Thoughts on new grain mill crush

[BrewinSoldier]

Hey guys! Back again with some more questions. I just finished up my new Crankenstein 328G build with an All American Ale works motor. I'm trying to get my grain crush dialed in and would like some input. Do these grains look like they are getting destroyed? Too fine or too thick if a crush? I believe I'm at about a .055 setting. Had it on .040 I believe and seemed like there was way too much flour. I'll post my build in another thread when I'm all done with it. Still a few minor things left to make hopper wise since crankenstein doesn't make one. Anyways, what do you guys think?

 

[jtratcliff]

How do you brew AG? BIAB? Can't be too fine, IMO... Stainless braid? False bottom? copper or cpvc manifold? Zap-Pap bucket in a bucket? Those things make a difference.

No one can make suggestions for sure without more details....

 

[BrewinSoldier]

I brew with a 3 vessel setup, infusion recirculating mash with a false bottom and on a Grainfather as well.

 

[jtratcliff]

neither look destroyed to me... I see plenty of intact grains in both images... You want almost no intact grains. But I BIAB, where a stuck sparge isn't usually a problem... I crush 'til I'm scared, then crush some more ...

Have you brewed with that crush yet? Under-crushed will give you reduced efficiency unless you mash longer, over-crushed may result in as stuck sparge w/out rice hulls...

Seems like I see people get down in the low 30s for gap setting, though.... You might have to brew some back to back batches where you crank it down to *your* sweet spot...

 

[BrewinSoldier]

Here is what it looks like when I closed the gap down by .05.

 

[day_trippr]

Realizing different knurling patterns matters wrt roller gap settings, .055" still seems way loose when I run my BC at .035" for barley.
I can't see a bit of flour in those pics but I do see what appear to be intact grains. I'd go tighter than that...

Cheers!

 

[helibrewer]

Hey guys! Back again with some more questions. I just finished up my new Crankenstein 328G build with an All American Ale works motor. I'm trying to get my grain crush dialed in and would like some input. Do these grains look like they are getting destroyed? Too fine or too thick if a crush? I believe I'm at about a .055 setting. Had it on .040 I believe and seemed like there was way too much flour. I'll post my build in another thread when I'm all done with it. Still a few minor things left to make hopper wise since crankenstein doesn't make one. Anyways, what do you guys think?

I condition the grain and have my rollers set at 0.035

 

[jtratcliff]

Some flour is OK... no intact grains... lots of intact husks

 

[BrewinSoldier]

When you say intact grains, do you mean ones that are just split open or not touched?

I think I'll probably have to do what you said a brew a few batches to see how it goes. I know with the Grainfather, I always have a bunch of flow issues(stuck mashes with my barley Crusher). I'm tempted to see what this one does.

 

[day_trippr]

"Not touched" would be closest. One cannot tell from a pic if the kernel was fragmented [leaving the husk apparently undisturbed] so anything that looks "not touched" is suspect...

Cheers!

 

[BrewinSoldier]

On this one, I'm still seeing a kernel here and there that is still whole. I'll try taking it down one more click.

I thought that the ideal crush was to keep the kernel intact, but break it open so the sugar can easily come out? Do we want the kernels torn in pieces?

 

[jtratcliff]

Yes, kernels should all be broken! That lets the water in to activate the enzymes and extract the sugars! Husks should be mostly intact to act as a filter during sparge...

 

[day_trippr]

What we want is to fragment the grain kernel while leaving the husks as intact as possible. It can be a fine line.

The desired level of fragmentation is somewhat dependent on brewing process, with BIAB being able to use the finest crush vs a bazooka tube in a cooler (coarser crush advised) or a good false bottom (middle of the road crush possible).
All else equal the finer the crush the higher the actual extract efficiency...

Cheers!

 

[BrewinSoldier]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Haven't brewed in over a month so decided to punish myself with a back to back brew day. With the current setting, this is the very first time I've ever brewed on the Grainfather without having a ton of wort going down the overflow which is awesome. Thats even with adding a full pound of corn starch. The only thing that worries me is if it wasn't fine enough so my efficiency suffers. I'll see how it turns out and adjust the crush one click finer on the next one if need be.

Only crappy part is once I finish building my 3 vessel system in the next week, I may have to change it all over again lol