Sparging, Cracking Grain

[Gout]

Does anyone have instuctions/information on making some sort of sparging equipment. I was tipping the water into the grain bed with a "lid" to take the impact and then overflow into the grain. I had quiet a bit of "grain" in my second bucket upder the false floor.

Secondly i need to sort out cracking of my grain. one option is to roll it in a bag on the bench. Have you guys used this method and was it good enough. How log would it take to crack 2-3 Kg's?

I'll have to figure a way to make it easyer / better

 

[GMK]

Ben

For sparging - i am making my own sparging spiral out of annealed soft copper.

i am using 3/8 OD refrig grade annealed copper tubing.

here is a link to where i got the idea.
http://www.brewtree.com/page/page/270236.htm
And a pic.

 

[Gout]

thanks i love it!

Is it good to have the Liquid droping from that height and maybe oxidizing (hot)
I was thingking of somthing that sits alost on the grain bed so it, a) will not oxide, B) not hit the grain bed hard

am i off my rocker? :blink:

 

[Doc]

For sparging check out the one I built.

I actually have mkII up and running now with the major difference being I have a t-piece in the centre of the pipe where the water enters.
It is working well.

As for the manifold check out the pictures of mine I use in my eksy on this thread.

Cheers,
Doc

 

[therook]

Great set up Doc

 

[GMK]

thanks i love it!

Is it good to have the Liquid droping from that height and maybe oxidizing (hot)
I was thingking of somthing that sits alost on the grain bed so it, a) will not oxide, B) not hit the grain bed hard

am i off my rocker? :blink:

My understanding is that when you sparge, you need to maintain an inch of water above the grain bed.

Providing you are not pouring the water in and it isn't just going in one place, i think my sparge spiral would work fine.

The water above the bed acts as a shock absorber - cushioning the water.

There is nothing to stop you making the outside diameter spiral small enough to fit into the mash tun , and feeding the water down through/into the small spiral in the centre and placing a cap on the outside spiral.

I hope i have put this accross OK.

 

[Doc]

The only thing I see that could potentially impede performance of your sparge arm GMK is that all the holes are the same size and the overall length of the unit is quite long.

Unless the flow rate of the water from your HLT is reasonably fast, potentially there will not be a lot of water making the end of you copper pipe especially if you are using only gravity to force it through and your HLT is not much higher that you MLT.

I'll be interested to know how it goes.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Gout]

my main worry was mixing the air (o2) with the water as it splashes in the water bellow somthing about Hot oxidization blah blah blah....

thats said, i saw someone using a foil with holes in it over the grain bed. This stoped the water hiting it there fore i might try both the foil and one of the methods you guys are using

 

[Linz]

Ben,

There's also "batch sparging", where you do the normal mash then drain the mash tun and recharge the tun with 80oC water to the same level as the mash was to begin with,stir and let sit for 20mins,drain again and repeat.Never more than the two times,and always return the first runings to the tun till it runs bright. This method is explained in Wheeler's book "Homebrewing the CAMRA guide".It requires no additional equipment! B)

 

[Jethro]

I tried a partial Mash and cracked the grain in a morter and pechal Took about an hour and drove my wife crazy, Ill have to find a better method before I give it another go.

 

[Jethro]

I tried a partial Mash and cracked the grain in a morter and pechal Took about an hour and drove my wife crazy, Ill have to find a better method before I give it another go.

 

[Jazman]

better idea get the hbs to crack it for you wehn you order ther grain

 

[jayse]

does it really matter if the water goes all in one spot.i just stick the hose from the HLT on top of the mash and keep the layer on top 1-2 inches high and all the top layer becomes completely clear and so clean water is sparging though the grain everwhere.ill make one of them spiral arms just for some more bells and whistles you could put it just below the water surface or on the surface if you where worried about splashing.but its good to see how fast/slow its coming out.

have you used it yet GMK

 

[Gout]

Whats the best method of cracking the grain on the tight buget?

I used the rolling pin and i will never do it again, the pain, the time, and the ... pain! my hands kill

i saw a paster maker with rollers that move apart.. but at almost $70 its almost a barly crusher....

idea's idea's

 

[GMK]

I haven't used my spiral yet.
Just finished getting the false bottom and getting the mash tun set up.

Will post pics of my mash tun setup minus the spiral arm tonight - just got a work digie camera to take some snap shots.
I am still working out whether i make the spiral height adjustable - ie fit it inside the cooler so that i can raise and lower it at will to set the height above the grain bed.

Cracking grain.

Ben,

Try a coffee grinder - set in on the coursest setting you can get.
Note that you will need a good sieve and keep the mashing temp under 70 and because it is a finer crush - should only need to mash for 30mins.

Haven't finished bringing the Barley Crusher upto standard yet.

So much tod, so little time.

 

[Gout]

the idea is to crack the grain open though aint it? not smash it to a power like a coffegrinder might do?

this will also cause a problem with my false floor buckets.... DOH!

looks like i might have to buy or make one...

 

[Gout]

Philmill 1 $179
Philmill 2 $340
http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/brewingsys...ystems_info.htm

they are VERY expencive bit of equipment....

 

[GMK]

Ben,

Talk with Kook and BigD...

You guys should go in together and get the barley crusher.
Should land in oz at approx 180.00 Aus.

IMHO, this is much better than the PhillMill2.

St pats have a similar item to the Barley Crusher for 169.00us..
It comes with a plastic base and a better nob for adjustment.
But, for the price - i am happy with my barley crusher.

 

[RobW]

If you are only cracking small amounts of specialty grains you can use a pasta machine or put it in a bag & use a rolling pin. Otherwise get it cracked when you buy it.

 

[Gout]

due to my brew on spot ways I never have time to go to the other side of the city to get the grain, so i buy in "bulk" and have to crack it as need me. Doing upto 3Kg of grain per part mash so rolling pin is a noway!

I will look at the above GMK thanks

I will also look at making something myself similar to the ones on Australia Craft Brewing

(2 SS rollers and make it that way)