My first stuck sparge

[Kealia]

When I was bottling beers I used to believe that there were two kinds of bottlers:
- Those that have had bottle bombs
- Those that would have bottle bombs

After 7 years of brewing I can now say I believe that there are two kinds of all grain brewers:
- Those that have had a stuck sparge
- Those that will have a stuck sparge

I can now say that I have joined the former group. Sunday's brew day was my attempt at a NEIPA (thanks to Beer-lord's thread). It used about 15% wheat and some flaked oats and when I got my grains from my LHBS I thought they looked more crushed than normal. I was right. My mash looked like paste and I got about 3/4 of a gallon to drain before it just flat out stuck. In addition, that which did drain was chock full of grain....no bueno.

I am lucky in that my closest LHBS is only 10 minutes away so I headed down and picked up some rice hulls and was back in 30 minutes. I ended up adding a full pound of them just to get things to run and was pretty worried that my extraction would suffer as a result of this. Fortunately, they did the trick and I hit my numbers spot on.

Lesson learned....I'll spend the $1.50 to always have these on hand in the future. I think this is the first time I've used wheat in a recipe since I switched to a 'standard' mash tun and had they not been open or been out of rice hulls - my day would have been shot.

So....an ounce of prevention they say....these are now in my inventory for use as needed.

[BlackDuck]

Bummer....so you added the rice hulls after the grain and mash water was all mixed together. Did you add them at the end of the mash or did you notice the paste right away and knew you would need them?

An interesting tidbit for you. While we were in Asheville, we stopped at Green Man Brewing. The guy was cleaning out his mash tun and was complaining that the mash became stuck, really stuck!! He was scooping the spent grain into trash cans for the local farmer to pick up. The stuff looked like bread dough it was so thick. All it needed was a little bread yeast, a bread pan, and an oven...I bet it would have made great whole grain bread!!!

[Inkleg]

Glad it all worked out in the end.

[Kealia]

Bummer....so you added the rice hulls after the grain and mash water was all mixed together. Did you add them at the end of the mash or did you notice the paste right away and knew you would need them?

It wasn't until I tried to drain the mash tun that I realized it wouldn't So, I then had to head to pick up the rice hulls and mix them in. I had to vorlauf at least a gallon to start getting wort that didn't contain a ton of particles but it did finally start to run clear.

The good news is that I found out, as Jeff let me know, that it wasn't too late to do it at that point. In the end, my mash ended up running about 1:45 as a result of trying to drain, going to the LHBS, getting back, etc.

[FedoraDave]

Yeah, forewarned is forearmed, as they say. I've got a Rye IPA recipe in which a good 1/3 of the grain bill is rye malt, and I'm sure to add a couple of cups of rice hulls to the mash.

[Kealia]

I always thought, "it could never happen to me".......

[MadBrewer]

I went years without every using rice hulls, didn't even know what they looked like. It wasn't until I switched to a false bottom in my mash tun that I experienced one. And what a PITA they are...I've had my share of a few of them. Now that I recirculate my mash using a pump and a basic HERMS I use a pound in every batch and I can run my pump full on (I don't but thats how well they work). They also add to the thermal mass of the mash. I also haven't noticed they soak up that much mash liquid like so many warn about so they are now something I use all the time, cheap insurance and save the headache.

[ScrewyBrewer]

I guess the concept of a stuck sparge doesn't exist in BIAB brewing. Many brewers are now crushing their grains down to a near powder, and claim to be upping their efficiency a lot in the process. I brewed a lot of Witbier using a mash tun and never had a stuck sparge, but the grains were probably not crushed as fine as Kealia's. I did however have 1 stuck sparge, it was 6 or 7 years ago, and anyone who has experienced one themselves will tell you, I still remember the feeling and it wasn't at all fun.

[braukasper]

Sorry to that, they sure suck. First time I had one was the first time I used my stove-top HREMS. Became a firm believer in rice hulls every time

[Kealia]

...and anyone who has experienced one themselves will tell you, I still remember the feeling and it wasn't at all fun.

My sentiments exactly. I won't post the stream of obscenities here that I uttered, but rest assured they were plenty! I brewed a few wheats when I was BIAB and don't recall having issues, but do remember thinking the grains were "stickier". In this case, they ground the hell out of these poor grains!

[D_Rabbit]

So true! Just a matter of time for those who haven't had a stuck mash. I always use rice hulls now if I use a decent amount of wheat or flaked anything. I also bought a nice set of blichman gloves that are about elbow high that way if I need to dive in I'm covered. They allow me more than a few seconds before I burn myself. Glad you were able to resolve yours fairly easy. Hopefully it turns out great! No replicating this recipe.

[mashani]

Although I possibly don't need to, I still use rice hulls in BIAB mashes where I use wheat and oats. It's habit from "the old days". Because stuck sucks. In BIAB I think I'm just afraid it will turn into one ginormous dough ball one day when I least expect it. That would make me very sad.