Batch Sparge Temp

[oasisbliss]

I do AG in a 10 gallon cooler. I generally do my strike water 3-4 gallons or so for my mash. Drain that. Then do 1 batch sparge of about 4-5 gallons. where I put all the sparge water in stir and let sit for 10 min, Here is my question, should I always set the temp of the sparge water to 168f and since the grain bed is already wet does the temp stay at 168f even after 10 min?

Thanks!

 

[LuiInIdaho]

I do AG in a 10 gallon cooler. I generally do my strike water 3-4 gallons or so for my mash. Drain that. Then do 1 batch sparge of about 4-5 gallons. where I put all the sparge water in stir and let sit for 10 min, Here is my question, should I always set the temp of the sparge water to 168f and since the grain bed is already wet does the temp stay at 168f even after 10 min?

Thanks!

I was batch sparging the other day with a mash out. Beersmith told me to add x quarts of water at 205!degrees to raise the mash temp to 168. The reason I mention this is because it is not the temp of the sparge water that should be 168. It is the temperature of the mash that you want to raise to 168 (and you were probably mashing around 152). So the mash is at 152 or so and you want to raise the temp to 168. Your sparge water can be near boiling.

I hope that this helps.

Mark.

 

[Mojzis]

I sparge at around 190 usually. This bumps me up over 160. When I'm lazy I'll sparge anywhere above 160, this doesn't increase my tun temp at all. But it doesn't matter if conversion is complete.

So the short answer: you can sparge with water near boiling, most people do. If you don't hit 168 mashout temp, don't worry. I just like sparging hot to make runoff easier and make it take less time to get to a boil.

P.s I don't wait 10 minutes during the sparge. I batch sparge, mix, let settle for 1 minutes then begin my vorlauf. I drain about 2 qts then let the clear wort drain to my kettle. It shaves 20-30 minutes off a brew day. You can do this if conversion is complete.

 

[oasisbliss]

I do a single infusion- no mash out - batch sparge. Doing just the 1 batch sparge with all water mixed into the grainbed the lautering. My question is, in beersmith the sparge water temp is always 168 - so if I add my sparge water at 168f into a completely drained grainbed from the mash, will it be 168f? beersmith does not indicate you have to overcompensate the temp of the sparge water like you do on the mash?

thanks all !

 

[Mojzis]

No, if you add water at 168, my guesstimate is that it will average out at like 154-8.

 

[oasisbliss]

Wow - ok so is that temp ok or should i try to get to the 168 mark
Why does beersmith tell you to add 168f water for the sparge and not over compensate for grain ?

thanks

 

[Mojzis]

It's likely a setting that you can change, how to do it I don't know.

I would add water near 190 for a sparge. Some people go as high as near boiling. It's a trail an error thing unless you can do the heat loss calculations. If 190 gets the grain bed too low next time go higher, or if its too high next time go lower.

 

[oasisbliss]

It's likely a setting that you can change, how to do it I don't know.

I would add water near 190 for a sparge. Some people go as high as near boiling. It's a trail an error thing unless you can do the heat loss calculations. If 190 gets the grain bed too low next time go higher, or if its too high next time go lower.

Thanks Mojzis, ultimately 168 is where I want to be for sparge correct?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Thanks Mojzis, ultimately 168 is where I want to be for sparge correct?

Yes, i dont like the way beersmith does it either.

The easiest solution is to enter in your first mash step and accept like normal.
Then at the bottom of your mash window it will show in the little status bar on the bottom(where your probably reading now) to Sparge with XX amount of water.

Instead i create a 2nd mash step, enter in that amount of water it said to sparge with, set the target temperature to 168 and hit ok....the second step will now calculate for you what temperature the sparge water should be to hit 168. The Sparge section below should then say to batch sparge with 0.0G of water...its just an easy way to trick Beersmith into doing what your wanting.

For me its usually around 185-190F

 

[mvcorliss]

I'm on my phone right now so I don't have access to Beersmith so I may be wrong but I believe you can adjust your sparge temp in the Mash Profile section.

 

[oasisbliss]

Fuzz - thanks that Helps a lot - Thanks to all !
Ya it would be nice if BS would just add that step as they do for the mash it seems like a no brainer.