Mash tun broke while sparging (screwed?)

[Keb]

So I poured in my sparge water while making my pumpkin ale and began stirring (batch sparge). I noticed I couldn't feel the toilet supply line filter with my spoon. After some though and feeling around, realized it was disconnected from my hose. I tried to get it back on but it wasn't happening without draining everything and wasting the beer. So I went to plan B. Quickly pulled the hose out of the cooler and capped it (rectangle). Next I slowly strained the mash contents through a metal strainer I normal use aeration after boil into fermenter. Now its a pretty fine strainer but there are lot of very small white things floating in the wort and it's not as clear as usual either. I'm now boiling anyway.

What I want to know is, am I screwed? Other than the fact that I'm a bit short (6 gals instead of normal 6.5) will there be off flavors from boiling with some part of the grain in the wort? It's not alot I don't think, but it's definitely noticeable.

Thanks guys. Please help me be at peace with my major mishap!

 

[isurf]

It's not a problem. You may get a little more tannin, sounds like you got a decent strain with your plan "B". You could top off the water in your boil kettle to get the desired amount but a six gallon boil is not bad. Probably won't even notice the extra grain either. Pumpmkin ale sounds nice, good luck.

 

[Rundownhouse]

Even after draining you couldn't get to the spigot?

 

[Keb]

Well now I can. But I couldn't drain because the hose was clogged with grains. I even tried tilting to get it all to one side but it was very full because of sparge water. Done everything now and it seems to have gone ok. Main issue was I came up way short. Will probably end up with 4.5 gals even after adding some water. Could be worse though. I'm just hoping no off flavors from all the aeration while hot (does that even matter?) and the extra stuff that got through the stainer being boiled.

 

[Madtown1]

I knew someone on here must have mentioned hot side aeration...thanks Keb.

According to Chapter 18.4 Starting the Mash of John Palmer's "How to Brew"...

3. Pour in about 1 gallon of your strike water into the Mash Tun and stir in the crushed grain. This is the doughing-in stage. Mix the water and grist together gradually to avoid shocking the enzymes. Stir it to make sure all the grain is fully wetted, but don't splash. Hot side aeration can occur anytime the wort is hotter than 80°F. Oxidation of wort compounds will not be affected by the subsequent boil, and will cause flavor stability problems later.

I typically add my strike water and grist at the same time. Is this something that I need to be concerned about?

I was wondering when you all are doughing in if you -
A) Worry about shocking the enzymes? and
B) If you have had hot side aeration/oxidation of your wort - what kind of flavor stablity problems did you notice/taste?
Cheers.

 

[Keb]

What happened here was a mishap, not
my normal process.

 

[Maxkling]

I knew someone on here must have mentioned hot side aeration...thanks Keb.

According to Chapter 18.4 Starting the Mash of John Palmer's "How to Brew"...

3. Pour in about 1 gallon of your strike water into the Mash Tun and stir in the crushed grain. This is the doughing-in stage. Mix the water and grist together gradually to avoid shocking the enzymes. Stir it to make sure all the grain is fully wetted, but don't splash. Hot side aeration can occur anytime the wort is hotter than 80°F. Oxidation of wort compounds will not be affected by the subsequent boil, and will cause flavor stability problems later.

I typically add my strike water and grist at the same time. Is this something that I need to be concerned about?

I was wondering when you all are doughing in if you -
A) Worry about shocking the enzymes? and
B) If you have had hot side aeration/oxidation of your wort - what kind of flavor stablity problems did you notice/taste?
Cheers.

Hot side aeration is BS. Do some research. Just because its in a book doesn't mean its true. Even if its true, they refer to flavor stability, most people drink their beer well before it oxidizes. If you actually do oxidize it, which is hard, its not like OMG I got an air bubble in my hot wort, maybe if it sits conditioning for a year you'll pick up oxidation flavors.

Go to google, and start to type in hot side aeration and see what the second item that pops up.

 

[astropunk]

That happened to me once, my manifold disconnected from the spout on the cooler. It was too hot to reach in and re-connect it with the grain and water in there...so I went to plan B...
I dumped the whole mash into a bottling bucket, quickly fixed the manifold connection, and dumped it back. I only lost about 5 degrees during the transfer, which was easy to make up for. And...The beer turned out great.

 

[broadbill]

That happened to me once, my manifold disconnected from the spout on the cooler. It was too hot to reach in and re-connect it with the grain and water in there...so I went to plan B...
I dumped the whole mash into a bottling bucket, quickly fixed the manifold connection, and dumped it back. I only lost about 5 degrees during the transfer, which was easy to make up for. And...The beer turned out great.

This is what I would have done.

 

[Madtown1]

Let me clarify...

Keb, I realize that your unfortunate event was not part of your normal procedure. I posted because your topic was related to hot side aeration (HSA).

I have researched other websites (including Palmers) and books which argue both sides of the topic. As I indicated, I add my strike water and grist at the same time and there is quite a bit of spashing that is occuring. Unfortunately...I do not have beer around long enough to determine if HSA is a viable issue/problem.

My attempt here was to see what other brewers thought about HSA as a topic of discussion...Fact or Fiction?

Thank you Maxkling for your honest, informative response.

 

[Catt22]

Keb,

FWIW, you did pretty much exactly what I would have done in that situation. The beer will be fine. You improvised a plan quickly and you carried it out. The beer will be consumed way before any oxidation problem raises its head, which it likely will not. Grain particulates in the boil are never a good thing, but if it's only a tiny bit as you say, I would not be at all concerned.

BTW, this was not a major mishap. This was an equipment failure. You sized up the situation, diagnosed the problem and took action with a minor detour. You also did not injure yourself in a panic, which is always a very good thing. RDWAHAHB applies very much here. While your drinking the home brew you can tell yourself you did the best you could and it worked. You would not be lying.

 

[payton34]

always have a paint strainer on hand. they work well for straining wort if your manifold comes apart or your screen comes undone