Beersmith sparge temperature

[dmbnpj]

So if my recipe in Beersmith tells me to sparge with 4 gallons of 168 degree water, does that mean I heat the water in the HLT to 168 and add that, or does the temperature need to be 168 degrees once the sparge water is added in the mash tun?

 

[JBrady]

I personally heat the water to 168 and sparge with it. Thats how most other brewers also do it I believe. Theres just no way I'm heating my sparge water to 190-200 degrees to achieve 168 once mixed in with the grains. With my rectangle 10 gallon cooler w/bazooka screen and a double batch sparge(equal sparge sizes) method I'm achieving 80% eff. using 168 degree sparge water.

 

[dummkauf]

Depends on what temp you are trying to hit. When I enter sparge info into BeerSmith, I tell it the grain temp(temp of dry grains, no water added yet), and then enter in my target temp for the mash and sparges. BeerSmith then tells you what temp to heat the water to in order to achieve that desired temp. So far It's been incredibly accurate, I was a bit skeptical first time I brewed an AG batch and it told me how hot to brew the water, but I did it, stirred it, stuck in my thermometer, came back in 10 minutes and it was exactly where BeerSmith said it would be.

If it's not working, my guess is you have the wrong temp entered for your grain. I always stick a thermometer in the grains for about 20 min before sparging and then adjust BeerSmith as needed(though it's almost always at 71 degrees at my house).

 

[AZ_IPA]

Depends on what temp you are trying to hit.

Yes, exactly. If you're trying to get your grain bed up to ~168 during your sparge, without a mash out, you'll need a lot hotter water than 168 obviously.

Since I single batch sparge with no mash out, and I want to get my grain bed to ~168ish, I usually sparge at 185.

 

[KevinW]

Yes sparge with 168° water. Your mash should already be at the "mashout" temp unless of course you don't do a mashout. (the mashout is to raise the grain temp to the point at which the enzymatic process stops)

The idea being if you are sparging then you will be adding the sparge water continually for 20 or 30 minutes or more.The grains being sparged will quickly rise to the sparge temp and stay there during the sparge. The temperature at which grain husks start to release their astringent qualites is above 168° so that should prevent those husky astringents from invading your beer.

Or something like that!

 

[AZ_IPA]

Yes sparge with 168° water. Your mash should already be at the "mashout" temp unless of course you don't do a mashout. (the mashout is to raise the grain temp to the point at which the enzymatic process stops)

The idea being if you are sparging then you will be adding the sparge water continually for 20 or 30 minutes or more.The grains being sparged will quickly rise to the sparge temp and stay there during the sparge. The temperature at which grain husks start to release their astringent qualites is above 168° so that should prevent those husky astringents from invading your beer.

Or something like that!

I sorta disgree; but let's get one thing in common - no mash out.

With that being said; if your mash is ~152-158, and you add your sparge water at 168, you'll never get your grain bed up to 168.

And, quick question, with a batch sparge, whit is it taking 20-30 minutes to add the sparge water?

My guess is that this a total case of apples/oranges with techniques

 

[KevinW]

Hah, I was thinking of fly sparging and didn't even think of batch sparging.

Obvioulsy a batch sparge would not take 20-30 mins to add so I guess my question would be did dmbnpj batch or fly sparge?

 

[AZ_IPA]

Hah, I was thinking of fly sparging and didn't even think of batch sparging.

Obvioulsy a batch sparge would not take 20-30 mins to add so I guess my question would be did dmbnpj batch or fly sparge?

Like I said, apples/oranges until the OP tells us more!

 

[dmbnpj]

Hah, I was thinking of fly sparging and didn't even think of batch sparging.

Obvioulsy a batch sparge would not take 20-30 mins to add so I guess my question would be did dmbnpj batch or fly sparge?

I batch sparge.

 

[dmbnpj]

Depends on what temp you are trying to hit. When I enter sparge info into BeerSmith, I tell it the grain temp(temp of dry grains, no water added yet), and then enter in my target temp for the mash and sparges. BeerSmith then tells you what temp to heat the water to in order to achieve that desired temp. So far It's been incredibly accurate, I was a bit skeptical first time I brewed an AG batch and it told me how hot to brew the water, but I did it, stirred it, stuck in my thermometer, came back in 10 minutes and it was exactly where BeerSmith said it would be.

