What are you brewing?

[nzbrewer]

Since this is the most popular thread on the RealBeer.co.nz forum I thought I would start it here just to see what happens

[James P]

You'll have to post a photo of your braided hose manifold in the chilly bin. It could be that whilst it's bloody slow, it will increase your efficiency by draining the grains correctly. Alternative there is not enough hose in contact with the grain?

[JoKing]

Yeah Post a photo - it could be airlocked somewhere.

[Dale]

Cool will post photo tonight. Efficiency was only 1-2 points better so didn't think it was worth the 3-4 times slower sparge.

[denimglen]

Could be that your crush is too tight, running off too quickly, not recirculating enough and/or not letting the grain bed settle properly.

Or it could be your braid ;-)

[Dale]

This is the setup.

[denimglen]

That looks primo bro, nice job.

I can't see anything wrong with the way it's set up.

No offence intended but I would be inclined to think it's something in your process that's giving you dramas.

[Dale]

Mate it prob is my process. Basically after mashing turned the tap on and really straight away was getting 300ml max a min. Finally when I added the sparge water stirred it in turned the tap back on and got a big rush coming out which as the grains settled (30 seconds) went back to 300ml a min.

[denimglen]

Once you've finished your mash/sparge addition don't run off until it's been at least 10 minutes since your last stir (I stir at dough-in, at the 30 min mark and at the sparge water addition only). This means your grain bed settles nicely - the heavier bits, like the husks drop to the bottom first and give you a good filter bed.

Open your valve slowly. I've never measured my flow rate but learned the hard way and got a feel for it in the end. At a guess I'd say I'm running off at about 1000mL/minute. The reason for opening slowly is to stop the mash rushing towards the outlet and then creating a thick coating of proteins and insolubles around the outlet.

Recirculate at least 2L, preferably 1L at a time, and then add it gently to the top of the mash, if you can use a spoon or something to create less turbulence, even better. Recirculating clears the wort, and by doing this step you're returning all the fine insolubles to the top of the grain bed where they're filtered and can't clog your braid.

I don't think your crush is too tight, mine is pretty aggressive and I think I've had two stuck sparges in the last year (one was 60% wheat + decoction).

Worst comes to worst and it does get stuck, give it another stir, let it settle, recirculate and try again.

[Dale]

As always thanks bud. I think maybe I turned the tap on too fast and didn't wait that 10 minutes after the stir. Everything else you said I did. The crush Is about 1.4mm so not to aggressive. Doing a bitter start of next week so will try again and let you know. Thanks Glen!!!!!!

Dale

[James P]

DG has some really good pointers, as I have used them in the past with good results. I would also take a look at your braid, it looks too tight at the bulkhead.

The photo may be a little misleading, however I have put red on to show that it looks as though there is a bottleneck. I would expect to see the hose as per the blue lines. Also, only as a suggestion, you could remodel your manifold to increase the surface area contact as per this pic.

[Barry]

My braid used to look like that near where it joined the outlet. I didn't worry about it for 2 years, then cut if off clean and re-joined it nicely about 3 months ago. The difference was remarkable. Do it.

The only time I've ever had stuck sparges was when I put the lid on after adding the mash out liqour, and after adding the second batch of sparge liqour. At a guess, putting the lid on made the proteins coagulate around the braid and stuck things up. Leave the lid off and it's fine. Temperature drops during mash out and the second batch, and also while lautering, are nothing to worry about.

[JoKing]

I like the look of James' suggestion regarding the modification of your manifold - that will make a massive difference. As will making sure you get rid of that pinch at the bulkhead.

Having said that - I deliberately pinched mine and wrapped it up with thread tape to slow the outflow down. My last few sparges took me 90 mins and gave me a bit of a "fuck this sparge is stuck" moment.

Perseverence pays off in the end mate. Stick to it.