Picked up 10 points With a Double Crush

I decided to try and improve my efficiency on my 6-gallon big beers. My normal 11-gallon batches (1.045-1.055) have an efficiency of around 78%. My biggest beers however run lower because of capacity issues and my desire not to have a 2 hour boil.

I have a 10-gallon cooler setup and when I get to the RIS's and IPA's, things get a bit cramped. So much so that when I brewed my Tits-Up IIPA (1.085) back in November, I planned on and hit a 64% efficiency.

This time I decided to run my grains through the Barley Crusher twice. I always use rice hulls so I decided to get aggressive. My normal BC setting is just a bit more aggressive than the factory preset. It’s not that I fear a stuck sparge, but any more aggressive and the grains slip on the rollers and don’t get crushed.

I ran all 21 pounds of grains through at my normal setting. Then I set the rollers as close as they would go and re-ran the grist. They ran through quite easily. Where normally I might pick out 7-8 whole grains in a handful of crushed, the second time around insured that each and every grain was completely cracked.

The results:

• The same recipe I hit 1084 with back in November…came in at 1094 this time.
• I went from 64% to 74% on a 6-gallon IIPA in a 10-gallon cooler setup.
• With adequate rice hulls in the grist, the sparge was absolutely no problem.

Other comments:

• It added about 50% more time to the crush phase of the brewing.
• About half of the extra crush time was offset by a shorter boil since my wort was a higher concentrate at lower pre-boil volumes.
• This is highly effective where a desired recipe is just beyond my normal setup capacity.
• I doubt that I’ll go to this much trouble on my normal range recipes. (Most of my recipes are dialed in at the 78% range)
• Moving crushed grains requires scooping with a pot rather than pouring because of the extra dust factor.
• Don’t confuse a fine crush with pulverizing the grains. This was not a “powder” after the 2nd crush and there was/is no risk of extracting tannins. (I’d bet it’s impossible to use a barley crusher and end up with tannins from pulverized husks.)

Summary:

• This is proof (of the obvious) that the degree of crush plays a huge part in efficiency.
• Whether you crush your own or have it done at the LHBS, if you’re willing to add rice hulls and want to extract substantially more sugars from your set up, try a double crush and see what happens.
• At 1094, I might have to add another I in front of my IIPA. (Or maybe, Three Tits Up..IIPA?)

Nice write up, BM! As a reference, what is your 'normal' gap?

I think you've inadvertently introduced a second variable to the scenario - not only did you run it through a second time, but you tightened down the gap substantially.

Wow! That's a pretty slick and easy way to up the all elusive extraction level!

Thanks for taking the time and doing the experiment to make this happen. I don't think I would have been as ballsy with my big beers as to try this! Now I'll definitely do it! :rockin:

flyangler18 said:

Nice write up, BM! As a reference, what is your 'normal' gap?

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Good question. My dials are set to about 1:00 but I haven't put a gauge in there. Like I said, any tighter than that and my grains just slip and slide. Maybe after 100+ batches, the rollers are losing their bite.

The few time I have done, I get a 5 point increase just by running the grain twice with no gap setting change. To which I attribute the same.

Several years ago the guys over at TastyBrew.com | Homebrew Recipes & Resources and Topics - Brews & Views Bulletin Board Service started using the phrase "crush til you're scared". I did not believe it at first(before I tried rice hulls) but it is true

So what is the negative when using rice hulls? I thought it might be a cost issue but it doesn't sound like you need more than $1-$2's worth per batch.

Also, can someone explain to my why this phrase makes sense: "Rice Hulls: Flavorless filter medium. Excellent for preventing stuck runoff especially in wheat beer."

If anything, I would guess the flaked wheat in wheat beers would help, not hurt, a good sparge.

hardrain said:

So what is the negative when using rice hulls? I thought it might be a cost issue but it doesn't sound like you need more than $1-$2's worth per batch.

Also, can someone explain to my why this phrase makes sense: "Rice Hulls: Flavorless filter medium. Excellent for preventing stuck runoff especially in wheat beer."

If anything, I would guess the flaked wheat in wheat beers would help, not hurt, a good sparge.

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A 10 pound sack of rice hulls is a bout the size of a 50 pound bag of normal grain. It is very light and fluffy and does not compact very well. I'd guess it's just pennies per batch.

Flaked wheat, flaked oats and flaked rye have no husks. They turn in to mushy goo in the mash tun. You absolutely need some sort of filtering adjunct or it will turn into a cake and you'll never be able to sparge.

Is there another medium like rice hulls that can be used in wheat/oats beers?
In Italy we don't have that....i mean, you have to leave the city and go to a rice farm or something to find it out (and probably buy a ton of that stuff...)

BierMuncher said:

Flaked wheat, flaked oats and flaked rye have no husks. They turn in to mushy goo in the mash tun. You absolutely need some sort of filtering adjunct or it will turn into a cake and you'll never be able to sparge.

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Interesting, and it makes sense. Howeva, my first AG batch was actually this recipe from you posted (ver nice, by the way!) which as you know is 50%+ flakes.

With this setup I didn't have any stuck sparge issues, although my efficiency was pretty weak. Would rice hulls have increased th efficiency or just reduced the possibility of a stuck sparge?

I don’t have my notes with me right now but I didn’t lose any unusually large amount of water in the tun.

The brew in a bag people do very fine crushes (obviously they're not worried about stuck sparges), which along with the very thin mashing (the full boil volume!) is how they manage to get 80-85% or so with no sparge.

hardrain said:

...I didn't have any stuck sparge issues, although my efficiency was pretty weak. Would rice hulls have increased th efficiency or just reduced the possibility of a stuck sparge?
...

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Stuck (or slow sticky) sparges are an individual condition. I know that with a high flaked ratio, my sparge (pre rice hulls) ran very slowly.

As far as efficiency...rice hulls helped my efficiency because I fly sparge. Keeping that grain bed as light and fluffy as possible prevents channeling and insures more uniform rinsing as the sparge water flows through the bed.

BierMuncher said:

[*]At 1094, I might have to add another I in front of my IIPA. (Or maybe, Three Tits Up..IIPA?)

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I'd vote for Third Nipple IIPA. AKA the Triple Nipple. Never let a good supernumerary nipple go to waste.

Makes sense, thanks BierMuncher. Didn't think about channeling.

I guess I'll give it a shot and see if I notice any improvement.