Draining mash until clear

How much liquid do you have to drain off your mash before it starts running clear? 1-2 gallons? more?

Does the weight of the grain have to be pressing down in the false bottom before it will begin filtering the wort and running clear, i.e., the grain cannot be completely submerged, but rather the top must be dry?

I have a hose braid, not a false bottom, and it takes me about 2 quarts of vorlaufing until the wort runs clear. The top of the grainbed doesn't have to be dry.

It's generally thought a bad thing to have the grainbed exposed to air. Much depends on your mash. If you crush the heck out of it it'll take longer to run clear. It also depends on the grains being used. My Rye IIPA from 3 weeks back took about 1.5 gallons to get totally clear, about twice what it usually takes.

If this is your biggest worry, you're in good shape!

Schlante,
Phillip

I don't mash without the grain bed completely covered with water. I just don't see the wort running clear until about the time the grain is exposed to the air when draining. I figured the reason was that while the grain was floating it would not form a good filter. Once grain is exposed, then more weight is pressing against the false bottom, forming a better filter.

Thanks for the help.

ive only been able to get the wort completly clear is recirculating with a pump. i have a ss braind and when i used to vorlauf it would be cloudy.

I use two pyrex measuring cups. That way I can just go between them, filling one as I'm dumping the other in the top. That way I'm not running a large amount out all at once. When it starts to look clear, I just stop and let it drain into my kettle which is already sitting under the spigot.

ChshreCat said:

I use two pyrex measuring cups. That way I can just go between them, filling one as I'm dumping the other in the top. That way I'm not running a large amount out all at once. When it starts to look clear, I just stop and let it drain into my kettle which is already sitting under the spigot.

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+1 to that. Great minds think alike, and so do ours.

I don't know what your setup is like, but I have a copper manifold in the bottom of my MLT. It used to take about half a gallon vorlauf before it was clear but then I started putting the entire manifold into a paint strainer bag and since then I don't need to vorlauf at all. I just open the valve and it runs clear from the beginning. This also fixed my stuck sparge issue; haven't had one since using the paint strainer.