Grain Crush

[HighlandRanger]

I have been having some efficiency issues lately and I'm wondering if my grain crush may be the culprit.

I have been getting my grain crushed at my local homebrew store and I'm not sure if it's crushed enough. It seems to me that a large number of kernels are not crushed. I took a pic of my grain before my last brew this weekend.

My brews used to come out to 75% but this one came out at 64.5%

What do you think?

 

[acidrain]

Very light crush. Do they do it for you, or is it self serve? Mine is self serve and I used to run it through several times before I got my own mill.

 

[Mackster]

It looks like the kernels near your palm are nearly intact! I would use a different mill or move the rollers closer. I am not sure if multiple runs on it will make much of a difference with that result.
My kernels come out pretty pulverized and the husks are torn in half. I get better efficiency w\o stuck mashes. What is your filtration (false bottom) system like?

 

[beergolf]

A lot of uncrushed grains. That would definitely account for the decrease in efficiency.

If you are going to do all grain a good grain mill that you can set the crush is the way to go. I just dialed mine in until I got the efficiency I wanted. Now I hit my numbers almost exactly every time.

 

[HighlandRanger]

That's what I thought. Yes they crush it for me. Next time I will see if they can give me a better crush. Run it through a couple or few times.

 

[day_trippr]

Tell them that was The Worst Crush Ever...