Stuck Sparge

I was doing an AHS Blue Moon clone and I got a stuck sparge. Has anyone had this problem? I am using a phils false bottom and I tried everything tom get the sparge flowing but nothing worked any suggestions?

shake it back and forth. it happens ot every1, too

while vorlaufing, use your mash paddle & scrape it along the false bottom to try & open up some channels.

Blow back into the drain hose. Not too vigorous or you might lift the false bottom with air and make it worse. I have done this on occasion and it got me going. May take a few tries.

I tried stiring the mash on top of the false bottom, blowig back into the drain tube and shaking and finally just started scooping it out and running it through a funnel that had a filter. It took forever but seemed to be the only thing to work. I still ended up with almost 5 gallons but I'm just concerned that the mash sat too long and may have extracted some undesirable flavors.

rtrevino said:

I was doing an AHS Blue Moon clone and I got a stuck sparge. Has anyone had this problem? I am using a phils false bottom and I tried everything tom get the sparge flowing but nothing worked any suggestions?

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Wheat correct? I heard stuck sparges are more common with wheat. Did you use rice hulls?

Depending on the amount of wheat or adjunct grains you may need rice hulls to prevent this sort of thing. I had a stuck sparge on the first hefe I ever made. By the way, a lot of people rinse their rice hulls before using.

I used to get stuck sparges with the phalse bottom as well until I learned how to use it.
This is what I did to get rid of the problem and why.
1. Before adding any grain to the MLT bleed off a small amount of strike water to flood the outlet. If you don't do that, the air in the outlet can make the false bottom float and get grains underneath it.
2. Don't add all the strike water and then dump in all the grains. Do it in small increments a small amount of strike water, a small amount of grain, stir gently, and repeat till it's all done. This again helps to prevent grains getting under the bottom. In my case, I could very easily disconnect the oulet from the MLT spigot. (I used a bottling bucket spigot with a bung in the back and a short length of copper tubing between the bung and the elbow). Dislodging the bung would cause a stuck sparge because the grain would get into the spigot.

Once you have a few inches of grist above the bottom, it helps to keep it in place, and prevent grains getting underneath.

Hope this helps.

-a.

I think next time I will do several things when im making any sort of wheat beer.
1. Add rice hulls
2. Bleed off the air in the line

I already add small amounts of grain and mix the mash so I'm sure the addition of the two other steps will greatly help.