Fly Sparging

[Axegod]

Hello,

Does anyone have a good guide/link/thread for Fly Sparging?
I will attempt my second AG in the next week or two and learned from my first one that I could use more info.

Cheers.

 

[Brewsmith]

Have you checked www.howtobrew.com There is a section on sparging in there.

 

[Axegod]

Have you checked www.howtobrew.com There is a section on sparging in there.

Thanks - I did see that one (and read it all the time).
I see a bunch of batch spargings site also - but not much with fly though.

Cheers.

 

[ajf]

What sparging equipment do you have, and what specific problems did you have last time?

-a.

 

[Axegod]

What sparging equipment do you have, and what specific problems did you have last time?

-a.

Propane burner, sabco kettle, 36 qt. coleman rectangular cooler, 52 quart rectangular cooler, copper manifold, immersion chiller, a re-tooled copper manifold (upside down as a way to add sparge water to grain) and a very improvised beer sculpture.

I was brewing a 10G batch (20 lbs grain, 6 gallon mash water) with the copper manifold in the 36 qt. cooler.
I was able to hit the mash temp. right on, and the cooler held the temp perfectly for 60 mins. Thats when things went astray.
I started to boil the 10G (promash said 8G, but wanted extra) of water as soon as the grain/water was stirred.
I got the water upto 180 F and added it to the 52 qt (preheater) cooler. My cooler didn't hold temp very well and the 36 qt cooler was basically maxed outta space for adding any significant amout of water to increase the temp to over 160F.
So I reheated more water in an effort to bring up the temp. to make the grain over 160F..but It was a lsoing battle as by the time I heated the water and added it, the grain cooled abit, and the temp remained constant @ 150ish. I ended up spilling water a few times and estimated I put in 8 G through the grain as i ended up with 11.5 G in the kettle.....and that was probably every last tannin filled drop after about 2 hours of frustration.

My lesson: Put the copper manifold into a 52 qt cooler, caclcuate the sparge water better, and make a good sculpture that I wont have to fight the ceiling in the garage whilst filling the HLT.

I just wanted to see how others did it so I can get some ideas.

I also wanted to see if the low sparge (grain temp 150F) would cause any problems.

Cheers.

 

[ajf]

Great information!
I only brew 5g batches, and use a false bottom instead of a manifold, and a sparge arm instead of a modified manifold. I use 2 * 20 qt coolers as an LT and HLT. These equipment and batch size differences may require slightly different procedures, but the differences should be very slight (except for the divide by 2 factor).

I start by heating 6g of water for the mash and sparge on the kitchen stove. This is much more than I need for he mash, but if I don't start heating the sparge water, I'll run out of time.

While the water is heating, I prepare the grist, and unpack all the equipment that I'll need.

Then I start the mash. (I use 1 qt water to 1 lb grain for the mash).

While mashing, I top up the pre-heated mash water to 5g and bring this up to temp for the sparge. For me, this is about 190 degrees. It cools when I transfer it to the HLT, and cools even more when it is transferred through the sparge arm

I also start heating 1 - 1.5g water for mash out. This gets heated to boiling point.

At the end of the mash, I slowly add the boiling water to the mash to bring the temp up to 170 (180 degree water is not hot enough). When the mash is up to 170, I fill the HLT which doesn't hold enough water for the complete sparge, and immediately start heating another 3g water to complete the sparge.

My sparge takes about 90 minutes, and by the time the first filling of the HLT is exhausted, the second batch of water is up to temp, and I can add it to the HLT to complete the sparge.

I hope this all makes sense, but I've just had a couple of pints of IPA after a dinner with a couple of glasses of Cabernet, after a brewing session which used up several pints of bitter.

-a.

 

[Axegod]

Thanks for the info! I will print this out as this is a very good description (even after a few pints).

I have seen descriptions (usually batch sparge) where the mash-out isn't done...
Do you know the effect of not mashing out for a fly sparger?

Cheers.

 

[ajf]

Without a mash out, I used to get an efficiency of about 75%, and the initial runnings were very slow because of the increased viscosity.
With the mash out, efficiency jumped to about 85%, and the initial runnings were considerably faster.

Keep in mind that what I do works for me with my equipment and a 5g batch size. You are brewing larger batches with different equipment and will probably need to make some adjustments.

Good luck.

-a.

 

[Axegod]

Thanks.

I think the extra cooler size (for a 52 qt mash tun) where I can calculate a reasonable volume/temp for mash out sounds like the way to go . And hopefully, as you say, I can fine-tune it after a few batches.

I think I finally got my head around this - and will modify some of my equipment so make the next time more smooth.

Cheers.

 

[Logbuyercab]

I have to get my sparg water to 200 for it to rase the mash temp to 170-168 the HLT water will cool some as I sparge but buy that time the grain bed is up in temp. hiting the 168 temp is not that big of a deal. It will help prevent stuck mashes and can increase you efficency.

 

[disaffected]

Can you heat your grain in the oven to 160 or 170 before adding it to your mash tun for the initial strike? In fact, preheat mash tun with hot water, dump, add grains that have been heated to 170, then add strike water at 170...

Seems like it would be less trouble than trying to estimate what temp the water needs to be so that it hits your target temp when mixed with the cold grain in a cold mash tun.

 

[Axegod]

Can you heat your grain in the oven to 160 or 170 before adding it to your mash tun for the initial strike? In fact, preheat mash tun with hot water, dump, add grains that have been heated to 170, then add strike water at 170...

Seems like it would be less trouble than trying to estimate what temp the water needs to be so that it hits your target temp when mixed with the cold grain in a cold mash tun.

Actualy, the intial strike temp was great for me...it was the mash out that I had trouble with. But I think I can use promash, and a bigger cooler to get the right temp/volume for raising it from 150ish to 170F.

Cheers.

 

[boo boo]

Can you heat your grain in the oven to 160 or 170 before adding it to your mash tun for the initial strike? In fact, preheat mash tun with hot water, dump, add grains that have been heated to 170, then add strike water at 170...

Seems like it would be less trouble than trying to estimate what temp the water needs to be so that it hits your target temp when mixed with the cold grain in a cold mash tun.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

That seems to me like you'll get too high a mash temperture.

Why not just preheat your tun with hot water, dump it in something for another use. Then mix your room temperture grain with your strike water heated to give you your mashing tempertures.