Stainless Steel Ultimate Sparge Arm
I purchased my MoreBeer.com Ultimate Stainless Steel Sparge Arm about 4 years ago. I still consider it to be one of my very best home brewing purchases. It has been durable, functional, reliable and most importantly clog free for me over the years.
One home brewing modification that I recently did, made something great even better! In my home brewery, I use a electric heating bar that allows me to lock in the temperature of my mash with no fuss. I just recirculate my mash, set the desired temperature and I am done. The mash recirculates back into the mash tun via my stainless steel sparge arm. Previously, I would then disconnect the sparge arm from the mash tun and connect it to my hot liquor tank when it was time to mash out. Now with the new stainless steel manifold that I made for the sparge arm, it is much safer and as easy as turning a nob.
The above photo illustrates how it works. I swapped out the existing ball valve and added in 3 mini stainless steel ball valves as well as a stainless steel 1/2″ tee fitting and 2 90 degree stainless steel elbows. The whole process only took about 30 minutes to complete. I then covered the high temp silicone tubing with stainless steel braiding to make them easier to handle, reduce kinking and make it look a little sharper. Here is a list of all of the parts that I purchase for the project:
1 – MoreBeer Ultimate Stainless Steel Sparge Arm
3 – Stainless Steel Mini Ball Valves for Home Brewing
2 – Stainless Steel .5″ Elbows for Homebrew
1 – 4 Pack of .5″ Stainless Steel Quick Connects and Stainless Steel Quick Disconnects for Homebrewing
1 – Home Brewing Stainless Steel Half Inch Braid for Homebrew Tube
Everything worked out great on the project. I tested for leaks and cleaned all of the parts well with a hot mixture of PBW home brewing cleaner and water. Just a couple of tips. I ran three loops of teflon tape for all of the connections. I tightened all of the fittings as tightly as I could. For the stainless steel 1/2″ braiding for the home brewing hoses, I ran a small .5″ pipe through it first to stretch it out, then inserted the silicone tubing and that made getting on the tube much easier. I can’t wait to put it all to good use on my next batch of homebrew, which will either be a Coconut Porter or a Hazy IPA. If you have any questions on anything, just hit me up with a comment or on Facebook.
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