Need quick advice - can my brew be saved? stuck sparge

[storeboughtcheeseburgers]

So I put down an electric pale ale today, and its been going for 90 mins, first runnings and its all stuck sparge.

I have already taken off the bits cleaned them out and reassembled with a squirty bottle.. not sure how much contamination is at this point?


So its still stinking hot here so prob still OK f or a bit. - any other ideas of what I can do now my sparge is rooted?

 

[balconybrewer]

contamination isnt an issue before the boil mate, as long as your outlet pipe isnt too hot blow on it to unclog anything holding the flow up and restart your sparge.

good luck

 

[QldKev]

As bb said, either blow back in the pipe, or underlet a litre or two of water. Any germs will be killed of soon once you hit the boil.

 

[warra48]

What balconybrewer said.

I batch sparge and regularly used to suffer with stuck runoffs and sparges.
Then I discovered cutting the mash. I use a steak knife to cut the surface of the mash in a crisscross pattern, and it's made all the difference.
Never get a stuck mash, and the runoff and sparge are completed in half the time they used to take.

 

[pk.sax]

Give the mash a stir, reaching the paddle down to the bottom/manifold. Then let it settle again, recirculating a jug or few back manually.

If you are pumping it out this might be due to an airlock. Does the wort flow out of the mash tun if there is no hose on it? You might need to prime that pump then, just some water in the hose to get rid of the airlock.

 

[storeboughtcheeseburgers]

Hey guys - thanks for all the replies.

Glad theres no contamination issues before boil.

Luckily I still kept my lauter tun made from paint pails from my first ever all grain. I swore I'd never use the ******* thing again - one of the other paint pails though I use all the time to measure water, bottle bucket and has been invaluable.

I am amazed at how I end up using pretty much everything in my home brew set up.

I have this 70s burnt orange collander which I put over the paint pail drill holes which basically acted as a double sieve - see how it all turns out and I might be back to paint pail brewing land.

Love the hobby - always learning something new and seems any problem can be resolved once you develop that brewer mindset. Glad I didn't start out with a big expensive bit of kit .

Thanks guys - dinners a bit postponed today and theres a bit more mess, but I think I've made an OK job out of a disaster. :drinks:

 

[manticle]

I've only had a couple of stuck sparges but I learnt early on that you can avoid a lot of frustration by scooping the mash out into another container, fixing the blockage and scooping it back in again. Blow and stir briefly to see if that fixes it but don't buggarise around too long. Short cuts rarely end up being effective.