How's my crush?

Just got my corona style mill station set up Monday. Put about 1/3rd # through to see how the crush was. How's it look?

Comparison, Victory (I think) from brewshop on left. My MO on right crushed by my mill much finer? Look okay?

Just my crush. Too fine? Okay? Too chunky?

Thanks & Schlante,
Phillip

I dunno, I see shredded husks and what appear to be several whole, unmilled grains in that picture. That seems like the worst of both worlds; low extraction and lots of tannins.

yeah you need to go finer, but don't worry about the tannins.

The comparison shot is probably more indicative of the crush. It's a HUGE diffference between the store crush and mine! Isn't it??? The bottom one has only 1 whole grain in it, the others are pieces/cracked.

I don't know it's got way more white than I've ever brewed with before, that's my worry. Anyone got pics of their crush for comparison... something to make me feel better?

Thanks & Keep it coming,
Phillip

Holy crap I didn't realize the shot on the left was supposed to be milled grain. That's a terrible crush. Pretty much anything you do will be an improvement over that.

weirdboy said:

Holy crap I didn't realize the shot on the left was supposed to be milled grain. That's a terrible crush. Pretty much anything you do will be an improvement over that.

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Exactly!!!
I've added my build to the "Fugly Corona" thread in the DIY forum. But hey the crush on the right at the top is mine... looks good? bad? I'll have to admit the one below it doesn't look that good, but I took it out of the top of a baggie(getting large pieces) then grabbed some from deeper in to get a better reference. I may try to post another pic tomorrow or perhaps just delete/ask to judge from the top. I dunno.....

Schlante,
Phillip

Ps Btw I've been getting up to 80% eff. with that crappy crush from the online shop!

the crush in the first picture on the left is unmilled grain IMO. The crush in the second is way to coarse. You have whole kernels still.

Here's a pic of a crush that is about where mine is at from another thread on the same topic.



https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/corona-mill-users-evaluate-my-crush-please-133814/

I tend to asgree. The first photo on the left cannot be crushed, because the kernels look whole. Any store that tried selling that as crushed grain would have people complaining before they left the store.

The crush photo needs to be closer, it looks a little coarse. Here is the BC crush that has been giving me and others 80% and up for a while now.

Hey folks - I just brewed an IIPA (all grain) - but the OG was way too low. Everything went according to plan, ended up with slightly more than the planned 5 gallons, but should not have had this drastic of an impact. And of course, I've nailed the OG in other batches. The only problem I can think of was the grain crush - we had the brew shop do it. And upon examining the grains of the next beer we have ready to go (also crushed at the shop, within minutes of the IIPA), I believe some of you more experienced guys would say it's too coarse, when comparing to the posted pics. Any suggestions? Should I get out the rolling pin and do some more crushing in a cookie sheet or something?

DoctorDuvel said:

The only problem I can think of was the grain crush - we had the brew shop do it.

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Without a doubt that's the problem. Is this your first batch? Will they be doing all your crushing? If so lower your efficiency numbers. You could always take it back, and ask them to run it through the mill again. A rolling pin really isn't worth the effort.

wildwest450 said:

Without a doubt that's the problem. Is this your first batch? Will they be doing all your crushing? If so lower your efficiency numbers. You could always take it back, and ask them to run it through the mill again. A rolling pin really isn't worth the effort.

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Thanks for replying, Wildwest!

Overall, this is my 6th or 7th AG batch. I've not had this issue before of being way under the target (was shooting for 1.081 - got 1.055 instead, so I'm kind of annoyed - haha). So I did some deducing and figured it was the crush - this will teach me to examine the crush for now on - AND to get my own mill. I'll try to get back to the shop and have them run it through again. Their crush looks nothing like the last two pictures above.

Here's my question...

After I crush, I have what look to be lots of whole grains and some flour. But when I nudge them the kernel inside falls pulverized out of the husk. So I'm crushing the grain but it isn't falling out of the husk. If I reduce my gap, then I get mostly flour. I always worry about this effect and how it will affect my batch. It sure makes sparging a breeze though.

Crushing the grains into close to flour and keeping the hulls as intact as possible is the best of both worlds, I believe. I don't recall reading anything about the crush of the grain being too fine being a detriment, but I certainly am not a brew-chemist.

riromero said:

Here's my question...

After I crush, I have what look to be lots of whole grains and some flour. But when I nudge them the kernel inside falls pulverized out of the husk. So I'm crushing the grain but it isn't falling out of the husk. If I reduce my gap, then I get mostly flour. I always worry about this effect and how it will affect my batch. It sure makes sparging a breeze though.

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If that's going on, then when you stir it up with the strike water then you should knock all of the kernel out of the husks and be good to go.

riromero said:

Here's my question...

After I crush, I have what look to be lots of whole grains and some flour. .

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No expert here by any means, but after I crush I have no grains that appear to be whole. I would tighten the mill to the point that every grain is crushed and free from the husk.

I'll start by updating the results of my crush (as the OP, perhaps it'll help some of those with questions since the thread resurrection) & what I'm currently doing. I generally got 70-72% efficiency with Midwest Supplies Crush. In my first batches with my corona mill my eff. jumped up to 78/79%. At that rate my crush was very similar to what I first posted here.

After the 2nd batch with my crush I got some advice to crank it down until I was worried about too much powder/flour. After doing this my eff is now in the 84-85% efficiency range. My advice is to crush it till you're scared, and try it that way. Crank it down until you're afraid you're crushing it too much & that's probably going to be a good place to start.

As for astringents the impact torn hulls has is a non-factor. Mash pH is much more important to that problem/question. Otherwise overnight mashing, longer mashes, & other processes would be fraught with peril just from a moderate crush.

For the record I'm loving crushing my own grains! Good luck too all of ya and don't be affraid of crushing the crap out of it.

Schlante,
Phillip

Forgot to add, I'm loving the user name DoctorDuvel. A very true oxymoron meaning Doctor Devil... certainly calls into question the old axiom of first do no harm!

Schlante,
Phillip

this is what my crush looks like. last time i brewed i had about 85% efficiency. i was around 65-67% with AHS or midwest supplies crush...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3448/4605330054_f298edfaa5_o.jpg

when i got my grain mill i brewed a few batches of beer where efficiency went up but i recirculated as much as i was with a coarser crush from the shops...
well my beer were worse. not a clean taste and very cloudy...
i started recirculating about three times as much...until the runoff looks really clear...then recirculate a bit more. taste of finished beer is much better and beer is clearer.

make sure you recirculate (verlouf) until the wort is very clear. it's important with a crush that makes more flour...

Your crush is dependent on your equipment. Crush as fine as you can without getting a stuck sparge. Torn husks are not a problem until they are so small that they no longer keep your sparge from flowing.

I use a drilled copper manifold in a rectangular cooler and batch sparge and get around 85% efficiency as near as I can tell (I really need to get back in the habit of measuring the volumes more carefully!)