Up until yesterday, I never had a truly stuck sparge with batch sparging. If it got stuck, I'd just stir and add a little hot water and it would clear. If it got really stuck, I would try the blow back methods and that would fix it.
But, nope. Not yesterday. I ordered my grains crushed and there seemed to be a lot of flour in the bag. I thought "No problem, I'm batch sparging. " Well, actually - big problem. After trying all my usual tricks, I ended up scooping the mash out into a paint straining bag and collected the runnings that way. When I got to the bottom of the tun, it was basically solid "mud. " Nothing was going to flow through that!
Anyway, the beer seemed to turn out fine. It was a whole lot cloudier than usual going into the kettle, but it looked nice and clear post boil.
So now, I just need to figure out how to convince my wife that a grainmill is "an investment" and not just a toy.
But, nope. Not yesterday. I ordered my grains crushed and there seemed to be a lot of flour in the bag. I thought "No problem, I'm batch sparging. " Well, actually - big problem. After trying all my usual tricks, I ended up scooping the mash out into a paint straining bag and collected the runnings that way. When I got to the bottom of the tun, it was basically solid "mud. " Nothing was going to flow through that!
Anyway, the beer seemed to turn out fine. It was a whole lot cloudier than usual going into the kettle, but it looked nice and clear post boil.
So now, I just need to figure out how to convince my wife that a grainmill is "an investment" and not just a toy.
