Grains pre-milled online?

Hello!

First off, great site. I am new to brewing and have a quick question. Do any of the sites pre-mill the specialty grains you purchase? I have checked out a couple of them and really couldn't find the answer. The only brew shop is about an hour away from me so I will probably be buying alot of my stuff online.

Thanks!

Yes, most online shops crush grains but BE CAREFUL!!!!

About 2 hours ago, I dumped 20 pounds of grain into the alley. Apparently, Northernbrewer gave me an incredibly bad crush. My mash temps were dead on, but the resultant wort was 1.5 gallons at 1.070 and 5 gallons at 1.006 or so... I just threw it away. The problem? I had purchased Fawcett Optic grain and I noticed it is considerably smaller in size than most other 2 rows. Of course, if I'd known that ahead of time, I simply wouldn't have ordered it... and of course there was no warning. Lesson learned.

Go ahead and get your grains crushed online, but don't stray into anything interest. Stick with basic 2 rows, crystal malts, carapils, and chocolate. Anything else is going to be a crap shoot... Maybe do a google search and look up grain size before making a decision.

I'm sure glad I didn't add that Optic to my 50 pounds-of-grain barleywine like I had intended to do!!!!

Yes most (probably all) online homebrew shops will ship crushed grain. Some charge an extra 10 cents a pound to crush it for you. I can't comment on the quality of the crush because the only grains I've ordered that way were specialty grains for steeping and the crush isn't as critical as it is for mashing. Plenty of people that do all grain order them pre-crushed.

I don't have a crusher (except a corona crusher, for small amounts) so I always order my grains pre-crushed. I've had no problems at all so far. AHS seems to have the grains always crushed perfectly.

Yooper Chick said:

I don't have a crusher (except a corona crusher, for small amounts) so I always order my grains pre-crushed. I've had no problems at all so far. AHS seems to have the grains always crushed perfectly.

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AHS is great. I've had consistent 75% + efficiency with their crush.


Dan

I would reccommend only ordering enough for one batch no matter where you order from because crushed grains go stale easily.

Yooper Chick said:

I don't have a crusher (except a corona crusher, for small amounts) so I always order my grains pre-crushed. I've had no problems at all so far. AHS seems to have the grains always crushed perfectly.

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Done deal. They've got my business... even if their selection isn't all that great... at least until I get my mill

joshpooh said:

I would reccommend only ordering enough for one batch no matter where you order from because crushed grains go stale easily.

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IMHO, this is a gross exaggeration. Crushed grains will keep a month or so *easily* (longer, I'm sure) in a cool place where they are not exposed to moisture. I usually order 2-3 batches worth of grain at a time, and the grain I'm not using immediately goes into the freezer. I've never had any issues with stale grains.