grain milling questions

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abelseville

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First attempt at uploading a photo. Hope you can see it. How does this crush look? Im attempting my first partial mash and only have my grandmother's antique coffee grinder to mill grains. I could use my modern motorized coffee grinder (much easier) but it pulverizes the hulls. Is this an issue if Im only doing a partial mash and using a grain bag? Are there other reasons not to powderize the grain besides a stuck sparge?


2013-01-2013.58.03.jpg
 
It looks just a bit overmilled, but not too bad. The hulls should really look more cracked than completely separated from the interior grain.

I think this type of milling would be fine if you have a good false bottom or bazooka screen or something like that. The size of the interior grain looks big enough that it wouldn't cause stuck sparges.

Worst case scenerio, a bag of rice hulls costs $1.29 at my LHBS. Wouldn't hurt to add a bag to your mash.
 
Looks great for a BIAB. I use a very old Corona with stone plates and get a crush very close to yours and as long as I use rice hulls I do not get stuck sparges. Bonus for you is you will be using a bag so no stuck sparges.
 
If the hulls mostly get broken into little pieces this can cause excess tannin extraction in the mash leading to harsh flavors. Look into water conditioning grain before milling, it should help.

To condition grain simply apply about 1/4-1/3 oz of water to every pound of grain using a spray bottling and mix the grain well. Let sit for 15 minutes to let the husks absorb the moisture and then mill.

Conditioning the grain prevents the husks from crushing up which minimizes tannin extraction and greatly decreases the chance of a stuck sparge because intact hulls make a great filter bed.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning
 
If the hulls mostly get broken into little pieces this can cause excess tannin extraction in the mash leading to harsh flavors. Look into water conditioning grain before milling, it should help.

To condition grain simply apply about 1/4-1/3 oz of water to every pound of grain using a spray bottling and mix the grain well. Let sit for 15 minutes to let the husks absorb the moisture and then mill.

Conditioning the grain prevents the husks from crushing up which minimizes tannin extraction and greatly decreases the chance of a stuck sparge because intact hulls make a great filter bed.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning

Nope, it takes two specific conditions to extract tannins. First you must have a high pH. If your mash stays acidic (it almost always does) you cannot extract much tannins and then even if it does have a high pH the temperature needs to exceed 170.
 
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