Barley Crusher Problem

[reviled]

That wouldn't bother Ross one little bit. With his mill demolishing hundreds of kilos of grain a week, I think anyone would be prepared to cough up a few extra pennies to get a geared mill.

Ahhh im with you now, he was talking for his own use sorry

 

[TidalPete]

Different batches of grain have different grain sizes. If the gap is too narrow for your current grain size, the driven roller just sits there spinning and doesn't drag any grain into the gap. The non driven roller is lazy, so it doesn't do any spinning or work until there is a few grains actually being crushed.

I found that by only popping a 100ml of grain in the mill, pushing a few grains to start the mill working, then when it was actually crushing rather than spinning fill the hopper.

The knurling on my mill has lost its sharpness after 5 years of use. This means the grains are less likely to be dragged in at the start.

After each use, I do use an old paint brush to remove any dust from the knurling.

Also, make sure your lazy roller is freely spinning on its bearings. Sometimes the bearing may bind a bit, meaning that it doesn't spin.

+1 POL.

I just add enough grain to my 3-roller Cranker to allow the drill to grip then add the rest of the grain. Always throughly clean your rollers after each crush & enclose your mill in an airtight bag if possible unless you're lucky enough to have ss rollers? A drop or so of lubricant every 12 months is enough to keep your rollers spinning to their max unless again you are lucky enough to have sealed bearings?

TP

 

[Batz]

That wouldn't bother Ross one little bit. With his mill demolishing hundreds of kilos of grain a week, I think anyone would be prepared to cough up a few extra pennies to get a geared mill.

No recession at Craftbrewer !
Bad luck we can't buy shares :lol:





Batz :beer:

 

[winkle]

.....& in a retail enviroment it's an absolute pita, just ask the guys here!!!

We have now mothballed our 3 roller Crankenstein in favour of the geared Millmaster.
A better crush & it's never missed a beat - I'd personally never go back to a passive roller mill, but on a homebrew scale I guess it's not generally too much of a bind.


cheers Ross

Wasn't it "Mothballed" when you were using it.

 

[Frank]

Wasn't it "Mothballed" when you were using it.

mmm.... Napthalene beer.

 

[KHB]

Well i took to my crusher with a paint brush and ATM am crushing 12.5kg for a brew tomorrow. The first 2-3kg went through easy as, but then it started doing the same thing again. Have persisted down to 5kg left to chrush and have now mixed in 100ml of water, will wait ten minutes and try again. Report findings soon!

Cheers KHB

 

[KHB]

Ok finished. I noticed two things.

1st: It took alot more grunt from the drill to get the grain through.

2: It looked like the grain had not been crushed, but on closer inspection most of the husks were in tact and when i grabbed a handfull there was a decent amount of powder. Does this sound normal?? Never had this before. Normally crushed fine. Will find out when i work out my effiency tomorrow i guess.

Cheers KHB

 

[AndrewQLD]

Ok finished. I noticed two things.

1st: It took alot more grunt from the drill to get the grain through.

2: It looked like the grain had not been crushed, but on closer inspection most of the husks were in tact and when i grabbed a handfull there was a decent amount of powder. Does this sound normal?? Never had this before. Normally crushed fine. Will find out when i work out my effiency tomorrow i guess.

Cheers KHB

I think I would have left the last 5kg dry and waited till tommorrow to wet them down and crush them. You could possibly get some wild yeast spoiling the damp grain before you brew.
However I haven't used this method to crush my grains so have no practical experience.

Any grain wetters out there care to comment?

Andrew

 

[KHB]

I think I would have left the last 5kg dry and waited till tommorrow to wet them down and crush them. You could possibly get some wild yeast spoiling the damp grain before you brew.
However I haven't used this method to crush my grains so have no practical experience.

Any grain wetters out there care to comment?

Andrew

F@#K did not think of this!!!

Hope im alright

KHB

 

[Ross]

Any grain wetters out there care to comment?

Andrew

Where's Tony when you need him


Cheers Ross

 

[Effect]

Have a look at the link in my first post...puts all the worries about spoilage to rest.

As for the consistency of the crushed grain...sounds right to me. I don't think it will increase your efficiency - but it will sparge better (nicer grain bed).

 

[Frank]

F@#K did not think of this!!!

Hope im alright

KHB

You could always try the overnight mash, never tried it though. Maybe try to separate your last 5kg and allow it to dry out a bit. Taste it in the morning and see what you think. I think you will be fine.

 

[KHB]

Have a look at the link in my first post...puts all the worries about spoilage to rest.

As for the consistency of the crushed grain...sounds right to me. I don't think it will increase your efficiency - but it will sparge better (nicer grain bed).

Just looked at the link, mine looked like the conditioned malt! Also saw its ok to be done night before!!!!!

Dont expect it to increase effiency though.Looking forward to seeing the results.

Cheers
KHB

 

[AndrewQLD]

Just looked at the link, mine looked like the conditioned malt! Also saw its ok to be done night before!!!!!

Dont expect it to increase effiency though.Looking forward to seeing the results.

Cheers
KHB

Glad to hear it, didn't mean to put the wind up you but hey, at least we all know now.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[KHB]

So i started fly sparging and noticed im not getting as good drainage as normal????

I recirced through the HERMS for the hour.

KHB