What caused this disaster?

[BigDanny84]

Cheers, will get one of those. Time to experiment a bit now and get over my silly error.

[Leann ull]

It will take a brew or 2 to get it 100%

[Shanna]

Ok what you are looking for is every grain crushed and popped out of kernel. If it's shredded to fines or you have too much flour it's too much.
The Kernals will stop you getting stuck Mash

It's worth noting that if you use too strong a power setting you can end up without the grain getting crushed. You want high torque with low speed to crush the grain between the rollers. I follow the trick of adding 2% by weight of grain in water via a spray bottle to the grain before crushing e.g. 5kg of grain  = 100 ml of water . I leave it sit for 20 minutes & then crush. This gives a nice even crush with less flour.

Shanna

[armedcor]

What type of mill are you using? I have a bulldog that i use with the credit card gap and get a lovely crush.

[giacomo]

Cheers, will get one of those. Time to experiment a bit now and get over my silly error.

Don't consider any error "silly", rather take any opportunity to learn a new lesson and become a better brewer

Another thing that could have saved the day is early detection of the inconsistency:
- did you taste the entire and crushed grains? They should *feel* different
- did you measure the gravity before boil? It's useful to understand how your efficiency "builds up" (and you easily detect conversion issues)
- did you taste the wort at the beginning and at the end of the mash? It should be very grainy initially, very sweet at the end
- did you perform a iodine test to check conversion of the starches? Seems a very advanced technique but it's rather simple...

[delzep]

Buy a 500g of crushed grain (costs about a euro) so that you'll know what properly crushed grain should look like

[BigDanny84]

What type of mill are you using? I have a bulldog that i use with the credit card gap and get a lovely crush.

Ya it's a bulldog that I have too. Perhaps the speed I used was too high like Shanna suggested.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Here's my two hapence worth, a few times I got distracted while weighing grains, I was using a kitchen Scales with a maximum load of 1.5kg so it involved a few batches. It's easy to forget have you measured 5 or 6 kg, I'm a bit ocd like that so ended up weighing twice a couple of times. I've since bought a proper 30kg scales, so no more messing around. I bought the same one as Ian uses in Motley Brew, great value. I had to use parcel motel as they don't deliver to Ireland
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0047ML82G/ref=pe_385721_37038051_TE_3p_dp_1
The second point is in adjusting the roller gap on your mill, there are the adjusters on both ends plus locking screws, make sure that the locking screws are secure after adjusting or the rollers will separate themselves in use.
Here's a nice little guide on measuring and adjusting mill rollers, you'll have to scroll down the page to get the relevent section
http://www.homebrewengineer.com/category/how-to/

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[BigDanny84]

Thanks Sorcerers Apprentice. I def didn't check the locking screws after adjusting. Bigger scales is a good idea too. Will check out that guide too.

[BigDanny84]

So I got a measuring gauge. Adjusted the rollers and tightened every other screw fully and have had more or less the same result. The last setting I used was 0.13mm and this was the result. Starting to think that the mill is faulty or I'm faulty .

[Qs]

Are you sure the screws are staying put? If you have it tight and its not crushing it must be getting wider as you try to push the grain through.

[BigDanny84]

Ya the screws are staying 100% put. Perhaps these gaps are causing it. It was like this when it came.

[LordEoin]

bite some of that grain. is it soft or crunchy?

[BigDanny84]

It's very crunchy.

[Leann ull]

Without damaging them can you put a screwdriver in and is there play in the rollers? They should be solid
0.13 doesn't make sense, gap should be circa 0.9-1.1mm
Can you post a pic of gap with a grain or two?