Use a gap feeler gauge like you would adjusting spark plugs. Only way to be sure what you have. .0375 should NOT cause a stuck runoff.
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That’s a great idea, never thought to do that.
I agree, I never would have thought it would cause an issue. Unless the setting knob is not correct, which could be possible, the only other thing I can think of is that I went too fast on the milling. I used a drill on a fairly low setting, and tried to throttle the trigger, but I imagine if I went too fast it could create excessive “pulverizing” of the grain
When I go out to the garage I’ll check my JSP malt mill gap… Its not adjustable… .037 seems extremely small.
Sneezles61
Really? I thought it was on the slightly bigger size. I thought I was being safe by making it large, and then I’d dial it in by getting smaller from brew to brew until it was too small.
I’m wrong… My feeler gauges read .039… .002 isn’t negligible…
Sneezles61
So then I wonder what went wrong. I will put some calipers on the wheel gap to verify it matches the setpoint guage.
If the setpoint is accurate… Speed could be the culprit, right? If I went too fast, could I turn the grain into a powder-like substance? If not, then I wonder what the hell kinda number I should have used. There isn’t a spec on the false bottom I use
Mine is set to .032 and I opened it up from .028 to get there because my efficiency was too high, but I BIAB so stuck runoff doesn’t happen.
Obviously every system is different, so technically .0375 could still be too small for mine. I just find it hard to believe it would be small enough to fully stick my mash beyond saving. I must need to go slower, that’s all I can ascertain.
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or their setting isn’t accurate. I’d confirm it before I tried again. I used to go slow with the drill on the mill but lately I’ve been letting it rip. Again…BIAB so I couldn’t care less about intact hulls…you’ll want them.
Ok I’ll measure later tonight and report back. I might also buy some rice hulls for when I try this brew again, just to be safe
Setting the grain bed by vorlauf (letting wort run out and dump back on to the top)… You can mash with a bit more water…
What does yer mash-tun look like? tall or a short vessel? Thinking on the lines of too much compaction if a tall cylinder…
Ever try a full volume mash?
Just ideas…
Sneezles61
It’s somewhat tall I suppose. It’s a a typical cylindrical cooler (think Gatorade coolers on the sidelines of a football game) with a SS false bottom, big enough for 10 gal batches but I mostly do 5 gallons.
I couldn’t even vorlauf this batch, the mash was a paste and clogged up the valve/lines. I ran it through a strainer bag, and had a hard time getting liquid out of even that (unless I wanted to squeeze the bag real hard). I certainly could use more water and, like you said, skip any sparging. I imagine that would certainly help loosen the paste… I’d much rather NOT make any paste in the first place though.
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I used a 10 gallon igloo water cooler for years… I think it was the right color… as I only had a couple stuck mash’s… 
Clowning right there… I suspect then the mill grinding the malt… not cracking it… For an experiment… Open to its widest setting… then put a handful of barley in there… don’t mill it… if the barley doesn’t go throw… You maybe start at that setting and brew… See whats what…
Sneezles61
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I checked the wheels, it looks pretty good in terms of setpoint versus actual distance.
I used Belgian pilsner malt and cara 8 malt for this brew, so I didn’t have much in terms of grain variety. I admit it looked a tiny bit smaller than when I buy it already milled, but there were no oats or any of the sort to maybe make the grain have those bigger pieces to help prevent a stuck mash. There was certainly some crushing involved, a decent amount of “powder” was in the bucket.
I’m almost convinced that my drill speed was just too high. I might set it a little bigger and try again, but I honestly have no idea where to turn. I don’t want to put it at like 0.050, but that just feels safest
Experiment with it. Put it at .05 and run half pound of barley through. See what kind of crush you get. Then close it little by little until you get what you want. Show us or compare to a picture of properly crushed grain. Sometimes it takes trial and error to dial it in but you don’t need to waste a whole brew day or full grist bill to find out. We’ll help.
I didn’t think to ask what color your mash tun was because I went BIAB years ago but hopefully it’s blue… 
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A credit card is .030” for reference. Your grain bill isn’t the culprit. I don’t believe your milling speed was either. IIRC you recirculate during your mash?
it’s blue-ish grey, haha
I will do a quick mill of a half-pound at 0.05 and show you what I get. I will take a photo of grain that I bought already milled by NB that I haven’t gotten around to using (probably bad around now anyways). I just don’t want to get WORSE results than getting it pre-milled, but I obviously don’t want to get a nasty stuck mash either. My paranoia sets in…
I don’t recirculate during mash (haven’t built a herms system yet). I vorlauf with a pump after the mash though. I also stir the mash every 10-15 minutes or so.
Here is a photo of what the grain looks like after milling at 0.050.
Also here is grain I got pre-milled by NB, still in a bag
You might be pumping too fast during your vorlauf. This can result in a stuck mash by compacting your grain bed.
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