# Grain Crush



## ausdb (2/9/04)

Hi All

I am in the process of modifying a marga mill and ran a bit of munich malt through it tonight.

Does this look sort of like the crush I should be aiming for? I have been comparing it against a small bag of precrushed grain I bought a while back and it sort of looks the same to me

Darryn


----------



## Doc (2/9/04)

Darryn,

Looks like a good crush to me from the photo.
The key point is there no or very very few intact grains ?
As long as all the grain is cracked then going by your picture you have a good crush.

Beers,
Doc


----------



## Barry cranston (2/9/04)

Looks very good to me.
All the best, Barry


----------



## wessmith (2/9/04)

AUSDB, your crush is an extremely course one, but not unusual in home brewing. There should be NO whole uncrushed grains and NO large chunks of starch present in the grist as it becomes almost impossible for the enzymes to access those large chunks in a timely manner. There is a thread running on another forum at the moment about incomplete conversion and "false positive" iodine tests. Almost certainly this is being caused by a courser than normal crush. What happens is that conversion continues well past the point where you would expect all available starch to have been converted - especially when a mash out stage is employed at low to mid 70's. There might only be a few % of unconverted starch left, but it will be enough to turn the iodine test black. 

Is it a problem then? - well not really except that this free starch will carry over to the kettle to some degree and cause chill haze. I would suggest you run the malt through the mill again at the same setting and dont be afraid to generate some flour - 10% is OK.

Wes.


----------



## dreamboat (2/9/04)

It does look to me like there are some uncrushed grains in there, but I know from experience with my mill, that what looks like a whole grain wil fall apart in your fingers if you give it a little squeeze. I would try this, and if they hold together, go a little finer and run another couple of hundred grams through and try again.
Cheap exercise for peace of mind.

dreamboat


----------



## wessmith (2/9/04)

Dreamboat, whether the grain will "fall apart" when you give it a squeeze will depend on the "friability" of the malt. Friability is like a mechanical "crushability" index for any given malt and is typically very high for our locally produced malts even to the point of being a problem. One local maltsers product we used to handle was so friable that a bulk deliver (25 tonnes) arrived with a good portion of the malt almost reduced to a dust. Caused some real problems in the mash too. English and European barleys produce malts with a lower firiability and therefore require a slightly finer milling. There are no hard and fast rules to mill settings - you just have to "suck it and see".

Wes


----------



## Gough (2/9/04)

Sorry to change the topic slightly, but I've been thinking about the 'crush' a fair bit lately and am in the market for my own mill. My HBS has been crushing my grain for me and I've been getting good conversion and reasonable efficiency, but it does seem a fair bit more 'crushed' than the picture above, and some others I've seen. He has a velley mill (not sure of the setting) and runs all the grain through twice. Sound OK? I only ask because I've been having a little difficulty getting the runnings to clear when recirculating (thanks to everyone's answers to my previous posts) and wondered whether too fine a crush may also be a problem? 

Any comments?

Thanks,

Shawn.


----------



## Doc (2/9/04)

Gough said:


> He has a velley mill (not sure of the setting) and runs all the grain through twice. Sound OK? I only ask because I've been having a little difficulty getting the runnings to clear when recirculating (thanks to everyone's answers to my previous posts) and wondered whether too fine a crush may also be a problem?


 Shawn,

I have a Valley Mill and I run the grain through twice also. First time through on the 2nd to finest setting, and the second time through on the finest setting.
I also put a grain bag over my manifold that helps prevent stuck sparges with a very fine crush and also aid is a clear runoff very quickly.

Beers,
Doc


----------



## ausdb (2/9/04)

Is anyone else using a marga mill? I can post a photo of where I have drilled extra holes in the adjuster mechanism to compare setting I was using and get a reference point from some one else.


----------



## pint of lager (2/9/04)

The ultimate crush would be the husks intact (these are what filter the sparge, not the false bottom or manifold) and the starch to be broken into 1/2 a dozen pieces with minimal flour.

If the husks are really ground up, like wholemeal flour, it would be impossible to sparge, the whole lot would set. Also, there would be excessive tannins leached from the extra surface area of the husks.

