Grain Mills

just curious why I see the talk about folks buying grain mills. My LHBS mills the grains for me when I buy them. Am I missing something?

There are many many ....................many mill posts I know because I have been trying to figure out which one to buy.

Basically it comes down to buying bulk grain to save money and getting a better crush for improved effiency.

I keep 100+ pounds of grain on hand. If I feel like brewing a brand new made up recipe right now, I weigh the grain and mill it. It's just about taking your brewday into your own hands as much as possible. Necessary? Not at all.

I just hit 91% eff. on my wit with my own mill. The best I've ever did with a crush from a HBS is 75%. And buying in bulk is quite nice.

sause brewed a wit?! World must be ending.

sause said:

The best I've ever did with a crush from a HBS is 75%.

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This is a key point - just becuase your LHBS mills grain for you doesn't mean they mill it WELL. Same thing goes for buying pre-milled grains online. If the poor crush you get from your LHBS is limiting your efficiency, you can either complain and try to get them to improve, live with it, or get a mill and do it yourself.

And of course, buying in bulk makes a huge difference also.

Basically, minimum of $1.10/lb. for base grains vs. about $33 for 50lb. sack.

Easy math.

I'd like to add to Bobby's comment that several times I've bought grain intending to brew and then was unable too. I would put the grain in the fridge and store it until I could brew. But milled grain does not store well. I've got a beer now that I'm not real happy with and the only thing I can attribute it to is the fact that the grain had been stored to long (6 weeks) a couple of weeks which was not in the fridge (no room).

So now I don't have to purchase milled grain and hope to be able to use it before it turns stale. Although I seem to have bought it just in time to see the price of grain skyrocket even in bulk.

Right now it looks like it's much cheaper just to buy my beer from a commercial brewer.

So basically if you want to have more control ove when you brew or your LBHS does a bad grind a mill is good? If you get a good crush then no worries? I have been getting between 75-78% efficiency from my first three all grain batches that were milled at LHBS. Seems to me that i'm OK. I guess i ask to make sure I am not missing a crucial part to the hobby/life obsession. Thanks for the feedback, as always, you guys (and gals) RAWK!

z987k said:

sause brewed a wit?! World must be ending.

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I know comma your state must be freezing over soon.

Once you have a grain mill, and an inventory of hops, grains & yeast, you are self sufficient. You can brew at a moment's notice.

I have noticed an increase in efficiency. CG3D (before the war started)

Just to add to the good discussion, a key benefit of having your own mill (aside from increasing efficiency) is to have control over your crush so that it will be CONSISTENT. It is almost impossible to replicate a recipe or fine-tune it if you can't anticipate what your efficiency will be.

I know a lot of LHBS's keep very strict control over their mills and don't let customers fiddle with them, but many don't pay close attention. From some of the posts on this site, it is also obvious that a lot of LHBS's don't even know how to properly set and use a mill themselves. I would always be concerned that I wasn't getting the same crush from batch to batch using someone else's mill. Consistency is key -- in fact, I would even value a consistent crush at say 70% efficiency much more highly than an unpredictable crush that yielded efficiencies between 75 - 90% (unpredictably).

covered95 said:

So basically if you want to have more control ove when you brew or your LBHS does a bad grind a mill is good? If you get a good crush then no worries? I have been getting between 75-78% efficiency from my first three all grain batches that were milled at LHBS. Seems to me that i'm OK. I guess i ask to make sure I am not missing a crucial part to the hobby/life obsession. Thanks for the feedback, as always, you guys (and gals) RAWK!

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The other part is paying $1.30 a lb for Rahr 2 row crushed VS. $0.659 a pound in 50 lb bags (these are current NB prices) and crushing your own. Thats saving $32 for ever 50 lbs of base malt you crush. Add in another 5-10% efficency and it dosnt take long to re-coop the cost of a mill.

I have seen many posts from members claiming better efficiency after getting their own mills as compared to using the pre-milled stuff. I suspect that a lot of homebrew shops purposely under crush the grain so that less skilled customers don't get stuck sparges.

Alemental said:

I have seen many posts from members claiming better efficiency after getting their own mills as compared to using the pre-milled stuff. I suspect that a lot of homebrew shops purposely under crush the grain so that less skilled customers don't get stuck sparges.

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And have to buy more grain to make it up.