Batch sparging temps

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Monkeyguts

Member
Joined
16/7/17
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Hi everyone,

At what temp should you batch sparge? I generally use water at around 90 degrees. However, I have just read in John Palmer's book that it should be no higher than 77 degrees. My beer turns out fine, but I'm wondering how much better it might be if I use a lower temp. In the the book it says higher temps can lead to astringency.
Cheers in advance for any advice.
Monkeyguts
 
How are you doing the sparge 90 degrees is hot could get scalded.
 
http://beerandwinejournal.com/sparge-water-temperature/

Hope the link works. Basically, at a higher temp and mash pH its easier to extract tanins which will give rise to astringent notes in the beer. The aim is to keep the grain bed at ~77C and mash pH around 5.2 to stop that happening. For home brewers, using water at 77C is likely to result in a grain bed that's significantly less than 77C as we lose more temp than a commercial set up. 90C may be a little high, but if its working for you then maybe you're already hitting the 77C grain bed temp sweet spot.
 
Ok,thanks. I might reduce that temp just a little bit and see what the results are.
 
You should be batch sparging between 75-77C. If the sparge water is too hot, it will dissolve not only sugars, but also tannins from the grain husks. Tannins can potentially cause an astringent mouthfeel to beer.
 
Are there any downsides to sparging with colder water? Does it affect how much sugar is dissolved?
 
Back
Top