Sort of Stuck Mash and Burnt Brewmonk!

[David Woods]

Decided to cobble together a Pilsner brew that had 5kg of Pilsner malt with addition of flaked rice and Caramalt (300g each) as an experiment. I use a Brewmonk and normally mash in with 18L - the Brewmonk has 4L below the malt bin. This brew I mashed in with bit more - 19L but the mash seemed to get stuck with the recirculation going so slow it was almost stopped as the wort didn't seem to be draining.

I decided to give it a stir which helped a bit but it was still very slow. It got a lot better towards the end of the mash. Should I have used more mash water - I did read that rice was a bugger for causing a sticky mash. Was stirring the grain the right thing to get it going?

After the boil the bottom of the Brewmonk was badly burnt where the heater element is - any tips on the best way to clean that off. Was the stuck mash the cause as I have not had that happen before. Is there a way to stop the burning happening - don't fancy that sort of clear up every brew!

Thanks

 

[soupdragon]

Decided to cobble together a Pilsner brew that had 5kg of Pilsner malt with addition of flaked rice and Caramalt (300g each) as an experiment. I use a Brewmonk and normally mash in with 18L - the Brewmonk has 4L below the malt bin. This brew I mashed in with bit more - 19L but the mash seemed to get stuck with the recirculation going so slow it was almost stopped as the wort didn't seem to be draining.

I decided to give it a stir which helped a bit but it was still very slow. It got a lot better towards the end of the mash. Should I have used more mash water - I did read that rice was a bugger for causing a sticky mash. Was stirring the grain the right thing to get it going?

After the boil the bottom of the Brewmonk was badly burnt where the heater element is - any tips on the best way to clean that off. Was the stuck mash the cause as I have not had that happen before. Is there a way to stop the burning happening - don't fancy that sort of clear up every brew!

Thanks

Lemon juice always worked for me with the burnt on stuff but can't help with the stuck mash, sorry.

Cheers Tom

 

[Slid]

Decided to cobble together a Pilsner brew that had 5kg of Pilsner malt with addition of flaked rice and Caramalt (300g each) as an experiment. I use a Brewmonk and normally mash in with 18L - the Brewmonk has 4L below the malt bin. This brew I mashed in with bit more - 19L but the mash seemed to get stuck with the recirculation going so slow it was almost stopped as the wort didn't seem to be draining.

I decided to give it a stir which helped a bit but it was still very slow. It got a lot better towards the end of the mash. Should I have used more mash water - I did read that rice was a bugger for causing a sticky mash. Was stirring the grain the right thing to get it going?

After the boil the bottom of the Brewmonk was badly burnt where the heater element is - any tips on the best way to clean that off. Was the stuck mash the cause as I have not had that happen before. Is there a way to stop the burning happening - don't fancy that sort of clear up every brew!

Thanks

Rice hulls are a useful addition if you use sticky stuff like wheat malt, rye malt or oats.
You probably need ~ 2.7L water per kilo of grain, plus the dead space volume for mash water.

As Tom says, some sort of weak acid will help remove burnt gunk on the bottom. White Vinegar is my go to - it is in the kitchen mainly as a window cleaner, but is useful also for cleaning the last bits of gunk off the base plate an A-I-O system.

 

[MashBag]

Full volume mash might help.

A good soak & Stainless scrubbies should do it. Bar keepers friend which I think its acidic too.

 

[Buffers brewery]

You could try a beta-glucan rest, 30 minutes at 40C, before the mash. I do a b-c rest whenever I use oats in a recipe as it tends to stick. Might work with flaked rice

 

[MashBag]

Ferment in the kettle and let the yeast do the work.

 

[Larse]

+1 on the rice hulls. Makes a big difference to the mash permeability and also seems to increase mash efficiency. About 5% of the total grain bill works for me.

I'm afraid the only answer to the burnt bottom is lots of elbow grease. I use the nylon pads rather than stainless. Less scratches. Rice hulls should prevent this happening in the future.

 

[David Woods]

Thanks for the replies and help.

Cheers