Small Gap Setting = Reduced Efficiency?

[Hoppocrates]

Can setting your mill's gap setting too small reduce your efficiency? i.e. is there a sweet spot of a mill beyond which you lose points?

 

[Beerbuck]

Maybe, Since I had my barley crusher and have done 3 brew, I only have 75 % eff. DId 2 brew with factory settings and the last one at .32 and didnt gave me more eff.

I saw a post on the barley which I dont find again that BM says he were grinding at the bigger gap and grinding twice and he had more eff this way.

 

[EBloom97]

The danger with doing a finer crush is that you may have lautering problems. The finer the crush, the better the efficiency, but if you crush too fine you will get a stuck sparge.

 

[wscott823]

I've never had a stuck sparge from too fine, but I do know I had particulate matter that remained in the brew through fermentation. Search the forum for photos on recommended crush.

Kai has a decent write-up on his page too. Link

 

[whatsleftofyou]

It could definitely affect efficiency if you're fly sparging, stuck sparge or not. If you don't have a proper filter bed you'll get more channeling, thus decreasing efficiency.

 

[Beerbuck]

It could definitely affect efficiency if you're fly sparging, stuck sparge or not. If you don't have a proper filter bed you'll get more channeling, thus decreasing efficiency.

What about batch sparge?