The (soon to be) great "How's my crush?" Thread!

[hout17]

it just looks like it's a fine crush....but like someone did the rolling pin, or hammer thing to it?

edit: what i'm saying it looks like you sifted out the flour, and added rice hulls?

It's from shaking the bucket towards the end of the grind which it making it look like it's just hulls. All the good stuff dropped down.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Mill set to .034 powered by a old electric motor slowed with sized pulleys to around 250rpm if I recall, built it awhile ago. 15 gallon batches so usually crush 30 to 40 lbs depending on the recipe, never timed it but this might take 5 to 10 minutes. Hmm maybe I'll brew this weekend so I can time it, not that I need a reason to brew but I can add it to the list of reasons.

 

[bracconiere]

It's from shaking the bucket towards the end of the grind which it making it look like it's just hulls. All the good stuff dropped down.

that would explain it!

 

[hout17]

Looks like my crush got a little wet!

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Best take a paddle to it, make sure its all wet as possible.

 

[bracconiere]

Looks like my crush got a little wet!

View attachment 737881

damn it! close the door, you're letting the heat out!

 

[Velnerj]

Late to the party here but here's my $0.02.

When I purchased a grain mill about a year ago I decided to crush the life out of my grain. Therefore I had to convert my bazooka cooler mash tun to mash in a bag (or so I thought). There had been a couple of times I struggled with a stuck Sparge ad I thought the bag was going to save me a lot of headaches. As it turned out, I continued having stuck sparges with my MIAB setup...

I decided to revert back to my glory days of the diy bazooka thread and open the gap on my mill. And wouldn't you know (my crush looked a lot like @Jayjay1976) no stuck Sparge and a mash efficiency of 78%.

I'll be sticking with this setup for the foreseeable future.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Looks like my crush got a little wet!

View attachment 737881

What I imagine it would look like if a combine had a bilge....

 

[cmac62]

@day_trippr where is the pic of your conditioned and milled grain? I have been waiting to post, but couldn't wait anymore. I have no Idea what my mill is set to. I have a barley crusher that I got with my first Craig's list purchase. Didn't even use it for the first several years, then I thought buying grain in bulk would be cheaper than per brew so I got some vittle vaults and a couple sacks of grain. I read somewhere on here that wetting the grain will help with milling so I started doing that. I use a spray bottle and stray it down until if feels right and run it through my BC. It definately changed to way it looks. The hulls are basically intact and sometimes look like nothing has happened so I have to grab a few and nope it just the hull. Anyway, I have never had a stuck sparge (touch wood) and only since getting an Anvil Foundry did I start using them (edit: them being rice hulls. LOL). I'll have to remember to take some pics of my crush the next time I brew, probably on Sunday.

 

[day_trippr]

lol! Sorry, if I had promised to take a pic of my fluffy milled conditioned malt (which tbh sounds like something I might have done - and as I review the thread, clearly did ) I must've forgotten. I'll try to remember next time, but bottom line, the whole effort ends up with husks that do look intact or nearly so which in turn allows an even tighter crush without deleterious effects on lautering...

Cheers!

 

[DuncB]

Malt post conditioning

Milled and not shaken

A handful

 

[day_trippr]

There ya go. What was the gap? That would be an .030~.032" here.
I've had people look at that and feel the gap wasn't tight enough, then they actually get their fingers into it and realize the kernels are pulverized...

Cheers!

 

[DuncB]

Maltzilla grain mill unsure RPM

Gap as you say 0.75 divided by 25.4 = 0.03 inch

Have done some batches with gap at 0.5 mm (0.02 inch) for half the grain and the rest at 0.75 ( 0.03 inch) no real change to the mash efficiency or sparge still sparges too fast.

On debate about rice hulls they don't exist here in NZ and we have to use oat husks, I think it's a biosecurity issue.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm guessing rice hulls don't exist in NZ because rice production in NZ is barely existent and importing some byproduct that is otherwise discarded for the most part likely makes no economic sense...

Cheers!

 

[DuncB]

I'm guessing rice hulls don't exist in NZ because rice production in NZ is barely existent and importing some byproduct that is otherwise discarded for the most part likely makes no economic sense...

Cheers!

And if they imported the rice hulls we'd have to throw away all of the oat hulls.

 

[day_trippr]

Indeed. The first time I milled malted oats I was totally shocked to see how much of an oat "seed" is husk!
I immediately switched my recipes that used oat flakes to use oat malt...

Cheers!

 

[cmac62]

Malt post conditioning

That is exactly what mine looks like, but not so much flour in the finished product.

