OK, so I've been reading up a lot on strike temp of water before batch sparging, and a lot of people say that 185-190F is the ideal temperature to get a grain bed temp of 165-168. I just have a hard time believing that adding that hot of water, to a grain bed that is already heated to around 152F, will achieve a grain bed temp of 168. I could easily be wrong though. I've been doing a lot of batch sparges, but have always been afraid of going over 172F for my strike water, because any higher than ~170 would start to release tannins, right? Has anyone else had success in heating their sparge water to 185-190F? I know there are a ton of calculators out there for this, but I know there is a wide range of sparge temps. Am just looking for your guys' opinions. Batch size: 5.5 gal Grain bill: 18.25 lbs Mash temp: 152F with 6 gal water Sparge temp: ? with 4 gal water 90 min boil
Quick correction first, hopefully this will help clarify. By "strike temp" I am assuming you are talking about the sparge water temp? "Strike Temp" is a term reserved for the initial temperature of the mash water used to begin the mash, say 165*F Strike Temp to achieve 152*F mash temp. With that out of the way, onto your question... No need to worry about tannin extraction for batch sparging*. Tannins will only begin extracting from the grain husks if the pH drops too low, the water is too hot, and the gravity is too low. In batch sparging the gravity and pH remain a constant during the entire sparge as you are not running the sugars from the bottom while diluting the liquid at the top (lowering the pH and gravity). The entire second runnings is the same pH and gravity as you are not diluting it continually as with fly sparging. Also, the initial temp of your sparge water is hotter than you might want the grain bed to be, but the final stabilized temp is still within the safe range for tannins anyways. *I say there is no need to worry about tannins with batch sparge, this is assuming you are doing a single, maybe double batch sparge. If you are doing 3+ sparges on a normal gravity 5 gallon batch, then tannins become an issue as you have now lowered the gravity and pH significantly, as well as raised the temp.
Thanks for clarifying. I always thought strike temp just referred to the temp of the water before it is added to any grain bed, mash or sparge. I am thinking I will be safe at 180F then. Like I said, I've always just done ~172 for my sparge water, and my batches have turned out fine (At least I think). I hear there's more efficiency with a higher sparge temp though, so I'll give that a try.
No problem. Also, you might get a few points more from raising the temp for the sparge, but it is not necessary. There was a thread a few months back about Mash Out and whether it is needed on a homebrew level. To this point, I have not mashed out, but the point of mash out is lost when you mash for 10+ hours anyways. You may want to read through it and see if it is actually worth it to you. Mashing Out
I heat my batch sparge water generally to 190-195 F. No problems. If you're concerned about astringency, cap it at 185 F. You won't be able to mash out, but mashout is worthless for homebrewers anyway unless you're making like 15 gallons or more.
@Lukass, any good brewing software will compute the water temperatures you'll need for a given recipe. They will vary depending on grain bill, volumes of water, sparge vs. no sparge, desired mash temps, and even the thermal properties of your mash tun. i.e. I wouldn't recommend just picking one temperature for sparge water (for example), using that all the time, and expecting it to work out.
Vike's right. I actually calculate mine with software. It just always ends up being around 190 F, plus or minus 5 degrees.
In addition to @jbakajust1 comments, I experience no problems adding boiling water for my infusion steps and mash out. This is all a compromise between viscosity and size of mash tun, but I have never had any resulting off-taste adding 212 water to boost the grain-bed temp. As a matter of technique, the grain is constantly being stirred. The boiling water is cooled very rapidly, my thermo is usually inserted in the grain bed and a vigorous stir shows a steady increase in temp. I then continuous sparge at 168-170. Decoction mashes also add boiling wort back to the grain bed . . . just keep a good stir-arm. Remember, it's a water temp and quantity that you are adding to an existing heat source (grain bed). Changing any one of these variables is like chopping a leg of a stool, it'll be crooked. You really want to rely on a calculator as the water additions change with each grain bill. I've found that my initial strike water calculations are usually spot on but my follow on additions are always too low. This is why there is always extra hot (boiling) water standing by and after a few batches you tweak the software to make it all work.
Yea... don't have any brewing software. I usually just do a lot of research and then 'wing it' on brew day. Thanks for the advice though. I'm definitely going hotter than normal on this sparge.
There happens to be this totally free brewing software that is supposed to be the bee's knees. Or so I've read in numerous threads on here. You can see for yourself here: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/brewcipher-v3-4-3-and-user-guide.225821/
Here's the simplest calculator to solve the problem above: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml I'm also a fan of Brewers Friend mash calculator and everyone who uses Brewcipher raves about it.
It's true. All else equal ... batch-sparge water heated to 185 - 190°F then added to a 152°F grain bed will raise the grain bed temp into the 160s(°F); however ... you might consider collecting some data to fine-tune the process and hone in on hitting 168°F. MY PROCESS Post 1st runnings ... take the grain bed's temperature. Move the probe around a few times and take the average. In this case ... the grain bed temperature needs to increase from 152°F to 168°F. I apply a factor of 2.7 to the difference between the initial and desired final grain bed temperature; therefore ... the batch-sparge water temperature (SWT) would be: SWT = 152°F + ((168°F - 152°F) * 2.7) = 152°F + 43°F = 195°F 2nd batch-sparge factor: 2.5 --- You'll discover the appropriate factor for your system after a few trials.
Very informative, thanks a ton! I'll know more about what to hit temp-wise on this sparge coming into brew day tomorrow. Much appreciated.
