airating during mashing

[drifting79]

Hey guys

Im in the process of finishing my Herms system and would like to know if there is an affect on airating wort during recurculation?
I am using my sparge arm as my outlet into the mash tun during recirculation and i can adjust the height no problems.

Is there a problem with splashing onto the top of grain bed or should i just let the sparge arm rest on top of grain bed to eliminate and airation ?

Cheers for any help on this subject

Cooperville

 

[Camo6]

If your wort return is adjustable I'd lower it to the grain bed to minimise disturbance. The jury's out on hot side aeration but there's no harm in avoiding it if you can. My 2c (HERMS noob)

 

[Toper]

There's also the issue of temp control.A long drop for the wort to the grain bed will lose more temp than a short drop.As low as practical I'd suggest.

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

I was asking the same question. My return is above the grain bed that sprinkles the wort from the heat exchanger. I'm going to come up with some other way of being able to adjust it for various heights of the grain bed. Don't ask me how because I haven't come up with it yet.

I haven't noticed any oxidisation or staling in my beer, but then again it doesn't sit around long enough.

 

[drifting79]

O-beer-wan-kenobi mate i have a solution i am using a 50 ltr esky so i will take some images tommorow so you can see my pretty easy fix for adjustablity
thanks for the replies fellas as i thought keep it low basically sitting on ther grain bed during recirc.. no problem

 

[Truman42]

I use a loop of silicone hose connected to a T piece and the return from the herms connects to that. My silicone hose has small holes cut into it spaced an inch apart or so and sits just under the surface of the wort.

Works well.

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

Truman, do you have problems with the holes getting blocked in the hose?
I have copper pipe with holes in, and when I give the mash a stir some particles get through the false bottom and recirculate. For me, if the holes get blocked I pull out the pipe give it a tap and then put it back in. I was wondering if you get the same problem with the hose?

 

[MastersBrewery]

you really should have no reason to stir once you have started recirc, if your stirring because of compaction issues there are steps to take to avoid this.
sorry OT
Mike

 

[drifting79]

Here you can see my method of adjusting the sparge /recirc line to sit neatly o top of grain bed

As you can tell i dont have the abilty to braize my copper lines yet i have just wound a small length of thread tape around the join then electrical tape over the top to stop them from rotating or coming off

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

you really should have no reason to stir once you have started recirc, if your stirring because of compaction issues there are steps to take to avoid this.
sorry OT
Mike

I only stir just to make sure there are no dead spots and there is no wort flow through them. Probably a habit from when I didn't recirculate. I probably only do this 2 or 3 times - at dough in, and maybe once or twice during the mash but at least 15 min before I sparge.

When I do this the wort does look cloudy and starchy as when I dough in so I feel I am getting all of the grain in the mash. However my efficiency is 75% so its probably not helping much or at all.

 

[JDW81]

However my efficiency is 75% so its probably not helping much or at all.

Nothing wrong with 75% efficiency at all.

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

Nothing wrong with 75% efficiency at all.

Yeah, I'm not complaining. In not sure if the stirring makes a difference or not?
75% is about the best I get and its nowhere near the 80% plus some people claim to get

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

Anyway, getting on topic this is my return. Great for fly sparging, not sure about hot side areation?

 

[JDW81]

Yeah, I'm not complaining. In not sure if the stirring makes a difference or not?
75% is about the best I get and its nowhere near the 80% plus some people claim to get

Try not stirring and see what happens. Worst case scenario you lose a few gravity points, and you adjust your hopping schedule accordingly. As for efficiency, IMHO a lot of people get caught up in the pissing competition of high efficiency and end up chasing for it's own sake. If it makes you better beer then great, go for it, but there are far more important things than efficiency you can focus on to make excellent beer.

JD

 

[dicko]

Anyway, getting on topic this is my return. Great for fly sparging, not sure about hot side areation?

Any O2 that is in the wort is expelled during the boil.
Dont splash hot wort after the boil.
As others said, keep the sparge arm close to the mash to avoid temp loss and also avoid mash bed disturbance.

Cheers

 

[Toper]

I was asking the same question. My return is above the grain bed that sprinkles the wort from the heat exchanger. I'm going to come up with some other way of being able to adjust it for various heights of the grain bed. Don't ask me how because I haven't come up with it yet.

I haven't noticed any oxidisation or staling in my beer, but then again it doesn't sit around long enough.

an easy solution to height adjustment http://www.loc-line.com/