Grade my Crush! Poor Efficiency

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br1dge

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We have always been on the lower end of the efficiency scale 65-70%, but usually good enough that we didn't worry too much about it, but our last batch was just too damn low (50%) These are 20G recipes of some pretty big beers, (1.080,) so I expect to take a hit compared to 5G of a 1.050 beer, but at this scale, the cost difference in the grain bill for 50 vs 75% efficiency is enough to start thinking about it more.

Can I get some feedback on this crush?

i-WNghJh4-L.jpg
 
Seems like I am seeing a lot of uncrushed hulls. Not the best crush I have seen... they probably put too much in at once, trying to hurry things along. We'll see what other people have to say about it....
 
Maybe lay them out on a big cutting board, run a roller pin over them... see what happens to your efficiency then.
 
Either do the rolling pin-PITA or since you got them locally go back and have the run through the mill again, IMO that is a piss poor crush!

While you're there talk to them about their mill settings and re-calibrating.
 
While you're there talk to them about their mill settings and re-calibrating.


This is probably the best advice, go back and get them to crush it proper. Like the saying goes though, if you want something done right, do it yourself. You should not be seeing so many uncrushed hulls.
 
F-, that crush is Shi-tay. Looks like you have a lot of uncrushed grain, and its hard to tell fro the photo, but I'm guessing little to no flour.
 
hard to tell the overall crush from one pic, but what I see looks way too coarse. TBH - if all the grain is like that, I am not surprised your efficiency took such a big hit. What a bummer :(

I bet they havent adjusted their mill in quite some time and it's due for a tune-up. You might ask if they would be willing to adjust it; if not, I would look into other options. Owning and mill and buying grain in bulk is quite liberating.
 
F-, that crush is Shi-tay. Looks like you have a lot of uncrushed grain, and its hard to tell fro the photo, but I'm guessing little to no flour.

F- is a bit harsh. I give it an F. Buy a mill if that is the crush your LHBS is selling.
 
F- is a bit harsh. I give it an F. Buy a mill if that is the crush your LHBS is selling.

Or tell them you'll start buying from somewhere else. If they are boning you don't buy your mill from them just because they aren't doing their job. A second run through should help a bit at the very least.
 
I would say get a mill of your own anyways if you plan on brewing more than once a year, that way you have complete control over the grain crush and can take that off your worry list with efficiency
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone... I will talk with them to see what's up.. Most people rave about BMW's crush, and since its about all we ever use, we didn't have anything to compare it to.
 
It could have just been a couple bad batches you got. Each hull should be cracked open, ideally. Grab a little handful of 20 or so grain pieces, look to see how many are actually cracked open. If you count half, there you go... your 50% efficiency accounted for.
 
That's the worst crush I've ever seen

Don't take it personally, dear OP, mr br1dge! Not your fault. Even the same type of grain comes/grows in different sizes, they should adjust their mill accordingly. Just tell them you want all your hulls cracked open. When they are done, grab a little handful, show them what they missed and say you want it all. Or, get your own crusher... will make you happy.
 
I just went and checked out the mill personally, and looked over the crush. I will say that I would like it a but better than what I saw coming out though the gap was set to where we have always set it in the past. With that being said I am tightening the gap due to some of the grains having smaller kernels that what is typical for some reason. Hopefully that will help out with any issues with the crush. As far as the picture goes our crushes will always look worse then they are due to the 3 roller mill that we use that keeps the husks in tact much better than a standard 2 roller mill would. Despite that I would like us to have a better crush than the picture looks, so made those changes above.

Thanks,

Ed
 
some of the grains having smaller kernels than what is typical for some reason.

Many grain farmers have had recent difficult seasons, that would account for the smaller grain size. Grain may be coming from areas that had recent droughts? Thanks Ed, that is excellent customer service. Crush it, crush it, crush it good!!!:)
 
I like to shoot for husks that are intact and endosperm that's chunky and not flower.
(edit to say: Must have Flower Power on the brain :cross:)

millars_13.jpg
 
Please do come back and tell us about your efficiency improvement.... Thank you for bringing up the topic!!
 
+1 on bad crush.


BMW/Ed-

I did notice my last order had a more than usual amount of whole kernels. Thanks for taking the time to correct.
 
I was talking to my LHBS Manager and he was saying that depending on how full or empty a grain sack is when they are parcelling it out in bins for the shelves will effect efficiency.

He was saying that if it is the last 10-15% of a sack, there is a good chance that the ratio of hulls to grain shifts unfavorable towards hulls since the grain gets bounced around and the hulls will settle to the bottom. He tries to fight this by mixing sacks up once they are 50% gone but says it still is an issue that arises.

Maybe some instances of bad efficiency could be related to this. But in terms of crush... I always send it through the LHBS mill 2 times to make sure I am getting the best crush I can get out of there.
 
I just had a similar issue with crush seeming oddly larger than normal, usually get 65% and ended up getting around 45%.... Guess I should have only pitched one of the packages of yeast I used
 
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