jdauria

Recipes 

Brewing this weekend, 2nd AG, first using Barley Crusher. I picked up some extra grain for practice. My mill is set at .035. Does the grain in pic look properly crushed? It's Caraaroma.

2nd question, will cordless drill work on the BC or do you need a power one? Used cordless but it seemed to just skip spinning the axel some.

Thanks!

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Primary - Apricot Blonde Ale
Secondary - Empty
Bottled - Dry Dock Pale Ale, Hell-es for Children.
Future Brews: Surly Furious clone (June 2012).

DakotaRules

Recipes 

Your crush looks little fine for me, I would back it out to .039 (factory) and condition your malt before milling. It'll be fine. Your looking for cracked grains and whole hulls not powder.

I use both a cordless and corded drill. Just make sure to tighten the chuck and it shouldn't skip.

Golddiggie

Recipes 

I use a DeWalt 18v cordless drill to power my BC... I set it to the lowest speed range (has three different ranges, so the one for screws) and then running it at about half speed. This gives me about 250rpm to the shaft. I've found that going slower than the suggested max rpm on the BC yields a better crush. I can still go through 3-4 pounds per minute (maybe a bit more) this way.

Depending on your drill, I would work to get it spinning in the 200-300 rpm range for milling grain. I've not [yet] conditioned my malt, but I do plan on trying it at some point. I do use the default setting of .039" on my BC. Of course, I've checked it with feeler gauges to make sure it's even.

BTW, welcome to milling your grain on brew day. Something really satisfying (IMO) about having that level of control over the grist. I can't imagine ever having someone else mill my grain for me. I did have that done one time since getting my BC (the local HBS) and my efficiency suffered greatly.

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Hopping Tango Brewery

"Do you wanna get hiiiigh?" - Towelie

On Tap: MO SMaSH, English Brown Ale, Dark Cream Ale
Waiting/Carbonating: MO SMaSH, Caramel Cream Ale
Primaries
K1:
K2: Mocha Porter
K3:
K4:
K5:
Aging: Wee Honey MkII, mead and maple wine, mocha madness II, Old Ale (on medium toast cherry wood)
On Deck: Lickah (English IPA)
Mead [bottled]:Oaked Wildflower Traditional, Mocha Madness, Wildflower Traditional, Blackberry Melomel

shanecb

Recipes 

I just have mine at the factory setting, as well. Definitely gives a good crush.

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Primary - Nothing
Secondary - Wild Brett clementine sour beer


2010 - 62.5 gallons
2011 - 62.5 gallons

jdauria

Recipes 

Thanks! I'll back it to factory and try to get drill set right. I was planning on conditioning the malt, might as well go for the gusto first time milling!

__________________
Yes, my profile pic is me kissing the Boston Celtics 2008 championship trophy! Pays to have friends that work for the team!

Primary - Apricot Blonde Ale
Secondary - Empty
Bottled - Dry Dock Pale Ale, Hell-es for Children.
Future Brews: Surly Furious clone (June 2012).

Golddiggie

Recipes 

You can always try changing the gap later, after a few batches have been milled by it, IF you don't like the results you're getting.

__________________
Hopping Tango Brewery

"Do you wanna get hiiiigh?" - Towelie

On Tap: MO SMaSH, English Brown Ale, Dark Cream Ale
Waiting/Carbonating: MO SMaSH, Caramel Cream Ale
Primaries
K1:
K2: Mocha Porter
K3:
K4:
K5:
Aging: Wee Honey MkII, mead and maple wine, mocha madness II, Old Ale (on medium toast cherry wood)
On Deck: Lickah (English IPA)
Mead [bottled]:Oaked Wildflower Traditional, Mocha Madness, Wildflower Traditional, Blackberry Melomel

erikhild59

Recipes 

I've seen many references to "conditioning the grain" before the crush. Please explain.thx

DakotaRules

Recipes 

Ill post my video shortly!

carrotmalt

Recipes 

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I like a little more beer in my beer.

CBK

Recipes 

Here you go this should answer your question.