185ºF. So far, after several brews, I have seen no signs of warping or cracking. I don't hear any strange noises either, but then I'm DeafSmith (half deaf, anyway).

coffeediver said:

Agree

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am I missing something?

Firebat138 said:

am I missing something?

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"bath"

Yooper said:

You don't have to do a mash out (raise the grainbed to 170) before your first addition of sparge water when you batch sparge. You can use hotter water for your first round of batch sparging, to get your grainbed up to 168 or so if you'd like. Usually 2 gallons of 202 degree water do that for me- bringing the grainbed from mash temps from 152ish to 168ish.

You simply drain the MLT, then add your first round of sparge water (if doing two additions- try to make them equal-ish). Stir well, and then vorlauf and drain. No need to go slow- you can just crack open your valve to vorlauf, then open it fully to drain. Then repeat if doing another round.

Click to expand...

I just did a recipe where Beersmith directions had a 2 step sparge with 170 deg water (I use my own equipment profile so hopefully it is calculating for my equipment). The first step brought the grain bed upto about 159 deg and the second addition maintained that temp. My efficiency came aout to 72%, which I am ok with (always want higher). If I do raise the grainbed to 168 deg during the first step in sparging does my efficiency increase? How bad is it that I didn't raise the grain bed temp? Does that only effect the effiency? If so, I will do better next time, I just hope I didn't screw up this brew.

So my understanding is I must insure the grained is 168ish before I vurlouf?

Gustavo said:

So my understanding is I must insure the grained is 168ish before I vurlouf?

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That's what most people do. If its below that, though, I don't suspect much ill will come of it.