Any links to a DIY Fly Sparge Arm

[BierMuncher]

Or maybe a facimile of a "fly" sparge system. Are there sparge systems that are static?

I really want to look into fly sparing and like everything else, would love to not buy a pre-packaged item.

THanks.

 

[Axegod]

I only have done a few AGs -so take this with a grain of salt:
I originally made a manifold whilst hammered..and the groves were uneven and it was down right bad. I now use this as a sparge arm...I have the slots pointing up and a hose running from the HLT and it sits on the grain bed. I think it was from Palmer that I got the idea that as long as the water was being added so that there was always water above the grain bed - everthing will be fine.
It works for me - mid 70s efficientcy - and my grain bed is not disturbed since the sparge water hits the water above the grain.

Cheers.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I fly sparge with this:

It's just 1/4" copper tube with a couple of end caps and a tee fitting. 1/8" holes are drilled about every 1." On the left side of the picture, the holes are on the opposite side so as to create a slight swirling effect.

 

[brewman !]

I don't get fly sparge arms. I lay a piece of tin foil that I perforated with a fork over the bed. I keep an inch or so of water on top of it. I get 80% efficiency. Why do I need a sparge arm ?

Another thing... I hear people worried about matching inlet and outlet flows. So what if the water level runs down ?

 

[user 574]

Why do I need a sparge arm ?

Things that spin are cool. Even better if they're shiny . Our mini version of the big boy brewery I guess.

I ended up just buying mine; wasn't very pricey. Yuri - your DIY is stationary right or you got some sort of bearing in there.

 

[Brewiz]

Here's mine, It's just a piece of copper tubing with a cap on one end, a bunch of small holes drilled on the bottom and it attaches to my HLT with a Compression fitting. Works great!!!!

 

[user 574]

I like that one Brewiz. Think I'll do that whenever I move to a keg for the mash. Wish copper wasn't so darn expensive lately.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I ended up just buying mine; wasn't very pricey. Yuri - your DIY is stationary right or you got some sort of bearing in there.

Mine's stationary. I didn't see the need to make a fancy water sprinkler.

 

[The Pol]

Sooo, when I built my new 10 gallon system this past couple months I bought the only thing that was available for fly sparging... the $40 SS spinning version from Northern Brewer... works nice, looks cool, ate up some of my allowance though.

 

[uglygoat]

we made one like brewiz's with a smaller gage copper ice machine hookup... about ten dollars in parts at lowes.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Another thing... I hear people worried about matching inlet and outlet flows. So what if the water level runs down ?

You control the % of sugars running through with the folow rate and thus th PH. A fast drain and slow sparge water could lead to a low suager % and thus higher PH. On the other hand the opposite could result in low efficency wit adding mroe sparge water.

 

[WOP31]

I don't have a picture of it yet , I might brew this weekend and I will take one, but I found out last weekend that the top part of my broiler pan (the part with the slits it it) fits right on top of my Mash tun (rectangle cooler) and I took a piece of wire & held the outlet from my HLT inplace and it sprinkled the water over the grain bed perfectly. It's really getto but it was a great spur of the moment idea (atually a friends idea). I got 74% efficency out of that batch, my highest yet. dancing bannana for homebrew inovation:rockin:

 

[Lil' Sparky]

When I fly sparged, I just bought one of those cheap, old-timer $2 sprinkler (round top w/ a bunch of holes) from HD or somewhere and nailed it to a piece of wood that suspended it above the grains. Way cheap and easy!

 

[bradsul]

Here is the rig I built a couple weeks ago. I only have 3 brews on it but I've gotten 75%, 76% and 78% efficiency so I think it works pretty well (my first 3 fly sparges as well). I got 78% efficiency when I managed to stretch the sparge time out to 30 minutes. The other 2 I was still fiddling and they were pretty short.

Tough to see them but I have the holes drilled in the top so equalize the dripping.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Wow, that's a lot of work there for a fly sparge system!

 

[user 574]

we made one like brewiz's with a smaller gage copper ice machine hookup... about ten dollars in parts at lowes.

Ooh, good idea. I got a fair amount of that stuff laying somewhere in the shop.

 

[brewman !]

You control the % of sugars running through with the folow rate and thus th PH. A fast drain and slow sparge water could lead to a low suager % and thus higher PH. On the other hand the opposite could result in low efficency wit adding mroe sparge water.

I never said anything about the drain rate. I control that with a valve on the outlet of the mash vessel. Its about the same whether the water level is high or low. Just once in a while I don't add the water quickly enough and the water level drops below the top of the bed. No big deal, right ? Batch spargers do it all the time !

 

[Bobby_M]

Here is the rig I built a couple weeks ago. I only have 3 brews on it but I've gotten 75%, 76% and 78% efficiency so I think it works pretty well (my first 3 fly sparges as well). I got 78% efficiency when I managed to stretch the sparge time out to 30 minutes. The other 2 I was still fiddling and they were pretty short.

Tough to see them but I have the holes drilled in the top so equalize the dripping.

The worst part is that I'm hitting the same efficiencies with batch sparging and I just dump the water in. If building a fancy dripper would boost it 10%, I would. I like building things.

 

[Bobby_M]

I never said anything about the drain rate. I control that with a valve on the outlet of the mash vessel. Its about the same whether the water level is high or low. Just once in a while I don't add the water quickly enough and the water level drops below the top of the bed. No big deal, right ? Batch spargers do it all the time !

The theory suggests that letting the grain bed "dry out" will compact it enough to get a stuck sparge or at least not allow for broad channeling. I suspect you've never let it get too out of hand and most of the grainbed was still saturated.

Batch spargers do it but it's moot because when we infuse, we stir. Channeling and compaction is no biggie.

 

[brewman !]

The theory suggests that letting the grain bed "dry out" will compact it enough to get a stuck sparge or at least not allow for broad channeling.

Neither of these things happen.

I suspect you've never let it get too out of hand and most of the grainbed was still saturated.

I've accidentally let it run right dry twice.

Batch spargers do it but it's moot because when we infuse, we stir. Channeling and compaction is no biggie.

Not all batch spargers stir between batches. Some don't.

 

[Craig5_12]

I've got one like Brewiz, but it's much smaller. I decided whilst brewing last night that I'm going to can that idea. Water doesn't need to drip onto the grain at all as long as the water is above the grainbed. I'm going to just attach a piece of hose and let my coil of copper sit on the grainbed. I think the easiest way would be to just use some tubing 1/4" or 3/8" probably and let that sit down on top of the grain.
I also recirculate the mash so not having to adjust my arm anymore will be a big help.

 

[bradsul]

...I like building things...

Exactly