Mill Gap Settings

[rude]

Hello all I made a mill & set the gap to 1mm as what most do on this site after doing a search.
My rollers are 50mm & I have had a lot of trouble lautering ( had to go slow on the run offs)
I have been opening the gap slowly & at the moment (last brew) 1.25mm but still got 80%.
I really would like 75% to 70% for ease of lautering & knowing where Im at for recipe copy
Just did a Dr Sumarto TTL & got 1052 so will end up with 4.9% (depending on attenuation) beer when really I only wanted a 4.1% beer.
recipe as below
Timothy Taylor Landlord
English Pale Ale/Strong Bitter


Type: All Grain
Date: 22/09/2009
Batch Size: 25.00 L
Brewer: Rude
Boil Size: 30.11 L Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (5.9 EBC) Grain 87.21 %
0.60 kg Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain 11.63 %
0.06 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC) Grain 1.16 %
30.00 gm Challenger [7.50 %] (60 min) Hops 22.9 IBU
25.00 gm Challenger [7.50 %] (20 min) Hops 11.6 IBU
25.00 gm Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Ringwood Ale (Wyeast Labs #1187) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.29 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.95 %
Bitterness: 34.5 IBU Calories: 490 cal/l
Est Color: 19.1 EBC Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body Total Grain Weight: 5.16 kg
Sparge Water: 14.28 L Grain Temperature: 22.2 C
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C TunTemperature: 22.2 C
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 13.46 L of water at 74.4 C 67.8 C
10 min Mash Out Add 7.54 L of water at 91.5 C 75.6 C



Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.2
Pressure/Weight: 121.6 gm Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 15.6 C Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 11.1 C

Notes

mashed in at 68c 80 min 14 litres ( strike 77c )
mo at 76.5c 10 litres (strike 94c )
sparged 76.5c ( strike 86c )
1st runnings 15 litres
sparge 15 litres only 25 litres
sparged again 10 litres ( 35 litres ) pitched 29/9/09
Created with BeerSmith

so I was wondering what other crew do or set there gaps at especially home made 50mm roller jobbies

By the way the munich 1 really hit me when I tasted this out of the fermenter very malty

 

[Andyd]

Playing around with my mill I found I've opened it up more than 1.25 mm. It's a mashmaster mill, and I've opened it up 2 notched from neutral (haven't measured the gap, but it's ,uch larger than 1.25 mm).

Basically keep opening it up until the husks are more or less intact.

Andy

 

[glaab]

that sounds like good advice from andy. I'm curious what's in the bottom of your mash tun?, braid/ false bottom or manifold? If that's the problem I'd be happy with the 80% you can always change your efficiency in Beersmith so you hit your targets.. What do you mean slow runoffs?, less than 1l / min?

 

[Blackfish]

that sounds like good advice from andy. I'm curious what's in the bottom of your mash tun?, braid/ false bottom or manifold? If that's the problem I'd be happy with the 80% you can always change your efficiency in Beersmith so you hit your targets.. What do you mean slow runoffs?, less than 1l / min?

Yep thats my question too. Maybe its not your crush at all I struggled with lautering for a while and what solved it was some extra holes in my manifold. If ou are getting 80%, maybe look at some extra braid, or drill some more holes. bigger filters clog less easily.

 

[rude]

I use a round esky with some braid the wife has the camera at the farm so no pics sorry

The two piece valve (tap) is a small one & when ever I open it right up it seems to get stuck (runoff)

I used to loop my manifold (braid) but kept hitting it when mashing in so now its just a straight piece which seems to work better.

I used to mash in with 15 Litres of water only to get 6 Litres out first runnings have been mashing with less laterly & with the braid being straight Im getting say 8 Litres

Ill have to take another good look at my mash tun set up

 

[rude]

I have the bigger braid allso

Ill send a pic when the camers comes home

cheers all

 

[browndog]

Another copuple of variables that come into it is the speed your rollers are doing and the size of the knurl on them Rude.

cheers

Browndog

 

[PhilA]

Hi Browndog , I have a Barley Crusher motorized and my gap is set at .045 inch and crush is good hope the setting helps .
Cheers Phil :chug:

 

[Sammus]

My mashmaster is set fairly open. I tried it at 1mm and couldn't lauter at all, now its so open that sometimes if I drop a single grain onto the rollers it can slip through. I run it 115rpm, get through 5.1kg in 1min 55s (timed it the other day ) and get ~80% pretty consistently. Big beers are usually closer to 75%, and once or twice I've been in the mid-high 80s.


