Likely too late, but an "after action" report would be nice

At the tail end of my batch sparge now. 10# pilsner malt and 1.5# of flaked rice (german pils is the style; about 28-9 ibus). I did not use rice hulls. Vourlafed the heck out of this before both batch collections. It appeared to run clear, but when I opened the valve for the full sparge, it got cloudy again and I can see the occasional small, white "chunk" floating in the wort.

When I look at my grain bed, it looks like the flaked rice just disintegrated. I am assuming that is what is floating in the wort. So ...

1. I will use whilrfloc in the boil and I intend to whirlpool this wort before transfer and pitching. Will that be enough to avoid tannins? Are tannins extracted during the boil or during ferment?

2. For next time, would rice hulls help?

1.) Tannins are extracted during the boil. It's rarely a problem though, especially when you consider that many German beers were traditionally decocted, which involves boiling the grain.

2.) Shouldn't really make a difference - you've got plenty of barley husks to serve as a filter bed.

But dude... rice in a GERMAN Pilsner? That don't make sense.

ArcaneXor said:

1.) Tannins are extracted during the boil. It's rarely a problem though, especially when you consider that many German beers were traditionally decocted, which involves boiling the grain.

2.) Shouldn't really make a difference - you've got plenty of barley husks to serve as a filter bed.

But dude... rice in a GERMAN Pilsner? That don't make sense.

Click to expand...

I don't understand your first point... Tannins are extracted due to improper pH of the mash, or when the runnings hit a low gravity (about 1.010, IIRC) during a fly sparge. I don't know what you mean about "extracted during the boil".

As for the OP, a few small particles in the boil isn't going to do much. Ignore them, skim them, whatever you want, but certainly don't worry about it.

ArcaneXor said:

1.) Tannins are extracted during the boil. It's rarely a problem though, especially when you consider that many German beers were traditionally decocted, which involves boiling the grain.

2.) Shouldn't really make a difference - you've got plenty of barley husks to serve as a filter bed.

But dude... rice in a GERMAN Pilsner? That don't make sense.

Click to expand...

German Pilsner is the closest style I could come up with when plugging into my brew program to match a BJCP style. I am making something for the family to sip on while opening Christmas presents. A large portion of my family are Stella fans. So I am going for something like this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f58/something-like-stella-108648/

Based on the posts in that thread, The couple of people who tried the recipe thought there was too much rice. So I backed off the rice, substituted all Pilsner malt and adjusted for my system.

Stella is not exactly a German pils (and I haven't made a lager in more than 10 years). But I am betting the bulk of the family enjoys it while dad and I break into the stout.

As to not worrying, I have taken that advice. I skimmed a little right before the wort started boiling and plan to charge ahead. My wife noticed my furrowed brow while I was looking at some of the particulate matter and brought me a glass of wine.

I know that's treason around here, but I had gotten a late start on brew day and told her I was not going to have any homebrew until I was in clean up phase. Ever the attorney, she found a loophole and poured a nice French cab through it.