Stuck Sparge Hell!

[jmartie13]

I just experienced my first stuck sparge after a couple dozen all-grain brews, turned out that my filtering system had come apart (probably hit it during dough in). I ended up having to continually stir around the mouth of the valve to get it to drain....it was pretty painful to watch the mess coming draining from this thing. Anyways, it's boiling now, what should I expect? with all the grain settle out during primary? should I still hop it like it was the best beer I've ever made?. I suppose I'm still sitting outside drinking a beer. Cheers.

 

[Hopper5000]

How much grain got in there? If you are boiling grain husks it can make the beer astringent.

 

[jmartie13]

hmmm, I didn't see huge pieces, just fine stuff, very cloudy. It crossed my mind to toss it, I just couldn't do it. I got about 4 gallons perfectly filtered, then about 2-3 of cloudy muddy stuff, and another 2 of clear.

 

[passedpawn]

It'll be fine.

 

[djonesax]

This happened to me once, when the dip-tube came out of the false bottom. I drove to the grocery store and got a long rubber glove which I kept filling with cold water so I could reach down to the bottom of the kettle to realign it. That was freaking hot and don't advise anyone trying that. I wonder if you could have scooped the mash into a bucket, fixed the assembly, the transferred the mash back, and rest the grain bed before draining.

David

 

[jmartie13]

I just barely emptied the grain out of the mash tun. I used the mesh metal "kitchen hose" with coiled copper wire inside for my false bottom. The copper coil was pulled away from the ends of the mesh tubing, so it was being pushed flat by the grain and not draining. I was assuming it had come apart... Back to the drawing board I guess, maybe an upgrade?

 

[m1k3]

I'd like a photo of your mash tun / lautering system. It's happened to me too. and yes.... is sucks.

 

[Natdavis777]

Ive only had two stuck sparges and they were a pain. I basically had to blow into the MLT and let it drain some, rinse, repeat. The first time was due to compression of my stainless braid. The second was my own fault for forgetting the rice hulls on a Hefe... Duly noted.

 

[J-Drew]

+1 to what Hopper5000 said. If possible, taste a sample after you have boiled and cooled it. If it tastes OK, I'd say you are good to go, but if you find it harsh and astringent (and you'll know it if is), then I'd say you're going to have a beer on your hands that will be tough to choke down, no matter how long you let it age. At least that was my experience with a particularly astringent beer.

 

[djonesax]

When I first started brewing I didn't know that I should vorlauf so I always got grain husks and stuff in the boil. I never noticed any astringent flavors from that but that was only say a gallon at most.

The beer isn't wasted until you dump it out, so I say just ferment it and taste it before you decide bottle it.

David

 

[helterscelter]

This happened to me once, when the dip-tube came out of the false bottom. I drove to the grocery store and got a long rubber glove which I kept filling with cold water so I could reach down to the bottom of the kettle to realign it. That was freaking hot and don't advise anyone trying that. I wonder if you could have scooped the mash into a bucket, fixed the assembly, the transferred the mash back, and rest the grain bed before draining.

David

when I knocked the silicone tube in my MT off while stirring, this is exactly what I did.. dumped the mash into a bucket, re-connected the tube and dumped back into the MT. I use SS clamps now (and planning to go to an SS diptube + compression fitting).

 

[IslandLizard]

Dumping or scooping the mash into another vessel, fix the loose fittings, then dump it back is by far the best method.

You could (step)mash in your kettle, or any other large pot, then dump it into your manifolded/false bottomed tun for lautering.

 

[passedpawn]

If you use a pump, you can blast a bit of hot water into the drain to clear it. If not, then swallow your pride and shovel it all out, fix problem, shovel back in. Sucks, I've been there. My first all-grain beer was a dumper - never made it to the fermentor - due to a Papazian zappap lautertun that was hopelessly clogged (threw it way that night).

I went through the water supply braid, then the bazooka screen. I got tired of all that crap and ended up with a Jaybird false bottom. I also switched to large orifice camlocks (Bobby_M). I never get stuck sparges and never use rice hulls, even with wheat beers and such. It's bulletproof.

