Grain Mill Gap

[Black Island Brewer]

I know this has been covered SO many times, but I'm looking for ranges being used by people using similar setups, so I can play around with just how fine I can get, while minimizing the risk of a stuck sparge.

Okay, so what I'd love to hear is what gap you set your grain mill for when you:
1) have a 1 1/2" diameter 2-roller adjustable mill
2) want to mill all your grains at the same gap without adjusting for different grains
3) Mash with a stainless steel false bottom and
4) recirculate with a pump

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

The perfect crush is not how "fine" you can get it. You just want to crack the barley (or other grain) while leaving the husk intact for draining and sparging.

A spray bottle to wet the grain while it's being crushed, usually by the factory setting, will give you great efficiency while also prolonging the life of your mill.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

The perfect crush is not how "fine" you can get it. You just want to crack the barley (or other grain) while leaving the husk intact for draining and sparging.

A spray bottle to wet the grain while it's being crushed, usually by the factory setting, will give you great efficiency while also prolonging the life of your mill.

Yeah, I assumed that anyone would know that by fine, I meant "how small can I set the gap and still get good lautering", but thanks for pointing out that I may need to be clearer.

I know some folks can gap pretty small by conditioning, as you describe, but what is the closest gap you've been satisied with?

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

Get a few pieces of straw. If it goes through and doesn't get a *tad* torn up, the gap is too wide.

And oldie but goodie way of testing a grain mill.

Otherwise, get a piece of hard corn. When it *won't* go through the mill, you've reached your ideal crushing width.

 

[helibrewer]

Mine is around .035 and I condition my grain about 20 minutes before I crush. I also use about 1/2 pound of rice hulls even in all barley beer....to me it's just cheap insurance and since I recirculate, compact grain beds become a PITA.

 

[mblanks2]

My mill is set at .039" and I've had know problems. I haven't conditioned my grain.

 

[Glynn]

I used a credit card to set my gap. I routinely hit 75-82 eff depending on my ph but i have to add a little rice hull on my bigger batchs to keep it from slowing down I also use 1.5q/lb

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Thanks for the responses, folks. I'm still dialing in my system, and am trying to nail down the variables, hoping to just get where I want and stay there, without constantly changing things here and there. I want to be consistent, but I also want to be consistent with the best results I can get, both in flavor and in efficiency. After reading Yooper's advice, I started with .032, which I set with a gauge. It's been a good crush for the two batches I've done, but I was wondering if I might want to try for a finer crush. I want to be able to "set it and forget it", though. This is my second time in my brewing life going from extract to all grain, and I've never had a mill, a pump, or a direct fire MLT, so I'm taking my time trying to see what works best.

Thanks for taking the time to answer!

 

[mabrungard]

My procedure is identical to Helibrewer's. Be aware that conditioning the grain does improve the integrity of the husks passing through the mill. Another important factor is the mill speed. Slow speed favors less flour production and improved husk integrity. Therefore, you may be able to close the mill gap a bit in comparison to the results when you run a mill at high speed. YMMV.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

So I hadn't considered this, but I'm now wondering: can a courser grind, and a less compact grain bed, improve efficiency? Would having more intact husks, and/or the addition of rice hulls, have the benefit not only of avoiding a stuck sparge, but of improving the effectiveness of the lautering? I've been shooting for smaller gap to get smaller kernels to get a better conversion, but is it better conversion at the expense of less effective lautering?

I wonder of Braukaiser did this experiment...