New grain mill

[Squidmanoo7]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1478134077.781835.jpg I just got my grain mill today I'm pretty good with feeler gauges with my occupation I was wondering if anyone can give me a good reading to set this at......side note if anyone buys this product please peel the blue protective coating off before crushing grain[emoji13] cheers

 

[day_trippr]

I suspect knurling pattern and depth matters, but fwiw I run my two-roller BC mill using at .034" gap for barley and .025 for wheat for my 3-vessel system...

Cheers!

 

[Squidmanoo7]

Thanks what I should ask what am I looking for in the grain for max yield

 

[augiedoggy]

Thanks what I should ask what am I looking for in the grain for max yield

Well for me the finer the grind the higher the yield, but then you run into stuck sparge and and related issues from the amount of flour in the mash.

 

[Squidmanoo7]

Well for me the finer the grind the higher the yield, but then you run into stuck sparge and and related issues from the amount of flour in the mash.

Thanks!!

 

[Morrey]

Are you doing 3 vessel or BIAB brewing?

 

[mredge73]

You are looking for every grain to be crushed but you don't want to shred the casing.
For maximum yield you need flour; you don't want flour, flour = stuck sparge and increased protein. I don't mess with my gap spacing; haven't checked it in years but it is probably due.
I have found that speed has a high impact on results; if I am not careful I will run the power drill up pretty fast and make a bunch of flour.

 

[augiedoggy]

You are looking for every grain to be crushed but you don't want to shred the casing.
For maximum yield you need flour; you don't want flour, flour = stuck sparge and increased protein. I don't mess with my gap spacing; haven't checked it in years but it is probably due.
I have found that speed has a high impact on results; if I am not careful I will run the power drill up pretty fast and make a bunch of flour.

Ive heard the advice about shredding the casings causing tannins and such many times but Honestly I have seen no proof at all that this is true... Could it be another one of those brewing myths like sparging with too hot of cold of water or hot side areation causing tannins or even squeezing the grain which I believed myself until recently? If so I suppose we will have to wait for some self proclaimed brewing expert to dispel this in a book as well...

I too have found the speed of the mill has a lot to do with the crush. I have never needed to condition my grain or mess with rice hulls myself but everyones process varies so for some thier is benefit im sure.
I am battling an efficiency loss right now and I believe its due to me tampering with my mill gap because I had read that just having enough crush to crack open the grain was ideal.... well theres a large range beyond that that effects efficiency which I have found out the hard way..

 

[mredge73]

If you brew any medium to high hop brew you won't really taste the tannins anyway as you will cover them up with bitter hops.
Protein/gluten is a little different; protein imparts little flavor but will make it cloudy and hard to clear.
Shredding the casings screw up your sparge. I have had to mess with rice hulls more than I would like, I have mixed in 1/2 gallon of soaked rice hulls and still have gotten stuck mash.
You are right that there is a trade off between efficiency and an ideal mash; got to find a good balance.

 

[augiedoggy]

If you brew any medium to high hop brew you won't really taste the tannins anyway as you will cover them up with bitter hops.
Protein/gluten is a little different; protein imparts little flavor but will make it cloudy and hard to clear.
Shredding the casings screw up your sparge. I have had to mess with rice hulls more than I would like, I have mixed in 1/2 gallon of soaked rice hulls and still have gotten stuck mash.
You are right that there is a trade off between efficiency and an ideal mash; got to find a good balance.

Understood.
I use whirlflock and recirculate my mash so its clear going into the boil kettle and the hop trub drops out in my conical but since everyones process it different yeah I recognize it could surely be a factor for some. I do brew more lower hop styles myself so..

I also get around the stuck sparge by using 3 different layers of filtering... first a false bottom and under that a bazooka tube and inside that a finer stainless braided line which keeps the grain out of my tiny 24v dc pumps but also prevents the flow from stopping up. While its normally very effective last night I had my first slow recirculation issue out of the 30-40 brew sessions Ive done on this system which I believe is from the false bottom not sitting flat somehow.