Grain conditioning for milling.

[Agentgonzo]

I've only used it for one brew so far, and left my mill (BarleyCrusher) on it's default gap, which was "slightly wider than a Credit Card". I've since narrowed it down to to the homebrewing standard of "a credit card". I'm not going to brew for another couple of weeks, but I'll post here once I do.

I've only done it once, but from that one batch, it made the draining of the mash SO much better that I can't recommend it enough. It's REALLY easy to do and made a big difference (for me)

I brewed with conditioned grain and a credit card gap. Circulation wasn't good so I'm going to open it back up a bit

 

[Weizenberg]

Reading this thread with interest. Doesn’t it leave your mill rollers in a bit of a mess and make them more difficult to clean? I’d also have thought it makes them more susceptible to residual water that could rust over time?

Run a handful of dry grain through the mill once you doughed in .

Or just save it for the end of milling for no waste.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Reading this thread with interest. Doesn’t it leave your mill rollers in a bit of a mess and make them more difficult to clean? I’d also have thought it makes them more susceptible to residual water that could rust over time?

What do you do about the 4% water already in your grain? Does 20 or 40 percent more water with conditioning mean your rollers are at much more risk?

 

[Agentgonzo]

What do you do about the 4% water already in your grain? Does 20 or 40 percent more water with conditioning mean your rollers are at much more risk?

No. The grain still feels dry when it goes through the rollers. Not bone-dry and dusty, but dry nonetheless. Kind of like leather. There's no surface water to cause harm to the rollers

 

[RoomWithABrew]

No. The grain still feels dry when it goes through the rollers. Not bone-dry and dusty, but dry nonetheless. Kind of like leather. There's no surface water to cause harm to the rollers

Yes I agree, I've been conditioning my grain for ages. I was pointing out to @clyne that the grain is already " wet" with 4% water and made" a little wetter " by conditioning. Which as you say in real terms is still dry.
Do remember to include the added water in your calculations for mash and efficiency. It will make a small difference.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Do remember to include the added water in your calculations for mash and efficiency. It will make a small difference

When I measure my strike water, it's probably too the nearest quarter litre as I just use the markings on the inside of the grainfather. An extra 100g from conditioning is way below my error threshold

 

[RoomWithABrew]

When I measure my strike water, it's probably too the nearest quarter litre as I just use the markings on the inside of the grainfather. An extra 100g from conditioning is way below my error threshold

I just leave it in my margin.

 

[Pennine]

Well I gave conditioning a shot and I think I am a convert. Still waiting to measure efficiency but it's really helping the braumeister circulate and the husk stay remarkably intact. I used about 400ml of cold water for 2.5kg of malt applied with a spray bottle. I let it sit for about 5 minutes.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Well I gave conditioning a shot and I think I am a convert. Still waiting to measure efficiency but it's really helping the braumeister circulate and the husk stay remarkably intact. I used about 400ml of cold water for 2.5kg of malt applied with a spray bottle. I let it sit for about 5 minutes.

View attachment 74761

Just wondering if you had a typo?
2% by weight would be about the maximum for conditioning which would be 50ml.
400ml would have been on the way to porridge.
I only work out the 2% by weight based on the husked grains, condition those and then add in any other grains, ie wheat, oat flakes and choclate malts during the milling. Or add the roasted grains at the end to " dry " out the mill.

 

[Weizenberg]

400g (or ml) of water for 2.5kg malt is approaching under water milling like this lovely piece of equipment allows....



Surey, it's a typo.

 

[Pennine]

Just wondering if you had a typo?
2% by weight would be about the maximum for conditioning which would be 50ml.
400ml would have been on the way to porridge.
I only work out the 2% by weight based on the husked grains, condition those and then add in any other grains, ie wheat, oat flakes and choclate malts during the milling. Or add the roasted grains at the end to " dry " out the mill.

Whoops... that's also what it says on my calculator, so no typo I probably used 300-400 ml it was getting wet so I stopped before the full misunderstood 500ml. It did work though so maybe I will stick 200ml?

 

[Weizenberg]

Whoops... that's also what it says on my calculator, so no typo I probably used 300-400 ml it was getting wet so I stopped before the full misunderstood 500ml. It did work though so maybe I will stick 200ml?

2500g x 0.02 = 50g (1g = 1 ml)

I really would not go higher than this.

 

[Pennine]

2500g x 0.02 = 50g (1g = 1 ml)

I really would not go higher than this.

Good call, I will try a paltry 50ml next time!

 

[Agentgonzo]

An extra zero is an easy mistake to make. It could have been worse though... You could have mashed with 25kg of grain!

 

[Pennine]

An extra zero is an easy mistake to make. It could have been worse though... You could have mashed with 25kg of grain!

The funny thing is I did the calc right on the calculator, but the some how translated it wrong? I even had my graduated cylinder ready and then grabbed the 2l pitcher instead, that should have set the alarm bells off.

 

[Pennine]

Ok efficiency did take a hit I am in the 65% brewhouse. Probably ha some issues exposing the grain.

 

[Weizenberg]

Ok efficiency did take a hit I am in the 65% brewhouse. Probably ha some issues exposing the grain.

Did you tighten the mills' gaps?

Also, what 'calculator' did you use?

 

[aolcot]

I've done this a couple of times now, makes a huge difference to the appearance of the grains.. The first time i did this, efficiency seemed right, the second time I did lose a few points from somewhere, even though the temps were good and it was fully converted from the iodine test. I was wondering if I need to tighten my gap more to ensure I really crush up the endosperm inside the grain.. my gap is set to about 0.038"...

Some of the grains look barely open.. I use around 1.5%-2% by weight of distilled water, which on the last batch was around 120ml in 7.4KG of grain.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I lost a small bit of efficiency after starting conditioning. So then tightened the gap a bit (well, too much and circulation was poor, then opened it up a bit again). I've lost maybe 1-2% on the efficiency, so just use a smidgen more grain. I prefer a good recirculation than fighting for efficiency. I might just mash a little bit longer next time.

 

[aolcot]

Anyone have any good techniques for conditioning the grain? I'm currently putting all my grain into a 20L bucket, then whilst misting it with a spray bottle with one hand, i've my other hand (and a good chunk of my arm!) in the grain trying to really mix it all up thoroughly and evenly wetted until i've sprayed enough water.... takes a good few minutes, and I think that there must be another, better, way?