What is the ideal temperature for sparging water, I have seen several different temps in several posts, I have been using water at 76 degrees but have recently seen it suggested that 80 degrees is ok, what is your opinion on this
Sparg water temp
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31bb3
Landlord.
I normally sparge at about 80 degrees strike temp 75 then mash at 66
theboytony
Regular.
My sparge water is usually at 85c to try and keep the grain bed at 75c but the bed usually ends up between 70 and 75. Just stick a thermometer in the grain bed when you're sparging and take it from there
carl_saint
Landlord.
I use around 85 too!
fermentall
Landlord.
80 for me too,85 is getting a bit warm, from what i remember it can be detrimental to sparge with too high a temp. 
theboytony
Regular.
Specifying a sparge water temp is a bit by the by really, everyone will have different setups and its also going to depend on whether you mash out, so surely it is best to go by the grain bed temp.fermentall said:80 for me too,85 is getting a bit warm, from what i remember it can be detrimental to sparge with too high a temp.
bobsbeer
Well-Known Member
I tend to go for 80c as that's what I've always done. But I noticed on Beersmith it said to sparge at 76c. Never noticed it before, so ignored it. But you need it around 80 to stop the mash.
C
cnelsonplumber
Guest
High sparge water temperatures can lead to the extraction of tannins from the grain husks.
It does to some extent depend on PH, but if you are fly sparging above 76C (and you dont have any appreciable temperature loss between the HLT and MT) then you are in the danger zone.
Beersmith defaults at 75.6 C which is as high as you can reasonably go without risk of astringency.
It does to some extent depend on PH, but if you are fly sparging above 76C (and you dont have any appreciable temperature loss between the HLT and MT) then you are in the danger zone.
Beersmith defaults at 75.6 C which is as high as you can reasonably go without risk of astringency.
johnny_dove
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Would rather keep the grain bed under 75. Not worth few points extra efficiency if risking tannins:smile: Malt is not expensive. Beersmith has tools to estimate sparge water temp to achieve a certain temp in the mash. The water temp you need, on the water you add, depends on how much water and grain you have already, and what temperature the mash has before adding the sparge water. But as said, would play on the safe side. Especially if batch sparging.
C
cnelsonplumber
Guest
I think there is some confusion in the terminology.
Strike water is the water used to dough in ie to raise the temp of the grain to 66-68 C typically. Commonly, strike water is mash temperature plus 8-10C to allow for the warming of the MT and grains.
Sparge water is the water that is used to rinse as much as possible of the remaining sugars from the grain.
JJP, among others, has written quite write a bit on the subject Http://howtobrew.com/section3/chapter17.html
Strike water is the water used to dough in ie to raise the temp of the grain to 66-68 C typically. Commonly, strike water is mash temperature plus 8-10C to allow for the warming of the MT and grains.
Sparge water is the water that is used to rinse as much as possible of the remaining sugars from the grain.
JJP, among others, has written quite write a bit on the subject Http://howtobrew.com/section3/chapter17.html
johnny_dove
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I think he means the water you add when you sparge. Ie sparge water. The temp that water needs to have to be ideal while lautering/rinsing out the last sugar from the grains. Like strike water it's temp would also be dependent on how much and dense mash you have and it's temp before mash out / start of sparging. Also on sparge method. If you batch sparge you would add all sparge water at once while if you fly sparge you add a little at a time. If added all at once it would raise the grain bed's temp more than if added while fly sparging. Keeping the grain bed under 75 c while sparging would effect the beer house effeciency a little but could be worth it not to risk anything.
BrewMate states the sparge water should be at 80C, therefore the water in the hlt to be used should be a few degrees above this to reduce the drop when transferring it to the tun, again BrewMate suggests 84C.
I regularly stick to that and have had no problems.
My initial strike water is heated to above the mashing temp, again to allow for the transfer.
I regularly stick to that and have had no problems.
My initial strike water is heated to above the mashing temp, again to allow for the transfer.
