| Author |
Message |
    
Ben Schy
Junior Member
Username: Bens
Post Number: 62
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 01:36 pm: | 
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Brewed what was supposed to be a copy of Denny's RyePA last night. I had to cut the grain bill slightly to fit in my 5-gallon Gott. It was the longest brew session I have ever had - 6.5 hours, thanks to a 3-hour stuck sparge - first one I have experienced. Very frustrating. I modified my original recipe to reflect what actually happened:
http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator?item=4395
At any rate, I want to build a bigger cooler-based tun tonight. I figure if I move up to 10 gallons, I wont have a problem with big beers at 5 gallons and regular beers at 10.
If I use a large rectangular cooler, how should I distrubute the recirculating mash and/or sparge water? Am I going to have more issues with channeling? Are there 10-gallon cylindrical coolers out there? |
Doug Pescatore
Advanced Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 897
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 01:59 pm: |
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Batch Sparge and SS braided hose
No worries mon............ |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 378
Registered: 01-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 02:08 pm: |
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Yes, there are 10 gallon round coolers, but I think Doug's advice is simple and more than adequate. |
Tom Meier
Member
Username: Brewdawg96
Post Number: 178
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 03:10 pm: |
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Ben,
I hate stuck mashes too..get them in a keg using 30+ pounds of grain. Rice hulles help some.
Buy a 12 gallon ice cube from wal-mart ($12) or 15 gallon ice cube from Sams ($19), and use a braided SS hose. They are better than my full size SABCO false bottom. Run off really really fast with no sticking.. yet.
For how to build one, there is an article with pics here:
http:/www.antiochsudsuckers.com/tom/
If you want to build one today, no waiting, check out Denny's page
http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/
the mini-keg bung works perfectly for this cooler, the phils relieph bung needed 3/8" ID vinyl hose to get a good seal
(Message edited by brewdawg96 on August 26, 2004) |
Denny Conn
Senior Member
Username: Denny
Post Number: 3376
Registered: 01-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 03:31 pm: |
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I've found that stuck runoffs seems to be related more to the equipment you use than the grist bill. My coooler/SS braid system has many times successfully lautered a mash that fdalse bottom or manifold systems couldn't.
LIfe begins at 60...1.060, that is.
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Belly Buster Bob
Senior Member
Username: Canman
Post Number: 1826
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 04:29 pm: |
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I'm going to chime in here as the fly sparge advocate. I hate it when batch sparging is called a solution when it is merely another method.
I have to respectfully dissagree with Denny in that if it was equipment related it would happen at least most of the time. Stuck sparges are usually mash related(fine grind for example)
This is my dual manifold mash tun in a 48qt cooler. I fly sparge most of the time but do an occasional batch sparge for fun. Works for me
http://www.bellybuster.noadweb.com/mash_tun.htm |
Belly Buster Bob
Senior Member
Username: Canman
Post Number: 1827
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 04:35 pm: |
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sure would like one of those 15 gallon cubes |
Denny Conn
Senior Member
Username: Denny
Post Number: 3378
Registered: 01-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 04:49 pm: |
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BBB, I'm not saying my way is the only way..just that it has reliably worked for me, and that I've seen other systems and methods have problems where I don't. Just suggesting it as a possible remedy.
LIfe begins at 60...1.060, that is.
|
Doug Pescatore
Advanced Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 899
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 05:02 pm: |
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Just my observation here, but in the last 2 years of reading this forum it seems to me that the majority of people that experience stuck sparges are those that have false bottoms. I use a SS braided hose and have never had a stuck sparge even with 3 pounds of oatmeal in an oatmeal stout. I don't use rice hulls, because I have never needed them.
IMHO, a sticky mash (wheat, oatmeal, rice, or rye) and a false bottom are the right combination for a very slow or stuck sparge.
-Doug |
Tom Meier
Member
Username: Brewdawg96
Post Number: 179
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 05:09 pm: |
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I think it is related to geometry as much as it is the type of bottom.
People with false bottoms are usually using tall mash tuns with deep grainbeds. 5 gallon gotts, converted kegs.
People with braided hose are using wideer mash tuns with shallow grainbeds. |
Chumley
Senior Member
Username: Chumley
Post Number: 2159
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 05:14 pm: |
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Tips for those brewing with false bottoms (like me) and sticky ingredients who have been getting stuck mashes (like I used to):
At the beginning of runoff, make the runoff flowrate very slow. Recirculate it at this slow speed over and over again. Once the wort gets very clear, then you can open it up and let it flow. As you sparge, use your mash paddle to cut through the gummy stuff that settles on top of the mash to allow the sparge water to seep through (the grey gummy stuff is pretty impermeable).
I view lautering as very similar to a work task I used to perform for many years, that of developing a water well. The sticky mash is the equivalent of a clayey formation. In each case, the trick is to slowly remove the fines from the filter bed so that the fines further away do not rush in to replace the fines removed. Once a graded filter bed is established, you can let the flow go within reason (too fast and you still can cause the filter bed to collapse).
The last beer I brewed was a hefe with 70% wheat malt. I had no problems whatsoever. |
Doug Pescatore
Advanced Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 900
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 05:28 pm: |
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Tom,
In my case I mash in the family cooler then dump in my bottling bucket with a bung and SS braided hose. That is pretty much on the tall and skinny side and I have not had any problems.
-Doug |
Ben Schy
Junior Member
Username: Bens
Post Number: 63
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 05:54 pm: |
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I replaced my manifold with about 3 feet of ss braided hose, which I took from around a reinforced water hookup hose. Even then, when I added the mash back ontop, it went very, very slow. |
Doug Pescatore
Advanced Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 901
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 05:55 pm: |
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You replaced the water hookup hose?  |
Connie
Member
Username: Connie
Post Number: 203
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 06:12 pm: |
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Ben, Yes there are 10 gallon round coolers out there, the 10 gallon GOTT is used by a surprising number of us. with your choice of screens/falsebottoms/manifolds this can be a very workable setup. check out the link below:
http://www.ingermann.com/mashtun.html |
Michael
Intermediate Member
Username: Hoppop
Post Number: 496
Registered: 03-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 07:49 pm: |
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I do not use a manifold,
I do not own a silly screen,
Sparging through a braided hose,
Usually works, or so it seems,
I've batch sparged fast,
I've slow sparged too,
But, that ••••••• rye,
Still turns to glue,
Your system is fine,
Don't upgrade with more cash,
The secret, you see,
Is doing a left coast hippie mash.
 |
Denny Conn
Senior Member
Username: Denny
Post Number: 3382
Registered: 01-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 08:04 pm: |
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"Is doing a left coast hippie mash"..ROTFLAFAO!!!!
Can I put that on my website?
LIfe begins at 60...1.060, that is.
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Michael
Intermediate Member
Username: Hoppop
Post Number: 497
Registered: 03-2002
| | Posted on Friday, August 27, 2004 - 12:04 am: |
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>>>>Can I put that on my website?>>>
Ha, only for a case of Gone Awry, or what the hell ever it's called these days. I'll buy it, but I ain't sparging it.  |
Brews and Views Archive 2004 
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