#14 Sieve pan and cover.. Now what

[woohokie]

As the title says, I bought these thing to make sure my crush is in line and from all the posts I've seen and the PowerPoint "increasing efficiency for small brewers" which all say to get the #14 sieve and make sure that 70% remains on the screen. So my thought was to run 100grams through my mill into a pail and then... Do I need a rubber ball, what kind? What size? Will following the method outlined in the PowerPoint without the ball work?

Trying to diagnose some off efficiency issues and after hearing that if I see the peanut butter like layer of stuff I might have too fine a crush. I figured the sieve was the best first step in sorting this out.

Any help is always appreciated.

[el_mocoso]

http://brewlikeapro.net/maltmilling.html

el

[MikeS]

I use a 1 1/2" rubber "crazy ball" that I bought in a four pack at the grocery store for about $1.50. Works fine, and you'll have four wacky colors to choose from! As an added benefit, you'll have three extras around the brewery to goof around with.

Another tip for getting your mill gap set correctly is to run a fat piece of soft solder through the mill and measure that to get the gap. Much easier than trying to cram feeler gauges up there.

Good Luck!

[Bainbridge]

Yes, you will need a Science Ball(tm). You can buy a fancy official Science Ball(tm) or as mentioned, just get a rubber super-ball or I just use a large marble. Or really, since this isn't super official testing here, you can just skip the ball and shake the hell out of it. But I find it works better with it and you don't need to shake as hard.

Do report back on the results. For science!

[woohokie]

Yes, you will need a Science Ball(tm). You can buy a fancy official Science Ball(tm) or as mentioned, just get a rubber super-ball or I just use a large marble. Or really, since this isn't super official testing here, you can just skip the ball and shake the hell out of it. But I find it works better with it and you don't need to shake as hard.

Do report back on the results. For science!

Oh I most certainly will... But what's the best practice time wise for shaking only using one sieve? I also do plan to use a rubber ball... I just want to make sure that I'm shaking enough for the appropriate amount of time is all.

[Brandjes]

3 minutes. Turn and tap every 30 seconds

[woohokie]

Reporting back. Given how fine my crush looked to my relatively new untrained eye, I was surprised when the percentage ratio was 80% left on the sieve and 20% in the pan. So, I tightened up the mill just a touch and got a 75%/25%. I figure I'll start there and see how this next batch of one off pale ale goes before I go any further.

I'll be reporting back as I brew and make adjustments. I also followed the method in the improving efficiency for small brewers by using just the #14 with a rubber ball, shaking from side to side for 30 seconds and tapping, then shaking front to back for 30 seconds then tapping. I did that for 3 min. Just an FYI.

[CascadiaHB]

Reporting back. Given how fine my crush looked to my relatively new untrained eye, I was surprised when the percentage ratio was 80% left on the sieve and 20% in the pan. So, I tightened up the mill just a touch and got a 75%/25%. I figure I'll start there and see how this next batch of one off pale ale goes before I go any further.

I'll be reporting back as I brew and make adjustments. I also followed the method in the improving efficiency for small brewers by using just the #14 with a rubber ball, shaking from side to side for 30 seconds and tapping, then shaking front to back for 30 seconds then tapping. I did that for 3 min. Just an FYI.

Old thread but curious if adjusting th gap helped much

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[TGTimm]

A very handy trick for setting the mill gap: It's very difficult to get a feeler gauge into most mill, so get about 6" of lead-free plumber's solder and run it through the mill. Measure the thickness with a micrometer or calipers. This will give you an idea of how much you're moving the rollers, and when you get it the way you want it, a number you can record for future use.

Our rubber ball came from a vending machine at the grocery store. $0.25, and it has a happy monkey-face!