Cereal Killer Crush

[3 Dawg Night]

I decided to buy a mill rather than trusting Atlantic Brewing Supply to crush for me (although they've always done a great job!). I got a Cereal Killer 2-roller mill. I set the gap a 0.036" and gave it a trial run with a scoop of 2-row tonight. How does this crush look for batch sparging?

 

[Jim R]

When I first started milling my own grains, I started with a setting that looks fairly similar to that. Then I made slight adjustments for each of the next several batches to find the balance between efficiency and avoiding stuck sparges. It was clearly trial and error for me to fine tune it.

I also found that I had to recheck the gap with a feeler gauge with each batch as it seemed to change slightly during the crush.

 

[day_trippr]

That looks like a decent crush, but as noted above you may find you can go tighter as you go along.
fwiw, I run my Cereal Killer with an .032" gap. I also condition any malts with husks (ie, not wheat or flaked grains)...

Cheers!

 

[bracconiere]

this is going to be a cross post......this is what crush like with a bazooka tube, fly sparge, and get 88-90% with a dual step mash, 150f->162f......

just thought i'd share..... this is what a spark plug feeler guage tells me is .028", no problems with sparging.....

 

[IslandLizard]

Yes, that looks very decent! Some powder, no whole kernels, no big chunks. You can likely go a little tighter on barley, mine is at 0.034" (credit card).

Now smaller kernel grain (wheat, rye, etc.) need to be milled on a much tighter gap. I use 0.024" now for those, and even tighter for oat malt.

When batch sparging you have a lot of freedom with your crush.

 

[bracconiere]

and even tighter for oat malt.

that's an under statement, i think i've mentioned, the feed store was out of barley once so figured i'd try oats.....my JSP mill wouldn't even go tight enough.....

 

[IslandLizard]

that's an under statement, i think i've mentioned, the feed store was out of barley once so figured i'd try oats.....my JSP mill wouldn't even go tight enough.....

Only mill on the narrow side!

What's your oat percentage in the grist? How does the beer turn out?

 

[bracconiere]

Only mill on the narrow side!

What's your oat percentage in the grist? How does the beer turn out?

i have dual adjustablility, so both sides are the same....and 100% oat malt! smelled great during the boil, like boiling heavy cream...the beer unfornatly tasted like horse feed, but i drank it like a man anyway, lol

i think my crush is why i only got ~65% effec....still not bad though, proves oat malt can self convert.....and if there was a way i could keep the phenominal aroma of the boil into the serving keg, it would be like drinking hopped milk!

 

[IslandLizard]

i have dual adjustablility, so both sides are the same....and 100% oat malt! smelled great during the boil, like boiling heavy cream...the beer unfornatly tasted like horse feed, but i drank it like a man anyway, lol

i think my crush is why i only got ~65% effec....still not bad though, proves oat malt can self convert.....and if there was a way i could keep the phenominal aroma of the boil into the serving keg, it would be like drinking hopped milk!

100% wow! I'd not be surprised milling is the main culprit for low conversion efficiency, they're tiny needles. The oat malt I have has a DP of around 45 °Lintner, IIRC.
I'll do some test with various higher oat malt percentages and see what flavors it yields. I agree the smell in the mash is wonderful.

I noticed Golden Naked Oats (GNO is a crystal oat malt) leaves a very pronounced flavor/aroma signature at ~8%, it's hard to describe, and can be overwhelming. Even in a Rye NEIPA.
I store GNO in barrier bags in the freezer, hoping to prevent or slow down staling of the oils. It's kinda greasy.

 

[bracconiere]

they're tiny needles

but they do come with husks, so i'd imagine if you can get your mill tight enough, you could sparge fine.....