I don't have a miller. Nor do I live close to a brew store. I was told coffee grinder is bad for grain. I am looking for one as I type this, however I want to know if you ever need to fine grain millet? I see some pictures in a How To Brew by John J. Palmer and it is smaller than a penny. Very good and informative book. What grains do you need to mill that small and why? Also what is "kraeusen" he doesn't talk about it in this book. Is it reusing yeast from a batch of wort to enhance your product? Thanks again. :cross: So the use of a coffee grinder could used if needed?
Coffee grinder.
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oldstyle69
Well-Known Member
ive used then just for specialty grains that i put in a bag, but never for all grain.
I've used a blender in a pinch. Just put the grain in about a cup at a time and pulsed it about 5-6 times per cup of grain. Takes forever but if you need it done it will work. I got about an 80% eff out of that method and the beer turned out great. Not my idea originally, heard it from a buddy who probably read it on here somewhere. But I tried it and it works.
dgr
Well-Known Member
Kräusen is the head of CO2 formed foam on a beer. In our case, it is the head that forms on top of the brewing beer during active fermentation. Not to be confused with kräusening which is the addition of unfermented wort to the finished beer to carbonate it when bottling.
Krausening is what he doesn't discuss. Now if you have a finished batch of wort you just bottled up and make a second batch of wort. Putting it in the same carboy or keg? I would imagine you would pull some of the first batch and condition your wort? Is this right?
dgr
Well-Known Member
As I understand it, you can pull off some wort from the original and chill, you can use some actively fermenting beer or you can use some new wort. This is way outside of my experience level.
A member here, braukaiser, has a great wiki on it. http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Kraeusening
or you can type "braukaiser Kraeusening " in the google search at the very top of every page and get a number of threads that relate to this.
A member here, braukaiser, has a great wiki on it. http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Kraeusening
or you can type "braukaiser Kraeusening " in the google search at the very top of every page and get a number of threads that relate to this.
A coffee grinder isn't that great for milling grains for brewing. You don't want course flour. You just want to crack the grains open,which are smaller than a penny when whole. I used a mini food processor till I got my Barley Crusher grain mill,comlete with 7lb hopper,wood base,& crank handle for $130 from either NB or Midwest.
The mini food processor worked ok with about 1/2C grain pulsed 2-3 times for about 2-3 seconds per pulse. It worked ok for partial mash biab,but too much floury stuff that can get through the paint strainer bag. This due to the blades used in food processors and many coffee grinders.
The barley crusher grain mill has been a great product for me. The price for it being complete & ready to use is a real bargain. The better quality Monster Mills cost a couple of times as much,as you only get the rollers in the framewirk for some $180. you have to buy the base & hopper seperately,driving up the cost. And the Barley Crusher mill has notches on the crush rollers' adjusters for the factory setting of .039",which works really well for me. Way less floury stuff,& very evenly cracked open grain kernals. My OG's actually went up after using this grain mill. Def worth the cost. It's base is made to fit on top of a 5 gallon bucket,like the ones at Home Depot or Lowe's. This way,the poofy stuff is well contained.
The mini food processor worked ok with about 1/2C grain pulsed 2-3 times for about 2-3 seconds per pulse. It worked ok for partial mash biab,but too much floury stuff that can get through the paint strainer bag. This due to the blades used in food processors and many coffee grinders.
The barley crusher grain mill has been a great product for me. The price for it being complete & ready to use is a real bargain. The better quality Monster Mills cost a couple of times as much,as you only get the rollers in the framewirk for some $180. you have to buy the base & hopper seperately,driving up the cost. And the Barley Crusher mill has notches on the crush rollers' adjusters for the factory setting of .039",which works really well for me. Way less floury stuff,& very evenly cracked open grain kernals. My OG's actually went up after using this grain mill. Def worth the cost. It's base is made to fit on top of a 5 gallon bucket,like the ones at Home Depot or Lowe's. This way,the poofy stuff is well contained.
quincy07
Well-Known Member
The guy at my LHBS last weekend told me I could use a rolling pin to crack the grain. I was thinking tho, wouldn't like a meat tenderizer work better? Put the grain in a gallon zip lock bag, wrap in towel and give it a few good smacks w the mallet? It seems like that would be easier and more effective than going over it a few times w a rolling pin.
You could,sure. Either way,you're going to make holes in the zip lock bag. I never found anything to crack grains in that way that didn't wind up with holes in it.
quincy07
Well-Known Member
unionrdr said:
I figured it would. That's why I said wrap it in a towel. That way the mess is reduced.
Give it a shot. But sooner or late,you're going to want a grain mill. After a couple batches running 5 or 6 pounds of grain through a mini food processor,I was glad to get my Barley Crusher. Now it only takes a couple minutes to get an even crush on that much grains.
