Do these work for you? I’ve used them and never thought they did anything but soak up more wort. I don’t get many stuck mashes, and if I do I’ll just stir and vorlauf again. I also have good luck raking the top of the grain bed.
If my grain bill is more than 50% wheat, I use rice hulls and have been very happy with the results. No stuck mashes, and I haven’t noticed any reduced wort volume.
I bought a big bag of them before I brewed my first CAP with about 25% flaked corn because I thought it would help with the lautering. So I’ve used them for this beer twice now but never for any other beer. I soak in the mash tun with hot water to : 1) Rinse them off, 2) rehydrate them so I don’t absorb a bunch of wort, and 3) preheat the mash tun. Then I run that water off. So I don’t include them in my grain bill for the purposes of determining absorption.
The last time I considered not bothering but since I had them I used them. It worked well and I had a nice easy runoff. But I’m thinking I could probably have gotten away with not bothering. The next time I brew this beer I’ll probably just see how it works without them.
Rice Hulls = sparge insurance
I use 2-3 handfulls for every mash, 4-5 when using wheat or rye.
I’ve never had a stuck runoff, so I’ve never had a reason to use them.
Depends on your crush, too. I get good results when buying from MLHBS, but bought a bag of Canadien malt pre-crushed and it was too fine! A pound of rice hulls did the trick!
I made a mistake once with rice hulls. I thought it would be a good idea to put all the hulls into the strike water first and then add the malts. What happened was all the rice hulls sank right to the bottom under the pressure of the malt and immediately clogged up my stainless false bottom, resulting in a seriously stuck mash. I ended up scooping all the mash out into a separate sparge vessel to finish the mash. Next time I think I’ll mix the hulls in with all the grains.
I used them once when I made my first weissbier (about 60% wheat). I wanted to see if they actually made a difference, so I didn’t use them when I next brewed the weissbier. No sparge issues whatsoever. Never used rice hulls since.
If I brew with more than 5% unmalted grains or more than 20% wheat or rye, I consider rice hulls insurance.
I have never used them. A lot of folks will but I haven’t tried. I even brewed a 100% all-wheat-stout and didn’t need them. Probably wouldn’t have hurt during that brew, but all went pretty well.
Jeff, that is the way that I’ve always done it. Add the hulls first and then mix in the grain. I have a RIMS and always turn off the pump when doughing in. Sorry for the problem.
Hmmm. Pump wasn’t on yet when that happened. I usually dump all the grain in at once before commencing the stirring. Is that what you do?
If you stir then why would it matter?
After posing this question, I decided to brew a rye APA this morning (20% rye malt). I used a handful of hulls just for insurance and of course everything ran off just fine.
'Just trying to figure out why it stuck so bad when I did it that way. I certainly won’t do it exactly the same the next time.
I do dough in slowly and mix all the while. I’m pretty sure the hulls are interspersed.
In thinking about it, its probably better to add them in such a way that they get well mixed into the grist. They’re basically replacing the husks on grain that have none. Having them at the bottom means you have a cake of stuff above that won’t let wort through. When interspersed they allow the mash cake to be porous.
i used them occasionally when brewing with wheat or rye, but ever since I learned about malt conditioning on this site, IMO they are no longer necessary.
+1. I brew a beer with 50% wheat very regularly (weekly in fact) and never use them and never have a problem. That said, YMMV. 
+.5 -should clarify I use a sabco keg with their false bottom… I went from Denny’s cooler method so I could direct fire my MT. Didn’t need them with Denny’s setup as well. I have a big bag just sitting there #5pounds is huge… maybe if I forget to malt condition someday I will need them again in a panic.
I use rice hulls in almost all my brews because they greatly improve the circulation in my mash tun.