Stuck Sparge %*%#

[Fingerlickin_B]

I just dig a hole with the handle of the spoon straight through the mash to the false bottom. quick & easy * the amount of crud that seeps through is minimal.

I *almost* always get a stuck sparge, but just do exactly what Ross has detailed above

First full batch AG I did there was one, got stressed, freaked out...now it's just normal procedure and nothing to worry about at all B)

PZ.

 

[domonsura]

Interesting that so many have regular problems with stuck sparges, I didn't realise that it was quite that widespread a problem!
I've only really had a couple, and one was due to one of my 'jury rigged' pickup tubes with a piece of PVC that got hot, collapsed, and then came off alltogether, filling the back of my ball valve with grain. I'd call that more of a f****d sparge, more than a stuck one. Had to empty the whole mashtun, fix and start again.
I use a complete false bottom from perf stainless sheet now, (400mm diameter) and have never had another one, even when I've overdone it & ground my grist almost into flour and was sure it was going to get stuck.
But I really thought that stuck sparges were really uncommon, now I think I must just have been really lucky. I 'fly recirculate sparge' (recirculate the entire sparge water volume through the grist for a period of time) and tend to try to run it as fast as I can through the grist, but still run it all through there for almost equivalent minutes to end litres in fermenter (ie: 40-50 minutes for a 50 litre batch) but the way I run my brewery isn't really the norm, so I spose can't really be used as a comparison in that respect.

 

[Pumpy]

Round 15ltr daddy cool with round 10" false bottom. From what I saw it seemed to have compacted on the bottom. Grain consisted of 4.5kg of marris Otter, 420g crystal malt, 100g dark crystal,160g torrified wheat. I had all the grain pre-cracked from my local HBS. I actually had two seperate ones made up. One I made about 6 weeks ago with no problems.

BYB

BYB I had nothing but stuck sparges witha a 19 litre cylindrical Rubbermaid and changed to a 38 litre cylindrical keep Cold .

I think Cylindrical Coolers have an optimum grain weight and slow with more grain

The rectangular coolers seem to empty faster they absolutely gush out

Make sure you dont use plastic tube from the false bottom to the Tun tap with the heat and weight it will compress the plastic tube ,

Metal is best I copied this way from Warren


Pumpy

 

[Batz]

I had stuck sparges with my braid manifold when doing doubles,doubled the braid and no problems.


Batz.....stuck sparges are the biggest pain around,air compressor used to fix it but :blink:

Batz

 

[TidalPete]

Tidalpete, my efficiency is luck if it hits 65% at the moment.
Slightly OT, but is there some ideal temp for the grain bed when sparging ? I'm heating the water to about 82deg and seeing ~75degs in the mash tun though sometimes higher, sometimes lower.

OT again probably mika but TTBOMK as long as the grain bed is at mashout temps (76-78 deg c) whilst sparging all should be good. What's your grind? I have my mill set to 40 thou & although I have only done one wheatie have only got one stuck sparge & that was from draining too fast (Not the wheatie ). Do you adjust the pH of your mash & sparge water?

:beer:

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

BYB, On the rare occaision i get a stuck sparge when "batch sparging', I just dig a hole with the handle of the spoon straight through the mash to the false bottom. quick & easy * the amount of crud that seeps through is minimal.

cheers ross

Mine must of been one out of the bag. I "dug" around trying to get some flow but the thing still would not budge. I have had my sedation pills now. So my agro is all better now.

BYB

 

[pint of lager]

Brewing is a process of tuning. If something is out of tune you end up with a stuck sparge, or maybe a low efficiency, hazes, tannens, infections or other problems.

Since moving to a barley crusher mill and a false bottom mash tun that drains from the base there have been zero stuck sparges in over 60 brews.

 

[tangent]

i know your pain BYB
i found i had a small leak near one of the fittings that stopped everything a few times.
that's what prompted the "show me your bottom" thread
i found that a large rubber washer was squeezing out of shape and letting some air in, which completely f^<ked everything up.
now i just check everything out and give her a tickle with the shifter before i dough in.

 

[NRB]

I have been known to cut the surface of the mash with a knife similar to how Pint of Lager has stated, but I've never gone to the depth of the tun.

 

[Screwtop]

Used to use a long knife and slice through the grain bed to make slits in the muck that forms on the top and the run off would start again. Find the longer I used to recirc for, the more stuck sparges I had, put it down to more fine material forming the layer of muck over the grain bed. Mostly only recirc the floury first 500ml or so now and don't have the problem.

