Vorlauf Sprinkler?

[ipso]

I have a vision: English countryside – Tutor house – smiling quaint old man slowly toddles out and lovingly waters his prize winning roses - with one of those watering cans with a sprinkler spout.

I want one of those; but “food grade” (read: less impregnated fungicidals and nothing galvanized or otherwise funky) to reintroduce my initial wort back into my mash tun (fly-sparge.) All the SS colanders I’m finding locally are too porous for a nice even and well dispersed shower drip. I usually pour into a mixing spoon, but that’s lame, drilling holes everywhere.

I want a proper English garden watering can (gay as rainbows..) but something “food grade” or at least not outright dangerous. Something that has very fine sprinkles, but big enough holes to not get jammed up with husky wort.

I envision something so refine it will actually even out the top of the grain bed.

Ideas? Any interesting contraptions out there?

 

[mobilecabinworks]

I would say that is prob not a good idea. You would be hot side aerating the wort and oxidizing it. It would however work for your sparge water.

 

[ipso]

But I thought HSA was a myth for a homebrewer. And for that matter, isn’t introducing oxygen into sparge water about the same as introducing it into the wort the sparge water is about to become?

I have no idea.

 

[bigbeergeek]

HSA makes no sense to me, I don't worry about it. I've never tasted a hot-side-oxidized beer (pre-boil, pre-aeration no less!) but I'd love to try a valid example some day!

Skip the watering can. It's a cute idea but you're over-thinking things here. Just pour it over a spatula/ladle etc and don't worry about it. It's only a pint or two of wort, after all, and it should only take a couple of minutes.

 

[ipso]

I don’t worry. I do, however, look for improvements – obsessively – forever.

I don’t like the way I get my vorlauf reintroduced – fact. Never have. I’ve tried a bunch of different nominal things, like putting a piece of tinfoil on the grain bed and pouring into that – lame. I like “my” sprinkler can idea, but am looking for enlightened inspiration (like I was at two different hardware stores today) for nifty mechanisms for something food grade. I like the idea of sprinkling to flatten – vs. raking to flatten (vs. my traditional and inevitable drilling.)

Is this important to efficiency or taste? No. Is it something I’m still looking to improve? Defiantly “yes”.

Background: I’ve been isolating my process lately and not mixing my mash other than the original dough-in. I used to mix at 30min and take temperatures, and then at 60min – but I’ve had the epiphany that fly-sparging is NOT about efficiency, it’s about clarity of wort going into the brew kettle. A 60min settled grist bed can create amazingly clear beer if you let it. I’ve realized this the last couple of batches and am looking at a spectacularly clear beer in my hand that has traditionally been a very chill-hazy house beer.

(But then.. I'm all over the place. Maybe it was some other change that made the beer clear.)

 

[ipso]

Thought – 2 gal white food grade bucket from Home Depot. Drill a bunch of very small holes all over the bottom. I just have to figure a way to suspend it – maybe like a hop spider. Or maybe just hold it in one hand and pour the wort from the other....

 

[bigbeergeek]

I don't think drilling 1000 holes in a bucket is an "improvement" over pouring wort directly onto a spatula. To each their own.

 

[Calichusetts]

Your collander idea could work. Buy one with no holes on the bottom that would fit into one with holes everywhere...what about layers of tinfoil with holes? Or even combine them...tinfoil in a collander

 

[JonM]

One of those siphon sprayers?

