Plans for Manually Fed Sparge Arm

I am looking for a simple plan to build a copper (I think) sparge arm, non-rotating and one that is not dependent on a pump. We fly sparge now by pouring water from a handheld pitcher over a large slotted spoon - and it is getting old. Was thinking a large T shape arm with holes drilled into it, with the ends of the arms resting on the edges of the LT - but not sure how to sort out the intake (?) portion where we would pour the water into via the pitcher. I know it is not ideal, but baby steps and it will save time and a hand...any ideas?

I'd probably use PVC. That way when you want to make it rotate after seeing how cool it is, you can just cut back the pipe you already have to fit inside the kettle instead of on the kettle. Weight also wouldn't be a problem if hanging in the brew kettle and made from PVC. Hopefully this makes sense...

Here's what I've been using for a number of years with good results:





It does double duty as a wort return on my RIMS and as a sparge manifold. I made this one out of CPVC. It's fully adjustable vertically for various batch sizes.

Good ideas gents - my bigger question now is how to run the sparge water through the pipes since we lack a pump...I guess I need to get creative with this...

beerspitnight said:

Good ideas gents - my bigger question now is how to run the sparge water through the pipes since we lack a pump...I guess I need to get creative with this...

Click to expand...

Without a pump, you will have to rely on gravity alone. I built a platform that is slightly higher than the MT which holds a cooler for an HLT. I heat the water in the cooler with a bucket heater and gravity feed the sparge water to the manifold. All you need is some way to funnel the sparge water to your sparge arm. An elevated bucket would do it. Something insulated would be better.

big funnel attached to the hose. Kind of a "pre-beer" bong

This idea would take a little research...but check out the pic below.

Milk jug screws into the top. Feeds down 1-3" on a larger diameter piece of PVC, which is connected with a "T" to the smaller diameter pipe below. The reduction would cause an increase in pressure through the sparge to hopefully allow for a larger spread of the water across the grain bed. The big issue with this is figuring out how to support it. My first instinct would be to grab a couple of 2x4's and press in the PVC. That would definitely have the support, but the 2x4's may drop dirt / debris / dust into the wort....which would be bad.

Anyway, just my $.02. Good luck

Both good suggestions - I was thinking about a funnel, but wasn't sure how I would attach it...but I was pretty good at sucking down Milwaukee's Best via a funnel in school!
Thanks guys. I'll work on this idea over the summer and bring it back to Beijing with me in August.