when to use rice hulls???

so as I venture into all grain, and am building my new cooler mash tun with the stainless steel braid, I am looking at what to brew as my first all grain brew.

I have a hefewiezen on the list, but think I will put that off for a couple of weeks. My favorite commercial beer is Moose Drool and I have had pretty good success with a partial mash version of a clone.

So, I have decided that I want to make the all grain version I found on this site as my first venture into all grain. But my LHBS does not have any rice hulls right now. I was planning on picking up the groceries next week to brew.

should I be afraid of a stuck sparge using the braid with this grain bill? how do tell if you should add rice hulls to a recipe, and if so how much?

Grain Bill
9 lbs. - 2 Row Pale Malt
1 lb. - Crystal Malt (60L)
1/2 lb. - Crystal Malt (20L)
1/2 lb. - CaraPils Malt
1/2 lb. - Flaked Oats
1/3 lb. - Chocolate Malt
1/8 lb. - Black Patent Malt

Hop Schedule (19 IBU)
1 oz - East Kent Goldings (First Wort Hop)
1 oz - Liberty (30 min.)
1 oz - Willamette (5 min.)
.75 oz - Liberty (0 min. - flameout)

Yeast
White Labs English Ale Yeast (WLP002) - 1800 ML Starter

Mash/Sparge/Boil
Mash at 154° 60 min.
no infusion, double batch sparge.

You don't need any rice hulls for this recipe, they only really become useful when over 35% or so of your mash is made up of hull-less grain (wheat, rye, rolled oats).
I don't use rice hulls unless I have 40% or so hull-less grain, and have had success without them at even 50%.
Rice hulls for a five gallon batch are usually only about 1/2 or 1 pound.

Also, that's not the Moose Drool recipe. This is:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/can-you-brew-recipe-big-sky-moose-drool-175358/

This is from the brewer, directly to The Brewing Network, brewed and blind tasted next to the real thing and deemed "cloned." I've made this beer four different times with various experiments. In a couple weeks I'm going to make a smoked version. Love it.

Stout-n-Braggot said:

You don't need any rice hulls for this recipe, they only really become useful when over 35%

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Well, the only way to really know is trial and error. There are too many variables to make any blanket statements. Braids vary by manufacture. Some are a finer weave than others. Different tun configurations change the depth of the bed and put different pressures on the braid. Braid configurations change the way the wort channels. You just don’t know until you’ve tried it.

Rice hulls won’t detract from the quality of your wort, but a stuck lauter can make for a very frustrating brewday. To err on the side of caution is wise. You can always back down on the amount you use when mashing successive batches. You may find that you don’t need any, but you’ll eventually come up with the sweet spot that works with your system.

Personally, I use about 10% of the weight of the huskless grains, but it’s really just a rough, by the handful, estimate. I’m sure I could use less, but other than a little more absorption, there is no drawback, and the peace of mind is worth it.

AnOldUR said:

Personally, I use about 10% of the weight of the huskless grains, but it’s really just a rough, by the handful, estimate. I’m sure I could use less, but other than a little more absorption, there is no drawback, and the peace of mind is worth it.

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I use the 10% of the huskless grain weight too. I look at it this way, a small expense on hulls saves you from a HUGE PITA when trying to sparge.

Others have answered your question though... Your grain bill for this brew only has oats as the only huskless grain. I only add hulls if I get to 40% huskless grains in the bill but I have a false bottom (so I can't definitively advise you on your setup since you use a mesh hose).

Is there a speed advantage to using rice hulls? If I want to shorten my brew day, could I mix in some rice hulls and achieve a faster lauter? Would there be any taste effect of using rice hulls to lauter faster?

wuertele said:

Is there a speed advantage to using rice hulls? If I want to shorten my brew day, could I mix in some rice hulls and achieve a faster lauter? Would there be any taste effect of using rice hulls to lauter faster?

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my understanding is no, it won't make the lauter faster. That is unless you get a stuck sparge from not using them!

the purpose is to prevent a stuck sparge by giving you enough hulls to create a decent grain be filter. But I assume you would lauter at the same rate, regardless.

Is this correct?

Ceedubya said:

my understanding is no, it won't make the lauter faster. That is unless you get a stuck sparge from not using them!

the purpose is to prevent a stuck sparge by giving you enough hulls to create a decent grain be filter. But I assume you would lauter at the same rate, regardless.

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What I'm thinking is that since it can prevent a stuck sparge, you can increase the suction on the mash above what you could without the hulls. That means you can pump faster, doesn't it?

Ceedubya said:

But I assume you would lauter at the same rate, regardless.

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When batch sparging the only limiting factor is preventing the bed from compacting too much and stopping the flow. Other than that, you could go full bore. Rice hulls make the bed a more efficient filter and with that comes the potential for a faster lauter.

I use rice hulls on every brew. They are great insurance against a stuck sparge and for pennies a brew, why not? Anyone that's had to tear apart their MLT with the mash still in it, can appreciate that.

AnOldUR said:

When batch sparging the only limiting factor is preventing the bed from compacting too much and stopping the flow. Other than that, you could go full bore. Rice hulls make the bed a more efficient filter and with that comes the potential for a faster lauter.

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That's what I figured. I wonder if there are any deleterious effects of going fast? For example, what if you used a ton of rice hulls and lautered at 10GPM?

I only use rice hulls when I approach 50% hull-less grain as someone else stated. Using them every batch is just a waste, I don't care how much they cost. Also, when you do use them be sure to rinse them. Those things add some pretty nasty crap to your wort.

wuertele said:

. . . and lautered at 10GPM?

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If you're not getting husks in your brew kettle, go for it.











"deleterious"
Had to look that up.
Didn't even know it was a word.

AnOldUR said:

If you're not getting husks in your brew kettle, go for it.

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I would assume that your efficiency would suffer if you sparge too quickly (grain wouldn't get rinsed as well).

Efficiency will suffer if you FLY sparge too fast. I can't speak about batch sparging.

I would think it would both ways. But I suppose if you let it sit long enough you would be alright.

i use hulls on every batch... cheap and perhaps a time saver.

I never use them, not even on wheat beers with more than 50% wheat. I used to, but turns out it isn't necessary with my equipment and process. I guess it's different for everyone.

Hammy71 said:

I use rice hulls on every brew. They are great insurance against a stuck sparge and for pennies a brew, why not? Anyone that's had to tear apart their MLT with the mash still in it, can appreciate that.

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QFT.

I had two stuck sparges in my whole brewing history, both were from NOT using the hulls. I took the plunge and bought a 50 lb bag ofthe things last time I burned my arm off trying to unstick a mash.
I've paid auto & house insurance happily for pushing 20 years now without a claim & rice hulls are in the same boat: good insurance. And a hell of a lot cheaper than auto insuance....