If the crush is too coarse, as Wes said, mash never complete due to large particle size, there would also be uncrushed grains going along for a holiday in the mash tun, wasting your money. Poor efficiencies, cloudy beers.

What some brewers do, they run the grain through the mill twice. For the first run, set the mill gap fairly coarse to just crush the grain. Second run through, set the gap fine, the husks stay fairly intact, and the kernel is crushed finer. This is why there are very fancy three roller mills available. Check out http://www.crankenstein.com.

What most brewers do, they find an optimal setting on their mill, and leave it at that for most crushes. Do reassess your crush from time to time. Seasonal variations,different varieties, different malting procedures mean different kernel sizes and the gap will need adjusting.


----------



## Gough (2/9/04)

Thanks fellas. My HBS owner is generally pretty spot on, and I've had, as I said, no conversion or efficiency worries so far. Just thought I'd ask the question while the subject was being discussed.

Doc - Thanks for the tip on the grain bag. Might try and find something similar myself. 

Saving my pennies for a Valley mill...

Shawn.


----------



## pint of lager (2/9/04)

Hmmm, valley mill.

If you do a search on mills, this has come up many times. Me, I have a barley crusher and am very happy. Cost me $250 to import from overseas. I think just about everyone is happy with the mill they buy. Not sure how much a valley mill is landed.


----------



## Jovial_Monk (2/9/04)

I just tried breaking a grain of malt and did not succeed, so I assume the "whole grains" in the crushed malt have been broken by the mill and these do fall apart when you rub them lightly.

I would rather have a bit more of coarsely crushed malt in my mash tun then have all the malt crushed into bits.

Starch haze is not chill haze, it is there when the beer is warm as well as colld

Jovial Monk


----------



## siiren (2/9/04)

I can't work out if this post should be under E-Bay items, but anyway,
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...item=4321917831
I have received email back from them for postage to SA as $29.75 USD - surface.
I am keen but if anyone else is interested, may be able to save on postage.


----------



## /// (5/9/04)

Unfortunately there are those that feel fine crushes are the only way to - and they are wrong.

Course 'floating' mashes ensure good filtering of the grain bed - not fine crushes with flour for straight infusion mashing.

A floating mash will help to give and almost instant clear run-off. Hence why professionals ensure they do not set thier mashes.

///


----------



## chiller (5/9/04)

/// said:


> Unfortunately there are those that feel fine crushes are the only way to - and they are wrong.


Well there is nothing like another expert on the list.

I love blanket statements ... they keep me warm all winter.

Give us a clue as to your credentials anyone can parrot old ideas or quote from a book.

Which one are you?

Every brewer will crush his grain differently and there is really no optimum because my system is different to POL, Doc's Dicko's Jayse or JM's

You will find the best setup for you, not just based on efficiency [that is really only a concern to commercial brewers] 

What ever figures you get, a consistent result is what you should aim for.

Your crush looks fine. Brew with it and if the beer is great ................ so is the crush.

Steve.


----------



## nonicman (5/9/04)

http://www.brewery.org/brewery/library/Phen_CS0497.html

Interesting article on types of grain crush and phenol extraction.


----------



## Batz (6/9/04)

Or even................batz


----------



## siiren (6/9/04)

Dicko/BBB, I remember that you modified a Marga mill.
Do you have any pics of the modifications you made, more specifically the drilling part?
Also anyone who has bought a modified one from the Grumps, what mods did they do? apart from the hopper size/hole.
I have recenly got my hands on one from a garage sale and it's in excellent condition.


----------



## jayse (6/9/04)

Three forward slashes AKA /// seems to me a strange choice of handle. h34r: 

Anyway welcome aboard ///. One thing you didn't make mention of was the fact that it is the air in a infusion mash that helps it to float also. 
Iam sure everyone here has a reasonbly good crush.

Jayse


----------



## dicko (6/9/04)

Hi siiren and others,
There are pics in the gallery of my modified Marga Molino and later today I will post the roller gap settings that I have mine set to.
With the Marga it is important that the gap on the top two rollers is wider than the gap between the bottom or outlet.
The pic above of the crush looks pretty good to me and I judge my crush results by grabbing a handfull of grain and picking out one grain that looks to be intact and touching it and the husk should readily fall open to reveal the white malt inside. With most grains the husk is broken to reveal the malt.
Crush plays a big part in mash efficiency and if you are consistently getting 70% plus then your crush should be OK.
Here is a pic of me drilling the index plate on my mill.

