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I have a question about sparge water temperature. I use a rectangular cooler for a mash tun, with a sparge system under the lid that allows me to add sparge water without removing the lid. I use Beersmith for recipe design with single infusion. Beersmith recommends sparge water temps of 75.6C, but I usually heat to 78 as I figure I lose a couple degrees in the ~1ft between lauter tun and mash tun.

Here's my question: My grain bed never rises above 70C during lautering. Should I be adding significantly higher temp sparge water to get the grain bed temp up around 76C? I always hit my gravities, but have read the grain bed should be at 76C during lautering. My apologies if I confuse 'sparge' and 'lauter'.

How would this lower temp during lautering affect my beer?

Thanks!

A lower temperature would lead to lower efficiency. I don't tend to worry too much about exact temperatures at this point, since the starch has already converted. I mash in a cooler, and after draining I add water that's around 170-180ºF (77-82ºC). That leaves my mash around 160-170 (71-77C), which I figure is fine.

I'll probably start using a higher sparge temp and monitor grain bed temp. Always tinkering...

Do you have a chugger or march pump to do your lautering with? Do you use an immersion wort chiller?

If you answer yes to both of these, then you might consider buying a few fittings and turning your immersion chiller into a HERMS system:



This would allow you to recirculate your wort at the end of the mash and get the entire grain bed uniformly to 170-whatever degrees, before you start lautering. It would also allow you to perform step mashes without decocting or diluting.

Very interesting....I'm going to look into this, thanks!