First Crush with Monster Mill
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Looks too coarse IMHO.
Seriously though, you really need to run a few mashes and start tightening it up until lautering becomes a chore. Then back off a hair. You don't want to get jammed up when mashing lots of wheat or black barley or whatever.
Seriously though, you really need to run a few mashes and start tightening it up until lautering becomes a chore. Then back off a hair. You don't want to get jammed up when mashing lots of wheat or black barley or whatever.
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
Tighten it up man, there are way too many uncracked grains. The widest setting I use is about .035 and often go lower. And I always condition the malt. It keeps the husks intact and crushes the hell out of the kernel.
SpeedYellow
Well-Known Member
Looks terrible- tighten that thing down! You'd probably get 50% efficiency with that crush. Remember -- run your drill/motor as slow as possible without stalling to minimize pulverizing the husks.
I'm finding that 0.035" is a good gap for my MM2-2. I also condition the grain before crushing.
That doesn't look good at all. First crush looked better. Crank it down, man!
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
Yep. There shouldn't be any uncracked grains. That has more uncrushed than crushed. Crank it down to about .032 and run it back through. Some malts have smaller kernels, some are really plump. I run a handful through to check my crush with every new malt. Also make sure that your settings aren't moving during the crush. I replaced the bolts that lock in the settings on my barley crusher with finger screws but if I don't use pliers to tighten them down the settings will slip.
Yeah, I had problems with the gap adjustment screws slipping on my mill too until I tightened the thumbscrews with pliers.
I find that a proper crush will produce a moderate amount of flour and all kernels are broken. There is not enough flour in the crush above.
I find that a proper crush will produce a moderate amount of flour and all kernels are broken. There is not enough flour in the crush above.
Here is a collage of last nights crush if it helps. MM3 2.0 with 2% conditioned malt:
Darwin18
Well-Known Member
That's a "problem" that I've seen with my new MM-2 as well. The last batch I had the feeler gauges out and was checking/rechecking every couple pounds of grain. I'll give tightening the thumbscrews down with pliers a shot.
That is a much better looking crush.
BigRedHopHead
Well-Known Member
tighten down the set screws with pliers. I had that same problem losing my gap. I check before each crush. Use a sharpie to mark where the set screws are on the block. That way you can visualize if they have moved. I also do this with the gap adjustment knobs.
WileECoyote
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I had problems with the gap adjustment screws slipping on my mill too until I tightened the thumbscrews with pliers.
I had this problem too, I use a 4" crescent wrench to tighten the thumb screws enough, you don't need to crank them down, just tighten a bit more than you can do with your fingers.
Check your gap before and after you crush, Ill bet the gap is slipping, there is no way that is a .35 gap crush.
I have a MM-2.2 , do not condition my grain, and have my gap set at .38 thousand gap and I get quite a bit of flour.
Cheers
reinstone
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Yep. I went with a wider gap and efficiency suffered. I would be sure to condition the malt with the gap that tight.
I get a good crush for Barley with Rahr, Great Western, and any specialty that I've thrown at it at .036 gap but I gap it with snug fit of the gauge between the rollers (I use two to make sure I have them even). I, too, have the MM2 2.0 model.
If I condition the malt I've gotten as low as .024 without excessive tearing of the husk but I really don't find this necessary.
My advice would be to go in the general neighborhood that you cannot find any whole grains left behind after crushing and the hulls you do see aren't torn to pieces. If you've got exceptionally fat barley that might be a higher number, if it's a little smaller maybe as low as a .032. I have not had any instances of needing to go below that number and my extraction efficiency is usually in the 80s. I have pushed too far a couple times and got a bit of astringency but I'm not positive it had to do with my crush. Either way, each mill is a little different so it'll depend in part on what your mill crushes efficiently at. And if you're really worried about it just go a little low and spritz your grain with a little water a couple hours before crush and you should be fine.
Edit: Best place to have typo ever... In a model description.
If I condition the malt I've gotten as low as .024 without excessive tearing of the husk but I really don't find this necessary.
My advice would be to go in the general neighborhood that you cannot find any whole grains left behind after crushing and the hulls you do see aren't torn to pieces. If you've got exceptionally fat barley that might be a higher number, if it's a little smaller maybe as low as a .032. I have not had any instances of needing to go below that number and my extraction efficiency is usually in the 80s. I have pushed too far a couple times and got a bit of astringency but I'm not positive it had to do with my crush. Either way, each mill is a little different so it'll depend in part on what your mill crushes efficiently at. And if you're really worried about it just go a little low and spritz your grain with a little water a couple hours before crush and you should be fine.
