Barley Crusher Gap?

Got me a new Barley Crusher. Actually it was a Christmas gift from the misses and I am just now getting around to using it for the first time.


Question: Doing a summer ale this weekend, 10 gallon batch in my brutus. is the Factory gap good enough? Should I screw with it and change the settings. They say .39 from the factory. Don't have a set of feeler gauges, yet.

Do I need to run to the NAPA store before I grind my grain bill?

bump Bump Bump

you could try it at factory gap and see where your eff. numbers are, then start tightening up and see if you get better numbers. I just adjusted mine to 034 right from the git-go, I would get a set of feelers just to verify that the gap is set correctly and rollers are square to each other anyway!
let us know how your brew day went and what you thought of the crusher!

Thanks I will check the crusher out.

0.035 rocks.

You need the feeler gauges at some point. You should ideally check the gap prior to each crush so your efficiency will be predictable, but you could certainly give it a shot now. You need to start somewhere.

I got mine two months ago and first time I used it the crush looked the same as my LBHS crush and no improvement in efficiency. Bought some feelers and found out that it was at like .045 or something like that. Adjusted it to .038 and now getting around 80% efficiency. I am glad I double checked the settings.

Yeah, I think that factory gap setting gets thrown off during shipping or something. Mine was definitely wider than .039".

I've set mine down to .039" after making a trip to the auto parts store, but my conversion efficiency is still a bit low. For my next batch, I'm going to try .036".

Thrown off during shipping - doubt it. The more I use my BC the less impressed I am with the workmanship of it. Either they don't care or are just not capable of QC.

It crushes as expected, just requires the user to check the gaps and take care of it.

I've used mine for my last 2 batches on the factory setting. My eficiency is running between 70 & 75%.

samc said:

Thrown off during shipping - doubt it. The more I use my BC the less impressed I am with the workmanship of it. Either they don't care or are just not capable of QC.

It crushes as expected, just requires the user to check the gaps and take care of it.

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Sorry to hear your mill isn't "sliced bread", I am very satisfied with my BC. Definitely need the feeler gauges to set your gap. Mine does not change once the gap is set, the thing is great for home brewing. Set mine at 35 and wet the grains about 30 minutes prior to crushing. Leaves lots of good hulls for filter material and pulverizes the grain. I get 80% Eff. without much work or precision, not to mention stuck sparges.

I've done 5 batches at factory settings and am in the high 80's...I'm not touching it...