Fly sparging question

[fisherman]

I use a slotted copper manifold and a perforated S/S false bottom on top to stop the grain blocking on my Igloo cube. Never had a stuck mash and no grain as such when sparging.

[Dave S]

I've only ever had one sticking problem and that was when I accidentally knocked the manifold out of the back of the tap while stirring, causing it to clog. I have a rectangular Coleman MT with a home made copper manifold. Will be putting it up for sale soon when I get my new 50 L Thermo Pot up and running.

[guypettigrew]

Fly sparging has been my method of choice for more years than I care to remember! I use a sparge arm from Hop and Grape over my coolbox mash tun. The HLT is about 1/2 meter above the tun and the arm spins really easily.

I recirculate about two litres of wort before beginning sparging, then run the liquor through the arm until it's about 3cm above the top of the grain bed.

The tap on the tun is then opened slowly and, matching run in rate to run off rate, the sparge takes about 30 minutes.

Sparge liquor temperature is about 80C, which drops to about 70C or less by the time it starts running through the grain.

And it's really easy! Just turn the tap on and let the wort run out until you've collected as much as you want.

Guy

[gobuchul]

Thanks for the info gents. Much appreciated.

One thing that still isn't clear, regarding the sprinkling arms, what's the point?

If the grain bed is covered with an inch of water then the sprinkling will have no effect whatsoever. You could just gently let water into the mash bin down the inside wall. It would have the same effect as sprinkling it on to the 1 inch deep pool of water on top of the grain bed.

[jaroporter]

One thing that still isn't clear, regarding the sprinkling arms, what's the point?

If the grain bed is covered with an inch of water then the sprinkling will have no effect whatsoever. You could just gently let water into the mash bin down the inside wall. It would have the same effect as sprinkling it on to the 1 inch deep pool of water on top of the grain bed.

i refer you to my earlier post..
i always liked fly sparging over batch sparging, but due to time and space constraints i now just no sparge..

[guypettigrew]

Thanks for the info gents. Much appreciated.

One thing that still isn't clear, regarding the sprinkling arms, what's the point?

If the grain bed is covered with an inch of water then the sprinkling will have no effect whatsoever. You could just gently let water into the mash bin down the inside wall. It would have the same effect as sprinkling it on to the 1 inch deep pool of water on top of the grain bed.

Interesting thought, but not sure.

Sprinkling the water on top ensures the grain bed 'sees' a constant head and continues to float. Letting liquor down the side may preferentially drop it down the side it's going into.

AFAIK all commercial breweries fly sparge. Which says something! Fly sparging is so easy. Turn it all on and let it do its stuff. No worries about adding liquor after the grain has drained, then stirring and leaving for ten minutes to settle again, then probably recirculating another litre etc, etc.

Guy

[Goulders]

But a commercial brewer has a lot more grain etc obviously so fly sparging is easier. As a home brewer, time wise I can't see there being much difference with either sparge method.

[AdamR]

I fly sparge, but my method is a little ghetto.
My mash tun is a cool box , but the lid isn't insulated so I put a piece of foil on top of the mash to keep the heat in.
When the mash is done I poke holes in the foil, do a vorlauf.
This creates a volume of liquid above the grain bed.
I adjust the flow of the wort to a slow trickle and the flow from my HLT to match.

I have batch sparged only once, so I can't say 100% which it's better. But for me fly sparging is the path of least resistance (only 1 vorlauf) and I like to pretend I get better efficiency and clarity.

[rpt]

I do full volume BIAB so I don't need to sparge at all! Get good efficiency and save lots of time.

[fisherman]

I think fly sparging is one of our Traditions every brewery fly sparges . I don't think they can stir 500 kg of grain and rest for 15 mins at commercial breweries do you?. It is our hobby and we do what we think is the best for our brews. Some people spend loads on S/steel equipment while others use empty chutney containers . I hope to think we are all correct altough I do worry when boilers go soft and flexible. The last thing I would like to hear is that someone has been scalded because of the price of a boiler.whatever sparge method you use don't blame us you made and you are going to drink it so think hard before you fill your HLT with liquor.

[Eric]

I'm trying to get my fly sparging technique perfected.

However I am a little confused, I have read that you cover the grain bed with about an inch of water. If this is correct why would you bother with a sparge arm that sprinkles water? I thought you "washed" the top of the grain bed with the fine spray to release the sugars?

Can anyone explain how this is meant to work?

No, I don't find it paticularly easy on my small scale and messed up a bit last Saturday. An inch of liquor at the top of several feet of grain sparging at several gallons per minute is one thing, keeping the bed floating on a few inches at less than a pint a minute, another.
A lot of vital things happen during a mash, not just starch being converted to sugars, but many more and just as important changes including compounding what's not wanted in later stages to enable them to be left behind and fly sparging should provide a greater volume of better wort than other method for any given quantity of malt.

Don't aim for an inch on top, keep the bed floating while matching the input and output. Take regular gravity readings which will enable you to confirm all is well.

The first runnings on my last brew were low but being disturbed didn't recognise the problem until 15 litres were in the boiler. It took a a little while to get things balanced and at 20 litres gravity was up 5 points. In the end it was necessary to run off an extra couple of litres to get my usual extraction efficiency.

Keep at it, go with your own gut feelings and fly sparging should pay dividends. I'll not go back, but can understand why it isn't necessarily ideal for everyone.

[simon12]

Back to the initial question (note I have only ever batched sparged so I could be completely wrong on this) I think 1 potential problem with fly sparging is the water finds a quicker path through the grain rather than rinsing through it all and sprinkling it round at the top should help this and also disturb the grain bed less, I see the point though that if you are keeping the water an inch above the grain bed it should make little or no difference. Also I think sparge technique is a matter of personal preference and as long as it works they all make good beer.