swackattack

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Past 3 brewdays I've gotten stuck sparges. Use rice hulls and batches have all been normal grain bills (no rye, wheat, etc)

I use a cylander cooler with a fb and maybe the bottom is not perfectly flat? Any ideas?

Move to braid? Manifold?

itsme6582

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How do you sparge?
Try slowing down your flow

Nuggethead

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I had more than my share of sticks. More often when batch sparging than fly sparging. Took out the false bottom and built a 1/2" copper manifold 2 years ago and never a stuck sparge since, no matter what the grist or type of sparge.

wheels4

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I use a copper manifold and fly sparge. I have never had a stuck sparge, do not use rice hulls and make a White IPA that is %40 wheat. If your fly sparging then I would say slow down the sparge and make sure your not letting the water level get to low. You want atleast an inch of water on top of your grains at all times. A little more is fine as I keep about 2 inches until the very end. If your batch sparging then I have no idea because I never batch sparge. I know lots of guys want to speed up their brew day by trying to speed up the sparge. I want to make the best beer I can so time is not an issue.(I work over 60hrs a week and have kids also). I never try to rush the sparge. I always get around %76 efficiency unless going with a big grain bill then it will fall off to around %68. Im building a bigger mash tun now to help with this problem. Hope some of this helps

__________________
Beer.....the lubricant to social intercourse.

BackSide Brewing

Grabass brewing disorganizition member.

swackattack

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I batch sparge...thanks for all the tips guys. Maybe ill start building a manifold today

RM-MN

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Want a quick and easy fix? Buy some Swiss voile (sheer curtain material) and line your tun with it. The huge amount of filtering area should keep you from having problems and if one should stick, lift the material up into a bag shape so it can filter on all sides.

cluckk

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I batch sparge and use a bazooka screen in my cooler. No stuck sparges, even with 20 lbs of grain and no rice hulls.

__________________
"Cast your bread upon the waters for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land." Ecclesiastes 11:1f

Who knew there was an ancient recipe for beer in the Bible?

My paraphrase: "Since you don't know what disasters might befall you , when you make beer share it with friends. Someday you might need them to share with you."

Brewsit

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Are you using one of the round, punched SS false bottoms that uses a hose that goes from the center out to the valve? I have one of those I am using in my SS mash tun, and it seems that it is always really difficult to get going at first because a lot of grain does get up underneath it, since it isn't perfectly flat on the bottom of the tun. Is this the problem that you are having? Or is it more so that it gets stuck through the sparge?

swackattack

Recipes 

It like instantly sticks. I open the valve...nothing. i stir well. To get it flowing i have to blow air in hard several times. And when it does go, it takes 1.5-2 gallons to run clear. I batch sparge.

swackattack

Recipes 

And yes, its a punched ss fb