What temperature do you sparge at???

[jubby]

I do it (fly sparge) at around 75C and I have produced beers that are excellent and identical to those you buy. I use this temp because all the articles and books I have read recommend it. However, I recently read this:

Why do we sparge at 62°C?

Many brewers will think this controversial and will go for a much higher sparge temperature - I’ve seen 75°C and even higher recommended. A ’mature’ brewer once pointed out to me that high sparge temperatures reduce the thickness/viscosity/body of a beer, and also brings in unwanted tastes from husk compounds. He suggested 62°C, I’ve tried it, it works. Experiment with higher temperatures if you wish though!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it I hear you cry!!

Yes I agree, but would like to hear some opinions from you more experienced brewers out there.

[Whorst]

I batch sparge. The water I add is usually around 85C, which by the time it hits the grain bed, it's around 76C.

[the red devil]

I fly sparge and start with the water arond 85°C and by the time it gets to the middle of the grain bed its about 70°C. By the end of sparging the water has cooled a little and the grain bed is a couple of degrees less.

[Scooby]

Out of interest who was the author?

IMO sparge water should raise the grain bed to no more than 75C this is hot enough
to stop the enzyme action, but not to hot so as you run the risk of extracting undesirable tannins
that become more soluble at higher temps, depending on the Ph this could lead to an astringent
taste in the beer.

As has been mentioned if you are fly sparging the water in the HLT will have to be considerably
hotter than this due to losses in the pipe (insulate) and spray action. A thermometer in the grain bed
is a good idea

[Stonechat]

I do it (fly sparge) at around 75C and I have produced beers that are excellent and identical to those you buy. I use this temp because all the articles and books I have read recommend it. However, I recently read this:

Why do we sparge at 62°C?

Many brewers will think this controversial and will go for a much higher sparge temperature - I’ve seen 75°C and even higher recommended. A ’mature’ brewer once pointed out to me that high sparge temperatures reduce the thickness/viscosity/body of a beer, and also brings in unwanted tastes from husk compounds. He suggested 62°C, I’ve tried it, it works. Experiment with higher temperatures if you wish though!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it I hear you cry!!

Yes I agree, but would like to hear some opinions from you more experienced brewers out there.

An interesting and provocative post Jubby, thanks for that. For ages I got my sparge water to 80C as per GW's guidance in BYOBRAAH and then I read an article, probably in some CBA publication, that stated that Roosters Brewery never sparged above 70C. As I admire Roosters ales a lot I decided to try it and was pleased with the results. Then went back to 80C on Daab's advice and have been quite happy with results since.

I think that it will be worth doing 2 identical brews on my next double brew day, with one say at 65C sparging and the other at 80C.

I've got some NZ Styrians in the freezer that could well feature in this trial

[jubby]

I think that it will be worth doing 2 identical brews on my next double brew day, with one say at 65C sparging and the other at 80C.

Stonechat, you are right. I think that is the only way you will ever know if it makes any difference. I would be interested to know the result if you try it.

[jubby]

Out of interest who was the author?

Scooby, I got the info here: http://www.sensiblemole.com/ Click on 'danger quicksand'

. A thermometer in the grain bed is a good idea

I agree, I always check the grain bed temp and the sparge water temp. The bed temp is always about 9 or 10 degrees lower.

[Scooby]

Out of interest who was the author?

Scooby, I got the info here: http://www.sensiblemole.com/ Click on 'danger quicksand'

Some good stuff in there but also some cr@p.

I like his bit on internet discussion groups he may not have been on this forum though
as our pi55 head is quite knowledgeable

I certainly won't be trying a spage at 62C or completely draining the tun and recirculating
the wort three times

[stevezx7r]

I boil my sparge water then transfer to a 5 gallon keg and by the time I'm sparging it's dropped to somewhere between 70 and 80C. I've not had any "noticable" funny tannic tastes etc but then I'm not a brewing judge - I just like what I make and I'm happy with that

About the bit on forums in the "Danger - Quicksand!" link. The bit about forum users being pi22ed up, earnest but confused, trained pros or whatever - they can be found on any internet site, anywhere around the world. If I fall into one of those categories I make no apology, I'll carry on regardless, blindly posting unfunny jokes after i've had a few, giving "unsound" advice to anyone who asks or confusing the hell out of anyone who will read some technical jargon I picked up from some book I once saw, somwhere.

Regards,

Stevezx7r (phd, MIT, BBC1, 2 and 3).

[Jim]

Yep, no one with any sense would blindly follow advice from any untested source - whether internet based or not. You soon get to know who's advice you can trust on any forum.

[edit1now]

A couple of sources (non-brewing, without any cross-references: here and here) which I got by Googling, suggest that sugar solubility increases more-or-less linearly with temperature.

Wheeler and Protz, in Brew Classic European Beers At Home, pp 50-51, suggest sparging at 77-80°C.

What I don't know is the temperature at which you start to get nasty flavours coming out, so I've been sparging at about 78°C and it seems to work.

All hail GW and the late RP?

[Northern Brewer]

Unwanted tannins are extracted from the grains above 77C, so whatever your sparging method, try to keep the grain bed temperature below that. I batch sparge and find that using 80C sparge water keeps the bed at about 74C.

[Jim]

A couple of sources (non-brewing, without any cross-references: here and here) which I got by Googling, suggest that sugar solubility increases more-or-less linearly with temperature.

Wheeler and Protz, in Brew Classic European Beers At Home, pp 50-51, suggest sparging at 77-80°C.

What I don't know is the temperature at which you start to get nasty flavours coming out, so I've been sparging at about 78°C and it seems to work.

All hail GW and the late RP?

Roger Protz is alive and well as far as I know.

Beer Pages Beer Blog

[Stonechat]

I wonder if edit1 was thinking of Michael Jackson?

[Graham]

The problem with specifying a hot liquor temperature for sparging is that different set-ups vary so much. When using my spinny sparge-arm, the temperature drops considerably between liquor tank and mash tun, but using a bit of clear tubing just laid on the surface of the mash, my alternative method of sparging (without the sparge arm), the temperature drops much less. Of course, people measure the temperature of their hot liquor at the top of the liquor tank, but draw off the liquor at the bottom, where it is considerably cooler if it has not been stirred. If my Burco hot liquor tank has been stood a while without the heating-element on, I can hold my hand on the lower part of the outside without any discomfort, but at the top it is ruddy hot. That is hell of a temperature differential.

The usual drill is to sparge with water hot enough such that the mash-bed raises to 76°C.

Quite frankly I doubt if it really matters that much. The theory is that 76°C will allow alpha-amylase to work, while inhibiting beta-amylase. The alpha will the break down any undegraded starch that gets rinsed out of the grains, but the beta will not thin out the beer excessively by continuing to break down dextrins. All that is irrelevant to home brewers. Hardly any home brewer sparges for three or four hours, like traditional commercial brewers, nor do they hold the run-off in a heated underback (maintained at 76°C) for the duration of the sparge to ensure that all this has time to take place.

It is certainly not worth losing too much sleep over precise sparging or hot liquor tank temperatures.