Sparge Arm

[Clawson]

Hello,

I'm looking to automate the flow during my mashout. I currently have a single tier stand, with 3x 20 gallon Stout Tank kettles, 2 pumps, ran off of a BCS 460 with low pressure propane.

The two options I have are:

Blichmann Autosparge

MoreBeer Ultimate Sparge Arm and then add a float switch from More Beer.

I'll be honest, at this time i'm not looking for another DIY project after I've completed several others so thus the reason i'm just going to purchase something off of the shelf.

What are peoples opinions after using the Blichmann AutoSparge with a pump? Was there channeling due to the hose? Too much pressure from the pump?

Or would it be worth the extra money to use the MoreBeer Ultimate Sparge Arm (should spread the wort a little better) with a float switch.

Matt

 

[Clawson]

Not a response of this one. Well I'll make a decision and let you guys know how it works out for someone with the same question in the future.

 

[augiedoggy]

Not a response of this one. Well I'll make a decision and let you guys know how it works out for someone with the same question in the future.

A simple piece of hose laying on the grainbed works very well for fly sparging....and you can build a copper manifold for evenly dispensing the water in multiple spots on the grain bed but its not needed for fly sparging. some put a small plate under the hose exits to prevent channeling but you could easily make something more permanent unless your batch sparging there is no advantage to fancy sparge are setups that move or sprinkle... because of the inch or two of moving water on the surface.
I use and electronic float sensor to turn my sparge pump on and off and to keep a consistent amount of water over the grain bed when I fly sparge the issue I saw with the blichmann unit is that its not easy to adjust for varying grain amounts and heights that I could see...
I have used different setups myself before realizing they are mostly more work than they are worth.... and I suspect this is why many just use a silicone hose.