Are rice hulls needed for wheat beers with cooler/braid MLT?

The only wheat beer i've done to date was a BIAB partial mash. Now that I'm doing all grain with batch sparge in a 10 gal cooler with stainless braid, will a need to add rice hulls? Or is this only necessary when fly sparging?

If I need to use them, is there a guidline of amount i.e. X ounces hulls per Y lbs wheat?

Thanks

I have the same setup, use 60-70% wheat in my hefes, use no rice hulls, and do not get stuck sparges.

However . . . I have a stainless steel spring inside my braid, which makes it crush-proof. Also, the wheat malt I now use seems to not get pulverized like other wheat malts. It doesn't hold up like barley, but it isn't powder, either.

I've gone as high as 50% on the same setup with a braid that is not reinforced. I haven't had any problems. That said, I like the idea of putting a spring on the inside of the braid to help hold it up.

I have a false bottom with a 10 Gal cooler. I usually throw in 1/2 lb. of rice husks just to be sure. I do like the grain bed a lot better when I use them versus not using them.

I've never used them either, but of course everyone's system is different.

I always toss in a half pound of rice hulls for my wheat beers. They're cheap, and it's one less thing to worry about. As a bonus, I get a clean, slow fly sparge with the rice hulls so I think it's worth it.

Use them... I have that setup a cooler with the spring reinforced ss braid, and I did a 50/50 dunkleweizen and I had problems then the next time I used the hulls and no problems... like GRHunter said they are cheap and you wont have to worry about it.

.I usually use a few handfuls of rice hulls with all my wheat beers (>50%). I have a false bottom and I haven't had any problems. You could probably get away with it but since you probably have less surface area for filtering out the grain bed, it's always worth it. You don't realize how much a pain in the ass it is to have a stuck sparge and then fix it. I'd rather pay an extra dollar for each batch with the rice hulls than deal with a stuck sparge.

Nothing's as frustrating as having a stuck sparge. Rice hulls are cheap. Do yourself a favor and use them when making wheat based beers.

I had a stuck sparge using rice hulls with my SS braid rubbermaid MLT. There are a lot of factors involved.

I've done up to 50% now and not had a stuck sparge on any of the three I've done with my new cooler/braid.