recirculated wort return - manifold vs nozzle

[haeffnkr]

Hi,
Is there any benefit to mash efficiency, temps throughout the MT, better/less grain bed channeling, or any other reason to have a manifold with a lot of holes ie nozzled, loc line type wort return to gently disperse the water evenly over the grain bed, under the wort level of course VS a sweeping bend or maybe 2 out of center tee fitting that recirculates around the outside of the MT .. sort of a mini gentle whirlpool over the grain?

thanks haeffnkr

 

[VVbrewery]

Do you go around poking wasps nest too?
You'll probably going to get as many answers as there are people on here. I've tried both ways sprinkling gently and running it in with just a hose with no noticeable difference in efficiency. IMHO if you keep about an inch of water above the grain bed an add it gently enough not to disturb anything ther's probably little difference. I used to have a slotted manifold in my old MT, then a false bottom in my current one. Then my brewing setup change and I switched to batch sparging and I would never go back. The slight decrease in efficiency amounts to maybe a handful of grain and is one less thing to worry about.The last couple of brews have been done with a BIAB type bag and I'm sure the false bottom will be sitting on a shelf. You just have to try different stuff and see what works for you.

 

[augiedoggy]

sprinkling it will certainly do a lot more oxidizing of the wort... (thats a bad thing btw) the thing is fancy sparge arms are a cool gizmo so many people have them regardless.. I myself bought and made a few before switching to a regular piece of silicone hose and found it works better.

 

[haeffnkr]

sprinkling it will certainly do a lot more oxidizing of the wort... (thats a bad thing btw) the thing is fancy sparge arms are a cool gizmo so many people have them regardless.. I myself bought and made a few before switching to a regular piece of silicone hose and found it works better.

How did it work better, not regarding the sprinkling of the wort as I am a lodo convert?
Did you get better efficiency? faster ramp times? or?

thanks haeffnkr

 

[4of7]

My recirculation method is to push it in on the bottom spigot draw off the top.. but I'm doing a full volume recirculation sometimes I've tried going from the top and letting it drain down out the bottom for the recirculation

 

[Smellyglove]

IMO there's no need to do a manifold. I just do a single outlet under the wort surface with enough pressure so the wort goes around inside the mash tun. I do thin mashes though. It's super easy to clean comparing to a manifold. Just use a smaller diameter outlet than what's feeding it, to get more pressure.

 

[zolakk]

sprinkling it will certainly do a lot more oxidizing of the wort... (thats a bad thing btw) the thing is fancy sparge arms are a cool gizmo so many people have them regardless.. I myself bought and made a few before switching to a regular piece of silicone hose and found it works better.

I didn't think oxidation was an issue pre boil

 

[mongoose33]

I didn't think oxidation was an issue pre boil

Shall I go first?

It is, though to what extent is probably open to interpretation. LODO--low dissolved oxygen--brewing is an approach designed to limit oxidation of the grist, mash, and resulting wort before it is boiled in the BK.

Done correctly, it makes a noticeable difference in the flavor of the wort. Some/many of us are doing LODO techniques to control that issue.

 

[zolakk]

Shall I go first?

It is, though to what extent is probably open to interpretation. LODO--low dissolved oxygen--brewing is an approach designed to limit oxidation of the grist, mash, and resulting wort before it is boiled in the BK.

Done correctly, it makes a noticeable difference in the flavor of the wort. Some/many of us are doing LODO techniques to control that issue.

Interesting. Good to know, thanks!

 

[augiedoggy]

How did it work better, not regarding the sprinkling of the wort as I am a lodo convert?
Did you get better efficiency? faster ramp times? or?

thanks haeffnkr

Well it it's much easier to use and keep clean.(no grain stuck in it). That and less temp drop vs a sparge arm.. not a big deal really. I do not do lodo but it doesnt mean I wont make attempts to minimize the oxidation when reasonably possible.

 

[Yooper]

I use loc-line, with the nozzle just under the wort to avoid splashing. It works fine, and there is a three degree differential between the HLT (where the HERMS coil is) and the mash temp.

 

[augiedoggy]

I used to use the orange loc line with the small outlets in every segment but it would plug with grain bits and then I found the orange locline is not food grade. the black is.

 

[mongoose33]

I used to use the orange loc line with the small outlets in every segment but it would plug with grain bits and then I found the orange locline is not food grade. the black is.

The orange isn't food grade?

Wow. Now I have to get the black stuff. Just out of curiosity, how did you learn this?

EDIT: I started looking into this--I'd had the impression it was all food-safe, I must have looked that up before buying it. I can't find anything that says the black is food-safe and the orange is not.

Here's a thread on HBT talking about this, OP in the thread says he talked to the Loc-Line people about it, they said it's food-safe.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/loc-line-for-sparge-assembly.285622/

 

[haeffnkr]

Thanks for the replies.
I ran my Kettle Rims rig for the first time yesterday and I got some grain erosion with return hose pointed slightly down. I will try to buy/fab up some sort of return next with my floating mash cap.