 

[Rbeckett]

What about a stainless tube at the top of your Mash Tun the will inject the Vorlauf along the side of the tun and start a swirl like a flush toilet? You could use a paint strainer to get the husks out and pour it into a funnel on the outside of the tun and it would swirl the strained wort without airation or disturbing the grain bed. Cheap and easy, just need the tube and a bulkhead fitting. I get my stuff from Bargain Fittings quick and reasonably priced. Just a thought.
Bob

 

[ipso]

Your collander idea could work. Buy one with no holes on the bottom that would fit into one with holes everywhere...what about layers of tinfoil with holes? Or even combine them...tinfoil in a collander

I hear you. As I was walking around the back of the local high-end Italian sandwich shop yesterday (Bay Cities Deli) they had a variety of obscure colanders hanging in nooks and crannies, and I was looking for exactly that: minimal holes on the bottom, or not big holes anyway. The thing is (besides the ~$40 price tags) I believe the ubiquitous round bottom design is such that all the liquid exiting the vessel is designed to roll down to the central bottom, so even if I somehow plugged the bottom it would effectively drop from there anyway. And I’ve messed with tinfoil before, and it has soundly beaten me. Customizing a piece or two would not have the longevity/repeatability I’m looking for – but I like your effort! You made the team.

One of those siphon sprayers?

Oooh. I’ve never heard of a siphon sprayer! What’s a siphon sprayer? Google and a guess shows me this. But I’d have to see one in action. (Even if it works, I’d have to rig a hose from a bottle somehow.)

A Youtube search for said action shows me this, which is completely unrelated, but dear God, is that man standing in a kettle and that is a ~15 gallon vessel dimple he’s sucking out of? I feel so ..ill-equipped.

Wait.. wait.. … (idea bubble cloud forming above head) Searching eBay for “sprinkler bottle” brings this forward. Kind of ghetto, but simple. I’d get one of these just to experiment with it - if it wasn’t a set of 12 for $35 ..FFS. The eejit.

I’ve always wanted to get the kids involved with brewing... “Here’s some vorlauf girls! Go to town.”

Rbeckett – your solution is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. I would definitely modify my 10gal Rubbermaid mash tun (standard: round, orange, w/SS domed false bottom and bulkhead valve) but I’m having trouble envisioning how your proposition would work to achieve the prime directive, which is [I suspect] to not only leave the grain bed intact, but possibly even lightly smooth it. But I’d definitely throw another bulkhead valve into the top and build some kind of contraption if it would achieve the desired results. I’m not afraid. But a full HERMS and pump rig are still a few levels up in the pagoda, and I’m not ready yet.

But you’re still on the team; all of you.

I’m headed to Home Depot in a bit, for inspiration and probably a doomed white flat bottomed food bucket. I’ll post the results. Thanks for your input.

 

[bigbeergeek]

One of those siphon sprayers?

Siphon sprayer attached to tubing attached to a funnel. That would be a sweet way to vourlof!

 

[ipso]

I was at Home Depot with the bucket in my hand when I realized I had medium sized empty food jars at home that could do better.

The bottoms of the various jars were rounded inwards, which is not optimal, so I went for cutting off the bottom and using the flat lid of a Skippy jar. But then I found the Gatorade and not only is it a perfect compliment – pouring wort through it into a large 10gal orange round Rubbermaid mash tun – but also the top has a star like indentation pattern that is perfect for spreading out the wort. I used a 3/32 drill bit on both. Testing with water was perfect. The larger Skippy has more flow to “shape”/flatten the grainbed and the Gatorade has light minimum impact. I’ll test them this weekend. My only concern is that it will get too hot for the hand and I’ll have to devise some kind of Koozie insulation - or just wear a glove.

 

[ipso]

Vorlauf Gatorade Sprinkler v.1.0

I integrated the new sprinkler cup with my traditional 2L vorlauf pitcher. What’s great about it is you can reach down inside the mash tun down low close to the bed, and then pour the wort into the sprinkler (sitting on the bed if you want) because the two vessels cam around each other tight because of the chain. For storage the sprinkler flips around and fits inside the pitcher too. I have countless empty Gatorade mix containers. I can unscrew and use various lids to test out different screen configurations to dial in the exact pour/sprinkle I want.

Mission accomplished! (All “food grade” too.)

I like the idea of having a holy water receptacle as a wort sprinkler…

I like the idea of taking the least favorite aspect of brewing and demanding it become fun and interesting...