Batch aborted...sympathy needed pls

Tried to brew the Wit today. Tried..

Ran into a stuck runoff that couldn't be fixed. Thought it was the
Flaked wheat and perhaps my mill was set to fine. Finesse went out the
window. I was trying everthing. Even scooping out the mash and trying
to manually sparge with a collander. Pulled the cord and aborted.
Figured it wasn't worth investing any more time. And i was doubting the quality of what i was making...
So I wasted 20 bucks of grain and propane. .
Ugh. Oh well.
I still have all the other ingredients.
Hops, yeast and spices.
While cleaning out the mash tun I discovered the problem. My Stainless
Steel tube had totally collapsed on one end and was all stretched and
pinched. Wow.
No way that was passing any liquid.
Going to Lowes and buying a longer piece of SS tubing to give me more
surface area. I'm also going to reinforce it with food grade tubing on
the inside.
SOOOO agervating.
Hey - I had my vial of White Labs yeast out the whole time. About 4 hours.

Think it's still good? I put it back in the fridge.

Anyone have any stories about brew sessions gone HORRIBLY wrong?

I think your yeast will be okay. Sucks on the mash. I've also heard of folks running a coil of copper wire through the stainless braid as well.

Good luck next time. I often use rice hulls to help create a filter when I have lot of wheat in the beer.

Just last week I put my cooler on the ground and dumped in the water for my second sparge and realized I had the spigot still open. Wondering why it wasn't filling up.

It all happens. Cheers to the next one!

One guy found a stainless coil spring at McMaster-Carr(?).
I gave up on the braid and got a false bottom from MoreBeer.

+1 on the yeast being OK, but I always make a starter with liquid yeast.

It happens. Had an 18-pound rye-flavored bran muffin once. Brewing buddy purchased 4 lbs of rye and no rice hulls.

I saw this McMaster-Carr

on this site, and bought these for my mash tun. Slides right into the stainless braid I pulled off of a reinforced refrigerator waterline. The waterline was $12 for 10 feet. The springs are $4.46 for 20 inches. A couple of springs and the braid cost little more than your grist.

Also, I'm impressed with McMaster-Carr. I ordered these last Sunday night, and they were here Tuesday morning, from Illinois to Nebraska. Prices are pretty much on par with Lowes, if not better. The price for the stainless washers for my mash tun was way lower at McMaster-Carr than at Lowes.

yeah rice hulls and a stretched out big enough spring in the SS braid will hopefully help!

Was your braid a synthetic polymer or actual stainless steel. Sorry for asking but the tell tale signs of a phony braid are showing?? Also IMHO a piece of tubing inside the braid is asking for trouble. A real braid should need nothing inside and is not prone to collapse.

Check out this thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/imposter-plastic-braids-122648/#post1366286

How about a copper manifold? or CPVC even? or is it HPVC? I don't know, the hot water type...

thank u for all the responses.
Wilserbrewer: To the best of my knowledge..the HomeDepot label said SS for the piece of waterline tubing that i used for the braid. I was pretty careful about that as i didn't want to use anything but SS for fear of imparting weird tastes. I checked out your link. Yep mine is SS. The label said SS braid and i have been poked by those stains and it doesn't tickle..
I think i know what happened. I was using a BIG Oak mash paddle i made (after not having one last batch and burning my hands trying to stir a 155 degree mash with a short wooden spoon.)
I think i accidentally crushed the tube with the paddle.

I was actually able to save the tubing simply by inch-worming it back to normal.
I still can't help but wonder that my batch could vabe been saved if i had discovered the braid earlier...It didn't even occur to me that that the braid was causing this.
Oh well..live and learn. A stuck runoff is NOT fun.. At least next time if it happens I'll be sure to check this.
I'll be ordering the spring today. Thank u HairyDogBrewing!
Weetod -yep..i've left the tap open before when filling too. althought it was just water to test my fittings but it got all over my kitchen floor..wife was not too happy.
david_42 - love the bran muffin example!
Irie5447 - thank u..I'll be ordering the braid today.
Yankeehillbrewer: Thtat's prob the best way to do it but id din't feel like mucking around with copper or PVC...I'm handy but not that handy
ThreeDogsNE: Yes i totaly agree that McMaster-Carr is really good. The customer service is very friendly and normal ground delivery is quick.

A stuck runoff is NOT fun..

BTW - david_42..
Were u ablt to salvage the Rye flavored bran muffin?

Had a stuck sparge because my false bottom was bent and I didn't see it. It was letting grain underneath it and into the ball valve where it got royally stuck.

Solution: I poured out my HLT and dumped the mash into there till I could clean out and straighten the false bottom and valve. After that, all was well.

HairyDogBrewing said:

One guy found a stainless coil spring at McMaster-Carr(?).

Click to expand...

Hey, I'm the guy Here's the thread with my build.

Also: rice hulls, as has already been said. Cheap insurance!

-Joe

You can get a Bazooka screen for less than $20. It's 12 by 1" diameter and no way you are gonna crush it. I've been real happy with mine.

Bazooka Screen™

If you are using the stainless steel braid, a great little tip I learned was to put the SS binding from a typical spiral bound notebook inside the braid to keep it from collapsing when you stir and when the bed settles. Hope this helps!

thelorax121:

Great Tip!
I actually ordered a 22" compression spring from McCaster_Carr.

+1 on making a starter with liquid yeast

I don't get why people suffer with a stainless braid.

I built my CPVC manifold for around $5 and it took me twenty minutes to build. Never had a stuck sparge, even with a 50% wheat grain bill.

How did u connect that to your bulkhead?? Did u just drill it full of 1/8" holes?

Also something you can try is taking your tubing coming off the ball valve/nipple and blowing back into it. This will free the braid of the gummies that stuck it. That doesn't mean it wont stick again though.

My condolences.

On that note, when I made the switch to AG, I bypassed the easier, less expensive SS braid method and made a really nice manifold out of 1/2" copper pipe. So far, I've had no issues with my MLT.

Best of luck next time.

You could build a copper tube manifold as illustrated here How to Brew - By John Palmer - Building the Manifold. I purchased a 8' piece of copper pipe (rigid) and a hand full of T's and elbows.

Its affordable, and flawless. I love wheat beers and have never had a stuck sparge.

I had a friend come over to brew with me. I stir my mash with a metal spoon. He stirred really hard and crushed my stainless braids. Come drainage time and I have a super stuck sparge. None of the tricks in the book work. In the end I strain out the grain the best I can through a mesh screen and pour water through it.

In the end the beer turns out clear and delicious anyways!

Kayabrew -

Thanks for your condolences.
I have to tell u -

I ordered the compression spring and SS braid from McMaster-Carr on Sunday.
Had it by Monday - no extra charge. They messengered it to me!
After assembling the new 2ft SS braid with the 22" spring in side i'm thinking this is really nice. Very solid and heavy! Will report back this weekend after brew session.
Also - may try a Beta-Glucan rest. the 4 1/2 lbs of flaked wheat was REALLY sticky...

I had that problem once, so I bought a false bottom and now I use the braid under the false bottom. Works like a charm.