Layering grain in MT?

[DonT]

I watched a video recently where a pro-brewer mentioned that he layers the different grains into the mash. He was talking about brewing stouts and I believe he said he puts the stickier stuff (oats etc..) on top. Has anyone heard of this before?

 

[Spartan1979]

So, what happens when you stir your mash?

 

[BigEd]

Never heard of that and at first thought it sounds counterproductive. It's the husks from barley malt that acts as a medium to allow the flow and drainage of liquid in the mash. If you layer all the sticky flaked grains it seems there is a possibility of creating an entire sticky layer or at least several mats of sticky stuff.

Also, just because some one is a "pro" brewer, it doesn't necessarily mean they know what they're doing.

 

[MaxStout]

Did the pro brewer give any reason for doing this, or what the benefits would be?

 

[Jayjay1976]

"Pro-brewer" hah, wazzat?

 

[doug293cz]

If you are worried about "sticky stuff" in your mash you could try adding some CellarScience Glucabuster to your mash, and/or rice hulls. Glucabuster is an enzyme mix that breaks down glucans, cellulose, and arabinoxylan (whatever that is.) Cost works out to $0.20 - $0.30 per 5 gal batch. From CellarScience:

"CellarScience Glucabuster improves lautering and yield and makes any downstream filtering easier. First the highly concentrated β-glucanase break down the glucan formation that can lead to stuck mashes and slow run off. Then the included Xylanase and Cellulase break down the polysaccharide chains of arabinoxylan and cellulose. Together, all three enzymes help keep todays challenging mashes flowing right."​

Brew on

 

[day_trippr]

Sounds like someone was having a go with their audience
fwiw, I mix my grains in the buckets pre-grind. Some weird OC thing I guess.
What comes out of the mill(s) is about as homogenous as could be.

As for "sticky stuff", I imagine a beta-glucan rest would accomplish the same effect of added chemistry

Cheers!

 

[mabrungard]

I don't see any advantage with layering grain in the tun. Having a good distribution of husk and more acidic grains (like the crystal and roast) distributed through the mash is going to provide the best permeability in the bed and better distribution of those acids.

Mix it up!

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I did that a long time ago and had a hopelessly stuck mash.

Lesson learned.

 

[DonT]

So here is the video... check it out around the 9:30 mark.
Full Video: Brewing Black Is Beautiful Imperial Stout with Weathered Souls
I misheard about the "sticky stuff". It's actually about layering in the base malt first then crystal, then black malt. His justification is to avoid a stuck mash.
I've always just mix it all together...FWIW

 

[Jag75]

Fwiw I brew on a 3bbl system and I mix all my grain . I guess I'm oc that way like @day_trippr . The only time I've had stuck mash was thankfully on a small 5 gallon batch at home. That was because I failed to use rice hulls .

I underlet on 3bbl set up but still stir to ensure no dough balls .