BrewingReverend

Recipes 

Help, I am on my 2nd all grain batch and both batches I could not get the wert to drain. I am using a 10 gallon rubbermaid beverage cooler with 3/4 inch braided SS. At first I get a decent flow but then it tapers off to just a few drips. I can blow through the valve and the flow is great for 10 sec then with in 45 seconds it is just drips.
My first batch did this but when I batch sparged it drained fine.
Any ideas or suggestions? I am trying to drain it now.

StoneFan

Recipes 

Are you slammin' the valve wide open when you turn it on? Might be compacting the grain bed

Also....how fine is your crush?

E-Mursed

Recipes 

Quite possible your braid is collapsing.

What is your grain bill for your last 2 batches?

__________________
Schöne Blondine Brauerei
Closed-System Pressurized Fermentation - the future of homebrewing...!!!

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo da Vinci
"A set back is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently" - Henry Ford

What will mess you up the most in life is the picture in your head of how it is supposed to be.
Don’t be upset by the result you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do.
Contrary to popular opinion, no one owes you anything.

mux

Recipes 

I think they are on the right path. You need to lauter slowly as to not compact the grain bed.

BrewingReverend

Recipes 

Thank you for your quick replies. I slowly opened the valve about 1/3 of the way to vorlof and slowly opening it more. My braid has a copper spring in it to prevent the collapse.
Could the braid be too fine? If I rub my spoon against it the flow gets stronger.
I am not sure about the crush. I used the mill at my LHS and we can not adjust the mill.

BrewingReverend

Recipes 

My grain bill was 10 LBs for the first and 11.5 for this one.

E-Mursed

Recipes 

Sounds like you are vorlaufing to fast.

__________________
Schöne Blondine Brauerei
Closed-System Pressurized Fermentation - the future of homebrewing...!!!

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo da Vinci
"A set back is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently" - Henry Ford

What will mess you up the most in life is the picture in your head of how it is supposed to be.
Don’t be upset by the result you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do.
Contrary to popular opinion, no one owes you anything.

mux

Recipes 

X lbs of what? Wheat or rye included in this? If yes- what percentage. It sound like a stuck sparge. Are performing a mash out?

BrewingReverend

Recipes 

This batch is 9 lbs of Golden Promise Malt, 1.5 LBs of Gambrinus ESB malt and 1 LBs of British Crystal. No rye or wheat in either batches.
Any suggestions on how to get it unstuck? I have tried stirring it, blowing in the tube and scraping the braid with my spoon.

Mermaid

Recipes 

Gotta let it drain slowly. If it gets stuck, whip out your giant spoon and scrape the spoon gently along where the braid is on the bottom. My braid gets a bit smoooshed toward the end of mash out, I just close the valve, stir a bit, then open again. It's just something you have to get a "feel" for... The more I try to rush it, the more irritated I get when the draining gets stuck.

__________________
The sands of time were eroded by the river of constant change.

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Primary: Empty
Secondary: Empty!
an empty fermenter is a sad fermenter
Bottled: Nut brown ale, Bink blond clone (she's a bitter Belgian!) Belgian Wit, several other tasty beers that have since been consumed!
On deck: TBD