Sorry no pic now original pic was too big. I will try to get it smaller and repost it.

Cheers


----------



## siiren (6/9/04)

Thanks Dicko,
Exactly what I needed to know. 
What time frame are you looking at for a 6kg crush with the mods?
Cheers.


----------



## dicko (6/9/04)

Siiren,
My mill rollers are set to .086"inches clearance for the top and .070" inches clearance for the bottom.
Apart from drilling the index plate there is a slight adjustment available by turning the hexagon part of the bushes that the rollers run in to achieve a very fine adjustment. These bushes are slightly offset to allow adjustment to maintain a parallel relationship of the rollers.
I most cases you should not need to mess with these.
I have now chosen to do away with that silly plastic hopper altogether and I have made a hopper that fits into the top housing with an interference fit and makes use of the full length of the rollers. I made it from MDF board and it holds 4.5 kg of grain at one time. (see the gallery pics )
The drive pin that Grumpys gave me broke when I put too much pressure on it with the drill so now I have cut the tip end of the shank of a large flat screwdriver and ground the sides to fit the slot in the drive shaft and it works a treat.
Dont take my clearance as absolute, but slowly adjust you rollers to achieve the crush you want. My settings will get you very close to the mark.
A hint is to use some tape to hold the adjustment knob until you get it right then mark it and drill one hole instead of a series of holes like I did.
If you need any help then PM me and we can get in contact by phone if you wish.

Cheers


----------



## dicko (6/9/04)

Siiren,

Our posts overlapped each other.
With the big hopper and using the drill to drive it, it takes only a few minutes to crack five kilos of grain. I would say at a guess less than five minutes.

Cheers


----------



## /// (7/9/04)

/// due to a mistake in signing up.

Sweeping statements - well why not - tis' the season too!

Credentials - less than some and more than others on the board.

Flaoting mashes I have found to make a huge difference and have a couple of times in a brew house the problems with a set mash.

Aeration is from doughing in - many systems that use a auger have a chinese hat for the malt to go thru. At home I make sure that there is a good grain to water ratio and during sparge out keep the outflow and inflow to the mash tun about the same


----------



## sosman (7/9/04)

pint of lager said:


> The ultimate crush would be the husks intact (these are what filter the sparge, not the false bottom or manifold) and the starch to be broken into 1/2 a dozen pieces with minimal flour.
> 
> If the husks are really ground up, like wholemeal flour, it would be impossible to sparge, the whole lot would set. Also, there would be excessive tannins leached from the extra surface area of the husks.


I end up with my husks intact but squished flat. The white stuff comes out quite powdery.







I so far haven't had a stuck mash and people keep telling me there is very little risk of tannin extraction with batch sparging. I have had no evidence of astringency.

Having said that, I brewed a pils the other day and Melbourne water is very soft so I tossed a few drops of phos acid into the sparge water to keep the pH well under 6.






A close up of part of the rollers.

The full details are here


----------



## sosman (17/11/04)

I got a reasonable pic of the crushed grain from my last batch. 




How does this compare with other people's experience?

brewiki: jarrah roller mill


----------



## dicko (17/11/04)

Hi Sosman,

Looks pretty good with that crush.
Your mill is quite impressive and I would imagine that by the size of the rollers it would be quick as well!
I have mucked around with my Marga and got it working pretty well and I can achieve 75% easily from my mash with a simple batch sparge and 72% with the "no sparge" method.
The pic of the grain shows that you are cracking the husk but leaving it in tack so that sparging should be a breeze.
I use a false bottom in a stainless vessel as a tun and I think from memory that you use a manifold or bazooka in an esky?
What sort of efficiency are you getting with your system?

Cheers,


----------



## sosman (17/11/04)

Dicko,

I have been hitting 90% regularly batch sparging, with one dropping to 83% - what the cause was I don't know.

