I always assumed that a stuck mash was the holes in the filter getting blocked up and causing the sparge to slow down. How wrong I was, Just conducting a sparge and the run off was progressing nicely with good flow rate, it started to slow slightly and I thought oh no here we go again, I normally sparge keeping the grain bed submerged by at least one and a half inch of water. Suddenly I remembered a brew where the mash bed ended up with a thin coating of fine particles which where clay like.
Anyway I thought I will just agitate the top inch or so of the grain bed just incase its getting clayey on top already. HEY PRESTO the run off returned to the previous flow rate and most importantly the clarity of the liqour was unaffected. Yippee!
Has anyone else noted that sparges may stick from the top of the mash bed? Or do they always stick there and I have been thick for six months?
Stuck Mash Question
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gnutz2
Re: Stuck Mash Question
No, you're not being stupid, I've had both types of stuck mash.
If the malt is very fine or i try to sparge too quickly my braided filter will block.
But like you said sometimes i get a puddle of water on a layer of very fine gunk on top of the malt.
Strange.
If the malt is very fine or i try to sparge too quickly my braided filter will block.
But like you said sometimes i get a puddle of water on a layer of very fine gunk on top of the malt.
Strange.
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Capped
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Re: Stuck Mash Question
I can't remember the last time I had a stuck mash,but when I brewed yesterday the clay-like layer on top of the grains was very prominent,more than I've ever seen. Guess I avoided a stuck mash 'cos I batch sparge so I wasn't trying to spray thru' the layer - it was revealed as the water drained away. What is this stuff? It was the last of a bag of malt I used and I noticed it was very floury....barney wrote:I Suddenly I remembered a brew where the mash bed ended up with a thin coating of fine particles which where clay like.
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GrowlingDogBeer
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Re: Stuck Mash Question
What could it be??Capped wrote:What is this stuff?
Ahh, it looks as though you have answered your own question.Capped wrote: It was the last of a bag of malt I used and I noticed it was very floury....
If the malt is too floury this can happen, just think what happens when you mix flour and water?
It would suggest that the malt may have been crushed a bit too fine, or that the flour has just settled to the bottom of the sack.
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barney
Re: Stuck Mash Question
Alls Well that ends well. Lovely clear wort at 87% brewhouse efficiency. I will have to adjust my default up from 70. The fawcetts malt is Fantastic even if a touch fine.