After two years, I finally did my first all grain brew yesterday. For the most part, things went as planned. While batch sparging, I noticed that the water seemed to be channeling to a single spot. I'm using stainless braid, so I thought that might be what was going on, but as I went to stir, I noticed I had a very heavy, dense layer on top of the grainbed, and that's what was causing the channeling. There were no husks or anything in this layer, it was about a half inch of totally impermeable sludge. Was this just the flour setting, meaning I need to mix better? I still hit my goal of 70% efficiency, so it wasn't a problem, but it's something I want figure out before my next brew.
Nearly stuck sparge?
- Thread starter Scimmia
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Suthrncomfrt1884
Well-Known Member
A recipe might help. I've never seen this before, but if you post a recipe, someone can probably figure out what caused it.
Scimmia
Well-Known Member
12 lb Marris Otter
.75 lb Crystal 40
"crush" was with a corona style mill that I've been using for BIAB partial mashes for a while.
Mash at 152, 4.25 gal (1.33 qt/lb)
Batch sparge at 170, 4 gal
I had no problems with sticking on the first runnings, this happened during the batch sparge. Once I mixed it up and vourlofed again, no problems either. It was just strange, definitely a separate layer, as it was lighter colored than the rest of the grainbed as well.
.75 lb Crystal 40
"crush" was with a corona style mill that I've been using for BIAB partial mashes for a while.
Mash at 152, 4.25 gal (1.33 qt/lb)
Batch sparge at 170, 4 gal
I had no problems with sticking on the first runnings, this happened during the batch sparge. Once I mixed it up and vourlofed again, no problems either. It was just strange, definitely a separate layer, as it was lighter colored than the rest of the grainbed as well.
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