Sparge arm

[BrewBeemer]

Because its all about the gadgets. Don't you know??

Mine doesn't clog. Its small. Its easily cleaned. It pops in in just seconds. I wish it was a little more sleek.

Edit: Ha,Ha. Maybe I should call it a sparge finger.

And a hell of a lot cheaper than MB $48 out the door copper hoop. How can this MB unit be adjusted for different grain batch amounts be 5 pounds or 30 pounds of grain? A length of silicone hose has worked for me plus cheaper as well matches the different grain bed amounts.

 

[ILOVEBEER]

No brass for me...............I agree....I was after the perfect sparge assembly.....hose is the way to go!

 

[hfd73]

Am I wrong, but if you use some sort of sparge assembly you lose heat. I just let it run over the grain bed with aluminum foil over the bed. The HLT temp is 175 and the water on the grain bed is usually 171.

 

[GreenMonti]

And a hell of a lot cheaper than MB $48 out the door copper hoop. How can this MB unit be adjusted for different grain batch amounts be 5 pounds or 30 pounds of grain? A length of silicone hose has worked for me plus cheaper as well matches the different grain bed amounts.

That's not a MB unit. I made that. I got the spray nozzle back when I built commercial food processing equipment. Wash down conveyors, dough sheeters, enrobing units,ect...I don't adjust for different heights of grain. It just does its thing. When spraying on top of the grain bed there isn't any reason to adjust the height. The weight of the vorlauf or sparge water doesn't create an issue at a higher point. Its force is spread out unlike a hose. You might loose a little more heat, but that's about it.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Me bad my mistake. I thought it was a MB unit in my "little mind". With the wide range of batch sizes with grain bed heights planned of 10# to 60# in the same MLT the fixed ring would not work for my next system build. As you stated your not hosing the grain bed so there's no problem with your design I agree. I was thinking a simple adjustable by gravity silicone hose with a short bent SS tip planned in the design. The slightly upward return circulation to the MLT with minimal turbulence within the liquid level above the grain bed.

 

[lschiavo]

I have a 10-gallon round MLT. Drilled a hole in the lid for sparging/recirculation. I have been using a bucket lid drilled full of holes. It floats nicely on top of the sparge water and I just let water flow from tubing on top of that.

It looks like I am pushing the temp limits of HDPE at mashout temps but I have never had issues. I have been looking for a better system but this has been working for now. Maybe I will try some foil next time.

 

[Photopilot]

Okay here is mine. In todays dollars it was zero as I had the rotating arm from 15 years ago when listerman was one of the few high end suppliers for cool brewing stuff.

I just read a quote from Phil who is the manufacturer that said it is his most useless item he designed with the only benefit is the ability to watch it spin. I don't even get to watch it spin as it happens inside the closed lid.

I just added the second valve and hose for faster adding of water. I could just use a hose from this second bulkhead with the larger hose to bring in the water for the sparging process. My question is how much heat might I be loosing from the fine spray if it occurs in an enclosed insulated compartment that is heated to at least 150 degrees?

 

[erik]

I took the spear from a keg, removed the bulk of the head (spring, etc) and drilled 2 holes every inch along the length of it. The silicon hose stretches around the base of the spear and I use a ball valve to control the flow from my pump.

 

[thenatibrewer]

listermanns is in my hometown. i have the phils sparge arm and i could not get it to work. infact it would not even spin for me.
on the other hand a buddy of mine uses it on a very regular basis and is very successful!!! so i guess it is really personal preference in what you want to use. everyone has what works for them and none of them seem to be better than the other. so keep posting ideas and we (gadget junkies) will keep making them in our garages....

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Am I wrong, but if you use some sort of sparge assembly you lose heat. I just let it run over the grain bed with aluminum foil over the bed. The HLT temp is 175 and the water on the grain bed is usually 171.

It depends on the atomization of the water, ambient temperature, time between leaving the nozzle/arm/manifold and entering lauter, and other factors. It will vary from system to system. I personally don't lose more than 3 degrees MAX (as far as I've measured), and I could adjust accordingly. If I heat my sparge water to 171 or so, the final temp in the lauter will abe around 168-169 usually. I see absolutely no problem with that, and have been very pleased with the results. Zero grain bed disturbance, and consistent quality runoff are a testament to that.

Besides, if you're losing that much heat using a sparge system, you could either 1) rethink the design to reduce heat loss, or 2) just heat up your sparge water to a higher initial temp. What's the big deal?

YMMV.

 

[ClaudiusB]

Originally Posted by GreenMonti
Because its all about the gadgets. Don't you know??

My gadget is like yours, uses a standard spray nozzle.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

 

[GreenMonti]

My gadget is like yours, uses a standard spray nozzle.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

Ha,Ha. That looks great. They work awesome don't they?