Whole vs Precrushed Malts

[Braindead]

Just wondering if theres a massive difference between these.
I currently dont have a malt mill so have to buy precrushed, will these lose flavour etc compared to whole?

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Most outlets will be milling your grain to order, so you will be getting crushed grain almost as freshly milled as if you've done it yourself.
You can store the crushed grain but it will deteriorate over time - how much time depends on the conditions that it is stored under, but it will deteriorate much more quickly than stored uncrushed grain.

 

[Bigcol49]

EDIT -duplicate post.

 

[IainM]

Not a massive difference, but you do get better efficiencies with freshly milled grain.

 

[Braindead]

Just I contacted one LHBS and they said "The malts are brought in pre-crushed, the more common malts will be newer
then the some of the other, even if we crushed the malt on site it would
still be the same age just whole and not crushed.…"

Hmmmm

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi @Braindead
When I wrote about outlets, I meant online outlets like The Malt Miller etc.
Home brew shops will probably be getting their grain pre-crushed - none of my "local" shops supply uncrushed grain.

 

[Drunkula]

I had a pre-crushed bag and stored it in a fermenter with a sealed lid and it kept perfectly for about 8 months and after that I had the idea of putting it in one of those under-bed vacuum bag things you stick the hoover on. I really thought the grain would deteriorate and taste stale but it was still lovely. It's made me think twice about converting my pasta machine to a mill.

Somebody mentioned moisture being the real thing to look out for so next time I'm going to throw in one of the car demister bag things even though I've had zero problems.

 

[Leon103]

My last brew was with crushed pale malt that was bought over a year before and nobody complained and efficiency was still good

 

[Likbas]

I never would buy precurshed malts. Before any brew I crush. It's a ritual for me ;-)

I have this:

The picture is linked from eBay, but I have the same machine.

 

[GerritT]

I have a Victoria Grain Mill that can hold 1 lb, and since I rarely crush more than 6 lbs it takes at most 6 reloads of the mill. It's a nice and relaxing activity while the water heats.

 

[Saisonator]

I but pre-crushed and I have noticed no difference between the freshest and the 8 month old malt.
I keep it in a sealed fermenter in a bedroom.
To be honest I even find weighing out grain a PITA, let along milling myself. So I prefer to pay a bit more for custom grain kits.

 

[Spapro]

I have just moved from pre-crushed to milling my own. Only done one brew with the milling my own but my efficiency for that one brew has jumped from around 70% to 80%.

Clearly efficiency is not the be all and end all and I've always been happy with how previous brews tasted but certainly suggests a definate improvement by moving to milling your own versus pre-crushed (and stored a wee while in sealed bags before use).

 

[peebee]

I got a grain mill last year after an operation postponed brewing activities for a few months and left me with a lot of pre-crushed grain (most of which I used up in some "robust" beers in case it was below par).

Oddly I had to reduce my "brew house" efficiency from 78% to 75% (EDIT: figure used for formulating recipes to a target OG) and I think it could go down another 1-2%. I'm already grinding a little finer than many suggest and dare not go finer should I incur the dreaded "set mash". These poorer mash efficiencies could easily be due to seasonal changes (but I'd expect others to be moaning if the 2017 grain to be poorer than 2016 - which seemingly they weren't?). The hoped for improvement to flavour never materialised (I couldn't taste the difference). A recent brew with the remains of the pre-crushed malt (then 15-18 months past crushing date) was fine - although a SG1.008 beer hardly proves anything ("Nanny State" clone).

I wont give up grinding my own grain now. But the "improvements" of using whole grain (freshly milled) over pre-crushed grain seem far from a dead certainty.

 

[foxbat]

I have just moved from pre-crushed to milling my own. Only done one brew with the milling my own but my efficiency for that one brew has jumped from around 70% to 80%.

70 to 80% is exactly the same efficiency change I got with the move to self-milled and more importantly it's identical every time. Consistent efficiency and better long-term storage because I don't brew as often as many here are the key advantages to me.

 

[The Baron]

well I have obviously got a sack of grain freshly milled and used it on a couple of recipes within a week. The rest has been used over months and months and I have not seen any real difference in efficiency or most importantly taste. While it is better to used fresh milled grain I believe that is is not the critical factor that advocates of milling say it is

 

[Gunge]

I'm too tight to buy a grain mill and often would be too idle to use it. But you don't miss what you never had so I'll stick with the pre-crushed stuff... I've never noticed a difference in quality and/or efficiency from the start of a sack to the end of one. But if efficiency is what does it for you, try some Hook Head malt from the HBC - it's bonkers!

 

[Saisonator]

Do bakers mill their own flour every day?
I suspect improvement in efficiency is mainly down to achieving the best grain crush to suit your setup.

 

[RichK]

Do bakers mill their own flour every day?
....

!
Dont know about every day but apparently "yes"
https://www.breadexperience.com/home-milling/

 

[Sadfield]

Do commercial breweries crush their own grain?

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[Sadfield]

These poorer mash efficiencies could easily be due to seasonal changes (but I'd expect others to be moaning if the 2017 grain to be poorer than 2016 - which seemingly they weren't?).

This reminded me of something I posted late last year, from speaking to a brewer from Marstons. At the time he implied that the 2017 autumn harvest was superior to 2016 grain. This would be the grain we were using in 2017. Likely to be a result of all the floods in 2016.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/index.php?posts/721381





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