Newest Threads

jakis · 12-06-2011, 04:07 PM

For all grain brewing is it imparitive to mill the malt? Even for 3-5 gallon batches?

sendkyleanemail · 12-06-2011, 04:10 PM

In short, yes.

**pjj2ba** · 12-06-2011, 04:11 PM

YES. If you don't crush it somehow, you will get very poor extraction of the flavor components and have poor starch conversion as well. In general you want to crush it as much as possible but not so fine that you have to deal with stuck sparges

jakis · 12-06-2011, 04:19 PM

Sounds good, what type of milling equipment would I get? Are they expensive.

**HopSong** · 12-06-2011, 04:23 PM

Cheap.. Rolling pin with grains in a ziploc bag. Bit more expensive.. Corona Corn Mill.. about $30 on Amazon..

**eastoak** · 12-06-2011, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakis

Sounds good, what type of milling equipment would I get? Are they expensive.

this whole hobby can get expensive but milling the grain is a bare minimum in order to brew all grain. if you brew extract beer the DME and the LME are expensive because somebody else had to do the milling.

**jamboparty** · 12-06-2011, 05:08 PM

If you're unsure of what to buy, you could also consider having the grains milled by whoever you're buying them from. Most places don't charge extra.

That way you can still get going on the all-grain, but have more time to research mills and figure out exactly what you want to get.

Calder · 12-06-2011, 05:10 PM

I picked up a corona mill from Buy.com a couple of years ago and it works fine. I usually get 80% mash efficiency, occasionally higher. I think it cost $32, and had free shipping.

**daksin** · 12-06-2011, 06:31 PM

A corona mill would be an inexpensive but workable option. A dedicated grain mill would almost be a must if you are planning to do all all-grain batches. Blender or rolling pin is going to be impossible for anything more than a couple ounces of grain. Also, your local home brew shop should have a mill that you can use, but they might insist you buy something there. If you're buying grain there already, I'm sure they're happy to mill it, but I don't know how close you are to a LHBS in Toronto.

Calder · 12-06-2011, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daksin

A corona mill would be an inexpensive but workable option. A dedicated grain mill would almost be a must if you are planning to do all all-grain batches.

I've never used a Barley Crusher or similar mill and am sure they are far superior to Corona mills, but I do fine with the Corona mill. I do have it adapted such that I can use a drill, but I find the hand-crank fine and can crush a pound per minute; probably faster if I used a drill. It crushes the kernel nicely and leaves the husk relatively intact.