Double milled - Great efficiency

[tjcavitt]

I've done about 25 all grain batches batch sparging and have been pretty consistent at the 70 - 75% efficiency range. I just did a batch of cream ale and kept all things the same except I made two passes of the grain through my mill. Someone on the site suggested that and I wanted to try it out. I think only this group can appreciate the smile I had when I read the hydrometer and it came out to 83%! My wife called me a beer dork and didn't seem to appreciate my sense of accomplishment in saving .75 cents in grain.

I'm brewing a porter this weekend to see if the same results come out but can't imagine why they wouldn't. I just hope this little nugget can help someone who has struggled with batch sparging efficiency.

 

[nate456789]

I just brewed a Porter last night and thought I would try the double mill to see what it would do and I got 86%. I was really shocked because because the best I have ever got was 76%. And I was happy with that.
Only problem it created was my screen in the bottom of the kettle would get stopped up when I was recirculating with my pump to sanitize my Plate chiller.
But for the first time AG brewing I hit all of my gravity numbers.
I was pretty happy.

 

[passedpawn]

Occasionally my efficiency will shoot up and totally f-up a beer. I like it to stay the same, forever.

Congrats on your achievement tho, beer dork If you can keep it there, you'll be saving 75¢ a batch, and with that savings you'll be able to buy... errr... uh, ...

The only downside to fine grind is an increased chance of stuck sparge, but I'm sure you knew that. Look into Fine Grind Dry Basis, you see that the way the malt companies come up with the maximum potential gravity from a pound of malt is by grinding it to a powder. So, the closer to powder you get it the closer you'll get to the ideal 100% efficiency.

 

[bja]

I'll gladly pay 75¢ to prevent a stuck sparge.

 

[TheSlash]

I'll gladly pay 75¢ to prevent a stuck sparge.

I agree, I actually increased the gap on my roller to plan for 70% to make things faster. I didn't get into brewing to save money, god help me if I had.

But I can appreciate this knowledge and it could be useful if I was low on a certain grain I could double crush it so it would require less, thank you.

 

[mojo_wire]

I just had the same thing happen with a partial mash IPA. I usually get efficiencies in the low 60's and got 75% this time. Pushed my OG from 1.065 to 1.082.

Not to mention I was using fresh hops so my AA values were a crapshoot, meaning there's a chance the amount of hops I used was more suitable for the higher OG anyway. I'm either going to wind up with an awesome IIPA or something really gross.

 

[nate456789]

I didn't get into brewing to save money, god help me if I had.

I second that. It keeps me home and off the streets so my wife doesn't mind. Plus it gives her a product to enjoy too.

While it was an interesting experiment last night, I am sticking with the single crush. It wasn't fun having my pump go dry and having to keep scraping the screen with my paddle to keep things flowing.
but it is nice to know it is an option. I was doing BIAB last night. So no worries of stuck sparge. My last 2 beers have been BIAB. Trying new methods.

 

[asterix404]

Have you tried conditioning your grain? I did a 70% wheat heff with a very tight grind after conditioning the barley and wheat and didn't have a stuck sparge at all. The husks were beautifully intact and the kernel was totally pulverized but very little flour. I always condition grain now, and BTW... efficiency is through the roof. When I do single infusion I hit between 85-90% when I do decoction I can plan a recipe for 95% which does in fact save quite a lot of money very quickly. Quite a lot because you need less water, less energy, and less grain. You might have saved 75 cents in grain, but I bet you saved a few bucks in heating the water and eventually that does add up.

 

[nate456789]

Have you tried conditioning your grain? I did a 70% wheat heff with a very tight grind after conditioning the barley and wheat and didn't have a stuck sparge at all. The husks were beautifully intact and the kernel was totally pulverized but very little flour. I always condition grain now, and BTW... efficiency is through the roof. When I do single infusion I hit between 85-90% when I do decoction I can plan a recipe for 95% which does in fact save quite a lot of money very quickly. Quite a lot because you need less water, less energy, and less grain. You might have saved 75 cents in grain, but I bet you saved a few bucks in heating the water and eventually that does add up.

Very interesting. Care to share how you condition the grain? My efficiency was really bad before these last two batches and that is why I tried the BIAB method. I am still trying to get my AG method together. I am not sold yet on BIAB other than my efficiency is rockn for a change.

 

[TheSlash]

I conditioned once but found it to take some time unless you are setup right for it. I imagine a big bin so you could spread all the grain out flat would help.

I lightly misted the grain with water, let it dry a few minutes, shook it around and lightly misted it again.

You're just barely wetting the grain so the husk doesn't shatter and send flour everywhere when you mill it tight.. Not too much or you gum up your mill.

 

[tjcavitt]

I forgot to say I added rice hulls to the mix but that is something I regularly do. I've had enough stuck sparges to warrant the addition. No issues with stuck sparge even though it did look very fine.

 

[tjcavitt]

I brewed a porter last weekend and hit 82% again. At least this has the beginnings of being consistent.

 

[cyclonite]

I conditioned once but found it to take some time unless you are setup right for it. I imagine a big bin so you could spread all the grain out flat would help.

I lightly misted the grain with water, let it dry a few minutes, shook it around and lightly misted it again.

You're just barely wetting the grain so the husk doesn't shatter and send flour everywhere when you mill it tight.. Not too much or you gum up your mill.

All you should need for a 5 gallon batch is a 5 gallon bucket and a good spray bottle. I use about 3 oz of water for ~ 10 lb of grain. Spray water on top (about 4 sprays), and mix it up good with your hand. Do that until you have used the 3 oz of water. Then, let it sit for 5 minutes and mill. Easy and fantastic results - the hulls are nearly completely intact. Works really well for BIAB since you can mill your grain pretty darn fine as there is no worries of a stuck sparge, but I would imagine it would work wonders for any brew setup.

 

[bja]

the hulls are nearly completely intact. Works really well for BIAB since you can mill your grain pretty darn fine as there is no worries of a stuck sparge, but I would imagine it would work wonders for any brew setup.

Why would you even care if the hulls are intact if doing BIAB?

 

[riromero]

+1 on the grain conditioning using cyclonite's method. Not just for efficiency either since less flour also means way less trub after the boil in my experience. Less trub means more beer per batch.

 

[Cape Brewing]

+1 on conditioning.

- bucket with grain
- empty bucket
- spray bottle
- rest bucket full on grain on your knee and slowly pour into the empty bucket while gently spraying the grain with the spray bottle as it is poured.
- let sit for 20 minutes
- mill at the width of a credit card.

It'll crush the *&*^ out of the grain while leaving the husk fully intact. I think it dramatically decreases the likelyhood of sticking a mash or sparge. I don't think I've had a stuck mash/sparge since I started doing it and I continuously circulate my mash on my HERMS rig. I think it also helps on efficiency.

 

[Soma]

High efficiency is pretty meaningless on the scale that I'm brewing, consistency is the only important thing. I'd much rather get my 68% efficiency every time than to have it jump to 90% randomly.

 

[broadbill]

I forgot to say I added rice hulls to the mix but that is something I regularly do. I've had enough stuck sparges to warrant the addition. No issues with stuck sparge even though it did look very fine.

did you add $0.75 worth of rice hulls?