What is the best practical way to condition grains?

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LAbrewer

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I want to condition my grains but it seems like too much work. I don't feel like spreading out the grains on a board and spraying a layer at a time. I was thinking maybe of putting the grains in a white trash bag and spraying while shaking. Any practical ideas that don't involve making more to clean up?
 
I use a 7 gallon bucket and tilt it to create more surface area. I spritz with a water bottle 15 times and stir with my hands. Repeat as needed. I also condition and crush the night before brew day. Takes 10 minutes or so.
 
I use a 7 gallon bucket and tilt it to create more surface area. I spritz with a water bottle 15 times and stir with my hands. Repeat as needed. I also condition and crush the night before brew day. Takes 10 minutes or so.

Ditto.
 
I have used a garbage bag, a bucket and spoon, and the under bed storage container. I stuck with the last because it seems to go faster, about five minutes for 25 lbs of grain.
 
Whats this about? never heard of conditioning malted grains before mash?? What does it do for the end product?
 
I have swmbo spray a fine mist into the grain as I pour it into my hopper. Works great. I've tried versions of all this other stuff too, but this is the way I prefer to do it if my helper is around.
 
I have a large plastic "Feed" bucket like those used for horses. I dump all the grain in and spritze with a water bottle, stirring the grain around with a large SS spoon.
 
Cool, I think I'll give the bucket method a go. Does conditioning the night before work better than right before crushing?
 
Cool, I think I'll give the bucket method a go. Does conditioning the night before work better than right before crushing?

Some say yes, but I find conditioning just a couple minutes before to be just as effective, I guess ideally you can do it the night before, but the benefits are still substantial just doing it right into the hopper.
 
I use a black mortar mixing bin from depot and mix with my hands. I generally use about 4 to 6 oz of water with a spray bottle. The bucket method blows
 
I use a black mortar mixing bin from depot and mix with my hands. I generally use about 4 to 6 oz of water with a spray bottle. The bucket method blows

This works great! I do it with half the grain bill (total grain bill is about 25lbs) then mill it, bucket it, set it aside and do it again. Wide surface area and I just spray it with a spray bottle while mixing it with my hand. I was thinking about getting a small rake but meh, I have enough **** in the garage to find on brew day.
 
I just did my first conditioning this past weekend.

I used a large foil pan I picked up at a restaurant supply store. Not sure on the size, but it has a bigger footprint than my 46 Quart Cooler mash tun. It has nice high sides and can hold about 5 pounds of grain and is about an inch deep or so, I just mist, mix with my hand, then pour that into my grain bucket. The foil pan seems to be the perfect comprimise for me, between getting enough done at one time and still being able to easily lift and pour into another vessel.

I have to say though, this was the best thing I have ever done to improve my brew day. I had almost perfectly intact husks and it probably cut my running time in half. I actually started to get freaked out that I didn't used too much water, then after that wasn't the case, I was freaking that I was probably low on my gravity. The only thing off, was that my gravity ended up a tad high.

I honestly can't recommend conditioning grain enough.
 
new to all-grain and am a BIAB brewer.

sounds like this conditioning process is mostly for spray sparging brewers?

GD51:mug:
 
new to all-grain and am a BIAB brewer.

sounds like this conditioning process is mostly for spray sparging brewers?

GD51:mug:

Batch and continuous, yes. I've never dine biab but i cant imagine it would hold much value for that process.
 
there was mention of this process helping to keep the husk in tact during the milling process. what i mean is, not totally ripping it up. if i'm not wrong, BIAB brewing requirs a fine mill on the grain end product is milled where the husk & kernal is all crushed.
i'm thinking the condition process won't matter for BIAB brewers. someone let me know if i'm incorrect...
thanx:)
GD51
 
I gave it a whirl with about 20 sprays. It didn't seem to do much other than a little less dust this time. I think I'll double the sprays next time.
 
I gave it a whirl with about 20 sprays. It didn't seem to do much other than a little less dust this time. I think I'll double the sprays next time.

Check out the wiki link posted earlier in this thread....you increase the moisture content by 2%. More grain = more water.
 
I do BIAB and I condition my grain. It means I can get a fine crush without creating too much flour using my Corona mill.
 
I gave it a whirl with about 20 sprays. It didn't seem to do much other than a little less dust this time. I think I'll double the sprays next time.

(Grain bill X 16) X .02 = weight of water I use in oz
 
thanx for the feed back......

i'm gonna give this conditioning thingy a try....sounds like it might be worth while.
either way i will have learned something!
cheers!

GD51:mug:
 
thanx for the feed back......

i'm gonna give this conditioning thingy a try....sounds like it might be worth while.
either way i will have learned something!
cheers!

GD51:mug:

I think it's definitely worth giving it a shot, to see how it works for you in your system, just because it made such a big difference in mine. I think I spent $4 on the foil pan and the spray bottle together, so there isn't a big investment to give it a try.
 
Batch and continuous, yes. I've never dine biab but i cant imagine it would hold much value for that process.

Conditioning is mostly for the process of milling your grain. With a hybrid BIAB/batch sparge method, I can get away with a real tight gap. By conditioning the grain I get a bit less flour and a better grind.
 
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