Stuck Sparges 101?

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Cpt_Kirks

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I finally had a stuck sparge Saturday, a BAD one.

What I think happened was a combination of things:

- More than half the grist bill was wheat

- There was just over three pounds of flaked grains

- I got in a hurry and did not add the grain slow enough

- Thirteen pounds of grain is really pushing it in a 5 gallon MLT

Had to use a paint strainer bag for sparging, I'm not sure how well the conversion worked (VERY white, cloudy wort for the most part). It was a frakking mess.

My 10 gallon MLT is in the works, which will fix the capacity issue. I will correct the errors to my process (after over 25 AG batches, I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later).

What advice do the experts have for me and others to avoid this sticky mess?
 
Rice Hauls (hulls?) work wonders for stuck sparges. Anytime I have more than 3lbs of wheat or flaked anything, I add a pound of these.

I actually had a stuck sparge doing a Bass clone last weekend. It had flaked corn in it, so that may be what caused it, but I think I just got in too much of a hurry and didn't let my grain bed settle long enough after adding my sparge water. I blew into my spigot to get the grains off of my manifold and it started up again.
 
The simplest insurance against a stuck sparge is rice hulls, especially when a high percentage of the grist are 'gummy' grains like wheat or rye. You need the husk material to prevent the mash from glueing down.

An adjustment to your mash schedule can help as well - especially a combination beta glucan/protein rest at 122° for 15-20 minutes, then infuse with hot water up to your saccharification rest temp. You'll probably have to start with a thick mash of 1qt/lb for the 122° step so as to not have an overly thin mash when you infuse up to your sacch rest.
 
+ 1 on Southern's and Angler's suggestion re rice hulls. I brew with wheat often and add 1/2 lb. of rice hulls - they don't weigh much, so that's more than it sounds like!

Also, I am careful when draining the mash run to start slowly - after the flow is established, then I open it up. I read that somewhere (probably here) and have used the technique here. No stuck sparges so far (damn, now I've jinxed myself!)
 
I forgot to put in the original post, but I had about three cups of rice hulls in the mash.

Frankly, I screwed up by dumping too much grain in too fast. The bottom of the MLT was a solid packed dough ball.

Both Better Bottles of that batch are steadily thumping away, but it was a mess.
 
Until the 10 gallon MLT comes on line, I'm going to just use more DME in my 9 gallon batches. For 6 gallon batches, I don't have to shove in so much grain.

You know, I wonder if my SS braid got over loaded? Will a copper manifold work better in my 10 gallon MLT build?
 
You know, I wonder if my SS braid got over loaded? Will a copper manifold work better in my 10 gallon MLT build?

It's pretty hard to overload a braid. But if you are worried about it crushing, stick in a section of slotted copper pipe or CPVC. Much cheaper than a manifold, and you get all the filtering/screening benefits of the braid.
 
I'll second the do a protein rest suggestion and add that you might try conditioning the malt prior to milling. I simply drizzle about 100 ml of water into my grain bucket while stirring with my other hand. This really helps to keep the husks in large pieces which make a better filter bed.
 
I've never heard of this - you put wet grain through your mill? I'd liketo know more about this, please.

I'll second the do a protein rest suggestion and add that you might try conditioning the malt prior to milling. I simply drizzle about 100 ml of water into my grain bucket while stirring with my other hand. This really helps to keep the husks in large pieces which make a better filter bed.
 
I've never heard of this - you put wet grain through your mill? I'd liketo know more about this, please.

I also mill my grains wet. I'm not completely sure what it does, but I know it holds the husks together a bit better. I was told I could get better extraction by doing this.
 
I've never heard of this - you put wet grain through your mill? I'd liketo know more about this, please.

I wouldn't say wet, just moistened. I believe it was Kaiser who put up most of the info in the HBT Wiki. I has some nice photos. The only thing I do differently is I don't use a spray bottle. I just drizzle the water in a give it a VERY thorough mixing with my hand. I use about 100 ml/9 lbs of grain. I like mixing by hand as I can really gauge how much water to added by the feel of the grain.

However - make sure you wash your hands well afterwards to avoid infecting the wort while cooling (speaking from experience - I've got some accidental lambics) - Also after mashing in to get any grain dust off your arms

Malt conditioning wiki
 
What advice do the experts have for me and others to avoid this sticky mess?

Not an expert by any means...but I recently switched out my braid to a slightly bigger diameter and it sparges much better, even without hulls an 50% wheat. I bet the big water heater braids run like a firehose. Never used one but I picked one up at the Depot, and thy are pretty brawny.
 
I agree with the above posters about mash-out. Typically, I mash in my 7 gal for 5 gal batches. I almost always use rice hulls, but if I get stuck, I take some of my sparge water (standing by at this point) and dump in a gallon or two, stir and then let it sit another ten min to settle. Seems to do the trick.

Also, I have heard about braids being crushed by too much grain (no personal experience). I would definitely recommend the copper manifold.
 
I brewed a hefe last week and had a stuck sparge even with rice hulls in it. I added about a quarter pound of hulls to the stuck mash, stirred it up, and it flowed like a champ.
 
I'm planning to try wet conditioning the malt for the first time on Friday. I've got a big grain bill facing me with a target OG of 1.100 for a pumped up bourbon barrel Russian Imperial Stout. My efficiency for high gravity brews hasn't been very impressive. I'm hoping the conditioning will permit a finer crush without sticking. I'm running a direct fired RIMS, so I've got to have a high flow rate. I will probably make it standard procedure if it works for me. I'll post the outcome in a few days.
 
So, I did the malt wet conditioning thing following Kai's Wiki info on the subject and it worked perfectly for me. I will be using the conditioning procedure from this point forward. Hit my target OG on the nose and the recirc went without a hitch. The conditioning was quick, easy and there was no problem with the malt gumming up the mill. There was also a significant reduction in dust generated, although I mill at a relatively slow 115 rpm, so there isn't a lot of dust to begin with. The difference in the crush is quite dramatic.

Thanks for the info Kaiser!
 
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