% Rice Hulls To Add To A Wheat Grain Bill

[itguy1953]

Had a quick search but could not find info, so thought I would ask.

I am making up a HEFE soon and I am using 60/40 wheat/pilsner malt.

What % of rice hulls should I use in the mix to aid sparging. I am brewing on a HERMs system, so I will recirculate mash liquor a fair bit and I do not want a stuck sparge.

Barry

 

[MattC]

Craftbrewer website recommends the use of up to 20%.

With your bill and the fact that you will be recirculating, i would use around 15% personally.

Just make sure they are well mixed in between all the other grains.

Cheers

 

[itguy1953]

Thanks.

Is that 15% by weight of volume? Rice hulls are very light and bulky. Much lighter than grain.

Craftbrewer website recommends the use of up to 20%.

With your bill and the fact that you will be recirculating, i would use around 15% personally.

Just make sure they are well mixed in between all the other grains.

Cheers

 

[Florian]

I usually add around 10% - 20% to all grain bills, even if they don't contain any wheat.

With your 60% wheat in there I would definitely go for 20% rice hulls. Also, when recirculating and running to kettle, make sure you open your valve just a tad, I now always run off at 0.5 litre per minute, takes a bit longer but is worth the wait. I had a few stuck sparges in the past and it's not fun.

But obviously do what's best on your system, your tun may allow for a higher flow rate, but test that out carefully.

 

[MattC]

I use beersmith and use it as a weight % calc.

I just made a hefe with 44% wheat, 44 % pils and 12% rice hulls by weight.

cheers

 

[Florian]

I would just add 20% on top of your grain bill. So if you have a regular grain bill of let's say 5kg, you add 1kg of rice hulls to it. The hulls don't affect your gravity at all, so really beersmith shouldn't add it to the grist total in my opinion.

 

[jbirbeck]

I did a brew on the weekend with my RIMS with 60% wheat...no need for Rice Hulls, perfect recirc. I did think about it and was going to add all of a couple of litres worth. I couldn't have got 2kg worth og Rice Hulls in...

 

[itguy1953]

Just looked at my version of Beersmith and it says 5% maximum in mix.

I use beersmith and use it as a weight % calc.

I just made a hefe with 44% wheat, 44 % pils and 12% rice hulls by weight.

cheers

 

[MHB]

I wouldn't think that with 40% pilsner in there you wouldn't need any rice hulls at all, assuming you have a good crack. The only reason wheat beers traditionally had barley malt in them was to provide the filtering material from the barley husks.
I have done 90% wheat 10% rice hulls and have had customers do 100% wheat, just very carefully crushed.
So if you think you need them 10% by weight should be more than enough.

MHB

 

[sama]

i chuck 4 precise handfulls in.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I do it by volume 0.5 L container full for a 30L brew and 1L container for 50L.
Works a treat.
GB

 

[itguy1953]

This would be less than 5% as rice hulls are very light.

I suspect that those using higher %'s are overdoing it.

The brews are for the Bayside Brewers, using our monster mash. We will use approx 50kg of grain and make approx 220litres of finished wort.

I reckon I will work on 5% which is what Beersmith recommends.

Barry

I do it by volume 0.5 L container full for a 30L brew and 1L container for 50L.
Works a treat.
GB

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

This would be less than 5% as rice hulls are very light.

I suspect that those using higher %'s are overdoing it.

The brews are for the Bayside Brewers, using our monster mash. We will use approx 50kg of grain and make approx 220litres of finished wort.

I reckon I will work on 5% which is what Beersmith recommends.

Barry

Mine works well but my lauter takes 60-90 minutes. I dont mind the time frame. The hulls cost next to nothing so increasing Hull volume is not going to cost the earth.
GB