But I've gotta ask, are you still having trouble lautering since you opened it up? you know you can just use less grain if your efficiency is too high

 

[rude]

Cheers brown dog You were the one that gave me the tip on nicol cad coating for my rollers it was a good cheap option cheers mate

I did give it a good knurl both ways on the lathe so maybe that plus also screwy suggested not to stirr the mash too much

I have noticed a lot of concrete set flour in my mash so maybe Ill stirr less especially when I sparge I tend to dig it up & give it a flogging.

My mash paddle is a bit of jarrah floor board so thinking it might be tooo thick, might have to try a nice bit of stainless.

Allso I was told to dough in with the water first wait 5 min then put the grain in

I put the grain in first then using a piece of silicon tubing run the strike water straight on the grain stirr for 5 min & allways hit my mark, not sure how the two methods vary efficiency ?

 

[rude]

I'll also add since opening the gap my efficiency has gone frome 85 to 80% so maybe open it a bit more cheers

 

[Andyd]

Rude,

I wouldn't worry about a drop from 85 to 80%. Most people get too caught up trying to acheive too high an efficiency anyway. You'll certainly get higher efficiency with a finer crush, but you'll also start seeing increased tanins coming from the husks as well as running the higher risk of stuck starges.

Andy

 

[matho]

rude i'm in the same boat as you , 2inch rollers with 1.2 gap, esky with braid, if i fly sparge i get about 80-85% but lots of stuck sparges if i batch i get 75% there abouts and i haven't had a stuck sparge, im in the process of making a manifold because the stuck sparges really starting to piss me off.

i did batch sparges when i first started ag, the braid was new so maybe it could just be the braid i don't know but ill still make the manifold and see if the helps my fly sparge.

 

[DKS]

Sort of on topic question.
If you are batch sparging. Does it matter how fast you run off to kettle? My 1st go at a full mash ran like a tap. I could have slowed it but dont know any different. My pluming is 1/2"pipe. You guys seem to have the opposite problem though.:icon_cheers:
Daz

 

[rude]

yes Im not after high efficiency in fact 70 - 75% would do me fine

I'll have to have a good look at my braid setup maybe a false bottom but not keen on spending the bucks for one

Have been doing pommy bitters & really enjoying them, I just want some consistancy so I can follow a recipe & not wait around all day for the kettle volume when lautering.

Im still new to AG so I'll get there but in the meantime I'm not dieing of thirst

Thanks for all youre input oh Browndog my speed is pretty slow I use a windscreenwiper motor on my mill takes about 5 mins plus to crush 4-5kg

Would a slow crush change anything?

 

[browndog]

yes Im not after high efficiency in fact 70 - 75% would do me fine

I'll have to have a good look at my braid setup maybe a false bottom but not keen on spending the bucks for one

Have been doing pommy bitters & really enjoying them, I just want some consistancy so I can follow a recipe & not wait around all day for the kettle volume when lautering.

Im still new to AG so I'll get there but in the meantime I'm not dieing of thirst

Thanks for all youre input oh Browndog my speed is pretty slow I use a windscreenwiper motor on my mill takes about 5 mins plus to crush 4-5kg

Would a slow crush change anything?

Rude, I believe the quicker the rollers run the finer your crush would end up, yours is running pretty slow, mine does 5kg in 60 secs or so. I've never bothered to measure the gap in my rollers, I just kept adjusting it till I got a crush that would not give me a stuck sparge on my system. It may stick on yours, it may not on his. It just happens that with my tun and my slotted manifold I get 83% or so, as to my roller gap, it suits my system without a stuck sparge, never bothered to measure it. All I can tell you for sure is never go near your mill with a straighetened out coat hanger.

DKS, if your crush is course enough you can run it at full speed and not have any probs, as long as you are happy with your efficiency just go with what you have, if not you will have to mill a finer crush and run off a bit slower.



cheers

Browndog

 

[DKS]

DKS, if your crush is course enough you can run it at full speed and not have any probs, as long as you are happy with your efficiency just go with what you have, if not you will have to mill a finer crush and run off a bit slower.



cheers

Browndog
[/quote]


Nubers came out pretty close all round on my 1st AG, as per beersmith at 75%. Grain was crushed at craftbrewer so it seems all is well running with tap fully open. Thanks for that Browndog. All going well so far.Cheers
Daz