Im brewing today so i snapped a pic. Cereal killer at .031
1 Like
Notice no uncracked hulls. The crush in your pictures above will give you horrible efficiency
1 Like
yes that is still much better than when I milled at 0.0375. I got much more pulverization.
Later today/tonight I am going to take that grain that I milled to 0.05, and I will mill down to the setting of 0.04 and take a photo. Then I will mill that down to 0.0375 and take another photo. If this all looks better than what I saw on Friday, I will try to recreate the conditions and see what it takes to get that powdery grain.
I get that it MIGHT be crush but unless he has some super weird system a .0375 gap shouldn’t be so tight that it completely gums up the system. That is if it was a true .0375 gap.
It MIGHT be grain:water ratio, but at even 1.25qts/lbs it shouldn’t stick where you get NO wort. And we know it wasn’t a high beta glucan mash with the grains used.
It MIGHT be speed pulverizing grain to dust.
That’s why I brought up the pump… many brewers don’t recognize that it will create a vacuum on your mash bed and compact it. This is why they created wort grants that feed the pump vs. the mash.
Personally I think it is a combination of:
- your gap wasn’t truly .0375. It was probably tighter.
- you need to use a higher water:grain ratio. My standard is 1.5qts/lb
- speed of mill shearing the husk enough and creating more flour.
If it were me I would confirm my gap setting at .0375 and mill by hand. Then I would target a mash of 1.75qts/lb.
1 Like
The problem with that theory is if you zoom in on the pictures there is way to many intact kernals to be crushed to tight. Im not familiar with the mill he is using but if he may be milling so fast he is spitting the grain through.
Well that photo was milling at a very large number (0.05), it was just to prove that the overall spacing wasn’t super weird. I’m going to try to 0.04 and then 0.0375 and see how it all turns out
I just read the reviews on that mill and others said they get alot of intact hulls falling through. Maybe you should send it back. The stuck mash is another issue. I still can’t believe NB sent grain like that
And when I crank it to about halfway, which should be .0375
I put in a handful of brand new malt, and I got this
Which looks and feels very similar to what I got the last time
Can you adjust both sides? That actually looks better than the above. Hard to tell really. You shouldn’t have any un cracked grains
Yes both sides are adjustable. I do my damnedest to match them to eachother. The second mill (at .0375) still resembles the grain that resulted in my paste
I’m out of this…
Sneezles61
That last picture appears to still have some completely intact grains. Am I correct? If so I’d send it back. Something isn’t right there.
Yes I agree. It’s the crush. 
Some reviews said the rollers were to short and the whole kernals were slipping through
There were a few grains that definitely slipped through the roller gap when I was pouring the grain in. I only did a large handful of grain. I bought a feeler gauge, should be here soon so I can verify what the spacing truly is. I will check the milled grain when I get home to see if there really are intact grains, or if its just a trick on the eye. To me, it doesn’t look like too many are truly intact.
I think my biggest concern is that the setting was still relatively large in gap size, and the grain really looks powdered. It feels pretty powdery as well. the difference between 0.4 and 0.375 is concerning as well, just because it looks like I kinda went 0-100mph. This was all milled by hand crank, so it’s not like I could have gone anywhere near as fast as the drill did. I reached out to NB, they are super supportive, even giving me a whole new shipment of grain for free. They also thought the mill may not be spaced properly, or that I was going too fast. I sent them these photos, hopefully they can also help get to the bottom of it. I just don’t want to give up on milling grain, but my paranoia is deep
Definitely don’t give up on milling your own grain but don’t let one poorly designed mill hold you back from better results either.
Nothing against NB but there are lots of other mills out there that work great in that same price range. I paid about 125 for my cereal killer and I’ve been very pleased with it.
I’ve never had a mill with an. “adjustment knob” like that, most you adjust with a feeler gauge and lock in place which I feel much more comfortable with.
1 Like
I like to hear the costumer service is helping you out…
Keep after it… I’d rather see you crack the barley large… then sneak down a little by little… Don’t be in a rush… You’ll find the “sweet spot” for you and yer brew setup… patients grasshopper!! 
Sneezles61
1 Like
I set mine using my credit card as a gauge. I get some flour but have yet to stick a mash. I can’t remember the manufacturer of my mill.
Still think it’s a combo of the 3. Especially with no confirmation of the mill gap. 
