I'm STILL in the process of putting together all the pieces of my HERM system. I now have the MiniBrew Mash/Lauter Tun and last night while I was putting it all together I started thinking about the sparge. Do you use the sparge head that came with the mash tun or do you use something else like a sparge arm or home made sparge ring? I was thinking that if I'm recirculating the wort during the mash, I would be increasing the dissolved oxygen in the mash and wouldn't this result in hot side aeration? The mash tun comes with extra ports so I immediately started thinking that these were there for recirculation and to use the sparge head for the sparge on HL only. Any opinions out there? Basically what I'm asking is when recirculating during the mash should I use the sparge head that came with the mash tun or build a return that doesn't aerate the wort?
Many Thanks!
Mike
hey BillyBock sparge with MiniBrew?
Moderator: slothrob
Recirc w/ Minibrew
Hi, Mike. Up until now, I performed a manual recirculation and used the sparge head (I have the corkscrew looking one) that came with it. Since I use a pump I pumped the sparge water to the MLT so I could get a good spray pattern.
I would agree that using that fitting to recirculate would aerate your wort and wouldn't be a good thing to do. Also, bits of grain may clog the sparge head.
I just finished constructing an H-manifold that screws into the MLT lid. I made it with 1/2" copper pipe and fittings. You'll want something like this to perform your recirculation. If you've never seen one, the bottom portion looks like an "H" with a long tube rising from the center. The ends of the "H" curve up at right angles. You place it so the "H" is just under the surface of the grain. Wort is delivered through the top and is delivered gently so as not to disturb your grain bed.
I plan on brewing Friday and using this for the first time. I'll be using this with the pump to do a non-heated recirculation just before the sparge (which you can also deliver your sparge water through this manifold as well).
I don't have my web page up yet, so email me if you'd like a picture.
v/r
Bill
I would agree that using that fitting to recirculate would aerate your wort and wouldn't be a good thing to do. Also, bits of grain may clog the sparge head.
I just finished constructing an H-manifold that screws into the MLT lid. I made it with 1/2" copper pipe and fittings. You'll want something like this to perform your recirculation. If you've never seen one, the bottom portion looks like an "H" with a long tube rising from the center. The ends of the "H" curve up at right angles. You place it so the "H" is just under the surface of the grain. Wort is delivered through the top and is delivered gently so as not to disturb your grain bed.
I plan on brewing Friday and using this for the first time. I'll be using this with the pump to do a non-heated recirculation just before the sparge (which you can also deliver your sparge water through this manifold as well).
I don't have my web page up yet, so email me if you'd like a picture.
v/r
Bill