Milling Grains Without a Mill...

[Notlaw]

Anyone got any tips on crushing grains without having to buy a mill?

I dare say you could use a rolling pin, but that would be pretty time-consuming, I'd have thought.

I'll probably get a mill at some point, but until then, anyone got any tips or other equipment you can use for it?

 

[Fil]

folk have been inventive, there is a pasta machine that has been modified, and someone has even cast 2 x concrete rollers to crush their grain, but the cost of pre-crushed and suppliers like the maltmiller who crush on demand mean its not crucial to brewing a great beer..

i dont thing a wooden rolling pin would work, the grain is probably harder than the wood.

 

[cheapbrew]

A rollin pin, ha ha ha, you'll be there forever, even on our Indian hand quern it takes about ten mins to mill a couple of kilos.

you could try an electric mixer, or coffee grinder, but its probably easier, quicker and cleaner just to buy milled grain for now.

 

[Spapro]

Anyone got any tips on crushing grains without having to buy a mill?

I dare say you could use a rolling pin, but that would be pretty time-consuming, I'd have thought.

I'll probably get a mill at some point, but until then, anyone got any tips or other equipment you can use for it?

I currently buy just crushed grain.

I find thats fine for pale malts/marris otter etc. which you use a lot of so not storing for too long, but not so good for speciality malts (carapil, chocoloate malts etc) which you only need in small quantities for each brew.

Thinking about continuing to buy base malts pre-crushed and using this small grain mill for crushing speciality malts as required for each brew (as whole grain stores much better longer term than pre-crushed):
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Basic_Malt_Grain_Mill.html#.Vs3LuObAQjk

Not tried it but thinking of buying one and giving it a go, would be interested if anyone has used this small grain mill ?

 

[MyQul]

Why are you considering crushing grain is the first question. If it's a matter of keeping costs down and buying a 25kg sack then you have to have a mill. If your buying smaller amounts just buy it pre-crushed.

I normally buy 2xbrew worth of grain at a time and vac pack it in one of those clothes storage bags that you stick a vacuum cleaner on the vent to suck all the air out. A month later it smells as fresh as when I first put it in there

 

[Fil]

also milling grain will generate lots of sweet hydroscopic flour dust into the atmosphere which will stick to all the walls and surfaces where you mill Not the sort of thing to do in a brewshed or kitchen, unless you relish a ceiling down wipe over to clean up afterwards...

 

[cheapbrew]

Blimey Fil what do you use to mill with if you're getting flour on the ceiling milling a few kilos of barley?

 

[JapanBrew]

Hand mills in Japan are way expensive. The one I use is 30,000 yen, that's like 220 pounds!!!! Some of them have thin enough crank shaft where you can mount a drill to it. Mines a little too big.

 

[clibit]

I would either get a mill or buy crushed if I were you. Unless maybe you're just crushing small quantities of specialty malts like crystal occasionally. But I'd still get a hand mill tbh.

 

[Dutto]

............

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Basic_Malt_Grain_Mill.html#.Vs3LuObAQjk

Not tried it but thinking of buying one and giving it a go, would be interested if anyone has used this small grain mill ?

It looks the business but a word of warning to anyone else who looks at the link. The photograph makes the mill look like an ordinary mincer. It isn't!

A couple of years ago I went out and gathered a few kilos of rose hips to make rose-hip syrup and returned home with my harvest.

I started the laborious job of cutting them up prior to boiling and after about half an hour I had finished a cup-full when my eyes fell on the electric mincer and I thought "Yes!" , when I should have thought "Don't bother."

Five minutes later and with less than another cupful of rose-hips minced the nylon cog at the back of the mincer lost all its teeth as the mincer ground to a stop!

In the end, to speed things up, I par boiled the rose-hips, saved the water to re-use and when it had all cooled down stuck them in a mixer with the cutting blade at full speed.

It took about 10 seconds for each batch of rose-hips ... :thumb: :thumb:

... and about thirty minutes to dismantle, clean and install a new cog on the mincer!

 

[Notlaw]

I normally buy 2xbrew worth of grain at a time and vac pack it in one of those clothes storage bags that you stick a vacuum cleaner on the vent to suck all the air out. A month later it smells as fresh as when I first put it in there

Do you put the grain directly into the vac bag? Does it not suck any of the fine milled floury stuff through the hoover valve bit?

Unless maybe you're just crushing small quantities of specialty malts like crystal occasionally. But I'd still get a hand mill tbh.

It's mainly for the specialty malts that I'm thinking of. So, for example , if I'm doing a porter or something dark and use some chocolate malt in there, the most I'd likely be using in a 10l brew would around 100g if we assume its 5% of the grain bill. The smallest quantity I can buy from LHB is 500g of pre-crushed. Even brewing once every fortnight and doing the same brew every time, it'll still be a few months to get through it all.

For that reason, I thought I'd buy unmilled grain of the specialties. I didn't realise that you could get a small mill for around �£20 though.

 

[clibit]

Yes you could crush 100g with a rolling pin, or even put it in a blender. I've done that a couple of times before I got a cheap mill. Mine was about £25.

 

[Spapro]

Why are you considering crushing grain is the first question. If it's a matter of keeping costs down and buying a 25kg sack then you have to have a mill. If your buying smaller amounts just buy it pre-crushed.

I normally buy 2xbrew worth of grain at a time and vac pack it in one of those clothes storage bags that you stick a vacuum cleaner on the vent to suck all the air out. A month later it smells as fresh as when I first put it in there

I buy specility grains in typically 500g bags (crushed currently). If its chocolate or black malt then that may be stored for 12 months or more as only need tiny mounts 40-50g per brew.

Its these speciality malts I am thinking of milling myself when required - and still buying base malts pre-crushed for ease.

 

[Spapro]

Yes you could crush 100g with a rolling pin, or even put it in a blender. I've done that a couple of times before I got a cheap mill. Mine was about �£25.

What Mill do you use Clibit ? looking for a cheaper one for milling small amounts of speciality grains (chocolate/black malt etc)

 

[MyQul]

Do you put the grain directly into the vac bag? Does it not suck any of the fine milled floury stuff through the hoover valve bit?

I either put the grain in a zip lock bag first or it comes in a heat sealed bag (which by the looks of things isn't vac packed), then I put the grains in the vac bag. No idea how long it will last like this but I usually use it up between 4-6 weeks and as I say it smells as fresh as when I first put it in there

 

[clibit]

What Mill do you use Clibit ? looking for a cheaper one for milling small amounts of speciality grains (chocolate/black malt etc)

I use one of them Corona mills, which vary in price a lot, shop around. The Home Brew Shop has it for £22.80, doubt you'll beat that tbh.

 

[Simonh82]

I saw this mod for a corona mill to keep it self contained within a bucket http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=1308996&postcount=144. No dust and easy storage. Looks like a good idea to me.

There's some interesting information on grain crushing on this page http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=CrushEval.

 

[Notlaw]

I've got an old Swan coffee grinder somewhere. Could you use that, or would it grind it too fine? Likewise a food processor, would that do or is that too "choppy" rather than "squashy"?

 

[JapanBrew]

Can I PayPal you guys some cash and send me like.... Half... No, ALL the store has!?!? Damn you guys are lucky.

 

[Notlaw]

Can I PayPal you guys some cash and send me like.... Half... No, ALL the store has!?!? Damn you guys are lucky.

Haha, it would be twice as much again in postage to Japan.!

I once bought a shinken and iaito (a sharp and a blunt sword) from Japan and it was cheaper to send them to Australia, then on from Australia to here..!