CRANKANDSTEIN

03/21/2022

Chancing a stuck mash, the last two beers I made had the grain crushed finer than usual. They had wheat malt, too. The recirculation at the end of the mash schedule pulled the grain bed down tight and made runoff slow as expected. One batch barely released any liquid into the boil kettle by gravity. The other batch ran out about a gallon and a half in 15 minutes. To restore the flow rate, runoff into the kettle was stopped, and the grain bed was stirred and thinned with several gallons of water. The recirculation to set the bed and clear the runoff took less than 5 minutes. Runoff by gravity then flowed at 4 to 5 minutes per gallon that finished with 7+ gallons in under an hour total sparge time. This rate is about the usual flow for me. Without the lag time for sticking, sparges take around 40 minutes. Exact efficiency figures vary according to how they're calculated, but the results are near 90%. Put in practical terms, I plan recipes at 6 points per pound of grain for a 5 gallon batch. An 11 pound grain bill comes out to 1.066. I haven't found it worth differentiating the grain types.
The moral of the story is that a stuck mash doesn't have to be a big deal. Break it up, dilute it, and recirculate no longer than necessary. Forget worrying about it.

01/24/2021

The Sponge Sparge
The usual thinking about the sparge is based on the grain forming a filter bed, a layer that holds back particles as water passes through it rinsing out the sugars on the way to the boil kettle. The bed of grain is set by recirculating the wort, compacting the layer to the extent necessary to clarify the runoff. The emphasis of this method places a high priority on clarity at the expense of the sugar extraction, with efficiency percentages tending to range from the 70's for homebrewers to the 90's among professionals. Other expenses are time and quality since a compacted bed slows runoff increasing the chances for tannin extraction and channeling of water. At the worst, it results in a stuck sparge, wasting time and in some cases the grain itself. The challenge for homebrewers especially and professionals having trouble controlling and optimizing gravity levels is to develop techniques that produce quick, consistent and efficient results.
An alternate way of handling the grain bed is to treat it like a sponge. Stirring the mash up off the bottom expands the solid material and mixes in the liquids. The mixture is cloudy initially. It settles gradually with time, or more quickly with recirculation or runoff much like a saturated sponge that loses water whether it sits or is squeezed.
Recirculation helps get the loose solids out from under the false bottom and returns them to the top. Minimizing this step reduces compaction and time lost. It's here that the emphasis on clarity becomes markedly different for the sponge approach compared to the usual filter method. The sponge runoff may still be somewhat cloudy and contain particles. This is more in line with old German brewing techniques and the brew-in-a-bag method than it is with most modern ones. Cloudiness is also a characteristic of New England IPAs and hefeweizens. The immediate advantages are that the runoff will begin sooner since there's less recirculation time, and the runoff is faster because the looser bed is more porous.
The grain bed will compact with time and runoff. Water added from above to replace the runoff will weigh on it. The sponge may become a dense layer again. It's unlikely the full kettle volume will get collected before compaction. With a looser grain bed, the amount in the kettle can get there in a shorter amount of time. The time savings can then be used to gain another advantage. By stirring the bed up again, the clean water on top refills the sponge, improving its ability to dissolve the sugar left in the middle and bottom of a compacted bed. Any channels formed that leak water past the bed are removed.
A minimal recirculation clears the particles, and runoff can resume in a matter of minutes. The kettle will fill noticeably quicker again. The lighter mixture is likely to float better during the second run. The stirring procedure can be repeated any number of times. Also, it pays to take readings when a controlled amount of gravity is needed.
A practical advantage to the sponge sparge is that it can be used in cases where the runoff is sluggish or sticks badly. By adding water, stirring the bed, and minimizing compaction, a problem sparge will often result in decent or even high efficiency.
The sponge approach is compatible with batch sparges and fly sparges. In practice, the recirculation can be watched or timed for the desired degree of clarity, and the runoff can be carried out in the usual way.

08/11/2020

A 55 gallon drum with a tight fitting lid keeps grain in good shape for years. Three full bags will stand up together in the bottom, taking up about two-thirds of the volume. The trick is tipping the drum and first two bags horizontal and stuffing in the third. It's way easier to stand 150+ lbs. back up with two people than it is doing it alone.
Any bag sitting low is the one to pull up first to even them out. Label the contents at the top of each bag. A gallon bucket with a handle can scoop maybe 4 lbs at a time. A box that fits the remaining space makes it convenient to contain assorted smaller amounts and remove them when accessing the lower bags.
I still use 10 year old base malts that are stored this way and get normal results.

05/07/2020

Georgia Malt called. Sounds like they're getting the process fine tuned. Looking forward to brewing with their malt in the next month or two.

10/23/2018

Slotted rollers chop the grain rather than crush it. The edges of the slots catch the kernels in a scissor action that breaks the grain into granular chunks. This cuts up the husk into small pieces with very little separation of the starch from the husk. It's similar to the crush of the Corona mills that were originally designed to crack corn. The tighter the gap is set, the smaller the particle size gets. Different batches can quickly change from a fast running, low efficiency filter to a sticky mush. The choice becomes a compromise. Starch and enzymes are slow to go into solution and convert to sugar, or there's not much husk size to float the bed.

Homebrewers usually start off with a coarse crush from the local supply shop. They're taught to avoid flour as a way of preventing stuck sparges. It makes sense for the new brewer to have a safe batch even if the expense is higher and the quality is lower.

Advanced systems provide better control of shorter mashes and sparges that reduce tannins and increase gravity yields. This is done with finer crushes to the starch that separate it without so much damage to the husk. At first glance, there's a noticeable amount of flour. Less obvious is the larger husk particles. It takes a real close look to see that the pointed ends of the kernels hold smaller amounts of material. This is where those extra percentage points of efficiency come from. By sparging a well-floated bed with less water, quality goes up. Sparge longer with less grain, expenses go down. Or do some of both. More beer, better beer, less expense.

09/05/2018

That big bush you don't like but haven't cut down might make a good hop trellis. The natural growth pattern of hops is to climb and cover other tall things, which is why they called it lupulus, the wolf. Here in the South, the day length isn't ideal, so it helps to have an overnight light source, like a street lamp to increase yields.

07/26/2018

Craft beer started in the community, and now it helps sustain the community. The parallel with farming shows that independent brewing is an undeniable part of our heritage and future.

While many companies are struggling to compete in today's shifting industrial landscape, breweries are thriving.

07/22/2018

The new speed pouring systems utilize a rather simple device. The tap spout has slots in the very end of a bent tube submerged in the glass as it fills. The slots release the beer more gradually than a plain tube end, and below the surface of the beer to avoid splash. More CO2 stays in solution, reducing the foam on top and prolonging head retention during consumption. The line pressure can be increased to speed up flow. This would also put more carbonation in your beers bottled from the keg for competitions.