Batch Sparging What Temperature

[fergi]

i am curious to know what others batch sparge temperatures at,

i usually heat mt HLT to 75 deg then when i pour into my mash tun i get my 66 degrees that i generally mash at.

my first batch sparge run has HLT heated to 78 deg and then poured into my mash tun, stirred, wait 10 mins then into the kettle.
second round of batch sparge is the same process,

what temp do you heat your batch sparge water to, is it the same as your first mash in temp or slightly higher.
fergi

 

[kelbygreen]

your mash out should be at 75-78 depending on style and recipe. I would calculate your first batch sparge to bring the mash up to this temp and then the second batch sparge just sparge at the same temp you raised it to.

I find fly sparging easier myself and you get alot clearer beer with better efficiency but it takes longer (unless you are like me and recirculated for 10 mins a batch sparge to try get it clearer) . So you infuse your mash out and stir in and leave for 10 mins and recuirc till its clear and then drain till there is about 2" (50mm) wort above the grain bed and just keep adding the water at mash out temp keeping the 2" above the grain bed till you used the sparge water or the drain off liquid reaches 1.010SG

 

[///]

75c and no more

 

[rich_lamb]

Like you I use mash water about 10 deg high at mash in (my spreadsheet gives me the exact temp for my system based on the grain temp), but I heat up my HLT to somewhere around 85 deg for sparging. This brings up the temp in stages when you batch sparge.
So if you're mashing at say 67, the first sparge water mixed in might bring the grain bed up to 71, and the second sparge maybe up to 74. It does depend on your setup; if you have a large tun and only sparge once it may differ but my eski is small and I add sparge water twice (after initial runoff).

Raising your grain bed above 70 will have many of the benefits of a mashout - it cuts off conversion and helps the sparge run better. I avoid going any higher than 75 though as I'm paranoid about astringency

 

[bignath]

i heat my sparge to between 85 and 90.

No idea if this is good or not, but i can tell you that it's the required temperature range to bring my grain bed thermometer (mashmaster) up to the high 70s after mashing at around 65/66.

 

[manticle]

Sparge water shouldn't be higher than 76 according to George Fix. Mine is usually 76 (77 being where tannin extraction is increased but this is also pH related) but I'm thinking of dropping it down to 72-74. I usually mash out prior to sparging.

 

[bignath]

but if the sparge water shouldn't be any hotter than 76 how do you do a decent mash out if you mash in an esky?

Ive tried using water at mash out temp and it never gets the grain bed temp up to where i want it. I am working on 78 being the optimal temp for a mash out isn't it? It's what ive heard atleast, could certainly be wrong though..

Ive tried stirring the mash a little, stirring vigourously, not stirring at all etc after adding sparge water and it never gets to 78ish, unless the water is well over 80deg going in.

I understand if you are using a direct fired kettle, but not sure how to do a 78 deg mash out if the sparge water is less than that.

Help??

EDIT: FWIW, i often only need to do a single batch sparge. Maybe the fact i'm not heating the grain bed up in multiple stages has something to do with it? Occasionally if it a bigger beer, i'll need to sparge twice to get volume in the keggle though. The second sparge if required is not a big one.

 

[Ross]

When double batch sparging, adding water at under 90c wont get you close to mash out temps.....

If you are doing a double batch sparge (what I personally recommend), you will need to add your first sparge water at as close to boiling as possible (I set my urn to 99c to avoid it boiling away), this will get your 1st mash out temp up into the mid 70's. While i'm running off the first sparge I turn off the urn & by the time the mash is ready for it's second sparge water, the urn has cooled to approx 85 to 90c. Adding the next lot of sparge water at this temp will bring your final mash out up to 75 to 80c.

Cheers Ross

 

[manticle]

I have an immersion element I use for stepping although sometimes I use hot water too.

I'll have to read the Fix section again and see what it says 76 relates too. If you've already brought the grain bed up to 78 with litres of water for mash out then maybe 75 is too high?

I believe it's not going to be a linear relationship though - there's pH to consider so my assumption is that the grain bed pH will be low enough during the mash/out stage. Once you've drained and then sparge, the pH will likely change. Or something like that.

 

[argon]

Not sure about the sparge water not being above 76c. As you've pointed out, it would be impossible for that temp water to bring up the grist to appropriate temp.

What I think is meant, is that one shouldn't bring the grist above 76c to prevent tannin extraction.

Personally I sparge with 98c water to bring from 65c to 76-80c. Then second sparge, after turning the hlt off is about 90c. This maintains the grist at just under 80c for good lautering. I believe I don't get tannin extraction.

 

[Ross]

76c+ is a concern for those fly sparging, where you are continuosly rinsing the grains. For batch sparging where you always have a sugar solution it's nowhere near as critical but I keep under 80c as a precaution.

cheers Ross

 

[bignath]

When double batch sparging, adding water at under 90c wont get you close to mash out temps.....

If you are doing a double batch sparge (what I personally recommend), you will need to add your first sparge water at as close to boiling as possible (I set my urn to 99c to avoid it boiling away), this will get your 1st mash out temp up into the mid 70's. While i'm running off the first sparge I turn off the urn & by the time the mash is ready for it's second sparge water, the urn has cooled to approx 85 to 90c. Adding the next lot of sparge water at this temp will bring your final mash out up to 75 to 80c.

Cheers Ross

Cheers Ross, that's what i was kinda thinking....

I have an immersion element I use for stepping although sometimes I use hot water too.

I'll have to read the Fix section again and see what it says 76 relates too. If you've already brought the grain bed up to 78 with litres of water for mash out then maybe 75 is too high?

I believe it's not going to be a linear relationship though - there's pH to consider so my assumption is that the grain bed pH will be low enough during the mash/out stage. Once you've drained and then sparge, the pH will likely change. Or something like that.

Manticle, how does the immersion element go at stepping up mash temps? I've got one but only used it once or twice in the earlier years, and back then i got lots of burnt bits of grain stuck to it. thought it was probably not a good idea to use it for too long, or maybe i didn't keep it moving enough. Do you have any flavour problems with burnt grains etc??

Might have to dust mine off and have another go.

 

[manticle]

I make sure it is constantly moving. The few times I've forgotten to do this, I've got a bit of burnt grain on the element with no discernible flavour in the finished product (I pulled it straight out and cleaned it when I saw it happen though.

Grimwood element, constantly stirring, no dramas in my experience.

Even for single infusion it is handy if you dough in slightly under. I step mash a lot and would find infusion stepping a huge pain - doable but a pain.