KellyL
Active Member
I don't post much, but figured this was worth sharing. Yesterday I tried a new Cream Ale (Spotted Cow) clone. Everything went well up to the mash... not that much can go wrong. When the hour was up, my sparge water was heated, I was ready to go and I cracked the valved open. Nothing but a trickle came out.
My problem is that I switched from a bazooka screen to a manifold made of soft copper with slits cut in it. I put a pound of rice hulls in the bottom to keep the corn and flaked barley from sticking, but it didn't help. I've never had a stuck sparge so I panicked a little.
After staring at it for a few minutes, I attached a tube to the nipple and blew into it. I got a little bit of wort out and then it stuck again. I kept blowing into it until it flowed freely. I have to say that I felt like a genius. I had visions of having to transfer the mash into paint strainers and cringed at the thought.
So, to summarize, before stirring your mash, try blowing back into the valve and don't cheap out on a false bottom. Now I have some copper to recycle and a false bottom to order.
Kelly
My problem is that I switched from a bazooka screen to a manifold made of soft copper with slits cut in it. I put a pound of rice hulls in the bottom to keep the corn and flaked barley from sticking, but it didn't help. I've never had a stuck sparge so I panicked a little.
After staring at it for a few minutes, I attached a tube to the nipple and blew into it. I got a little bit of wort out and then it stuck again. I kept blowing into it until it flowed freely. I have to say that I felt like a genius. I had visions of having to transfer the mash into paint strainers and cringed at the thought.
So, to summarize, before stirring your mash, try blowing back into the valve and don't cheap out on a false bottom. Now I have some copper to recycle and a false bottom to order.
Kelly