I read recently that wheat should be milled separate from other grains because wheat does not have a husk and as such, should be milled with the mill rollers closer together to get a finer grind and more extract. Makes sense. However, the article fell short of recommending how much closer the rollers should be. So, I’m thinking .004”.
I’m wondering if anyone else even does this, if it’s worth the effort and if so, how much closer should I make my gap? Currently, I’m at .039” on my Barley Crusher.
Set your mill to crush the wheat properly. Then, mill all your grains all the time at that same gap. Watch your efficiency improve by 10% overnight. True story: It happens to thousands of people every year.
FWIW I have mine at 0.030" which gives a crush that best approximates ASBC coarse grind. This is also the setting my LHBS uses so they can run everything together.
Yeah I set it to the tightest it will go because the crush is good, I don’t get stuck recirculating/lautering, and I get good mash conversation efficiency. I just guessed at the gap.
I have my roller mill set to the tightest setting but you can go even finer milling wheat than what any roller mill will do. You aren’t limited by needing to keep husks intact like barley. You can get all the way down to a flour if you want but you need to test how fine you can go for how much wheat before your mash system gets stuck.
I use wheat and rye a lot but when it’s 20% or less of the grain bill I usually mill it through my roller mill like everybody else. When it’s a greater portion I mill it separately through a corona-type mill set to mill not quite to flour but closer to a cornmeal texture. Otherwise I find my efficiency really suffers.
Unless you use exactly the same brewing system as someone else, and use exactly the same process, knowing what someone else’s mill is set to may not do you much good.
Got 5% wheat malt in my grain bill for tomorrow morning, just milled it. Tried the consensus of the gathered sages here: set my mill where it did wheat perfectly (0.025") and ran everything together. No noticeable difference in the condition of the barley husks, still mostly whole. Cool.
Yeah, I actually was a wee bit concerned about husk damage if I went too tight. But I run really low rpms (super scientific – I just don’t squeeze the trigger on my drill very hard,) which is the most important thing.
