Sparge Water Temp

[Mountainbeers]

About to do my first AG brew!

Does the sparge water need to be a certain temp? I'm sure you have to heat it but does it have to be the same temp as your mash?

 

[Gremlyn]

You want to get the grain bed up to about 170F, so it needs to be hotter than that. I usually shoot for between 180 and 185 strike temp.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

You want to get the grain bed up to about 170F, so it needs to be hotter than that

Well technically it doesn't need to be anything. You can sparge w/ cold water if you want. I sparge at 165-170F and get consistent 80-82% efficiency. My grain bed never gets anywhere near 170F.

 

[permo]

Well technically it doesn't need to be anything. You can sparge w/ cold water if you want. I sparge at 165-170F and get consistent 80-82% efficiency. My grain bed never gets anywhere near 170F.

+1

I get very similar efficiency and I double batch sparge with 168 degree water. Too hot = bitterness

I believe that sparging is simply a rinsing process, so the grain bed doesn't necassarily need to get to the sparging temp, the sparge water needs to be a certain temp. I think sparging with 185 degree water could extract some bitterness from the grains.

 

[Gremlyn]

I sparged with 168F water and go horrible efficiency, only got better when I bumped my temp, no astringency to be seen since I did. The reason for the higher temp is to get the sugar into solution easier. But if it works for you to use lower temp, great, but I think you'll find most people batch sparge with water in the 180-185F range.

 

[Zen_Brew]

Sparging is basically rinsing the remaining sugars out of the grain. Sugar flows better at hot temperatures. It is basically accepted that above 170 degrees you extract undesireable tannins from the grain, so most people shoot for as close to 170 as they can get. Gremlyn is correct that ballpark 180 to 185 degree water will usually get your grain bed into the 165-170 degree range depending on the volume of grain in the mash ton. The brief period that the 180 degree water hits the grain will not have a noticeable negative affect. The tannins don't all come out as soon as hot water hits them, and the water rapidly comes down in temp as the grain is cooler than the water. I usually keep about a quart of cool water next to me in case I overshoot a couple degrees so I can knock it down.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Grain bed at 168. Using beersmith to calculate what you stike temp needs to be to hit this temp is awesome.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

I sparged with 168F water and go horrible efficiency

I would be shocked if the sparge temp itself led to bad efficiency. Hell some people don't sparge at all and get 65-70% efficiency, which leads me to believe it's poor conversion rather than a problem w/ the sparge.

Here's another example of good efficiency where temp didn't matter:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/cold-water-sparge-110856/

 

[Heineken]

I seen where people say they use almost boiling water in th 200 range. It obviously not an exact science as you can tell from the answers. It appears as long as you get the grain bed in the 165-170 range, the sparge will work. I typically use 185 myself but my efficiency has been all over the place. however, i think its the conversion vs. the sparge.

 

[oldschool]

Along with what everybody else has said. I like to get the grain bed to the 170 degree range asap. I guess you call it a "mash out." This will halt enzyme activity to better control your outcome of the finished product. So if you mash at 155 and sparge with the same temp and spend 30-60 min running off, your wort can become more fermentable since it will likely cool off. just my thoughts

 

[Mountainbeers]

Thanks for all the input guys. How do you calculate efficiency?

 

[pjj2ba]

..........It is basically accepted that above 170 degrees you extract undesireable tannins from the grain, so most people shoot for as close to 170 as they can get. ...........

This is only an issue if your pH goes too high. Decoctions boil the grain, and this doesn't lead to tannins. I recently did an experimental beer where after the mash, I diluted it to 6 gal, and then boiled EVERYTHING. I carefully checked my pH before boiling and there were no tannins in the resulting beer

 

[wrestler63]

I started sparging with 175 deg water and my bed temp never got above 145 deg. I have bumped it up every batch and am now at 200 deg. water to maintain 160 throughout the 60-90 min sparge. By the time the water travels through the sparge arm, sprinkles down to the tun and rinses past the grain bed you lose that much temp. My effeciencies have been around 80% and beer has been great.
Cheers

 

[OLDBREW]

Quote:
I sparged with 168F water and go horrible efficiency

I would be shocked if the sparge temp itself led to bad efficiency. Hell some people don't sparge at all and get 65-70% efficiency, which leads me to believe it's poor conversion rather than a problem w/ the sparge.

I think what he said was that his sparge water was 168* which left his grain bed colder so he upped the sparge water temperature to 185*, which let the grainbed come up, then he gained points.

It is a proven fact that by raising the grainbed temperature up to mashout temps, you gain in mash efficiency. The liquor viscosity thins, and allows you to wash more of the sugars from the mash.

The temperature alone isn't what allows the extraction of the tannins. It happens as the gravity of the solution drops, the ph of the mash rises. At around 6 ph and 1.010-08 you will extract the tannins at those temperatures. So when you fly sparge, you need to watch the gravity and your ph while doing so.

Batch sparging if done enough times (using more clean water)can also extract tannins.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

It is a proven fact that by raising the grainbed temperature up to mashout temps, you gain in mash efficiency.

Not trying to be a dick, but other than anecdotal evidence do you have anything to prove this? Like I said, I sparge at 170F and my grain bed never gets anywhere near mash out temps and I still get ~80% efficiency nearly every time. I've tried sparging much hotter as well and I still get...80% efficiency. In my system it makes no difference. I'm not saying it won't help anyone, but acting like you automatically take an efficiency hit for not sparging hot enough is just wrong.

 

[OLDBREW]

Not trying to be a dick, but other than anecdotal evidence do you have anything to prove this? Like I said, I sparge at 170F and my grain bed never gets anywhere near mash out temps and I still get ~80% efficiency nearly every time. I've tried sparging much hotter as well and I still get...80% efficiency. In my system it makes no difference. I'm not saying it won't help anyone, but acting like you automatically take an efficiency hit for not sparging hot enough is just wrong.

I'm not wrong your procedure is wrong.

your mashbed temp needs to come up to 168-170* not your sparge water.

next batch try to raise the bed temp to 168* then report back on your results.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

I'm not wrong your procedure is wrong.

your mashbed temp needs to come up to 168-170* not your sparge water.

next batch try to raise the bed temp to 168* then report back on your results.

You mis-read my post.

I've tried sparging much hotter as well and I still get...80% efficiency

Even when I sparge w/ 185-190F water (and my grain bed does reach 168F), my efficiency does not change.

 

[OLDBREW]

Sorry I mis-read that!

What are you a Batch sparger, or do you fly sparge? If you Batch sparge what is your gravity reading of your last pint of the last sparge runnings?

Batch sparging you aren't getting all the sugars anyway. The old dirty dish water saying

"You can't rinse a dish clean with dirty water" That's one reason batch spargers very seldom have to worry about extracting tannins. Your gravity readings are still up higher and your ph stays lower.

When someone says they get 80% I look at that number as 80% of what the lab analysis was. (lab 80% of 46 points = 39 points potential) 80% of 39 points = 31.2 points per pound per gallon.

When you look at sucrose at 46 points you are only getting 31 points extraction of the 46 points. 68%