Hi all,
I plan to brew my first hefeweizen this weekend. I’ve read bunches of posts on stuck sparges when brewing with wheat so I’m a little nervous.
In the grainbill there is 5.5 lbs pale wheat malt and 4 lbs german pils…no mention of adding any rice hulls or anything in the recipe.
Am I being overly nervous without reason?
Keep in mind the worst thing that could happen is you get a stuck sparge. If that happens simply stir the mash and start running off again a bit slower. If you are still having trouble add some boiling/hot water to raise the bed temp and then restart the sparge.
I almost always throw in some rice hulls.
If its not too difficult, I would also suggest a beta-glucan rest at 100-105* at the beginning of your mash and maybe a SHORT protein rest (otherwise you will destroy all your head). Granted, you could just ‘deal’ with the stuck sparge, but you may not hit your volumes.
Make sure you have a ton of headspace in the carboy or use a blow-off tube too.
Add a half pound of rice hulls. They don’t add anything to the beer, just piece if mind during sparging.
