Just cleared up after a mash that got well and truly stuck. Had made a new mash tun with copper pipe etc in a cool box, and assumed at first that the slots in the pipe were cut too small or something. After a few moments of very milky run off, absolutely well stuck -hardly a dribble from the tap.
So no worries - closed off, added water, stirred up, let settle, gently opened tap to recirculate the first drawings, and after three seconds, well and truly stuck again.
Assuming it was my new mash tun and the pipe slots were too small, I cleaned and sterilised the old mash tun, and transferred everything to that one. Added water to bring up to temp, let settle, and opened tap on old tun very gingerly. Same problem. After a few seconds, well and truly stuck.
Began to suspect it wasn't the tuns. In fact, had noticed that the grain was very 'floury', with a lot of dust, when I doughed up.
Anyone had problems with stuck sparges because of too much flour in the grain?
In the end, I sparged in two batches. The beer seems OK - in fact, the gravity is higher than expected so the efficiency seems OK. But ye gods, what a palaver. I'm resisting the temptation to blame the supplier, but I would welcome reflections from folks.
Bad Hair Day!
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brewzone
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hoppingMad
Can't help but wonder if what brewzone suggests is correct, flour from the bottom of a sack or something. It could also account for your unexpectedly higher mash eff.
With this theory under your belt, I would suggest you return to the store and examine the crush they are providing by looking at a "typical" sample of their grain after crushing, rather than a sample that may have come from the bottom of the sack. Not saying it did, just that it might be your problem.
Once you have a handle on what a good crush looks like i.e. when its in a plastic bag, how much flour settles to the bottom and just what the husks look like, you will be in a better position to judge crushed grain in the future. This is actually a worth while thing to do.
Flour is good ! more flour is better ! But sadly, you can have too much. But just how much is too much is something you need to get to know by eyeballing grains that have been either too finely crushed ( which to my mind is unlikely) or grains that contain too much flour after settling out.
With this theory under your belt, I would suggest you return to the store and examine the crush they are providing by looking at a "typical" sample of their grain after crushing, rather than a sample that may have come from the bottom of the sack. Not saying it did, just that it might be your problem.
Once you have a handle on what a good crush looks like i.e. when its in a plastic bag, how much flour settles to the bottom and just what the husks look like, you will be in a better position to judge crushed grain in the future. This is actually a worth while thing to do.
Flour is good ! more flour is better ! But sadly, you can have too much. But just how much is too much is something you need to get to know by eyeballing grains that have been either too finely crushed ( which to my mind is unlikely) or grains that contain too much flour after settling out.
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Whorst