Stuck sparge

[44man]

i am making stout and screwed up big time. I ran the flaked barley through the grinder.
It mashed perfect but when put in the sparge bucket not a drop of liquid. I tried everything and had to go to another sparge system. I finally got it done and it is boiling now.
I had to shut off the fire quick at the boil point, foam was coming up FAST. I got it stirred in and got a good boil going again. Hops are in.
Work to do yet to filter and cool so I can put in the yeast.

[41 mag fan]

I'll volunteer as a taste tester!!!

[tg32-20]

What you did with the barley is not a terrible thing, it just sucked up more liquid than normal. Sparge with more water till you reach the right ph and hope that it does not clog up the sparge system.

When your pot comes to boil and begins to foam, turning down the heat is most of the time to slow and not necessary. Just have some cold water handy and add enough to keep the boil under control.

Tom

[2muchstuf]

I put my flaked ingredients in a boiling bag for the steeping.
That way I'm not trying to sparge through oat meal.
Also do this with my bittering hops, flavoring and aroma hops just go into the boil.
Not so much to settle out for racking that way.
Happy brewing
2

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Some years ago, I won some 2 row malt barley that was ground too fine.
short story: 3 batches of beer...3 stuck sparges...remainding unmashed malt went to the compost.

what I did to those 3 batches was to stir-stir-stir the lauter tun, then after the boil, I let the trub settle and rack the liquor off of it, then threw the yeast...it still tasted like beer
Jon

[seanhagerty]

Anti Foam is your friend.

[44man]

I have a big coffee grinder out of a Starbucks machine. Cleaned long ago and adjusted. My Building & Maint friend found it at the dumpster at the airport, stripped it to the grinder and came and found me. The only thing wrong with the whole machine was a micro switch. This thing grinds about right and it takes minutes to grind a whole batch.
I have no problems with grain when sparging but this recipe called for 2-1/2# of flaked barley. I should have bought rice hulls.
It really is trying to get water through cooked oatmeal. It glues everything shut.
I would not put it in a bag.
When I do need a bag I found the 5 gallon, nylon paint strainer bags from Sherwin-Williams at $1 apiece are the same as the $10 bags.
If you make beer with cans of malt and use some grains, take a look in the paint store.
I do all grain.
I don't know how long I can afford this. I used to get 50# of malted barley for $19, then $21, then $35, then $50 and I think it is up to $63 now.

[oldarkie]

man i love this site. i joined for the boolits my #1hobby and now my #2 hobby beer making,havent gone to all grain yet , hope to soon.have a great day guys,and relax,dont worry,have a home brew.

[sdcitizen]

I see there is another language that this young feller needs to learn! Just planted a hops vine in the alley this weekend, hopefully that will spur some ambition to try the REAL homebrewing.

[koehn,jim]

Why dont you malt the barley yourself, its cheaper and not that hard. I have to do it once in awhile when making fuel.[/I]

[44man]

Why dont you malt the barley yourself, its cheaper and not that hard. I have to do it once in awhile when making fuel.[/I]

Thought about it but can't find it here.
Once it sprouts it needs to be dried or roasted. I can't use it right away.

[Adam10mm]

Rice hulls and batch sparging are good things to prevent a stuck mash.

[Agent1187]

I've had a couple of close calls. So far, I've been lucky enough in that a stir is all it takes to get it going again.
I've also thought about malting my own barley, but when I asked the local feed stores for some feed barley, they looked at me like I was asking for Unicorn food.
Even at more than $1/lb for base malts, it's still wayyy cheaper to brew than to buy 98% of beers.