Do these grains look properly crushed?

[bleme]

That was a weeeee bit too much water! You should only need about 1% of the grain weight in water weight. By 2%, you're getting into serious doughball territory.

I know I used the recommended water, and I thought that was an ounce per pound, but it was 7 years ago and I did drink a divine barleywine since then so it is entirely possible that my memory is faulty.

 

[fermentinginpa]

Eeesh, hate to see what the efficiency would be on that crush.

 

[brewdude88]

Now you’re rocking! I honestly don’t know how some shops let that crush you posted initially go out the door. I’d be embarrassed if I was the shop owner.

I've always believed shop owners have a vested interest in causing low efficiency with their crush (more grain sold). Not saying they all do it, but this one looks pretty blatent. My efficiency increased by 10% just by getting my own mill (my lhbs brings out the pitch forks if anyone dares to touch the gap knob on their mill, they actually watch on surveillance video to make sure you don't)

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

When fellow all-grain homebrewers ask "What should I buy" a grain mill is, IMO, top of the list.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've always believed shop owners have a vested interest in causing low efficiency with their crush (more grain sold). Not saying they all do it, but this one looks pretty blatent. My efficiency increased by 10% just by getting my own mill (my lhbs brings out the pitch forks if anyone dares to touch the gap knob on their mill, they actually watch on surveillance video to make sure you don't)

Sounds like a crappy shop. I mill to whatever my customers ask. Maybe it's rare because first time customers always have a shocked look on their face when we ask how they'd like it crushed.

 

[day_trippr]

I'll vote "rare" (and kudos for the effort).
The three shops I've frequented for ingredients all have the customers mill on their own.
Which puts them at the mercy of whatever gap was set...

Cheers!

 

[augiedoggy]

IMO there is no perfect crush, only the best crush to suit your particular system. If you BIAB then finer is preferred, if you underlet, recirculate and or prefer not to stir your mash then coarser is the way to go. Also remember the finer the crush, the more tannins you will extract.

It should be mentioned that the ph has more to do with tannin extraction than the crush in real world application.

 

[augiedoggy]

Underletting is the best way to exclude the most air from being trapped in your grist when adding the water. Slowly filling from the bottom, the water uniformly displaces the air with minimal bubbles adhering to the crushed grain kernels. However if your crush is too fine then the flour and small particles will hinder the uniform wetting of the grain creating dry pockets and dough balls. With a stirred hido mash this is of little concern but when running a low oxygen recirculating system, trapped air and doughballs are detrimental. In any recirculated system too fine a crush is bad as it will cause stuck mashes, channeling, poor flow, compressed grain bed, low efficiency etc. To get the best grind for recirculated mash, not only do you want a coarser gap but also be milling at a slower RPM. Below 100 is good but below 70 is optimal.

Lastly, for best results when underletting, you want to keep your strike water temperature below the gelatinization temperature of your grain. I usually shoot for an initial water temperature 140 or below, then after filling proceed to your first rest temperature.

Also underletting only works well for smaller recirculation systems which is why you dont see it in breweries.. We tried it multiple times at the brewpub and on a 3 bbl system the result is the water is continuously cooled by the grain as it travels upwards from bottom resulting in a mash that was closer to the 163 strike water temp at the bottom and 130s at the top... YMMV and this issue will not be a problem on most homebrew systems unless you dont recirculate or stir and if you do stir its honestly better to just mash in traditionally IMO at that point.

at 5GPM by the time the rims stabilized a grain bill of over 200lbs, much of the conversion was done at inconsistent temps.

 

[balrog]

Also underletting only works well for smaller recirculation systems ... on a 3 bbl system the result is the water is continuously cooled by the grain as it travels upwards from bottom resulting in a mash that was closer to the 163 strike water temp at the bottom and 130s at the top

This is the kind of thing that fascinates me; I mean it makes sense, but I wouldn't have thought of it. And the thought of experimenting multiple times with a grain bill that takes me half a year to go through made me shiver. I think my spleen twitched.