Quick help: can I mill grains in coffee grinder?

My brew buddy went to the homebrew store for me and didn't realize he needed to get our partial mash grains milled...stores closed and we can't brew unless we can find a way to grind them. How about a coffee grinder? Is there a setting that would work? We're considering (maybe drunkenly) going to the local grocery store and using the "coarse" setting on the coffee grinder.

Pretty sure that'd turn your grain in to powder. Try putting them in a baggie and using a rolling pin to crush them.

i wouldn't do it....i was in a pinch once before i got my mill...put in a baggie and pounding with a rubber mallot...not the best tactic but better than coffee grinder....Whutever also has a good suggestion

If you're using a grain bag I don't really think it'll make all that much of a dif. Crush will matter much less because you can fix a stuck sparge easily. If you're 'partial mash' is just a glorified steeping then no worries. I still don't worry a ton about the crush on my partial mashes which I do in a 2 gal cooler (per BYO counter-top mashing).

I've used/tried all sorts of things to crush - rolling pins, pasta machine, meat grinder, coffee grinder. Rolling pin is only worth it if its a small amount of specialty grains you're steeping... in which case I don't think you even need to worry about the crush anyway.

Two caveats:
1) If there ever was coffee run through the machine you can count on some coffee flavor. It's a very oily bean.
2) Use the corasest grind. Inevitably the hulls will be more damaged than in a crush. Perhaps try wet crushing the grain?

If you really are mashing, then you could skip the crush and let it mash over night. Sparging will probably yeild poor results but I would take that over my nights trying to hammer/roll grain for 4 or so pounds of grain. If you're steeping I'll stand by my "wont be a huge deal." And if you think it is, a small amount of specialty grain is much more manageable.

coffee grinder will turn them into powder, like whutever says. learned that early on the hard way...

So no to the coffee grinder...sigh. I'll guess I'll reschedule for a brew day tomorrow when I can go by the homebrew shop and have them mill it for me. Silly brew buddy! Oh well.

Thanks y'all.

Well, a burr style coffee grinder adjusted to the coarsest setting will be a lot like a corona mill. Workable but not great. True about the coffee flavor being picked up though. How much grain are we talking about?

corona mills are about $40

Are you doing BIAB, or using a MLT? If you're using a fine bag, then run it through the coffee grinder and you should be fine. BUT, you're going to get coffee flavor in your beer. You could buy a bag of bulgur, or rice and run it through before you do your grain, and that'll clean out SOME of the coffee from the machine. I'd say go for it, and of course, let us all know how it turned out.

I had almost 5 lbs of grain for a partial mash in a 3 gallon cooler mash/lauter tun. I decided to push back my brewing until tomorrow when I can get the grain properly milled. Thanks though.

I use a burr-mill grinder for up to about 2lbs of specialty grains. Set to the coarsest setting it works well enough. I don't think I'd use it for a full load of grain - there'd be too much flour.

I find the baggie rolling pin doesn't work.

What does work - it'd take flipping ages - is a heavy glass and a bread board. Strew the grains very sparsely over it and crush with the bottom of the glass. It gives a great crush and the hulls remain very much intact, but you're doing a handful at a time, so as I said, it takes a very long time.

I used a commercial coffee grinder like you see in the grocery stores for a couple years as my primary grain grinder. We have a local coffee company in my town that we do work for and they gave it to me, so you couldn't beat the price. Doing 25+ gallon batches, it really sped things up. Before I used it the first time, I ground a couple pounds of cheap base grain to clean out the residual coffee. Did this a couple times. (I guess you could always make a coffee porter/stout for you first batch and forgo the cleaning! ) You will most likely have to adjust the grind out farther than the coarsest setting. The problem with using this type of grinder is the mill itself is much more aggressive than a traditional corona type mill (what I use now.) It has teeth on it - not just ridges like a grain mill. It is certainly more a "grind" and less of a "crush". You will get more uncrushed grains, flour and smaller husks and a lower efficiency - BUT it will work. Don't forget the rice hulls! When using the coffee mill, my efficiency was always around 65%. I saw a large jump in efficiency when I started using the corona (as well as changing some other things in the brew process.) Now my efficiency is typically 85%+.

I wouldn't say I would recommend going out and buying a commercial coffee grinder with the intent of using it as a grain grinder, cause if you are gonna spend that much, you might as well buy a mill that is designed for grain. I now use it only for its originally intended purpose exclusively again!

BUT - if you have access to a free/cheap one - it will definitely work. It did for me for years.

Pros:
Very fast and easy to use and clean
Hopper held 15 +/- Lbs of grain
Very Durable - commercial quality
Got it for free

Cons:
Grinds more than crushes
Lower efficiency
Possible "stickier" mashes

Bobby_M said:

Well, a burr style coffee grinder adjusted to the coarsest setting will be a lot like a corona mill. Workable but not great. True about the coffee flavor being picked up though. How much grain are we talking about?

Click to expand...

Plenty of us get absolutely great crushes from corona mills.

I think wet milled grain through a roller mill is a "great" crush and every corona milled grist I've ever seen would be closer to "workable/decent" in my opinion. Please don't take this as a snarky reply, it's just my opinion. If a corona provided a great crush, no one would spend $100+ on a roller mill and there would be no more DIY roller mill threads.

I use this coffe grinder. I got it when my father closed the grocery store he owned. It was sitting on a high shelf in the back corner of the warehouse. I tore it apart and cleaned it out. That is when I found it is just a motorized verion of a Corona mill. I basically had to open up the gap between the plates more. This was easy after I removed the side cover. I just rotated the handle about one revolution. Since then I found a gap measurement somewhere, and I set the gap to that and marked the handle placement on the side of the unit. It works like a champ. I always check the crush as it is going, and I can adjust it on the fly if needed.

I've got a larger Cuisinart food processor, any thoughts on using that on a "pulse" mode and not just turn it all to dust? I've been frustrated with the grinder at my homebrew store, but haven't gotten around to getting a mill yet. Has anyone used something like that before?

Slowfro said:

I've got a larger Cuisinart food processor, any thoughts on using that on a "pulse" mode and not just turn it all to dust? I've been frustrated with the grinder at my homebrew store, but haven't gotten around to getting a mill yet. Has anyone used something like that before?

Click to expand...

From what I've read in other threads here, that will give you very inconsistent grain slices (not crushed)... Which is not something you want.

I'm planning on getting a grain mill next month... Then I'll be able to use/buy bulk grain and save even more $$ per brew...