Batch sparge question

So I recently switched to all-grain, and my finished beers taste a bit off. I've been batch sparging and am wondering if I am doing it correctly.

I always hit my sparge temperature within 1-2 degrees. And my question is when you batch sparge, are you supposed to sparge with 170 degree water? Or are you trying to raise the overall temperature to 170? I've been assuming the latter and I have to add almost 200 degree water to sparge with to get my mash tun up to 170. I am wondering if I am doing this wrong and am extracting tannins which can be my problem with the off flavors.

And if I try fly sparing, I'm supposed to sparge with 170 degree water as well. And that won't bring up the entire mash up to 170. What am I missing?


Also, what kind of taste to tannins give to the beer? My beers seem somewhat sweeter (although the fg is ok) and has a undesirable bitterness (not hop bitterness).

Any help/suggestions is appreciated!

The idea is to bring the grain bed temp up 164F-169F, so yes, you will need to use water that is hotter than this to bring the grain bed up to temp.

Extracted tannins tend to give an astringent off-flavor.

Get your self a brew software or use online calculators that will tell you based on your grain bill ambient temp target temp, what temp to strike with. 200 is way to hot and you usually don't have to go over 170 of strike temp to get what your looking for.

Daver77 said:

Get your self a brew software or use online calculators that will tell you based on your grain bill ambient temp target temp, what temp to strike with. 200 is way to hot and you usually don't have to go over 170 of strike temp to get what your looking for.

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No, it's not the strike temp I'm worried about, it's the mashout/batch sparge temp.

So when people fly sparge with 168 degree water, the grain bed is probably 10 or so degrees cooler than that? Or should fly sparge with hotter temperatures to get the grain bed to 168?

Dont know much about fly sparging but when batch sparging Im assuming your using a cooler? If so forget the "mashout".

check this out
http://www.antiochsudsuckers.com/tom/allgrainbatchsparging.jpg

Also, an unrelated question. I force carb with a c02 tank, and I always find my beer's head to be much thicker (not bigger) and creamier than a commercial beer. I'm not saying its a bad thing, but it is different. Didn't know of that was normal

Daver77 said:

Get your self a brew software or use online calculators that will tell you based on your grain bill ambient temp target temp, what temp to strike with. 200 is way to hot and you usually don't have to go over 170 of strike temp to get what your looking for.

Click to expand...

My first sparge (when I batch sparge) almost always uses 202 degree water, to get the grainbed to 168ish. That's what we're talking about here- sparging, not strike temp.

DirtyDachshunds said:

Also, an unrelated question. I force carb with a c02 tank, and I always find my beer's head to be much thicker (not bigger) and creamier than a commercial beer. I'm not saying its a bad thing, but it is different. Didn't know of that was normal

Click to expand...

That doesn't seem right. It should be almost the same as any commercial beer. Unless you're drinking commercial beers that have head retention issues, I guess!

Ok thanks guys. It must be something else about my process that is off. I'll get it down here soon!