Fly Sparge ring

[Brewpastor]

I had some copper around and decided I needed a better sparge arm, so I created this:

The bottom of the loop has a series of holes drilled in it so it should (I have yet to use it) trickle over the grain bed. The unit connects to the MLT with a quick connect. Simple and I hope effective.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Looks great. I like the QD idea!

 

[jdoiv]

It's hard to tell, but are the holes on the bottom or top? My ring is somewhat similar but the holes are on the top of the ring.

 

[Bobby_M]

Good idea, if you put them on top, if forces the whole ring to fill up. If they're on the bottom, the ones closest to the input will flow more IN THEORY.

 

[Brewpastor]

the holes are one the bottom, but I could rotate the whole works so they face up. I am not too worried about the flow, As long as I get a generally wide trickle as opposed to a centralized dump I will be satisfied. I keep a tad of water over the bed anyway so it should be fine. Also, there are only twenty four SMALL holes, so the flow should be pretty even.

 

[jdoiv]

Yeah, the holes on my ring are sorta big. I would have been better if they were very small. Then I wouldn't have to throttle the valve back so much.

 

[Brewpastor]

I am only wanting between a quart and a quart-and-a-half per minute through this so I don't need much flow.

 

[boothbrew]

BrewPastor

I just built my sculpture. I used commercial wire shelving w/ casters to make the three tier setup. :rockin:
I'm still waiting for my new ss kettles to arrive though.

While I'm waiting (impatiently) I need to make a sparge arm. What size holes did you drill in your sparge arm?

Oh, BTW - I am still drooling over your gallery. You have a setup only people like me can dream of. very, very amazing.


Thanks in advance

 

[Brewpastor]

Thank you. Keep the dream alive - it took me 25 years of brewing to get there!

I am not sure the hole size. I just grabbed a bit that seemed right and went with it. the holes are just a bit smaller than a pencil lead.

 

[missing link]

Good idea, if you put them on top, if forces the whole ring to fill up. If they're on the bottom, the ones closest to the input will flow more IN THEORY.

If the holes are on top, doesn't the water flow out of the holes and run along the copper to the lowest point and make a single stream? I just built a similar set up but I only put about 8 holes 1/16 in diameter on the bottom hoping the ring will fill up and pressurize slightly making all 8 holes flow the same amount of water. In theory anyway....

Linc

 

[SixFoFalcon]

If the holes are on top, doesn't the water flow out of the holes and run along the copper to the lowest point and make a single stream? I just built a similar set up but I only put about 8 holes 1/16 in diameter on the bottom hoping the ring will fill up and pressurize slightly making all 8 holes flow the same amount of water. In theory anyway....

Linc

I'm curious to know the answer to your question. I would venture to guess that if you got the hole sizes just right, and had enough pressure in the system, they would create little fountains that shoot out from the ring, rather than trickling down the copper tubing to the lowest point. But how to get there (hole size/number, pressure, flow rate, etc.) are all variables that would have to be worked out.

 

[Bobby_M]

In theory, if the ring is basically level, it will drip down the sides of the tube and create a drop right below each hole. In theory. If you have enough pressure to create little fountains shooting up, you're probably sparging way too fast at that point.

 

[jdoiv]

Yeah, I have to level the ring a little bit sometimes or it will all flow out of one or tow of the holes and not be very even. I have a ball valve on the MLT that feeds the sparge ring. I use it to control the flow. Once you get a couple of inches above the grain bed, it all works out ok.

 

[Brewpastor]

You don't need a perfectly even shower over the grain. You want an inch of water on top of the bed and then a gentle flow that doesn't disturb the grain bed significantly. The bigger issue is flow rate control so you get a nict trickle in, trickle out for a good slow sparge.

 

[SixFoFalcon]

If you have enough pressure to create little fountains shooting up, you're probably sparging way too fast at that point.

Well, again that depends on some variables, namely the number and size of the holes. If you have a small number of very small holes you could run enough pressure to create upward fountains without having a high flow rate.

 

[Monster Mash]

If you recirculate through a HERMS and you want something that works great for recirculating and sparging you can build something like this.

Since the holes are 1/2" openings the liquid just flows out of the top along with any grain particals that may get through. It adjusts for the height of the mash so it doesn't matter how high the grainbed is, you won't lose heat from the sprinkle effect.