Rate my Crush

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mgr_stl

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I'm brewing my first batch since getting my own grain mill and was hoping for some feedback about my crush. I'm a BIABer, so also consider that.

Good, bad? Should I run it through again?

View attachment 1438570685118.jpg
 
Personally I'd run it through again just cause I'm seeing uncracked grains in there. I do eBIAB and have been going pretty fine... credit card fine...
 
No whole kernels? If there are a few, tighten it up. For BIAB you can go quite a bit finer than traditional mash tun style. I too would run that through again.
 
Needs a finer crush, IMO. I do all grain (not BIAB), and have had some lower efficiency mashes with crushes like that.

I think the BIAB folks would crush way finer than me, so I would definitely tighten the gap.

When I started crushing my own, it took a few mashes to get the right gap.

Best of luck.
 
From everything I've been reading about BIAB, you want to double crush your grains. Certainly wouldn't hurt to run it through the mill again.
 
Looks like it's adequate, but I would probably run it through again. Seems like a slightly inconsistent crush as there's some fine crush and some barely cracked.
 
This is great feedback, guys. Looks like I'll run it through again tomorrow before beginning the mash.

I'll start by leaving the gap the same, and see how much more I get out of it that way.

Though I'd still appreciate any other opinions on the crush :)
 
How fast are you spinning the mill? Slower is better, within reasonable limits.
 
Mine looks more like this for BIAB:

260801d1425480919-hoppy-wheat-overnight-mash-biab-downsized_0219051216.jpg
 
That's a great flour mill you've got there! ;)

I'm making a return to BIAB so I can simplify my brewing equipment. Prior to this I had been conditioning my grain prior to crushing. Going to continue the process for BIAB. The fluffy, intact husks will probably help speed the bag draining. Guess we'll see!
 
That's a great flour mill you've got there! ;)

I'm making a return to BIAB so I can simplify my brewing equipment. Prior to this I had been conditioning my grain prior to crushing. Going to continue the process for BIAB. The fluffy, intact husks will probably help speed the bag draining. Guess we'll see!


I do love my flour mill, but my bread keeps getting all borked up. Comes out looking like this:


attachment.php
 
Too coarse! Definitely for BIAB.

Running through twice is not better than running through once with the correct gap. I've gone to 0.030-0.032" for barley and 0.024-0.026" for wheat, rye, and flaked goods. I use a converted cooler. For BIAB you can mill even tighter.
 
Crush finer.

I am at the narrowes setting on my mill. It says 0.02 but I have not measured with a guage.

Single pass

Looks like coarse corn-meal.

I don't do a second pass anymore. I find a single crushing at the narrowest setting gets me where I need to be consistency wise.
 
I've been milling at .034" in my monster mill, mashing and recirculating in a conventional cooler mash tun. Never had a stuck sparge, but I do condition my grain *and* I run the mill at low speeds with a high-torque drill. It'll be interesting to see how it works out in a BIAB operation. I may tighten it up to .032 and condition, see how it works out. I'm operating under the idea that the intact husks from conditioning the grain before milling will aid draining the bag, as the grain bed will be more porous.
 
I ran it through again at the same setting (my guess would be 0.025-0.030, but my mill only has labels for 0, 0.055, and 0.110).

This is what it looked like. Not sure how different it ended up compared to the first crush.

Hit my gravity numbers and had a bit more wort in the fermenter than expected, so it looks like the crush worked well for me.

I'm definitely shooting for consistency over getting every last gravity point out of my grains, so I'll probably stick with this unless I start missing my numbers.

View attachment 1438632513370.jpg
 
Crush finer.

I am at the narrowes setting on my mill. It says 0.02 but I have not measured with a guage.

Single pass

Looks like coarse corn-meal.

I don't do a second pass anymore. I find a single crushing at the narrowest setting gets me where I need to be consistency wise.

+1 here. My LHBSs (I use 3 different shops) all have fairly wide settings as to not alienate any individual brewers. I run through twice at two of them and three times at the third. I have not had any issues with lautering as of yet and my efficiency has been pretty solid on my batch sparges.
 
A set of feeler gauges is a couple bucks, can be one more thing that you can measure and play around with / note any differences, especially considering you'll likely want to disassemble and clean here and there.
 
I don't know what mill you have, but those measurement marks usually aren't worth the time they took to mark them there. You're better off with a set of feeler gauges from an auto parts store.
 
Looks like feeler gauges run about $6 with free Prime shipping on Amazon if anyone else is looking to get a set.
 
I set my mill so that a gift card could not slip through the rollers without engaging the knurl and turning them slightly. I BIAB with one of Wilser's finest, so no worry of a stuck sparge.

Mine is a Barley Crusher
 
it looks like it could get run through again.

I had an issue with my mill not too long ago where the hopper wasn't flush against the rollers. When I went to mill I'd make sure the gap was where I wanted it but i was still getting uncrushed malt. So, as a side note, make sure your hopper is flush again the rollers. Esp if you handle the mill by the hopper.
FYI- I have a cereal killer mill.
 
Yeah the settings on my mill aren't worth a damn. I use a credit card (keeping the raised print off the rollers) to adjust mine and it works for me.

Your second crush looks better. Cheers!
 

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