Feeler Gauge

…and once you find that best crush, measure the gap so that it’s easier to set the mill back to the same gap if you take it apart for cleaning or maintenance. :wink: [/quote]

It could drift over time. And, it’s hard to adjust it to find the best crush if you don’t have a reference point. I think it’s easier to keep track of how I’m adjusting the mill using an absolute measurement, instead of 1/4 turn to the left. It’s not absolutely necessary, though.

This reminds me a lot of baking. I measure ingredients by weight (and my girlfriend laughs at me for it) and it gives me a baseline to compare to other recipes. However, you can’t just pick a number and stick to it while ignoring how it works with your equipment and ingredients. I have high gluten flour that has been sitting around for a while now, and over the course of the winter it’s definitely lost some moisture content. If I take a standard dough recipe and plan for 62% hydration, it’s going to be way too dry. But accurate measurements still help when trying to dial in a recipe.

Anyone that has a barley crusher for a significant amount of time knows that you have to take 'em apart from time to time. I guess other mills don’t have the same problem.

How do you guys deal with too high of efficiency???

All of the recipes here are geared for 75% and that is the general efficiency that it appears best to shot for…

However if I crush anything less than .045 on the barley crusher I end up with efficiency in the mid to upper 80s in a recirculating rims system.

I used to crush at .035 - .039 but I my beers were coming out 10-15 points too high in gravity.

EDIT: most of my base malt is 2 row at this time.

That’s a good problem to have. Brew a higher volume or use proportionally less grain.

[quote=“sethhobrin”]How do you guys deal with too high of efficiency???

All of the recipes here are geared for 75% and that is the general efficiency that it appears best to shot for…

However if I crush anything less than .045 on the barley crusher I end up with efficiency in the mid to upper 80s in a recirculating rims system.

I used to crush at .035 - .039 but I my beers were coming out 10-15 points too high in gravity.

EDIT: most of my base malt is 2 row at this time.[/quote]

Who says 75% is the right efficiency to shoot for? That would be news to Sierra Nevada, who reportedly get close to 100%.

[quote=“Denny”][quote=“sethhobrin”]How do you guys deal with too high of efficiency???

All of the recipes here are geared for 75% and that is the general efficiency that it appears best to shot for…

However if I crush anything less than .045 on the barley crusher I end up with efficiency in the mid to upper 80s in a recirculating rims system.

I used to crush at .035 - .039 but I my beers were coming out 10-15 points too high in gravity.

EDIT: most of my base malt is 2 row at this time.[/quote]

Who says 75% is the right efficiency to shoot for? That would be news to Sierra Nevada, who reportedly get close to 100%.[/quote]
The right efficiency is whatever you can get consistently for your system. For me 70-75% is my normal. It’s nice to be able to calculate recipes based on percentage of the grist so you can easily adapt to your system/efficiency. I don’t have much of a cost difference given + or - 5% or so but for a big brewery, that can mean a huge amount of money. SN probably saves major money pushing efficiency that high and it sure doesn’t seem to have a detrimental effect on the beer.

Well I guess thats my issue then. I found it way too difficult to adjust recipes and especially specialty grains in the small quantities when making 5 gallon batches with 85-90% efficiency. Plus my grist was pretty pulverized. It was much easier to open the gap on my mill plus I get even better circulation and my wort is crystal clear after circulating through all that grain for an hour.

I was told by some brewers I know that high efficiency can get you things you don’t necessarily want in your mash/boil kettle especially if you are crushing your grains too much.

+12

If you’re using your credit card to measure your gap, might as well grind that thing up too!