German Hefeweizen mashing questions

[drmario47]

Last week I attempted to make a German hefeweizen.
The recipe called for 5 lbs of wheat malt and 2.5 lbs of pale malt
I read that step mashing is the preferred way to make beers with lots of wheat in the grain bill. This was the first time I have ever done this, I usually do a one step infusion mash.
I am using a large cylindrical igloo cooler for my mash tun

The problem that I experienced was a horrible stuck runoff right from the start.
I did use rice hulls but im not sure if I used them correctly.
I poured .5 lbs into the bottom of the mash tun then mixed .5 lbs in with the grain.
I just ended up pouring my sparge water in with the mash and eventually draining it ever so slowly into my brew kettle.
I ended up with a 60% efficiency which was largely disappointing.

Any suggestions on how to make this type of beer without all these problems?
How to use rice hulls?
Use Infusion mash for Hefeweizen?

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

You can certainly use a single step infusion mash for a hefeweizen (I do!). However I think your problem lies in the equipment, not the procedure.

What are you using as a filter at the bottom of your igloo cooler? False bottom? PVC/copper slotted pipe grid?

I use a copper slotted grid, and I've never had a stuck mash even at 60% wheat - that's the highest I've been to.

Also, how are your sparging? I wouldn't recommend batch sparging with a 50%+ wheat mash. Do a moderately slow fly sparge.

M_C

 

[drkaeppel]

I had low efficiency with my hefeweizen yesterday as well. 7# wheat malt, 4# pilsner, 0.5# carafoam.

Mashed at 152 degrees for 90 mins (3.6 gallons of water). Did a slllooowww fly sparge with water at 168 (3.4 gallons). Sparging probably took 45 mins. Ended up with just over 5 gallons of wort in the fermenter and an OG of 1.048, which seems pretty much dead-on for the style. However, Beersmith calculated my efficiency at 55% (said the OG should have been 1.065) which means I should have ended up with more beer than I had.

Maybe it was the crush from my LHBS. There were a few uncrushed grains that I saw. Any ideas?

 

[drmario47]

Thanks for the advice, I am using a false bottom to strain out my wert. Would you recommend braided steel hose or copper pipe instead for better efficiency?

Also when you fly sparge, do you use a sprinkler type setup and run the 170 degree water over the grains after first runoff? Then let it constantly drain into the brew kettle at a slow rate?
I'm super new to fly sparging so any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

 

[erikpete18]

drkaeppel might also be onto something with your crush. Do you crush your own grains, or did your LHBS crush them for you? Wheat grains are generally a little smaller than barley grains, so you've got to tighten up the mill when you crush them. Otherwise they don't get crushed nearly as well, and that can lead to lower efficiency. Since they don't have a husk to worry about, if you crush them separately you can tighten the mill pretty far and not have much to worry about (with the exception of stuck sparges!).

 

[drkaeppel]

Thanks for the advice, I am using a false bottom to strain out my wert. Would you recommend braided steel hose or copper pipe instead for better efficiency?

Also when you fly sparge, do you use a sprinkler type setup and run the 170 degree water over the grains after first runoff? Then let it constantly drain into the brew kettle at a slow rate?
I'm super new to fly sparging so any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

I don't think it matters too much regarding what you use to filter your mash. I use a braided steel hose and it has worked well.

When I fly sparge, I use a pitcher to pour water through a colander, but there are plenty of methods out there. Would love to have a nicer setup with a sparge arm or sprinkler.
And yeah, just like you said, pour the hot water over the grains and keep it at a slow rate. I've read to keep an inch of water or so over the grain bed.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

I've always crushed wheat a bit tighter/finer than barley. Instead of having a kernel crushed in 2 pieces + the husk (for barley), I crush wheat where I get a good number of wheat pieces, say 4-8 pieces.

The type of filtering devices may make a difference in the efficiency, but that's not where I'd start to look just yet.

If you fly sparge, a sparge arm or a "diffuser" device is only helpful if you keep the water level at exactly the height of the grain bed. In my case, when I fly sparge, when I add water I'll bring the water level to 1/2 to 1" over the grain bed, and I add water when I don't see any on top of the grain bed. This way I don't really need a sparge arm or diffuser.

M_C