Very slow sparge/stuck mash on Grainfather

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gobuchul
Steady Drinker
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Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2018 12:07 pm

Very slow sparge/stuck mash on Grainfather

Post by gobuchul » Tue Oct 23, 2018 1:11 pm

I am on brew number 7 with my Grainfather.

For some reason, on the last 2 I have had a mash that is very slow to drain and sparge. Not completely "stuck" but very slow.

Any tips for avoiding this?

dbambrick996
Piss Artist
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Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:56 pm

Re: Very slow sparge/stuck mash on Grainfather

Post by dbambrick996 » Tue Oct 23, 2018 3:30 pm

Add oat or rice hulls to your mash, it will help especially if using wheat, oats. Check the crush size is not too fine

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Hairybiker
Hollow Legs
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Re: Very slow sparge/stuck mash on Grainfather

Post by Hairybiker » Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:54 am

More details, same recipe and malt or different etc.

Kingfisher4
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Location: Derbyshire, UK

Re: Very slow sparge/stuck mash on Grainfather

Post by Kingfisher4 » Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:27 am

This might help, copied from my previous reply in sparge water volume thread:

I Initially found that the suggested mash and sparge volumes from the Grainfather app made a very thick consistency grain bed that was difficult to stir and tip the malt additions out single-handedly.
I had read elsewhere a suggestion to increase the mash volume slightly and reduce the Sparge volume by the same amount. I tend to add an extra 2 L to the mash liquor from the app and subtract the same from the Sparge.
When the Sparge drainage is slowing down I move the grain tube onto a 10 L Fermenting bin, for the last runnings to drain whilst starting the boil.

I am achieving high percentage extraction efficiency and hitting the target volume for the fermenting vessel, sometimes slightly exceeding the ABV and target fermenting vessel volume, but I’m fairly relaxed about that slight variation. Not had a slow sparge yet.

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