This is my first all grain batch. I went to Northern Brewer and got 15 lbs of a variety of barley, to include 14 lbs of Simpsons Golden Promise. I'll be doing a batch sparge and forgot to up my grain bill. Stopped by Purple Foot, because it was near, to pick up an extra pound of GP. They have never heard of Golden Promise (strange) but suggested 2 row pale malt instead. I took their suggestion and they gave me 1.5 lbs of 2 row. When I added it to the rest of my grains, I found that the grain was milled too fine compared to the rest. The husks were not cracked, they were ground to bits. Will this affect my mash at all being only 1.5 lbs of poorly ground malt?
2-row crushed too fine
- Thread starter trevorc13
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jagg
Well-Known Member
It might be milled just right my friend, I dont think you will have any problems at all, just roll with it and try not to get too excited about anything, after all this is your first AG batch, you will have plenty time to worry about things later, just enjoy yourself this first time.:rockin:
EBloom97
Well-Known Member
Base malt is base malt. One lb of a different type is not going to effect your recipe much.
OP
OP
trevorc13
Well-Known Member
Thanks. I'm actually more concerned with the crush of the grain. I've heard that this can cause harsh flavors.
Naw, crushing fine is a great way to achieve high efficiency. It you are batch sparging, it's no problem at all.
Three is a fear that grinding up the husks of the barley will result in extraction of astringent tannins, but I don't believe this is true. You'll want to vorlauf, or recirculate, when sparging until the runnings are clear, though. If you get a lot of husk particulate in your boil then you might end up with some astringency (this I do believe is possible,but you'd need a lot of particles to have a problem!).
But, really, don't worry. You will likely make your best beer yet.
Three is a fear that grinding up the husks of the barley will result in extraction of astringent tannins, but I don't believe this is true. You'll want to vorlauf, or recirculate, when sparging until the runnings are clear, though. If you get a lot of husk particulate in your boil then you might end up with some astringency (this I do believe is possible,but you'd need a lot of particles to have a problem!).
But, really, don't worry. You will likely make your best beer yet.
EBloom97
Well-Known Member
Tannins are what you're worrying about, but it shouldn't be a huge problem. It's such a small portion of your batch that even if you were in danger of extracting tannins the taste would be pretty negligible.
The important thing to remember about tannin extraction is that it occurs at a specific temperature (above 170*) and a specific pH (above 6). If you don't try to sparge too hot and too long, it won't be a problem even with a very fine milling.
rugman
Well-Known Member
I'd be more concerned with with slow or stuck sparging with the fine grains you could always add rice hulls
I would say the size of the crush is dependent on the design or your lauter system. There is one commercial brewery in Germany that actually separates out the husks. The typical advice is to crush as finely as possible and still not get a stuck sparge. If you are getting stuck, your crush is too fine (or you need a better filter).
The husk/tannin issue is only a problem if you pH is too high. If your pH is fine, you'll have no problems regardless of husk size
The husk/tannin issue is only a problem if you pH is too high. If your pH is fine, you'll have no problems regardless of husk size
VanHolton
Well-Known Member
RDWHAHB. If your Golden Promise is crushed well, I wouldn't give it a second thought.
