Mill Gap Settings BIAB

[sslater]

Well I did it. Brewed first batch with the new mill yesterday. Dry Irish Stout. My 54th BIAB batch, but first one where I used a mill with a fine crush.

Put together and figured out both mills yesterday, which certainly added to the time involved. Bought the cheap Corona mill through Walmart for $20. It’s crappy... Poor fit of hopper to device where you can see gaps. And if you slightly bump the hopper when installed it can easily fall off. Tried to return to Walmart.com - and they say it is a 3rd party product and cannot be returned. (What?!?)

The regular mill is nice. Used it with my cordless drill for speed. It was easy to adjust it to .025 (edit) with scale on the side. Also got a feeler gauge to confirm but using the side markings then confirming with feeler gauge was easiest. Grind was definitely finer than I’ve ever experienced using LHBS mills.

I did not see the big improvement in efficiency that LittleRiver and others suggested. Could this be due to the grain bill in a dry Irish Stout. (?) This brew’s EIB - Efficiency Into Boil - was right at 84%, just over the BIABacus file’s estimate.

Did a 90-Minute mash. Checked gravity at 45-minutes and it was only 1.028. Measured Gravity Into Boil at 90-minutes and it was the forecast 1.036. So this shows it was not all converted at 30-45 minutes like some suggest.

Malt Bill was 70% Mecca Grade Lamonta Pale Ale Malt, 20% Flaked Barley (unmalted) and 10% Black Roasted Barley (unmalted). Wondering if a different grain bill will produce higher efficiencies or convert faster?

 

[Immocles]

Any pro tips on setting a corona style grind? I recall reading some folks marking the plate locations for different types of grain, which is a good plan, but is there a good method to setting it beforehand or is it basically a crapshoot trial-and-error until one finds the sweet spot?

 

[doug293cz]

Well I did it. Brewed first batch with the new mill yesterday. Dry Irish Stout. My 54th BIAB batch, but first one where I used a mill with a fine crush.

Put together and figured out both mills yesterday, which certainly added to the time involved. Bought the cheap Corona mill through Walmart for $20. It’s crappy... Poor fit of hopper to device where you can see gaps. And if you slightly bump the hopper when installed it can easily fall off. Tried to return to Walmart.com - and they say it is a 3rd party product and cannot be returned. (What?!?)

The regular mill is nice. Used it with my cordless drill for speed. It was easy to adjust it to .0025 with scale on the side. Also got a feeler gauge to confirm but using the side markings then confirming with feeler gauge was easiest. Grind was definitely finer than I’ve ever experienced using LHBS mills.

I did not see the big improvement in efficiency that LittleRiver and others suggested. Could this be due to the grain bill in a dry Irish Stout. (?) This brew’s EIB - Efficiency Into Boil - was right at 84%, just over the BIABacus file’s estimate.

Did a 90-Minute mash. Checked gravity at 45-minutes and it was only 1.028. Measured Gravity Into Boil at 90-minutes and it was the forecast 1.036. So this shows it was not all converted at 30-45 minutes like some suggest.

Malt Bill was 70% Mecca Grade Lamonta Pale Ale Malt, 20% Flaked Barley (unmalted) and 10% Black Roasted Barley (unmalted). Wondering if a different grain bill will produce higher efficiencies or convert faster?

To get very fast conversion, you need an even finer grind than 0.025" will provide. If you grind so it looks like corn meal, you can get the fast conversion.

Also, you may have been a bit low on diastatic power with 30% unmalted grain. I have no idea what the diastatic power of Mecca Grade Lamonta Pale Ale Malt is, but if less than 100 or so, you may have been low on DP for the combined grist, which could have slowed things down.

Brew on

 

[sslater]

Mecca Grade - in their spec sheet it says DP(Linter) is between 140-160 with Lamonta.

https://www.meccagrade.com/collections/foundation-malt/products/lamonta

My mill can only go as fine as 0.025 (edit)...which seems pretty darn fine to me. But is not total powder.

At the minimum, having my own mill should guarantee I get a good grind. Only brew 10-12 times a year so should not wear it out. I’ve had times a LHBS had problems with their mill and my efficiency ended up lower than normal.

 

[RM-MN]

Did a 90-Minute mash. Checked gravity at 45-minutes and it was only 1.028. Measured Gravity Into Boil at 90-minutes and it was the forecast 1.036. So this shows it was not all converted at 30-45 minutes like some suggest.

If you pulled your gravity sample off the top of the mash it will always show lower than expected. Try getting a sample from 4 to 6" (or more) and see if that doesn't hold true for you too. The sugary wort produced is denser than the water and wants to immediately sink. It diffuses slowly back to the top. A good stir will help if you don't have a way to sample deep into the mash.

 

[RM-MN]

Any pro tips on setting a corona style grind? I recall reading some folks marking the plate locations for different types of grain, which is a good plan, but is there a good method to setting it beforehand or is it basically a crapshoot trial-and-error until one finds the sweet spot?

Sure! Tighten it up until the plates start to bind. Lock it there.

 

[sslater]

If you pulled your gravity sample off the top of the mash it will always show lower than expected. Try getting a sample from 4 to 6" (or more) and see if that doesn't hold true for you too. The sugary wort produced is denser than the water and wants to immediately sink. It diffuses slowly back to the top. A good stir will help if you don't have a way to sample deep into the mash.

My samples were after stirring, at top of wort, into coffee cup, then after cool down into hydrometer container. I have a ball valve and could measure at a few inches off bottom of pot. But that would seem like similar but opposite effect.

Thanks for the tip... Something else for a future test.

 

[LittleRiver]

...My mill can only go as fine as 0.0025...

Just to document for future readers who may come across this thread, you've got an extra zero there.

.0025 is twenty five ten thousandths. No mill is set that close.

A common mill gap for BIAB, and the one I use, is .025. Twenty five thousandths.

 

[McKnuckle]

Despite what some others claim is possible, I am getting a repeatable 87% conversion efficiency using the Cereal Killer at its tightest gap and a 60 minute mash. Mash pH is 5.4 on average.

I have a Wilser bag and I gravity drain for a while but do not squeeze.

If this is “bad” then I’m out of ideas for improvement. But then again I’m pleased with the consistent results for sure.

 

[sslater]

.0025 is twenty five ten thousandths. No mill is set that close.

A common mill gap for BIAB, and the one I use, is .025. Twenty five thousandths.

Thanks for catching it. I corrected my post.