I use the braid off an easy hooker. Pics of mashtun and batch sparge method I use are at

brewiki: batch sparge

I can hand crank 5.5kg in around 4 minutes. It is improving with age (well and the fact that I added an o-ring to both ends so the second roller has a good positive drive).


----------



## dicko (17/11/04)

Sosman

I have found that if I use wheat malt in a recipe that my efficiency drops by about two points generally and I believe that this drop is directly related to the fact that the wheat grain is slightly smaller and that I dont get the crush with the Marga unless I select the closer setting on the rollers.
Personally I could not be bothered to crush the wheat seperately so I just accept the result as long as I know what is happening and why.
The "o"rings on your rollers would compensate for the fact that steel rollers are knurled and if both rollers are turning then this would help "pull" the grain through the rollers.
After many trial runs and resetting adjustments with the Marga Molino I now realise how important the crush is in achieving mash efficiency and this fact should not be underestimated with any brewer contemplating AG brewing.
Your mill is a credit to you and it obviously is doing exactly what it should.

Cheers,


----------



## Guest Lurker (16/12/04)

A reasonable pic? My camera doesnt go that close. But I did some trial milling with my Valley last weekend and got the best pics I could.

The valley has about 6 or 7 fixed gaps.

Coarsest setting, lots of uncracked grains.


----------



## Guest Lurker (16/12/04)

Once you close the gap to some critical point related to the size of teh grain, it starts to crush properly, and you dont see a big difference by changing the gap.

This is 3rd finest setting which I mostly use.


----------



## Guest Lurker (16/12/04)

Finest setting. Doesnt seem to be a big change (from third setting) in what happens to the husks, just a bit more powdery stuff from the endosperm(insides? sorry wes). Actually looking at this there is still enough husk to filter, might go finer next brew.


----------



## big d (16/12/04)

top pics gl.
im going to do a schwarzbier tomorrow so if i remember i will take and post some pics of a barley crusher crush set on about a gap of .038 thou from memory.

cheers
big d


----------



## Guest Lurker (16/12/04)

I'd be really interested if someone could add some pics of a marga or porket crush as well, would be a useful resource.


----------



## Boots (11/4/05)

I'm after a few opinions on my own crush. These pics are after 2 runs at .65" gap (measured with spark plug feeler gauges). There are a fair few grains that appear whole, but a very gentle rub between two fingers has them falling apart. Under the top layers there is a fair bit of flour.

Prior to this run, I normally did a crush at .85" and then again at .65" but didn't get very good efficiency so tried this as something different. I'll be brewing with it tonight.

Thanks for any advice


----------



## Gulf Brewery (11/4/05)

Boots said:


> I'm after a few opinions on my own crush. These pics are after 2 runs at .65" gap (measured with spark plug feeler gauges). There are a fair few grains that appear whole, but a very gentle rub between two fingers has them falling apart. Under the top layers there is a fair bit of flour.
> [post="53852"][/post]​



Boots

What sort of mill is it? I think the crush could be a bit finer so more of the grains are broken up. 

Cheers
Pedro


----------



## Boots (11/4/05)

GulfBrewery said:


> Boots
> 
> What sort of mill is it? I think the crush could be a bit finer so more of the grains are broken up.
> 
> ...



Meant to say that it is a Marga Mill. I might do it like it is for tonights brew, and then next crush go down to .60" or less to see the difference in efficiency.

Cheers GulfBrewery


----------



## big d (11/4/05)

i agree with pedro
my bc is set at 35-40 thou.cant remember which on but the results are good.


cheers
big d


----------



## pint of lager (11/4/05)

The crush looks good Boots.

Dicko, could you please delete your picture, resize and repost.

Gap size may need to be changed depending on what sort of grain you are crushing. Malted oats needs a much smaller gap.

Depending on what variety of barley the maltster has used, means that once again you may need to adjust the gap. Also, if the barley is poor quality, there will be a big distribution of grain size, some small, some large and the gap size will not be right, no matter what you set it at. There will always be a few smaller grains that get through, do not worry if you have some that gets through. After mashing and sparging has finished, is the easiest time to check for uncracked grain. Pick out a handful of spent mash, and inspect for whole grains.