I have been known to cut the surface of the mash with a knife similar to how Pint of Lager has stated, but I've never gone to the depth of the tun.

Use the same method as NRB and Corny here. Use a long bladed knife to break up the surface of the grain bed, doesn't seem to disturb the filtering properties, the wort starts to run again, better than stirring and recirculating again. As Tidal Pete suggested maintaining sparge temp helps, need sparge water at 95C with my gear.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I had my first stuck sparge on the weekend

I was in a rush and didn't let the grain bed settle

A good stir and a little waiting and I was off again

Didn't seem to effect efficiency @ 79%

Cheers

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

As Tidal Pete suggested maintaining sparge temp helps, need sparge water at 95C with my gear.

On that I thought the sparge water would not have been that hot. I may have sparged at 70-75 tops. With what I have read, and maybe I have misinterpreted, if the water is to hot would you extract any nasties? <_<

BYB

 

[Ross]

On that I thought the sparge water would not have been that hot. I may have sparged at 70-75 tops. With what I have read, and maybe I have misinterpreted, if the water is to hot would you extract any nasties? <_<

BYB

If you are doing 2 equal runoffs (as I do), adding near boiling water will typically bring your mash up to approx 78c which is ideal. Over heating is more of a problem with fly sparging, where you are continually washing the grains with fresh water & tannins start to get extracted after the sugars been washed out - This does not happen with batch sparging. It's still better to keep the mashout below 80c, but don't stress if it goes a little above. The hotter mashout will aid the runoff & be less likely to stick.

cheers...

Ross

 

[Stuster]

To extract tannins you need two things: the grain over 76C AND the pH over 6. This scenario is much more likely when fly sparging than with batch sparging (though it's possible with either). I'm not a fly sparger, but I recall 78C being the most common recommendation for sparge water and sparging should stop when the gravity falls below 1008-1010. Batch sparging you can use water that's 85-90C (or more) without much danger of the grain bed rising above 76C.

I have found that keeping the sparge fairly hot is very helpful in avoiding stuck sparges, especially when using adjuncts like rye.

 

[Screwtop]

Bit of a misconception Sparging at 76 - 78C. The grainbed needs to be maintained at that temp. It's not the temp of the sparge water. Don't take too much notice of what the non fly spargers have to say regarding fly sparging and tanin extraction.

 

[Stuster]

Bit of a misconception Sparging at 76 - 78C. The grainbed needs to be maintained at that temp. It's not the temp of the sparge water. Don't take too much notice of what the non fly spargers have to say regarding fly sparging and tanin extraction.

Of course, it shouldn't happen with a well set-up system, but it's much easier for a beginner to go wrong in this area when fly sparging than with batch. (not really trying to stir up a fly v. batch argument

)

And this page might be useful.

 

[The King of Spain]

If you are doing 2 equal runoffs (as I do), adding near boiling water will typically bring your mash up to approx 78c which is ideal.

Ross what water vols into the tun do you use for a standard brew (say 5kg) for Mash and Sparge (assume batch) ?

Also do you think a clear wort is important? Using Koperfloc I just seem to end up with less break in the kettle so wonder if thats a zero sum game.

Cheers

 

[Ross]

Ross what water vols into the tun do you use for a standard brew (say 5kg) for Mash and Sparge (assume batch) ?

Also do you think a clear wort is important? Using Koperfloc I just seem to end up with less break in the kettle so wonder if thats a zero sum game.

Cheers

I mash at 2.8L /1kg. first mash out i add approx 10L of 98c water. Second mash out whateveres left at approx 85c (i leave to cool while doing first mash out). gives me 2 runoffs of approx 78c, but I don't worry whether its a bit higher or lower. I'm not sure of the real benefitts of a clear wort, having read a paper that said you get better break formation with a cloudy wort & that it's beneficial. I still try for a clear wort, but quite often it isn't & I've noticed no drop off in quality of the final beer. So i don't stress either way

cheers ross

 

[delboy]

randle got any pics of what you are tryig to explain?

boy oh boy i wonder if they had all these kinda problems back in the 8TH century when the monks made beer?

delboy

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I batch sparge and use near boiling water. I let it sit for approx 10mins then drain. It usually takes the third batch before the grain bed rises above 80*c