Rice Hulls

[Traveling Fred]

So does anyone have any feedback on using rice hulls? I know you can add it to your mash to help prevent a stuck mash. Is there any downsides on using them?

Thanks,

Fred

[JonW]

Absolutely no down side. It is basically an inert ingredient, but it helps with sticky grains like wheat, maris otter, etc. I keep a container on hand all the time and will add if I'm getting dough balls during mash-in.

[dhempy]

Just brewed a big oatmeal stout Sunday ... had about 1.5 lbs of hulls in with the 44 oz of oatmeal and 35 lbs of everything else. My mash didn't get stuck, but it sure wasn't flowing freely either. I had to switch from my normal batch sparge to fly sparging in order to complete the brewday. Pretty sure that without the hulls I would've been stuck. I'm just a little bit sorry I didn't have a bit more in there ... but my MT was pretty fill during the mash.

Anyhow, +1 for Jon said ... I typically buy 5 lbs and have it around ... but I make the decision to add before dough in.

Dan

[BrewMasterBrad]

I use rice hulls when I am using adjuncts that don't have there own hulls or can be sticky - like oats and rye. They can be a life saver for sure. No flavor contribution to the beer. There are many variables related to getting a stuck mash, like mashtun geometry, grain bill, and grain to water ratio. I would say that if you are brewing a beer that you think may result in a stuck mash, use the rice hulls since they are cheap insurance and nothing sucks more than a stuck mash. Just make sure you include the weight of the rice hulls when you are doing your strike water temp calculations.

[bwarbiany]

No downside. I brew with rye frequently, so I use them often. Whether you get a stuck mash, though, also depends on your system. I've forgotten rice hulls on rye beers before, but haven't had a stuck mash.

[Traveling Fred]

Thanks guys! Looks like I'll be stock piling. I've already had a couple of stuck mashes this year so I'll be using plenty of it from now on.

Fred

[lexuschris]

.. and nothing sucks more than a stuck mash.

Amen brother!

I always keep them on-hand now.
--LexusChris