Rice Hulls problem

[DonArmando]

Hello, dear American/English/German/Whatever friends homebrewers!
I am writing to all of you because i need help with a Wit beer.
The recipe says i need at least 50% of Malted Wheat, 45% Malted Barley and some Flaked Oats + some secret ingerdients.
Browsing the forums i read that using lots of wheat and oats you could have a stuck sparge because they don't have any husks that can act as a medium.
Many people suggest to open the faucet of the MLT in order to sparge very very slowly, but the majority suggests to use rice hulls.
The main issue is that in Italy is literally impossible to find those damn hulls!!!
So, besides sparging slowly, is there any other kind of adjunct that can act like rice hulls do?

-Armando

 

[shamrock]

I would also love to know if there is a substitute. My LHBS is always running out and they are damned expensive when they do have them.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Hmmm. Good question.

The only alternative I have heard of to rice hulls is actual barley hulls. Of course the barley hulls are usually full of malt so....

I suppose that, in a pinch, you could brew a small beer and instead of clearing teh draff (spent grain) from the tun you could re-use the left over hulls. You will want to do this back to back, and that makes for a long day, as the hulls sour pretty quickly after exposed to air.

 

[DonArmando]

But, if you reuse your spent grains, aren't you extracting also some tannins, are you?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Tannin extraction occurs, usually, amidst the debateable mash out phase and during ahot sparge. It is possible that tannins will leach but, IMO, not likely.

Check teh brew science forum as you dilemma has prompted me to pose another question in kind that you may find useful if the reponses are favorable. It should be interesting to see what the panel has to say.

BTW, it is also suggested (possibly even published) that tannin extraction has more to do with pH than it does with temperature.

 

[DonArmando]

Mmmmm, i will check that section.
I was wondering if walnut and almond nuts could be considered similar to rice hulls....
maybe they're made of the same "material" but they're bigger (and can be cracked)

 

[conpewter]

I know some people use 6 row which will give you more husk (by ratio) than 2 row. I was wondering about oat husks or ground up corn cobs.

Edit: Might be really interesting to try oak shavings or something.

 

[Hokie]

I have a slotted, copper manifold, and I quit using rice hulls ages ago. I have not had anything even close to a slow or stuck sparge. If you use a braided hose type of thing, I can imagine possible issues with that perhaps. I think something that is nearly 50% barley might have enough hulls to filter adequately though.

 

[DonArmando]

I am using a teflon hose which has ben cutted on his side. I face the cutted side to the bottom of the cooler....
btw, didn't i told you i'm paranoid, did i?

 

[pompeiisneaks]

I would say that if you can't get rice hulls, you would want to use the best water/grain separation method available, like Hokie mentioned, or in my case, I use false bottom. They don't eliminate the chances for stuck sparges, but massively reduce them. costs a little more up front, but if you don't have other options... Its the only one.

 

[DonArmando]

What about increasing mash quantity per pound during the mash process?
What about 2qts/lb?

 

[Brewer_Steve]

I brewed a wit a week ago without any rice hulls, and I didn't get a stuck sparge.

Mine was 5% oats, 47.5% unmalted hard wheat, 47.5% 2-row.

I did a 5 gallon batch where I mashed in a 10 gallon square cooler using a stainless braid.
I mashed at 1.5 qt/lbs
No problems.
No stuck sparge.
No rice hulls.

Maybe just try it?

 

[DonArmando]

Woah, our recipies are the same!
what kind of hops did you use? and how much?

 

[Brewer_Steve]

I used Tettnanger, but I'm unsure how much.
It smelled so good.
I'll check my brewing software tonight when I get home and I'll let you know.

 

[DonArmando]

I'm using Saaz!
I'm going for 2oz, 1oz at the beginning and 1oz 20 mins from the end of the boil

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

The other option that you have is to condition your malt. While malted wheat does not have a husk it does have a thin aleuosperm (forget the name, think thats close...), conditioning can aid in seperation which can help with your sparge.

There is a wiki article about conditioning malt you can look for. It's really easy and I have noticed great improvment in my sparges with 50-60% wheat mashes and no rice hulls. I also use a false bottom, and that helps a little as well.

 

[Brewer_Steve]

Woah, our recipies are the same!
what kind of hops did you use? and how much?

This is what I did.
I also used the zest from 3 sweet navel oranges instead of bitter oranges.

I tried not to go as bitter as usual, cause I want SWMBO to like it.

0.5 Oz Corriander Seed Spice 5 Min.(boil)
3.00 Oranges Orange Peel zest Spice 5 Min.(boil)
Tettnanger 0.75 oz, Whole, 60 minutes
Tettnanger 0.25 oz, Whole, 30 minutes
Tettnanger 0.25 oz, Whole, 5 minutes

 

[944play]

I know some people use 6 row which will give you more husk (by ratio) than 2 row.

I bet 6-row is harder to get than rice hulls in Italy.

 

[dsdrake219]

maybe you can get some kind of mesh for cheap. like a plastic dish scrubber or steel scrubbing mesh and cover your manifold/tubing with it to create more open area for liquid to flow

im not sure if it would work... but i don't see why it would not.