Assess my crush

[Lordsoth]

What do you guys think about this crush? I decided to go with a certain online homebrew shop for my latest beer because I had heard they do a wonderful job crushing their grain, however to my untrained eye, this looks a little rough.

If need be, I could borrow my LHBS's grain mill and run it through again, but wanted to get some other opinions before I decide to do that.

 

[matt415]

it looks like there are some uncrushed grains in there. that is not a good thing if thats the case. personally i crush a little finer than that.

 

[devaspawn]

That looks like a lot of uncrushed grain...

 

[Blender]

It looks a little rough to me as well.

 

[mnadamn]

when I used to order my grains crushed form online I would ask them to run the grains through 2x this generally fixed it

 

[Lordsoth]

oi, that's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the confirmation. That'll teach me to try something new, I end up having to crush it myself anyhow.

 

[wilserbrewer]

That's crushed?

 

[Lordsoth]

That's crushed?

lol that's the claim.

 

[Ace_Club]

Sweet mercy that's a lot of uncrushed grains.

 

[PT Ray]

Last time I saw crushed grain from the LHBS it looked like that. It was a friend of mine that had it and I was there when it was brewed, it made beer. I think is looks worse because any whole kernals will naturally settle to the top. I'll push the limits when I crush but I'm also not trying to make a dime.

I think shops will grind it that way to keep the majority of their customers happy from not having stuck sparges, regardless of how primative the equipment may be that's being used.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

That crush is less than ideal, actually it looks sh!tty.

It looks like you have some completely uncrushed grain. I crushed some grain for a fellow brewer, and he had a 6% increase in his overall efficiency, and an 82% eff into his kettle. I have been getting a consistent 80% brewhouse eff since purchasing a mill. My LHBS crush looks about like that, hence the reason I broke down and purchased a mill.

Personally I like a decent amount of flour in my crush, and its nice to be able to grind roasted and specialty grains finer if needs be. Run your grain throug a couple of times, or break down and get a mill, or find someone that owns a mill and would be willing to mill your grain for you.

Good luck!

 

[Lordsoth]

Well, fortunately my LHBS in town has a mill they let people borrow out, in fact I ran down this morning and picked it up, so I'll run those grains through that tonight after work. Thanks for the opinions!

 

[samc]

Who crushed it and did you complain? If you don't say anything then they will just keep sending out bad grain crushes.

 

[MilwaukeeBrewGuy]

do you know what setting the mill it was set at?

 

[Lordsoth]

Who crushed it and did you complain? If you don't say anything then they will just keep sending out bad grain crushes.

The order was from Brewmaster's Warehouse. I didn't complain, but now that you mention it, maybe I should shoot them a line.

 

[HSM]

The order was from Brewmaster's Warehouse. I didn't complain, but now that you mention it, maybe I should shoot them a line.

Personally I don't think the picture captures the crush. We're looking at the larger pieces on top. How many LBS?

This will also unload a crap load of BMW defenders who always post praise for this shop.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Personally I don't think the picture captures the crush. We're looking at the larger pieces on top.

Yea, I had this same thought. Is this the top of the bag after shipping. I doubt it looked exactly like that aafter being crushed.

 

[greeneyed]

From the second pic,

it looks like it is through the side of the bag. Even if it was the top, shouldn't all the grain be crushed?

 

[Runyanka]

That still looks a little weak...
However, some people will say that the grains only need to be cracked enought for water to get in and let them expand. I use a corona style mill and mine looks quit a bit better than this. Is the mill you borrowed from them adjustable?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yea...I would expect to see flour and small pieces in the bottom of the bag.

 

[user 29674]

I can tell by the bag when I saw the first pic that it came from BMW. My grain from there looked nothing like that - I would let Ed know and he'll make it right.

 

[Lordsoth]

FWIW, I did shake the bag a bit before I took the pic, to hopefully disperse the flour/whole grains more evenly for the photo. I crushed it again tonight (with a Phil Mill that I borrowed from the LHBS, which is adjustable), so I'm all good to go.

Here's what it looks like after the second crush, which is more along the lines of what I'm used to seeing.

 

[user 29674]

That's more like what Ed's crush usually looks like - that's what my grain looked like at least. Hope this doesn't turn you off from BMW, its a good shop.

 

[Lordsoth]

Yeah, like I said in the OP, I decided to go with BMW because I had heard such good things about their crush. I was definitely surprised by what I received.

 

[PT Ray]

I don't think the crush is really that bad given the circumstances. I'm sure most of you of have pushed the limits on how tight you can set the mill and not have a stuck sparge but retailers don't have that luxury.

Here's the crush I've had my Corona mill set for several years for now. Many times it's slow goings with a lot of wheat or flaked grains. And honestly don't consider this an ideal crush, all the husks are shredded and not intact.

 

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

The order was from Brewmaster's Warehouse. I didn't complain, but now that you mention it, maybe I should shoot them a line.

Yes you should shoot us a line if you have any issues with anything that we do. Your crush certainly does not look like it came from us. I am not saying that it did not, just that I have never ever seen a crush on a recipe that we sent out crushed so poorly. I am glad that you got a chance to get it fixed before you brewed. Had you let us know about it I certainly would have gotten you taken care of. For those that are interested we crush at .035", and have received nearly unanimous praise for our crush. Still we should have caught the ugly crush.

Sorry,

Ed

 

[Lordsoth]

Ed, wow thanks for posting, it was not my intention to single out BMW that's why I left the name of your company out of my original post, I wanted to get some opinions of brewers who are more knowledgeable than me before I went on a tirade, lol. I will definitely get hold of you, though. Thanks!

 

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

Ed, wow thanks for posting, it was not my intention to single out BMW that's why I left the name of your company out of my original post, I wanted to get some opinions of brewers who are more knowledgeable than me before I went on a tirade, lol. I will definitely get hold of you, though. Thanks!

Thanks for shooting me a line about your order. Now I can go back and look at what might have happened with your order to ensure it does not happen again.

Criticism forces us to get better. Compliments force us to continue to do the best that we can do.

Thanks,

Ed

 

[Lordsoth]

Thanks for the exemplary customer service...consider me a satisfied customer.