 

[Romex2121]

the whole effort ends up with husks that do look intact or nearly so which in turn allows an even tighter crush without deleterious effects on lautering...

I’m now a believer in grain conditioning ,,
I tried it for the first time on Sat 8-7-21 just before milling the grains for Biermunchers Cream of 3 Crops .
I was shocked at the difference it made on my crush.
Prior to trying it my husk were either tore up some times causing sparge issues or intact but poor efficiency , could never get a happy medium.
I’ll definitely be doing the conditioned thing in future brews……

 

[Jayjay1976]

Is there a thread on how to condition malt before crushing, and a special mill I would need? Guessing my cereal killer would rust up if I tried using it wet.

 

[jerrylotto]

Ideal conditioning is 2% moisture which is about 50 mL of water and 10 lb of grain. One option would be to spread it out across a large surface and mist it or just seal it up in a bucket with the right amount of water and shake, rattle and roll it.

 

[day_trippr]

I use an extra bucket, fill it about 1/3rd to start, rest it on about a 45° angle atop my bench, then mist the grain as I rotate the bucket along the bench top which folds some of the grain over as I go along. Then I stop and stir by hand before adding the next third. Repeat until done.

As for rusting: I always reserve roughly one pound of dry base malt and run that through the mill at the very end to wick out most of the moisture. Also, it is important to start milling without a lot of delay after the last of the malt has been wetted. All we're trying to do is make the husk flexible, which is essentially done in a minute or so. Definitely do not want to allow the kernel to dampen as that will lead to loading up the rollers. I made the mistake of waiting 15 minutes before milling once and had to totally tear the mill apart to clean the roller knurling. Don't do that

Cheers!

 

[DuncB]

Interesting re the conditioning, I use a 30 litre rectangular storage bin, pour in the grain and spray and stir it all. Then clip the lid on and leave it for about 45 minutes to an hour. I've not had problems of mill gumming up but maybe Maltzilla different to a gnurled roller.
I don't bother to condition flaked products or roasted products and allow for these grain bill " losses " when I calculate the water. Again I go with 2% by weight.

Probably keeps the dust and static down as well.

 

[cmac62]

Is there a thread on how to condition malt before crushing, and a special mill I would need? Guessing my cereal killer would rust up if I tried using it wet.

I just spray it down till it starts sticking to my hand when I mix the water in. It is not really wet, but moist. Also, I have heard the idea of keeping 1 lb of the grist dry, run that last and it will dry off your rollers.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Definitely something I will be doing on my next batch, not just for the crush but as mentioned it likely keeps the dust down, and crushing 30 to 40 lbs of grain on average for a 15 gallon batch makes a lot of dust and I brew in my basement, soooo yeah dust sucks.

 

[DuncB]

Definitely something I will be doing on my next batch, not just for the crush but as mentioned it likely keeps the dust down, and crushing 30 to 40 lbs of grain on average for a 15 gallon batch makes a lot of dust and I brew in my basement, soooo yeah dust sucks.

Ohh you don't just cart the grain and mill upstairs and mill outside then bring it all back to the basement!!

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

No lie, I brewed this past sunday and said to my wife... Ya know if I could make the grain mill table portable then we could wheel it outside to mill. I have a walk out basement but the ramp is pretty steep and the table I built with a motor and pulley and also the hopper I built is a little awkward to move around.

 

[DuncB]

No lie, I brewed this past sunday and said to my wife... Ya know if I could make the grain mill table portable then we could wheel it outside to mill. I have a walk out basement but the ramp is pretty steep and the table I built with a motor and pulley and also the hopper I built is a little awkward to move around.

Ahh the maltzilla running on a battery sitting tight on a plastic bucket with the removable plastic hopper ( water container hacked ) is easy to move. Although I've fitted it well together and so actually do mill indoors without dust and it's nice and quiet.

 

[bracconiere]

just thought i'd update this thread with half way decent photos of my crush....this is 0.028" ran at brisk pace with a 1/2" drill

and here's an idea of the flour....

 

[hout17]

Here's my crush on 6lb 7 oz of Maris Otter at .032". Didn't shake the bucket this time. This is with the crop duster grain mill hand cranked at medium to turtle speed.

 

[bracconiere]

Here's my crush on 6lb 7 oz of Maris Otter at .032". Didn't shake the bucket this time. This is with the crop duster grain mill hand cranked at medium to turtle speed.

View attachment 744564

hmmm, looks good! maybe i should slow my drill down a bit, takes a bit longer for the strike water to heat up to temp anyway....