New barley crusher - rate my crush

[fishkid]

Fellow AG'ers I finally made the plunge and picked up a barley crusher. I was hoping I could get some feedback on the grains I just crushed, don't worry about being gentle, you won't hurt my feelings

 

[stevo155]

Looks a little too agressive for me but if you get good efficiency and sparge doesn't stick, I'd say it is just fine.

 

[Brewenstein]

Looks good. What is the gap set at? The best way to tell how good it is, is to brew and keep good records of the brew session - especially volumes of water/wort so that you can determine efficiency. If you like what you find, keep the setting. If not, adjust slightly and re-brew. Also, a finer crush may result in increased eff. but may slow the lauter/sparge, so keep that in mind.

Congrats on the crusher - now start buying in bulk and brew like crazy !

 

[fishkid]

Looks good. What is the gap set at? The best way to tell how good it is, is to brew and keep good records of the brew session - especially volumes of water/wort so that you can determine efficiency. If you like what you find, keep the setting. If not, adjust slightly and re-brew. Also, a finer crush may result in increased eff. but may slow the lauter/sparge, so keep that in mind.

Congrats on the crusher - now start buying in bulk and brew like crazy !

Thanks for the input. I tested the gap at 1:00 yesterday and I was getting too much dust but I wanted it a little finer than what I was getting at 12:00, so I'm a little less than 1:00 more than 12:00. Sorry I don't know what the actual gap measurement is. I just doughed in a 17.25lb batch so we'll see how my efficiency turns out.

As I poured my grains into the tun, I noticed something out of the ordinary, reached in and pulled out a shredded up rubber o'ring...not quite sure where this came from yet... any ideas? Broken already on day 2? Bought the floor model from the LHBS, didn't get a manual with it

Help!

 

[fishkid]

Looks a little too agressive for me but if you get good efficiency and sparge doesn't stick, I'd say it is just fine.

Thanks stevo, I just doughed in so we'll see if 60 minutes or so if I have any issues

 

[nicegut]

Just the o-ring that helps "spin" the 2 grinding surfaces. Not needed. Mine lasted about that long as well. The grain will do the job on its own. Cheers~!

 

[samc]

Many including myself find the best results with tightening up the gap (buy a gauge @ autoparts store) and conditioning the grain. That involves mixing it up with 2% water by weight, letting it dry for 1/2hr or so and then running it through the mill. You will get intact husks with crushed Barley. Yours looks good as is, but keep this info in mind and do a search for those techniques as needed.

 

[fishkid]

Many including myself find the best results with tightening up the gap (buy a gauge @ autoparts store) and conditioning the grain. That involves mixing it up with 2% water by weight, letting it dry for 1/2hr or so and then running it through the mill. You will get intact husks with crushed Barley. Yours looks good as is, but keep this info in mind and do a search for those techniques as needed.

Thanks for the tip! I've never heard of such things, will definitely look into it!

 

[wildwest450]

I condition mine and mill right away. Zero dust, a nice clean mill, fluffy crush, never a stuck sparge, the upside is endless.



_

 

[weirdboy]

This past Saturday, I conditioned my malt and milled with a .023" gap setting and ended up with HORRIBLE efficiency despite hitting my mash temps on the nose with a perfect crush.

I am going to have to check into the water chemistry here because it may have changed even though I only moved about a mile from my old house.

 

[wildwest450]

This past Saturday, I conditioned my malt and milled with a .023" gap setting and ended up with HORRIBLE efficiency despite hitting my mash temps on the nose with a perfect crush.

Are you sure it's .023? That's super tight, I believe factory is .039 or 8, mine is set at .037, and it gives me 80%.

 

[weirdboy]

Yes .023, I checked it right before crushing my grain. The whole point of conditioning the malt was (I thought) so you could set a really fine crush and still have intact husks, which is what I ended up with.

BrauKaiser says he sets his to about .022" when conditioning.

 

[IrregularPulse]

There is a paper that comes with the crusher. I just got mine as well. It says that the oring will break and to just discard it. I believe it says it's for shipping purposes but doesn't affect the operation until it breaks either. I don't have my paper anymore to tell you the exact wording, but just toss it and don't worry about replacing it.

Factory is supposed to be .038". I've not measured mine. If you're going to adjust your settings to dial in your crush you need some feeler guages. Pick up a set at lowes. Adjusting with out them would be like recording FG based on bubbles per second from airlock.

 

[bob1852]

Here's what the sheet says....

The gap between the two rollers is set a .039 thousands of an inch at assembly.

[/snip]

The "O" ring on the drive roller in time may wear out, it is not important to replace it as the grain when being milled will turn the roller.

Mine just "broke" two brews ago. It lasted longer than I thought...

 

[Mookie]

Only have one batch under my belt, but set rollers at .030 and conditioned grain. Got 75% eff.