How much Rye does it take to screw up a sparge?

[choirjon]

Hi Guys.

Tried this questions in General Brewing, but got no response. I just brewed with a pump (first time) and with Rye (also first time). I got through it but the grain bed in my cooler compact quite tight. Everything took an hour longer than it usually does. My grain bill was %15 Rye, and I tried to run my pump at about 3/4 for recirc (chugger). How quick should I recirc, and how much rye will screw things up.


Thanks for your suggestions.


Jon

 

[tootal]

Did you use rye malt or rye flakes? 20% rye flakes is like using roughly 50% rye malt. Any thing over 10% rye flakes would require the use of rice hulls. Our rye beers are 20% rye flakes and we use a pound of rice hulls in 10 gallons. They are very light so a pound is a lot. This is a must do on our RIMS system. We have never stuck a mash while using rice hulls. The rice hulls don't add any color or flavor, just allow the wort to run through the mash.

 

[masonsjax]

It depends on your system. With a recirc pump I'd be cautious about using any rye without rice hulls. On my toilet braid system I can do 50% rye without adding rice hulls.

 

[KTRyan]

I've done flaked oats and flaked rye as high as 25% (wow do you get some flavor out of that, btw.) My trick is a thin mash and a highly restricted pump.

 

[MrHadack]

One other semi-related thought: when using a decent percentage of flaked rye or wheat you can do a mash rest at ~105*F to reduce some of the gumminess that those grains cause.

 

[choirjon]

Sounds like the running my pump at 3/4 of full was really the problem, not the rye. Next brew will be an all barley stout with careful use of the pump. I think that I will limit myself to no more than 30% pump flow. I hope that I can figure this out. I will soon start the building of the control panel to get this electric brewery started.


Thanks


Jon