Sparging from the faucet

I have sparged from the faucet spray with great results,try it!! So much easier than other methods.

You must be blessed with great water. If I sparged from the faucet, my beer would be thin, astringent, and taste like crap.

Was it heated? Guess I’m confused…

Was it heated? Guess I’m confused…[/quote]
That makes two of us.

I have a friend who does that too. He cranks his water heater up as high as it will go and then fly sparges straight from the tap via a spray nozzle. His efficiency was about 20 points lower than normal and I don’t know how well his beer turns out. Not worth it to me for the little amount of time saved.

I let the water run until it was hot then sprayed the mash ,the beer tasted great!! :cheers:

If your water is decent and hot, I can see that this would be feasible, easy, and if you figured out what your overall efficiency was, you should be able to adjust recipes to whatever efficiency you end up with, producing predictable results as well.

However, as a convert from fly to batch sparging, this seems like it would be more effort that what I’m doing, and I expect you’d get a lower mash efficiency, unless maybe your water heater is set for around 180 degrees!

Sounds like maybe it’s time for some volunteers to create an “experiment” from this one…

[quote=“bhanson”]If your water is decent and hot, I can see that this would be feasible, easy, and if you figured out what your overall efficiency was, you should be able to adjust recipes to whatever efficiency you end up with, producing predictable results as well.

However, as a convert from fly to batch sparging, this seems like it would be more effort that what I’m doing, and I expect you’d get a lower mash efficiency, unless maybe your water heater is set for around 180 degrees!

Sounds like maybe it’s time for some volunteers to create an “experiment” from this one…[/quote]
Experiment has been done:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=72696&hilit=cold+sparge+kaiser

From my experience, it doesn’t make any difference in efficiency or quality (at least while batch sparging), but it will result in a longer heating time for the wort before it boils, so I generally try to use hot sparge water.

Brewed sparging from faucet. OG 1074-1014 = 7.8% Attenuation 80%
Brewed 11/30/2013 . bottled 12/29/2013.
10lbs 2 row rhar
10oz English dark crystal
6 oz Ashburn mild
10g apollo
4g apollo last 15mins
Nottingham ale yeast
Attenuation 80%
calories 243.7 per 12 oz bottle.
result was maybe my best beer to date. :cheers:

How is the chlorine/chrloramine removed when using this method? Is the source well water, which is not treated anyway?

Hi there. Just the best village water you can get!
Whatever’s in it, works! :o

[quote]
Experiment has been done:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=72696&hilit=cold+sparge+kaiser[/quote]

Well that’s really interesting!

I have to say, this is somewhat contrary to my own experience. I have intentionally varied sparge water temperature between 165 and 195F on various batches, and I’ve seen the mash efficiency rise toward the hotter end, particularly on bigger beers, as much as 5-10%. But I’ve never tried it at tap temperature.

All in all, the only real measure of success is the final beer, so if it is awesome, you have a totally winning procedure!

[quote=“bhanson”][quote]
Experiment has been done:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=72696&hilit=cold+sparge+kaiser[/quote]

Well that’s really interesting!

I have to say, this is somewhat contrary to my own experience. I have intentionally varied sparge water temperature between 165 and 195F on various batches, and I’ve seen the mash efficiency rise toward the hotter end, particularly on bigger beers, as much as 5-10%. But I’ve never tried it at tap temperature.

All in all, the only real measure of success is the final beer, so if it is awesome, you have a totally winning procedure![/quote]

That could easily be due to the fact that raising the temp increased your conversion efficiency.