Sparge water temps

[razyrsharpe]

i am curious about the effects on the efficiency (or any other aspect of the brew process) if you sparge higher than 168-170 degrees. is there a noticeable downside to sparging at higher temps, say 5-10 degrees higher than recommended? thanks!

 

[friarsmith]

You may get a little more efficiency, but you're at risk of extracting tannins if

1) sparge water is above 170,
2) you use too much sparge water (aka oversparging) and
3) the ph of the mash rises too much.

Regarding #3, it's not a bad idea to acidify your sparge water with some lactic acid or phosphoric acid for many beers.

 

[EtchyLives]

Brulosopher played with sparge temps
Granted he did the opposite with a cold sparge. I'd be interested to see your results of a "too hot" sparge to see if the dreaded extracted tannins are to be dreaded as much we do.

Full disclosure: I try to sparge right at 168° but have overshot on occasion with no noticeable evil flavors. Try it, see what happens and report back.

 

[razyrsharpe]

i witnessed an accidental "too hot" sparge a couple of weeks ago and it made me curious, hence the question in this post. i have also read about "cold sparging" and am wondering about that too. i have seen much more on the topic of cold sparging vs. "too hot" sparging, so i felt compelled to ask. thanks for replying.

 

[friarsmith]

Maybe it's the Imperial Pale Lager speaking (think: lagered barleywine) that I brewed last fall, so pardon the esoteric road trip.

I often describe recipe design & brewing process like a recording studio soundboard. If one knob goes up, the other must go down to achieve a similar result.

Sparging success is a combo of water temp, acidity, volume, and pacing.

If your process makes good beer with no tannin and good efficiency, then don't fix what aint broke

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Temp matters a lot less than people say in regards to tannin extraction. Tannins are largely result of mash pH.

In regard to temp, you can sparge with boiling water if you want to, but try not to get the new grain bed temp above 170 as a rule of thumb. Although even that may not matter much.

 

[Dog House Brew]

I fly sparge and use RO water for the sparge water. My temps are about 185-190. I've never experienced tannin issues. It is more about the ph as stated before. I raised the temps because I was not getting my grain bed up to MO temps. Make sure your sparge ph is right and you will be fine.