setting malt mill

[JFB]

Just put my new bulldog malt mill together. I assumed before I bought it that there would be some kind of gage so I would know what mm I'm crushing at.
There isn't, so any tips on how should go about setting up the mill?

 

[TartanSpecial]

that looks similar to mine (unbranded one from Geterbrewed). There should be an faint etched line on the spindle you can adjust...I've got that line facing up and it gives a perfect grind consistency...rough a credit card width, maybe a tad more.

 

[DoctorMick]

You can get some feeler gauges for a couple of quid? I think that's how you're meant to set them accurately.

 

[Dutto]

..........rough a credit card width, maybe a tad more.

Must get one ... :thumb:

... if only to shred the wife's credit card to check the grind setting. :whistle:

 

[JFB]

And not wanting to sound too dumb, what width should I have it set at??

 

[Dutto]

From reading the above, I would start by adjusting the grinder to give a gap that is "the thickness of a Credit Card" and then see what the mill produces.

Too fine a grist and you can wind it out a bit.

Too coarse a grist and you can wind it in a bit.

The secret of all bits of kit like this is to write down the setting AND the result for future reference. :thumb:

 

[IainM]

I got one of these for Christmas. Only used it once but I'm very happy with it. Feeler gauges are £4 from Halfords if you want to set it exactly. A credit card thickness will get you 0.030" (0.76mm), which gives a good crush. You could go a little bit bigger if you have a three-vessel system and the bill has a lot of speciality malt. If you are doing BIAB then a smaller gap will get you a better efficiency.

 

[DoctorMick]

What's your brewing mechanism? BIAB doesn't matter what crush you do, finer the better from what I've read because you don't need to worry about a stuck sparse. If you're starting it's somewhere between .8 and 1.5 from what I remember although that might be wrong.

 

[JFB]

What's your brewing mechanism? BIAB doesn't matter what crush you do, finer the better from what I've read because you don't need to worry about a stuck sparse. If you're starting it's somewhere between .8 and 1.5 from what I remember although that might be wrong.

Yes BIAB, I'm going to opt for the misses credit card option and see how it goes.
Just put my first uncrushed order into the malt miller. Feels like I've just got my big boy trousers:lol:

 

[Fil]

if using a motor or drill beware of the dust cloud crushing can create, its full of starch n sugar just add moisture for microlife banquette) so is the last thing you want settling on and around any brewing kit.. not so much of an issue if your hand cranking the mill

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi JFB,
I'm going to try grain conditioning for my next brew. It permits a tighter crush without destroying the husk and alleviates the dust problem, according to what I've read.

 

[yeastinfection]

What's conditioning ? Do you steam them or something like ?

 

[TartanSpecial]

Just put my first uncrushed order into the malt miller. Feels like I've just got my big boy trousers:lol:

Yeah thats what I felt like when I put in my first uncrushed order to the malt miller.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi yeastinfection,
From what I have read, you use a spray bottle to spray the grain; use a weight of water equal to 2% of the grain weight. Mix the grain up by hand while spraying and leave for 30 minutes to an hour before milling the grain. A container with a large surface area is recommended - I plan to use an underbed storage box.

 

[Dutto]

Hi yeastinfection,
From what I have read, you use a spray bottle to spray the grain; use a weight of water equal to 2% of the grain weight. Mix the grain up by hand while spraying and leave for 30 minutes to an hour before milling the grain. A container with a large surface area is recommended - I plan to use an underbed storage box.

What are the benefits and what does it do to the grain?

 

[IainM]

What are the benefits and what does it do to the grain?

My understanding is that the water is enough to wet only the outer layer, the hull, but not the endosperm where the starch is. Thus the hull becomes less brittle and stays intact when it passes through the rollers, but the endosperm still fragments. The result is improved lautering.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
What Iain said
It is possible to have a finer crush without destroying the hulls, meaning greater efficiency with much less risk of a stuck sparge grain bed. The hulls become "leathery" and stay more intact. I have read that brewers who use rice hulls to improve the grain bed no longer need to do so if they condition the grain.

 

[Dutto]

My understanding is that the water is enough to wet only the outer layer, the hull, but not the endosperm where the starch is. Thus the hull becomes less brittle and stays intact when it passes through the rollers, but the endosperm still fragments. The result is improved lautering.

That sounds logical. Using ready rolled grain can result in a lot of lautering to get the "flour" filtered out before I divert the wort to the boiler.

It looks like Santa may need to bring his sledge out early this year! :whistle: :whistle:

 

[Fil]

fwiw i used to pick up my grain in person from the malt miller before they moved to swindon gnash gnash mumble grumble,

And on occasions the poor chap on crushing duty would appear through the heavy curtains with my sack of grain like a bedouin emerging from a Sahara dust storm


just saying..

 

[JFB]

fwiw i used to pick up my grain in person from the malt miller before they moved to swindon gnash gnash mumble grumble,

And on occasions the poor chap on crushing duty would appear through the heavy curtains with my sack of grain like a bedouin emerging from a Sahara dust storm


just saying..

Crikey hope I don't live to regret this! I've already got scenes of breaking bad all over my mind!