Home of the BrewNosers

So the last 2 brews I've done on my grainfather i've had stuck sparges. I always used to get my grain at Everwood and never had issues. The last 2 I've had to remove the top plate and scrape the bottom to make sure the water can circulate again but doesn't work all the time. Anything I can do (other than get my own mill) to avoid this in the future? Not sure if they can change the settings per customer or.....

I haven't had any trouble in the robobrew. In fact I've noticed better efficiency when I get grains from NG.

You can use rice hulls to help with that.

Tim Gregory wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 03, 2020 11:51 am

I haven't had any trouble in the robobrew. In fact I've noticed better efficiency when I get grains from NG.

Strange part is that my mash effenciency was great @ 85% but no matter how much I stired the mash, the water would not filter thru.

With my cooler mash, I've gotten a stuck sparge if I drained too quick. I now do a couple vorlaufs and ramp up the out flow gradually after I feel the grain bed is set without over compacting it. But yeah, especially if you have a thick mash and/or significant wheat/oats/rye, rice hulls are certainly a good idea.

It might just be a fluke that you got 2 stuck sparges in a row. I've been milling my own for many years and get the odd stuck sparge. Say 3 out of 50 batches. I crush mine to the point where I know I will get full penetration of the grain and good efficiency and accept that the odd time it will get stuck. I re-stir, re-vorlouf and carry on.

I crush my own grains so can't compare with Noble Grape. However, with my Robobrew, I get a very slow to stuck sparge when using Weyermann Pils. The rest of my brews with either pale malt or maris otter were fine. Rice hulls in the mash fixed that up.

What is your water/grain ratio. I use 1.7 qts/lb of water to grain, never had a stuck sparge.

McGruff wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:10 am

What is your water/grain ratio. I use 1.7 qts/lb of water to grain, never had a stuck sparge.

right now i'm at 1.3 qts /lb

wader98 wrote:

Tim Gregory wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 03, 2020 11:51 am

I haven't had any trouble in the robobrew. In fact I've noticed better efficiency when I get grains from NG.

Strange part is that my mash effenciency was great @ 85% but no matter how much I stired the mash, the water would not filter thru.

I always put 100g through at NG as a test and at least half the time I have to adjust the rollers as it's way too fine a grind. Last person may have done wheat or oats or who knows. Grinding your grist to mostly flour DOES bump that efficiency though


Sent from my SM-N950W using Tapatalk