The ideal would be to run the grain through twice, first on a wide setting so the barley is just cracked, the second, on a much narrower setting so the starch bits get crushed finer. This is why some people opt for a 3 roller mill, like the crankandstein.


----------



## dicko (11/4/05)

Hi Boots,
I found with the Marga that if you went too close with the bottom roller gap it tore the grain husks and I got a stuck sparge but efficiency did increase.
The trick is to find that happy medium with the Marga.
I also found that if I turned it faster (with a drill) it gave a different crush than if I turned it by hand. With a drill the crush was finer.
I also found that if you went too fast it would again, tear the husks.
I hope this may help
Cheers


----------



## dicko (11/4/05)

Hi POL,
I deleted the pic, yes it was a tad large.
It's a wonder someone had not commented before this.
BTW the Marga is a three roller mill.
Cheers


----------



## Boots (11/4/05)

I had always previously done two passes (wide then narrow). IMO i got better results this time with the two passes at narrow than previously which is why I wanted a few opinions as this goes against everything I've read. The malt that I'm using does seem to have quite a range in sizes, and in the 5KG of the base malt, I found 3 small twigs and a little bit of straw (all of which were removed before crushing.

The two gap settings I use I got from a document a US brewer made from a compilation of brewers notes on the marga.

Dicko - I think (from memory) that the gap beneath was larger than the gap above, but I've never actually measured it. And I can understand what you're saying about the speed affecting crush quality. If you go really fast, the grain actually feeds through noticeably slower, so the roller must be slipping on the grains tearing them.

Cheers for the responses .. next brew I will do a pass at .85 and then for the narrow pass, I'll go tighter than i did on this one to see the diff.


----------



## pint of lager (11/4/05)

Cheers Dicko, big pictures are a common trap for posters.


----------



## SJW (11/4/05)

I find that running the grain thru twice, 1st time just to break the husks and a second to crush the grain, works for me. And i am not to concerned how fine the crush is as i mash in a 55 litre mash tun/esky so there is no danger of stuck sparges.


----------



## Stagger Inn (11/4/05)

I made my own mill and used a straight roller instead off a diamond shape IMO it gives a far better crush also a little finer. I have a good mixture of husks to flour, i use a copper manifold with cuts in it and never had a stuck mash.


:super:


----------



## dicko (11/4/05)

Hi Boots,

Quoted in your recent post:



> Dicko - I think (from memory) that the gap beneath was larger than the gap above, but I've never actually measured it.



The gap at the top most definately _*has to be wider *_than the gap at the bottom for the mill to crush quickly.
I know because when I first got the Marga I wasn't aware of the different gaps and the first two crushes took forever and I was only doing partials.

Good luck with the brew tonight.

Cheers


----------



## dicko (11/4/05)

Stagger Inn,



> I made my own mill and used a straight roller instead off a diamond shape IMO it gives a far better crush also a little finer.



What diameter are your rollers and is it a two or three roller mill?
Can you post a pic of it?

The Marga mill has a very fine knurl on its rollers but because they are a small diameter the grains tend to slip on the rollers before they feed through.

I now have a three roller Crankandstein and the knurl on the bottom roller is finer than the top but the rollers themselves are larger in diameter and work very well with very little husk damage.

It takes a bit of fiddling around with most adjustable mills until you get the crush you want and as POL said, it still depends on the grain the maltsters used originally as grain size can change from year to year due to varying rainfall / use of fertilisers and weather in general and all this may be taken into account.

When I went from the Marga to the Crankandstein I gained on an average of 5% in efficiency but the Crankandstein does not tear the husks like the Marga.

To adjust mine I started off at a gap that I thought was pretty close and each brew I did, I went down one click on the adjuster to narrow the gap. When I got a stuck sparge I went back one click and I have left it there.
I consistently get 72% efficiency using the "no sparge" method and if I sparge I get 76% ( I am happy with the 72% because this method is a lot easier )

Cheers


----------



## Trough Lolly (11/4/05)

Interesting thread guys,
I too use a triple roller Marga Mulino that I bought from Grumpies a couple of years ago. The tiny hopper is a PITA and I'm gonna rip up some MDF to hold a whole brewful when I get the time...
I haven't changed the settings since it arrived in the mail. I have a finer crush than yours, Ausdb, and I have never re-run the crush through the rollers - to me, once is enough otherwise I'll end up with flour everywhere.
As far as results go, Promash has told me that I get between 82% and 85% efficiency and I use Bairds, IMC and Weyermann malts. I'm very happy with those results, and whilst I get clear sparges and clear beer, I have no intention of changing any aspect of my milling setup. 80%+ when batch sparging will do me fine (pardon the pun)!!

