I have been asked to write an article about the malt conditioning that I oftentimes use to enhance the crush I get from my 2-roller mill. I put it on the Wike here.
Since I'm not getting dramatic results from it and it takes some additional effort, I cannot recommend this as a must in your brewing process. It's just an additional tool that you could try.
I'm not completely done with this article yet. I plan to take some more pictures when I brew again and want to write something about conditioning wheat malt.
I do not think this is worth rusting your mill (steel rollers). If you have stainless rollers you could try it I guess.
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Cheers,
WBC
Fermentor 1: Bill's House Ale II, Fermentor 2: German Helles, Fermentor 3: Bill's Schworzbier (Black Bier) Tap 1: Bill's House Ale II, Tap 2: German Hefewizen, Tap 3: Nut Brown Ale Future Brews: Stone IPA Clone, Blonde Ale, Budvar Clone, Newcastle Clone New toy: Blichmann 27 gallon fermentor
“If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging”
“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment”
I have always wanted to damp crush my malt. I wouldn't dare with my crankandstein, I need to make a larger diameter roller mill. I think if you got it big enough you could smash the crap out of the grain and still maintain husk integrity. What would a, say 12 ", set of rollers do with a minimal spacing to the grain?
__________________ "Beer... Nutritious and Delicious!"
I might have to fire up Frankenstein & try that, I have never actually chushed with it, just plugged it in to make sure it worked. It needs a little clean up first, it has 6"x24" ss rollers. I got it with a bunch of stuff from a guy that no longer brews.
I do not think this is worth rusting your mill (steel rollers). If you have stainless rollers you could try it I guess.
There is not enough moisture to cause rusting of your mill. I don't think mine has SS rollers and there no rust developing after about a year of conditioning malt before crushing it.
Kaiser, do you use a smaller roller spacing when you condition your malt? I was wondering if you could maintain husk integrity better and could do so to get a better efficiency?
__________________ "Beer... Nutritious and Delicious!"
Unless you are having lautering problems and you have tried everything else to rectify the situation, I would not recommend "conditioning your malt" by adding water to raise the moisture. As you have said, adding water to the malt just before grinding makes a mess and the moisture is mostly on the surface of the kernel. I also can not see how this can be any good for your mill, one of your more expensive pieces of homebrew equipment.
When the maltster kilns base malt, they shoot for a finished moisture of 3.8 to 4.2% moisture from the kiln. The malt is then held in a bin for a period of time, often a month, for the moisture to equalize in the kernel. Being a bit hydroscopic, malt will pick up a little moisture from the air during most seasons (not the dead of winter when it is very cold and little moisture in the air) to end up at about 4.5 to 4.7% moisture. Unless you have your mill rollers set very narrow, this should give you a good grind with most hulls in good condition for lautering. As homebrewers, we are not trying to maximize our yield so forcing the gind to more of a flour for higher extraction is not necessary at the expense of the hull and runoff in the lauter.
If you feel the malt is too dry and powdery from you LHBS, let it sit out for about a week before you brew to let it pick up moisture from the air and equalize in the kernel.
Malt conditioning
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