Rice hull question and orange peel

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/recipe/31c4f3fd/shoultzmeyer-brewery-orange-witty-monk

What do I do with the rice and can I dour the orange or is that to much ?

Also what's the rest about? Is that during the mash at the end? Open the cooler and stir to bring temp down then close back up for 15 mins? The directions are crap so is the water amounts.

benzy4010 said:

Also what's the rest about? Is that during the mash at the end? Open the cooler and stir to bring temp down then close back up for 15 mins? The directions are crap so is the water amounts.

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What they are saying is you should mash in at the lower temp, stir and let sit for 20 minutes then add water to bring to 154 and let sit for remaining 40 minutes. The rice hulls get added with the rest of the mash and are usually there to help prevent a stuck sparge with all the wheat in the recipe.

As for volumes you should know how your setup works and the amount of wort you require to get to a 5 gallon batch taking into account grain absorption, boil off, trub loss, etc. plug the numbers into some brewing software like ibrew or beersmith.

benzy4010 said:

...can I dour the orange or is that to much ?

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Not sure what you're asking here, but 1/2 oz of dried orange peel is pretty typical for 5 gallons.
I'd probably triple that amount if using fresh orange zest. Which is a lot of orange zesting. Which I loathe

I have two half ounce bags of orange zest

So rice doesn't add anything just a buffer fri
Clogs

benzy4010 said:

So rice doesn't add anything just a buffer fri
Clogs

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Correct, rice is really just a filler and prevents the wheat from getting all gummed up.

benzy4010 said:

So rice doesn't add anything just a buffer fri
Clogs

Click to expand...

Yes rice hulls prevent the grain bed from clogging and causing a stuck sparge.

Do I count the rice hulls when calculating the weight of the grain for mash water amount?

Yes, the rice hulls should be part of the grain bill as they are part of the absorption amount in the tun and total grain weight.

someone posted interesting idea od soaking rice hulks in water before mashing with it, just to minimize wort absorption, im gona try it tonight

Should I dump them in any particular time or just combine with grains

benzy4010 said:

Should I dump them in any particular time or just combine with grains

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Just combine with the grains for the entire mash

Let the rice hulls (not actual rice) soak in hot water for 20-30 minutes while you heat your strike water. Drain your rice hulls in a colander, add your strike water to the MT and immediately add your rice hulls. You want them to settle to the bottom first. Add your grains and mash as usual. It's that simple.

Polboy said:

someone posted interesting idea od soaking rice hulks in water before mashing with it, just to minimize wort absorption, im gona try it tonight

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This is what I do. It also rinses the dust out of the hulls..

What happens if I just mash as usually and not do the rise the temperature step if that makes sense. Just rinse the hills then add then add mash right after they settle?