Austin's milled grain?

I ordered my first grain bill for my first AG attempt from Austin Home Brew. I ordered everything to go in one grain bag and got it milled.

What are your opinions on their milling job with grains? I only ask because I have never, until today, even seen what grains look like after being milled so I'm not sure if what I have is a good crush or if those of you who have seen it from Austin prefer it a different way.

Thanks

Interesting topic. When I brew with Brewmaster's Warehouse grains, I consistently hit 80-89% eff. Both times I brewed with AHS grains, I hit 65 and 69% eff. That being said, I don't weigh the grain. I use BMW "Brewbuilder" and the 2 AHS brews were promotional kits. In otherwords, the entire grain bills were packaged as one..ie. 10# 2-row and 1#Crystal 60L. I have no idea what the actual mass of the grains were before mashing.

I have only used Austin so I cannot commit on the others but I am also new to the All Grain scene. I only have five under my belt but I have been happy with them.

Does Brewmasters Warehouse crush grains for orders as well?

StarCityBrewMaster said:

Does Brewmasters Warehouse crush grains for orders as well?

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Yes. All of the major online stores do. Brewmasters Warehouse does it for free. I'm not sure about the others.

YooperBrew said:

Yes. All of the major online stores do. Brewmasters Warehouse does it for free. I'm not sure about the others.

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AHS is free as well.

I get all of my grains from AHS and I usually hit between 70-80% efficiency on my beers. I would say that it could be better, but my efficiency loses could be coming from other areas than just the crush.

I just brewed an AHS kit last night (Karankawa Pale Ale). I weighed the ingredients when I got them and it was spot on. I used the water to grain ratio specified. The instructions say not to run off more than 6.25 gals of wort. I was able to run off a bit more than 6.5 gals before I got down to a SG of 1.010. At a little more than 6.5 gallons pre boil, the OG was 1.040. Based on the math, at 5.25 gallons post boil it should be 1.050. The instructions specify 1.051 at 5.25 gallons. So I guess it worked for me.

I will take an actual OG tonight when I pitch (its a no chill batch).

I've had grain milled from Austin and a few other HBS. I don't like the way they crush their grains. My efficiency was always lower with them (50-60%). I bought my own grain mill and now I get consistent efficiency in the 75% range batch sparging. My methods have slightly changed, so that may also be a factor, but not 25 points.