Cheers,
TL


----------



## sosman (12/4/05)

Trough Lolly said:


> As far as results go, Promash has told me that I get between 82% and 85% efficiency and I use Bairds, IMC and Weyermann malts. I'm very happy with those results, and whilst I get clear sparges and clear beer, I have no intention of changing any aspect of my milling setup. 80%+ when batch sparging will do me fine (pardon the pun)!!
> [post="54039"][/post]​


TL that is similar to what I get, 85-88% with lighter beers and 82-85% for bigger beers (batch sparging). This figure also seems to depend on how I do the split between mash volume and sparge volume.

The crush I am getting with my two roller jobby is like so:






I can go finer but mashing and sparging start to slow down. My time is more valuable to me than $0.50 worth of grain.


----------



## Trough Lolly (12/4/05)

Agreed Sosman...and nice closeup.

BTW, is there some oats in that crush?! Looks good enough to add milk to and have for breakfast!!

Cheers,
TL


----------



## Stagger (12/4/05)

View attachment 2291
View attachment 2292


Rollers are Stainless steel and 50mm dia, as i said i used a straight knurl. I also run at 85%


Cheers

Stagger


----------



## pint of lager (12/4/05)

I am very impressed with everyone's efforts at mill building. 

A question/suggestion to Stagger. Do you have a dog? That great work of ss art you have posted is sitting on top of a plastic bucket, with the power cord draped to the side. I know our dog would tear past and knock the lot flying. That would be a sad sight.


----------



## Tony M (12/4/05)

Stagger,
I'm just curious. Is that motor 750W & 1440 RPM and your gearing 1:1 ?


----------



## Stagger (12/4/05)

Yes and yes I was going to put a large pulley on to slow it down but the crush is great. I do 8KG in around 3-5 mins I know time is not important but what the hay.


Stagger :beerbang:


----------



## Tony M (12/4/05)

Stagger said:


> Yes and yes I was going to put a large pulley on to slow it down but the crush is great. I do 8KG in around 3-5 mins I know time is not important but what the hay.
> 
> 
> Stagger :beerbang:
> [post="54088"][/post]​




Well stagger, youv'e got me thinking now. I have 65 watts with roller at 40 RPM and I sorta get the same figures as you ----3KG in 8 minutes!


----------



## nonicman (1/5/05)

Tony said:


> I mix in 50 to 100mls of water to the dry grain and let it sit for 15 min.
> [post="56790"][/post]​


Quote from the Borret's Mill Borret's Mill thread.

Gave this a try and the crush looks good, the husks are more alot more intact that when dry. The downside is I'm looking at Dicko and Tony's motorised mills in a new light, I found it took a bit more effort to hand crush the moistened grain compared to dry with the same settings and grain.

Edit: added link


----------



## Borret (1/5/05)

How much muck ends up on the rollers. Do you end up with more mess to clean off or is it much the same?

Borret


----------



## nonicman (1/5/05)

Borret said:


> How much muck ends up on the rollers. Do you end up with more mess to clean off or is it much the same?
> 
> Borret
> [post="57002"][/post]​



It was pretty much the same. Added 100ml of water to 8kg of grain, mixed with hands.

Jason


----------



## Vlad the Pale Aler (1/5/05)

Trough Lolly-

When did you become a disciple of Father Jack?.
Cant believe he never got a shot at the top job.


----------



## Boots (27/6/05)

Quoting Dicko from earlier inthe thread


> My mill rollers are set to .086"inches clearance for the top and .070" inches clearance for the bottom



Just wanted to say thanks Dicko for the MARGA MILL measurements. I went with what you said, and although the mash is only just going in, I can already see I'm set for better efficiency. Much better (and quicker) crush than i was ever getting before.

