Crushing your own grain.

[Steveski]

I don’t post on here very much, but thought I would share my experience with conditioning grain which for me has been a game changer.

I have a geterbrewed three roller mill and use a homemade 3V rims system. I would get recirculation problems probably about 50% of the time. I started conditioning the grain with 1.5% water with a 20 minute rest after spraying and not experienced any recirculation problems since then.

Initially I did have flour left on the rollers after milling which was harder to remove than pre conditioning but now I will reserve about 250g of grain that I do not condition and run that through the mill last. The rollers then clean up fine as before.

One thing I have noticed is that it takes more effort to mill conditioned grain than non conditioned as I do it by hand but it’s no big deal.

It takes me about 10 mins to condition plus the resting time but now I am confident that after mash-in I can happily leave the mash rather than hang around for 15 mins to see if the recirculation stalls.

 

[MashBag]

reserve about 250g of grain that I do not condition and run that through the mill last. The rollers then clean up fine as before.

That's a good idea.

 

[MashBag]

Too much of a faff for me

Me too. I don't know why anyone buys a mill in the uk, when crushed is the same price.

 

[The Baron]

Me too. I don't know why anyone buys a mill in the uk, when crushed is the same price.

Not at Geterbrewed they charge for crushing now!!!

 

[MashBag]

That's rude. The wholesalers don't IME.

How much?

 

[The Baron]

It varies but around £1.50 a sack

 

[MashBag]

Hmm. That doesn't cover the cost of a decent mill very quickly

 

[MashBag]

I do like the design of the GF mill, flutes will always give getter performance that knurled, but at £250 that's a lot of grain.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

If i'm using any non husked grain, roasted, wheat etc I put this through the mill last as there is no point conditioning that useful way to do it as well if you are only adding the dark roast grains late in the mash.

 

[jambop]

I use a grain gorilla two roller mill to crush my grains and I have settled on a roller gap of 1.6mm regardless of what malt I am crushing ...even wheat malt. I find I get good efficeincy and a good wort flow through the grain bed with my Bz gen4. I do not condition my grains.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@jambop
You'll find 1.6mm is not going to crush Rye well at all.

 

[Steveski]

What efficiency do you get using a 1.6mm gap? That is about twice the de facto standard that most people use e.g. a credit card thickness.

 

[jambop]

@jambop
You'll find 1.6mm is not going to crush Rye well at all.

Never use it not an issue .

 

[jambop]

What efficiency do you get using a 1.6mm gap? That is about twice the de facto standard that most people use e.g. a credit card thickness.

I am getting around 78% to 82% mashing eff . There is a myth that grains have to be in pieces and it is not true the crush of the grain only needs to be broken open. I use a 90mins mash time and some use 120 mins or more. at the end of the day it is an osmosis situation all making a flour out of your grain does make this process faster but then you encounter problems with the flow rate. If Timothy Taylors say the crush their grain so that it is just broken that is good enough for me Although at 1.6mm I find that most of the grains of the malts I use are quite well broken.

 

[MashBag]

Absolutely agree. I have seen 1.6mm at lot, very popular on other forums.
You are after cracked, not flour.

 

[The Baron]

I agree most of the grain suppliers crush finer that is necessary for most AIO's and that is why some have stuck issues more than others.
It maybe that the suppliers know that you get more Eff from well crushed grain and brewers saying they are not getting the Eff they expect may affect sales just a thought also it is a balancing act to fit all brewer's

 

[Mr & Mrs Smith]

I do like the design of the GF mill, flutes will always give getter performance that knurled, but at £250 that's a lot of grain.

The larger diameter rollers make a difference too—a copy of the Matt Mill. Cost doesn't come into it, more about full control of your brewing.

Grain crush is another part of the science of brewing. There is 'no one size fits all gap' grain is too variable not only from different strains of barley but even in the same sack. It isn't just grain size that has to be considered there is the friability, roller speed, and gap.
The more finely ground grist is converted more quickly and saccharify faster giving higher extracts, less turbid, and more fermentable wort. However, the downside for home brewers is a stuck mash, so the importance of how well the wort is separating through the grain bed comes into play, in deciding the roller gap.
As for mash times, 60 minutes is the optimum for a single infusion mash at 67C a lower mash temperature 63, 64C can be mashed longer. A mash of 65.5 for 60 minutes gives an extract percentage of 69.4. For 90 minutes an extract percentage of 69.7 so minimal advantage.
Brewing Science and Practice.
Briggs, Boulton, Brookes, and Stevens.

 

[foxy]

I agree most of the grain suppliers crush finer that is necessary for most AIO's and that is why some have stuck issues more than others.
It maybe that the suppliers know that you get more Eff from well crushed grain and brewers saying they are not getting the Eff they expect may affect sales just a thought also it is a balancing act to fit all brewer's

For a HBS to crush fine is asking for trouble, fine is only for the BIAB. Baron, did you buy crushed grain when using the brew Devil?
I have noticed that if I put say 200 grams through the mill to check the crush when I fill the hopper with 3 kg, the crush comes out finer than the test batch. Using a three-roller mill I use solder to check the gap as feeler gauges are difficult to get to the third roller. Though I have the increments on the adjusting knobs they don't relate to the gap accurately.
I agree with @MashBag Grainfather mill looks the business the Blichmann is way over the top for a home brew setup

 

[MashBag]

The blichmann is OTT and pretty much unavailable on the UK.

I have heard of people wearing out knurled roller mills. So there certainly seems to be an ammount of get what you pay for.

My stone grinder is doing a good job at the moment but...

 

[Brew_DD2]

Me too. I don't know why anyone buys a mill in the uk, when crushed is the same price.

Consistency