 

[jmartie13]

It's repaired, I'm hoping to get through my fall beers before upgrading/replacing......about to send a Saison into it, wish me luck.

 

[kh54s10]

I went with a bigger braid than most people use. I used a 3/4" water heater supply line braid and have it clamped over the whole assembly on the inside of my cooler valve.

It goes over the part on the left so the opening is very wide. The braid is also much heavier than smaller water supply lines. I can bash it about with my paddle a lot and have never had a stuck sparge or any collapsing of the braid.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/bronze-cooler-valve-kit-w-barb

This is the supply line for the braid:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Watts-3-4-in-x-3-4-in-x-12-in-FIP-x-FIP-Lead-Free-Braided-Stainless-Steel-Water-Heater-Supply-Line-LFBK-LBF-12/203789991




I have had a very fine layer build up on top of my grain bed a couple of times that I had to poke through to get it to drain but that was not a filter, braid or false bottom issue.

 

[jmartie13]

Do you put any coiled wire inside the braid? Or is it "heavy duty" enough. I like the idea of a bigger supply line. When I repaired mine this morning I made sure my wire and braided supply line were clamped over the assembly like you mentioned. Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

Do you put any coiled wire inside the braid? Or is it "heavy duty" enough. I like the idea of a bigger supply line. When I repaired mine this morning I made sure my wire and braided supply line were clamped over the assembly like you mentioned. Cheers!

There is nothing inside the braid. The SS wires that are the woven part are thicker. It is much heavier duty. I can push down on the braid with my mash paddle and when I remove it the braid springs back to round.

I am not careful at all when stirring. I stir like a mad man and bash the braid mercilessly, no problems at all.

 

[PLOVE]

My first all-grain beer was a dumper - never made it to the fermentor - due to a Papazian zappap lautertun that was hopelessly clogged (threw it way that night).

This made me laugh. I too built one of these zappap lautertuns. What a waste of an hour with a drill. Never did worth worth a damned. I now use a wire collander in a bucket for 5 gal test batches, and a jaybird falsey for my 10 gal sanke. Never looked back. . .

As for the OP - you'll be fine. You'd have to have a lot of husks (like pounds) before you extract any real perceptable astringency, particularly if your hopping the beer. Never chuck a batch until your absolutely sure it's a gonner. Sometimes my best beers are the ones I had trouble with. Makes it tough when it comes time to replicate, but se la vie.
P

 

[passedpawn]

This made me laugh. I too built one of these zappap lautertuns. What a waste of an hour with a drill. Never did worth worth a damned. I now use a wire collander in a bucket for 5 gal test batches, and a jaybird falsey for my 10 gal sanke. Never looked back. . .

Just for you, a quick pick of my miserable first all-grain. Note the zapap in the background. All the containers are an attempt to get the stuck HOT wort out of the damn thing and into the funnel in that GLASS carboy. That wort would have been so infected, probably, with all the panicked crap I was doing that night. Complete loss there.


BTW, zapap is papazian backwards. Maybe you know that, but it's fun trivia for those that have used them and didn't know.

 

[passedpawn]

Do you put any coiled wire inside the braid? Or is it "heavy duty" enough. I like the idea of a bigger supply line. When I repaired mine this morning I made sure my wire and braided supply line were clamped over the assembly like you mentioned. Cheers!

If you buy the braided supply line, make sure you don't buy the "faux" metal braid. Some of them have something that sorta looks like metal, but you'll be able to tell right away it's mylar or something else.

And, that supply line has a vinyl internal tube that you have to remove. To get it out, PUSH the braid off the tubing. You can't pull the tubing out of the braid (chinese finger trap effect).

 

[pwnshop]

did a brew this week and after mashing in i realized i didnt attach the stupid bazooka screen to the bulkhead. I was super angry and panicked for a second (I don't handle stupid mistakes very gracefully). Once my head cleared I realized I had just mashed in and i could still fix it easily. I just dumped it all out into my BK, attached the stupid thing, then poured it all back in and closed the lid. Everything seemed to work out fine luckily! still hit my mash temps and everything.