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Sparge water temp or grain bed?

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I am using BS 1.4 yet.

I need my sparge water at 168F.  I thought it was the grain bed we wanted at that temp.  If I add 168 to the tun, will the temp be too low to bring the bed temp up as the tun has been drained for some time and has lost some heat?

 
Getting the bed temperature up to 168-170F is usually considered a mash out.  It is typically done to stop the enzymes from converting sugars for certain beer styles.  It is also done to increase the fluidity of the mash to help prevent a stuck sparge with thick mashes.  In most cases it is not critical to reach that temp.  If you specified batch sparge or no mash out you will get 168 F sparge water temp which will raise the bed temperature to 150ish.  If you simply chose the beer mash type and body style then you get a mash out with a sparge water temperature around 200F which should raise the bed temperature to 168-170F.  Decoction mashes and temperature mashes require you to heat the mash to 168 and hold it there for 10 min or so to denature the enzymes.
 
I just read that the sparge water can typically lose 15-25F moving from the HLT before it hits the top of the surface in the MLT.  So, I am going to be less concerned about how high my HLT got before sparging. 

I do a fixed 5 QT mash-out with boiling water b/c that is the pot I have for it, and it raises the mash about 11 degrees to mid 160's from most mashes. 
 
This spring I brewed a couple of batches that ended up with off flavors.  I believe they were caused by sparging too hot.  Therefore, I have not wanted to go above that 170F.

Thanks for the comments.  I now am not so concerned about it as I am not transferring near boiling water.

 
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