If it's not working, my guess is you have the wrong temp entered for your grain. I always stick a thermometer in the grains for about 20 min before sparging and then adjust BeerSmith as needed(though it's almost always at 71 degrees at my house).

The temp is the question I am asking for clarification on. The way beersmith words my recipe says to sparge with 168 degree water. It isn't clear on adding sparge water of 168 degrees or to get the sparge water mixed with the grains to 168 degrees. I do enter my grain temp into beersmith and all it says is to sparge with 168 degree water. As one of the posts in this thread said, if I need to have the sparge water mixed with the grains at 168 degrees, then I will need to add about 185 degree water (and thank you by the way to whoever posted this info). Since I didn't know this answer on my pumpkin ale yesterday I just added sparge water at 168 degrees so my sparge temp mixed with the grains went all the way down to around 160ish if I remember correctly. Just wondering on clarification of terms Thanks for all the responses

 

[knightbeer39]

You are wanting to "mash out" via your sparge, and that is not what beersmith is calculating for you. It's giving you the standard sparging temperature to keep the wort viscous and prevent a stuck sparge and not extract tannins. You are not achieving a mash out at 168 and brewsmith isn't calculating one. If you want to mash out, then you have to select that option in your list of mash types and it will give you two temps, one for the mash and one to mash out. Saavy?

In other words, it wants the sparge water to be exaclty 168, not bring the whole mash up to 168. that's mashing out, and you aren't doing that.

 

[wildwest450]

Beersmith's one big downfall is the sparge temp. Ideally you want your grain bed in the 168-170 range. It will not give you a temp that will raise your grainbed to that temp. If you don't mash out, I use 185-190 water to raise the temp to 168-170. I simply pour 1/2 to 3/4 of the sparge in, stir and check it. It's usually close enough to dump the whole amount in without going over 170f.

 

[dmbnpj]

Beersmith's one big downfall is the sparge temp. Ideally you want your grain bed in the 168-170 range. It will not give you a temp that will raise your grainbed to that temp. If you don't mash out, I use 185-190 water to raise the temp to 168-170. I simply pour 1/2 to 3/4 of the sparge in, stir and check it. It's usually close enough to dump the whole amount in without going over 170f.

Good enough for me, I will try hotter water next time

 

[JVD_X]

I personally heat the water to 168 and sparge with it. Thats how most other brewers also do it I believe. Theres just no way I'm heating my sparge water to 190-200 degrees to achieve 168 once mixed in with the grains. With my rectangle 10 gallon cooler w/bazooka screen and a double batch sparge(equal sparge sizes) method I'm achieving 80% eff. using 168 degree sparge water.

According to Gordon Strong at the AHA, the mash must not only exceed 168 but also have a rising or high PH in order to extract tannins. If you use PH 5.2 in the sparge water, it will buffer tannin extraction allowing you to use higher temperature water.

 

[AZ_IPA]

According to Gordon Strong at the AHA, the mash must not only exceed 168 but also have a rising or high PH in order to extract tannins. If you use PH 5.2 in the sparge water, it will buffer tannin extraction allowing you to use higher temperature water.

"5.2" doesn't seem to work with folks who's brewing water is naturally higher in pH......

 

[JVD_X]

"5.2" doesn't seem to work with folks who's brewing water is naturally higher in pH......

Can you mix it with distilled water and use some acidulated malt?

 

[dmbnpj]

Seems like we are getting a little crazy working into the pH, etc. of water. Really who measures this (I know I know I'm sure some of you do). For the average Joe, I was just wondering what definition of the temperature of the sparge is.

 

[AZ_IPA]

Can you mix it with distilled water and use some acidulated malt?

I don't know. It works for me as my pH is ~6.8, but I've heard others have problems...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/5-2-ph-stabilizer-post-your-results-169092/

 

[AZ_IPA]

Seems like we are getting a little crazy working into the pH, etc. of water. Really who measures this (I know I know I'm sure some of you do). For the average Joe, I was just wondering what definition of the temperature of the sparge is.

Sorry to get , but it seems your original question has been answered?

 

[dmbnpj]

Sorry to get , but it seems your original question has been answered?

If the answer is heat the sparge water to 185 degrees and add that, then yes?

 

[JVD_X]

It's not that easy. If you have a high ph and use water over 168 degrees or so, the brewing opinion is that you will xtract tannins which results in antistringency in the beer.

I would stick with 170 degree water if you don't want ti watch your ph. FYI... I use ph 5.2 specifically because I don't want to watch my ph.