Not Crushed Enough?

Are you saying that your efficiency has dropped? Are you stirring the mash as much as you originally did? Has your sparging changed any? I would say you could use a bit finer of a crush on that grain. Do you mill your own grain or is it done for you?

 

I do mash in a bag and my crush is much finer than what you have in the picture. If you crush your own grains and were getting 80 or 90% before, then the mill settings got disturbed since you last brewed. I have to readjust my mill settings as the set screws seem to loosen after 10 or so uses. If you get the grain crushed from the store, you need to have them crush it finer for you.

 

You might want to get yourself a grain mill. I have mine set pretty fine and I get some flour from it too.

 

You don't necessarily need a mill with a hopper that will hold your whole grain bill. You can always feed it is you go. But since you mentioned convenience, consider getting a mill that can be motorized (with a hand drill or even a dedicated motor) later if you choose to do that. Hand cranking works fine, but motors are better.

 

Here you go:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/search/173174358/?q=Mill&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=8

 

There are many options. I have the Cereal Killer. I think it holds about 6-7 pounds in the hopper. Works great for me. And a drill works great.

 

For pants, there are multiple posts on the best mill to buy, most people advocate for the mill they have. Use the search function and you'll find all sorts of input. I don't recall any posts from mill-owners who regret their purchase.

If you brew routinely the mill pays for itself very quickly. You can buy base grains in bulk which is a big savings. After less than 200 pounds of base grains you start putting money in your pocket. I keep two base grains on hand, plus a half dozen specialty grains and can brew on a whim . . . that's as nice as the money savings.

For sure get a mill that lets you attach a hand drill.

 

Also I would add to use a ton of rice hulls in your mash. It has helped my efficiency a lot. Especially with bigger grain

 

If you're using all barley, rice hulls shouldn't be necessary, unless you're crushing too fine. Then you've got the problem of leaching excess tannins, which is a whole other problem. Are you sure there wasn't something else that changed around the same time you started using them?

I'm thinking it's along the theory that folks that cut out gluten (or whatever other diet bogeyman) feel better not because they cut something out, but because they started paying attention to what they were eating.

 

It helps in my system even with all barley. I keep a close eye on my mill gap so I’m not crushing too fine. I have noticed without them on a larger grain bill I don’t get recirculation. The wort just feels the top of the grain pipe/basket and overflows the top. I add rice hulls and no matter the size grain bill it drains to the bottom every time. I recirculate the whole mash cycle. The times with rice hulls I always seem to get close to the expected O.G. on Brewfather with my system parameters entered in. Without using rice holes I have to stop the recirculation let the wort drain, kick the pump back on, repeat until done and I’m allows low on the O.G.

 

If you brew regularly get an inexpensive corona mill and hook it to a drill motor. It works as good as homebrew roller mills. As far as getting 80-90% efficiency I would rerun accurate numbers.