Simple sparge arm

anyone have a sparge arm that they made that is very simple and cheap to make but gets the job done

The simplest sparge arm I have ever made involved my arm, holding a hose, that dumped onto a perforated pie tin.

the rest, are too gimmicky for my taste.

Fold up some aluminum foil, pour slowly on top of that. Works like a charm.

Or if you prefer, here's a gimmicky one that I built for about $5 using cpvc. I use it for the recirculation return, as a sparge arm and for the return again when whirlpool chilling with a pump. It's fully adjustable vertically for various batch sizes:



Shown here testing it intially with only water:



And this for the recirculation return while mashing:



A close up of the 90's attached to the ends. These are not glued on and can be rotated as desired for the swirl effect:



It's cheap, effective and very easy to build. Works for me.

I built my manifold and sparge arm out of cpvc. Both in 45 mins for less than $20. Its a simple bar with holes drilled into and the ends capped. Used it last night for the first time. I was able to walk away for an hour or so.

Like the tin plate and aluminum foil guys above, I go simple too... plastic pitcher for the hot liquor and a wooden spoon to diffuse it over. My MLT is big enough to hold all of my sparge water, so once I start runoff, I begin putting the sparge on top of the grain bed. Get it all in in 10 minutes or less and don't have to worry about it.

This is how I do it:


photo 3 by brewerJP

Most would probably call this overkill but it works well for me. It's a Spiraljet spray nozzle that has 360 degree coverage and works well with the March pumps. Has a very gentle spray.

I use a barb on the inside at the top and hook up a silicone tube and float it on the surface of the mash. Make it long enough and it holds against the side when pumping wort.

Wayne,

Does the hose float on top of the liquid leaving the grain bed alone?

here is my solution: a copper tube coil with a lot of small holes drilled

very easy to make...

nicadrick said:

Wayne,

Does the hose float on top of the liquid leaving the grain bed alone?

Click to expand...

It can dig into the bed if the hose is short. If you have enough hose to loop around more then half the the inner wall of the kettle / keg it tends to stay put from the force of the liquid pumping out.