Cheers Mate

Edited to include the Mill in question


----------



## dicko (27/6/05)

Boots said:


> Quoting Dicko from earlier inthe thread
> 
> 
> > My mill rollers are set to .086"inches clearance for the top and .070" inches clearance for the bottom
> ...



Hi Boots,
Glad it all went OK.
Although I have upgraded, I still have a soft spot for the Marga  
For their original price they do a pretty good job - It is a shame the price has risen due IMO, solely from the demand in the HB industry in Aus.
Cheers


----------



## johnno (11/3/06)

Hi all,
Please give me comments on how my crush looks.
It looks too fine to me.
I have just put about 150 grams through the mill.

johnno


----------



## deadly (11/3/06)

looks like a bit much "flour" compared to how I do mine on a Marga,maybe a bit more gap?


----------



## PeterS (11/3/06)

deadly said:


> looks like a bit much "flour" compared to how I do mine on a Marga,maybe a bit more gap?
> [post="113888"][/post]​


Johhno, I have a feeling that you are going to get some varied comments. It is hard to make a judgement just by looking at a picture. Having said that, It looks quite good to me. It seems to have some flour consistency but there are also some intact husks to do the filtering. Your real test is in the making. If you do not have a stuck mash and your Mash Efficiency is good than the crush is good. On the other hand if you have a Stuck Mash than it is too fine. Remember that everybodies system is different. To me it looks fine.

Cheers.
PeterS.... :beer:


----------



## johnno (11/3/06)

Well said Peter.
Its too true, every ones system is diferent.
I have been looking at a few pictures and they all look different yet similar.  
I will suck it and see when i brew in a couple of days. :beer: 

johnno


----------



## warrenlw63 (11/3/06)

Hey Johnno!

If it's Powells should be good to get you up to 65% efficiency! :lol: 

Other than that looks OK to me. :beerbang: 

Warren -


----------



## Tony (11/3/06)

It looks a little bit fine to me.

nonicmans crush looks like what i get and i get 75 to 80 % efficiency.

you are better off with a fine crush than a course one i have found. A course crush will give bad efficiency

Give it a go and see what happens.

Definatly try the water in the grain thing.

I tried this when i started AG brewing and posted my ideas on Grumpys and got laughed at :blink: 

Now people are starting to realise the difference it makes.

I use baby food jars. For a 20 t0 25 liter batch od regular strenght beer i use a small jar.

For a 45 to 50 liter batch i use a big jar.

I think they are 70 Mls and 120 Mls respectivly.

put the grain in a container , tip the water in and get your hasnd and arms in and mix it around till the grain is all damp.

Cover and let it stand for 10 to 15 min or untill the grain has soaked up the water and it doesnt fell wet any more and run it through the mill.

I find you can get a finer crack and better efficiency with less husk damage and a better sparge.

I set my mill gap at 0.9mm

And it will only foul the rollers if you dont leave if for the 10 min to soak the water into the husks. they arnt actually "wet" when you crack it.

cheers


----------



## lucas (19/5/07)

This might be handy for anyone else looking for what a good crush looks like. I'm just trying to sort out my mill now and im getting a crush somewhat like sosmans.

perhaps this should be linked too from a wiki unless someone has some better pics offer?


----------



## matti (19/5/07)

Nice pick.
I haven't got a pick but I get mine crushed @ brewshop.
Often I have to take 1/3 out and crush it properly to ensure I reached descent efficiencies.
matti


----------



## Mr Bond (19/5/07)

matti said:


> Nice pick.
> I haven't got a pick but I get mine crushed @ brewshop.
> Often I have to take 1/3 out and crush it properly to ensure I reached descent efficiencies.
> matti



Huh :huh: If you have to pull out a 1/3rd and recrush,I would presume you already have a mill!
Why not just crush it all yourself to begin with(to your satisfaction) dispense with the ordinary shop milling?


----------



## matti (19/5/07)

Brau!
No mill yet but will make one soon.
Crushe gently by hand with kitchen bread roll hehehe
took me an 1h 1/2


----------



## johnno (19/5/07)

I have merged this topic with another that was started around the same time and has similar information.

cheers
johnno


----------

