First stuck sparge

[jsmcclure]

So frustrated. Just got my Blingmann mashtun. First brew - stuck sparge. Thermometer off by 5 degrees. I've never dumped an entire batch because of a stuck sparge! Really unsatisfied ..



I'm going back to my cheapo mashtun and false bottom. Definitely not impressed with the high priced pot!

 

[tally350z]

You dumped the batch? What was the recipe? Did you open the valve slowly to let the grain bed settle first..

 

[jsmcclure]

Recirculated the mash per blichmann instructuons. Totally stuck during recirculating. Tried to clean put valve with brush. No go. No way to get mash through Argh! Lowest point in brewing for sure

 

[jsmcclure]

It was a heavy grain recipe. A Scottish wee heavy. 25 lb grain bill. A challenge for sure but that just makes it more painful

 

[ArcticBear]

what are you using for a false bottom? also have you considered adding some rice hull to assist with your mash?

 

[jsmcclure]

It was the Blichmann false bottom. It seems much more restrictive than my old lotsa round holes version. I think I'll go with rice hulls next time.

 

[ajf]

I had a similar problem a couple of brews ago. Tried to vorlauf, nothing.
I replaced the short drain hose for draining the MLT with a longer one, jammed a funnel into the end of the hose, raised the funnel up to roughly the height of the top of the grain bed, opened the spigot, and poured about 1 qt water into the funnel. When I saw bubbles in the MLT which stopped after a few seconds, I guessed that I had cleared an air-lock, so I closed the spigot and replaced the original drain hose, and tried again. Problem cured, and it took less than two minutes.

If you recirculate a cup or so from the MLT when you add the strike water, you will generally eliminate air-lock problems.

But if you want to send me your Blichmann setup, I'll be happy to take it off your hands.
-a.

 

[jsmcclure]

thats a great idea never even thought abot the possibility of an airlock. of course if that solves a future crisis i wont be so keen on donating the blich

 

[JonW]

I've used several false bottoms and I can tell you that I run my wort through the Blichmann one faster than any other ones. You can't run your valves wide open, but you can run it at a good rate. If you ran it wide open, you could have compacted the grain bed. Also, using wheat, rye, some Maris otter and other grains can get sticky which might require rice hulls or a thinner mash.

 

[jsmcclure]

I had 16libs of Maris Otter in the mash. I've never had any trouble with it before. It was the first time I tried using a pump so I may have gotten distracted and run it through too fast. Damn. I'm still in mourning

 

[JonW]

It's funny you say that about the MO. I've only ever had 1 stuck sparge and it was on the latest bag of Thomas Fawcett MO that I got. I've now used rice hulls on the last two batches using grain from that same bag. Never had an issue with MO before.

 

[jsmcclure]

i pledge to (ir)rationally cling to rice hulls from this day forward. Never want to see a repeat of that day!

 

[ArcticBear]

1/3 # of rice hulls should be good to settle your problem. If you have stuff like flaked wheat or flaked barley or pumpkin etc.. you may want to up the quantity of rice hulls

 

[jsmcclure]

Ok, bought 2lbs of rice hulls today. Next brewday is Saturday. A little less ambitious recipe plus the hulls. May the force be with me!

 

[JonW]

You won't need 2# of rice hulls. What's your grain bill? I never measure them by weight, I just throw a few handfulls in there.

 

[jsmcclure]

yeah, i figured i'd use about half a pound of hulls for the next batch; I just want to be prepared to brew more batches at a moments notice. . I'll forgo the pump this time and recirculate by hand very slowly.

 

[jsmcclure]

I'd like to clarify my story. I now know that i did not have a stuck sparge. I am an idiot. I think I had a plugged quick disconnect. Brewed today with great care and rice hulls and couldn't believe how easy it was. The Blichmann was a joy to use. Recirculating the mash with the pump made the control more precise. When I went to clean up, the rinse water stopped flowing. Found a plugged quick disconnect. It cleaned itself with a little rocking back and forth but I'm willing to bet that is what happened last week. Damn -coulda saved that beautify wee heavy with a wrench. Oh well, live and learn

 

[archer75]

Sorry to revive an old thread.

I just did my first brew with the blichmann yesterday and it stopped flowing several times during recirculation. I'd get a lot of bubbles in the line and then flow would stop. I never ran with the pump valve wide open. At most it was half way open but usually just a quarter turn. If I stirred it it would start flowing again for a little while. The grain bed felt pretty compacted. Since it wasn't a wheat beer I didn't use any rice hulls.

At the end of lautering I had standing water that would simply not drain. After I took it apart I could see that underneath the false bottom it was perfectly clean. The dip tube was clear. So not sure what happened.

The thermometer on this thing is mounted too high. The grains and wort were beneath it. The auto sparge is useless for 5 gallon batches. The float couldn't even reach the grains. Needs a much longer arm.

I have the 15 gallon boilermaker and I was brewing a 5.5 gallon 1.051og california common beer with a water to grain ratio of 1.5qt/lb