Stuck mash from Hell...

My grain bill was
10 lb 2 row
2 lb wheat
.5 lb c120
.5 lb Dextrine

stirred like mad when adding grain to 17.25 qts water.
Mash temp was 152* after stirring.
60 minutes later barely a drop came out of the tun. I can usually blow into the valve and get it to release. Not this time even after several attempts, then trying to scrape the top of the false bottom with my paddle without luck then tried to thin out the mash with adding more water. Nothing worked. Had to dump the mash into my BK clean the false bottom and add the mash back into the Tun. Finally got it to drain. Sparged less water then planned since I already added some. Have no idea what happened. The 2 row was crushed at my LHBS as always, so the crush was the same. I guess I'll start using some rice hulls to help prevent this from happening again. Numbers came out Ok hopefully it wont affect the flavor much.......

Bummer...the wheat was probably the cause of it. Whenever using wheat or rye, it's always recommended to add rice hulls.

I have not had to yet but always figured I could just run a hose from the tap to the mash valve and back flush to clear?

2 lbs of wheat and no rice hulls? What did you THINK was going to happen!?!

Just kidding, I feel your pain. I've had similar experiences in the past, and now I add a scoop or two to every batch of beer, no matter what. Batches with wheat or instant oats get 2 heaping scoops, and I *still* sometimes end up with a little puddle on top of the grain bed that refuses to seep through.

One other possible route is to add a BIAB bag along with your FB. No more rice hulls, which helps if you're using your spent grains for any sort of consumption. I went that route after having two or three beers stick no matter how many handfuls of rice hulls I threw at it.

kombat said:

2 lbs of wheat and no rice hulls? What did you THINK was going to happen!?!

Just kidding, I feel your pain. I've had similar experiences in the past, and now I add a scoop or two to every batch of beer, no matter what. Batches with wheat or instant oats get 2 heaping scoops, and I *still* sometimes end up with a little puddle on top of the grain bed that refuses to seep through.

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Just take a thermometer and poke a few holes in the gelatinous layer up top. No biggie.

I use 50% wheat in some of my beers and don't use rice hulls. I have a Blichmann false bottom and that thing works great. The only time I get stuck sparges is when I open up the exit valve on my pump too much and the grains get compacted. Then I have to run some water from the HLT into the MLT from underneath the false bottom to loosen stuff up and it's good to go.

LandoLincoln said:

Just take a thermometer and poke a few holes in the gelatinous layer up top. No biggie.

I use 50% wheat in some of my beers and don't use rice hulls. I have a Blichmann false bottom and that thing works great. The only time I get stuck sparges is when I open up the exit valve on my pump too much and the grains get compacted. Then I have to run some water from the HLT into the MLT from underneath the false bottom to loosen stuff up and it's good to go.

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Yeah, same here. I brewed a Hefe a couple weeks ago 50/50 wheat and pilsner with no hulls or stuck sparge. Most of my beers get at least a half pound. I stir right before beginning vorlauf and keep my valve about 2/3s or 3/4 open. I'll sometimes rake the top with my mash paddle to scrape away the protein layer. If you didn't stir after letting it sit for 60', I'd imagine that's your problem.

You said you stirred a bunch, is your false bottom secured on the bottom? I use one of those orange gatorade coolers and my false bottom is attached to the ball valve with a short piece of silicone tubing. If I stir too much at the beginning I can get false bottom float and then have to do what you had to do. I usually figure this out right away because I recirculate the mash at the beginning. Thus, if I can't do that then I know there is a problem.

kombat said:

2 lbs of wheat and no rice hulls? What did you THINK was going to happen!?!

Click to expand...

I've done mashes with more wheat than that and no hulls and not had runoff problems. However, I recently did a wit with about 50% torrified wheat and some rice hulls and had to do the same thing the OP did.

So who knows? Sometimes things just suck

I'm with BrotherBock.

Less than 20% wheat should not have been a problem. My bet is
an excessively fine crush overall.

Who did the grind? Wheat is smaller than barley. If they set the mill
to be sure to crush the wheat in the blend they may have ground the
barley too fine. Best to grind them separately.

All the Best,
D. White

Or get a grain bag and never have to worry about stuck sparges again!