Rice Hulls

[bobukbrewer]

Hi all, our American friends often use rice hulls to prevent stuck mashes, here in the UK could we substitute with wheat bran ? Thanks.

 

[NicF]

I've never heard of anyone trying it, it would be interesting to know how it performs.

However since rice hulls and oat husks, which perform the same purpose, are easily available I don't think I'd want to risk a brew finding out.

 

[Clint]

Regards to rice hulls I'm sure I've read somewhere that the majority available are of Chinese origin and could have been subjected to widespread pesticide treatment (or something like).

 

[The Baron]

When I need to use them which is rarely I use Oat husks as rice hulls were a lot more expensive unless the prices have moved since I bought some a couple of years ago

 

[gyurmaember]

Regards to rice hulls I'm sure I've read somewhere that the majority available are of Chinese origin and could have been subjected to widespread pesticide treatment (or something like).

I think in an another discussion, a supplier denied this.

 

[sifty]

We don't seem to have rice hulls here in NZ. I've used oat hulls no probs...

 

[Alastair70]

Rice hulls are readily available, I’ll throw a handful into most brews and add up to 200g for wheat beers. You can pre-soak them to prevent wort absorption, but I usually don’t bother. A 1kg bag cost a couple of quid and will last for ages.

https://www.geterbrewed.com/rice-hulls-ebc-none/

 

[JockyBrewer]

Oat husks do the same as rice hulls.

I tend to rinse mine before use as they often seem very dusty - you end up with a load of horrid grey water coming off of them.

 

[nidge]

Does anybody know if rice hulls would improve extraction when mashing BIAB and "dunk sparging "

 

[MashBag]

I thought they came about as a fix, to help flow through a malt tube.

 

[JockyBrewer]

Does anybody know if rice hulls would improve extraction when mashing BIAB and "dunk sparging "

No they won't.

They're to help flow through the grain bed when lautering/sparging in a traditional mash setup. With a bag you can just stir the mash, so there's no need.

I guess the one exception might be if you're doing a beer with 70%+ of the grist being huskless (e.g. wheat or rye) as you might want something in there to stop it turning into a big ball of glue.

 

[MashBag]

Jocky, I did think with was something different from gluetenisation (thick protein gloop at 70c ish)? Imo more a issue with the crush being to fine (and prolly poor mixing) so the grain bed gets compacted.

 

[JockyBrewer]

Jocky, I did think with was something different from gluetenisation (thick protein gloop at 70c ish)? Imo more an issue with the crush being to fine (and prolly poor mixing) so the grain bed gets compacted.

I didn’t find they didn’t help back when I was getting stuck mashes regularly (due to compaction) in my mash tun, but there’s little harm in using them, so if it helps you then go for it.

The question I was answering was specifically about BIAB. If you’re mashing in a bag or even a fine mesh basket you can stir the mash whenever you want. Flow through the grain bed isn’t a concern and additional husks won’t help you.