Edit: Best place to have typo ever... In a model description.
To solve the thumbscrew problem, replace the two screws with 1/4-20 by 1.25 or longer bolts that are fully threaded. I replaced mine with hex bolts.
Be careful removing the thumbscrews and replacing with bolts - I had a problem where the ends of the thumbscrews had deformed against the adjustment knobs, so that when I removed them they trashed the threads on the way out. If I were buying a MM today, I wouldn't even use the thumb screws. Go out and get the hex bolts so that you can start with a good screw that never has to be fully removed once you start using it, since I think the ends of the screws are always going to get deformed against the hardened knob.
My two cents...
Be careful removing the thumbscrews and replacing with bolts - I had a problem where the ends of the thumbscrews had deformed against the adjustment knobs, so that when I removed them they trashed the threads on the way out. If I were buying a MM today, I wouldn't even use the thumb screws. Go out and get the hex bolts so that you can start with a good screw that never has to be fully removed once you start using it, since I think the ends of the screws are always going to get deformed against the hardened knob.
My two cents...
BlackFurnaceBrewing
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So, am I the only one that tightens the MM2 up to 0.024"?
Thanks for the feedback. I will tighten down this weekend and post again.
I've been pretty frustrated trying to get it right. I got the mill for Christmas and haven't been able to brew until recently due to complications from a surgery that screwed up my ability to do any lifting. I'm eager as hell to get this mill dialed in and brew again!
I've been pretty frustrated trying to get it right. I got the mill for Christmas and haven't been able to brew until recently due to complications from a surgery that screwed up my ability to do any lifting. I'm eager as hell to get this mill dialed in and brew again!
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
I had back surgery a few years ago and brew days used to be an exercise in cognitive dissonance ...love to brew but could barely walk by the time I got everything cleaned up. I finally broke down and bought a pump. I could not be happier now that all that heavy water and wort gets moved without me picking it up! And the mill will be a godsend once you get it dialed in.
Crush is looking muuuch better, sir!
I thought the thumbscrews came tapered on the ends. Maybe I'm failing at visualizing but how do they burr the threads?
Get in touch with them. And I'd recommend not backing the screws all the way out if you don't have to - having a few bad threads at the end isn't a big deal - it's when I backed them all the way out again that I had problems.
I set my MM2 2.0 to .035 and couldn't seem to get any of the grains to fall through. The roller just spun while the grain sat there. Is there any tricks to get the gap down that low .035 and have the grain crush? Conditioning?
haha, I wish that was the case.
When adjusting the gap with a feeler gauge, do you tighten it down as far as you can go and still be able to pull the feeler gauge out?
I used to get efficiencies in the mid 80s with my LHBS mill and haven't been able to dial mine in yet. I've been getting 50-55% with my new mill. I had what I thought was a great crush this weekend, but ended up with 56% efficiency. At one point I thought my crush was too fine.
I do it the same way we did spark plugs...snug but able to pull out. I had an issue with the grains not going through and went to the corded drill rather than my cordless and no issues.
Shake your mill to reposition the grains slightly. If the grains are way too fat you may have to use a slightly larger gap. I suspect that once you get them started/going though you'll be fine. I've rapped against the board mine is mounted to pretty solidly to get mine started occasionally as well.
WileECoyote
Well-Known Member
WileECoyote
Well-Known Member
I have the MM2 2.0 too, I am not conditioning my grain, I also BIAB, I have my gap set at .040 and the grain crush is great, it also still has flour, Im getting 82% efficiency with this gap setting, .038 gap seemed to work really well for me, but still had to much flour for me.
When I first got my mill, I ran my mill at .035 and it had way to much flour, you could have made bread with it.
I found that when I had my mill set at .035 a full trigger pull of the drill to start the grain moving helps, then as soon as the grain is moving through the rollers back off the drill speed.
Also the fuller the hopper, the more weight is on the grain at the rollers to help start the grain through the rollers.
hope this helps
Cheers
bierandbikes
Well-Known Member
I have not begun milling my own grain but plan to soon...what do you mean by conditioning? I assume you lightly spray the grain to get it to swell, presumably to aid in removing the husk, or keeping it in tact.
Correct in one.
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
Buy decent screws or bolts to install from the get go...I snapped the thumb screw on mine this weekend tightening it down. Luckily I had adjusted the settings, made it through the crush, and was able to extract the screw without resorting to drastic measures!
any particular screws or bolts you recommend? Thanks
