Crushing your own grains

[dlbarncord]

When you mill your own grains how fine do you want it? I have an old style cast iron grind mill and have been playing with the settings. I have it set where when I run through some sunflower seeds I can see little pieces of the shell but most of it looks like powder, is that to much?

 

[PintOfBitter]

you want the husks to remain whole, while crushing the grain itself as well as possible.

The rotating wheel "Corona" style mills don't seem to work all that well because they tear the husk apart, but you can get by, especially if you're just crushing steeping grains for an extract brew session.

 

[jer204]

I use a "Corona" style mill. I get between 75-85% when crushing. You want as much powder, without a stuck sparge. I've never had a stuck sparge. Husks in good shape. Some tweeking is involved. Crush, brew, crush more, brew, crush more...

 

[Runyanka]

I also have a corona style mill, and I use it to mill my 10g grain bills. I have never had a stuck sparge, tannins from the husks, or poor efficiency. I get on average about 77% with it set to where it cracks and seperates the hull, however I don't generally have that much powder.

 

[El_Exorcisto]

The corona type mill does a lot better than just "get by." If you aren't sticking the occasional sparge, you can still go a little finer. Once you stick a spare, go a little coarser and leave it there.

 

[PintOfBitter]

Good to hear. I used one (the grinding plate was more sharply serrated than the common "old fashioned" style) and it really did not work out at all.

 

[RM-MN]

You might want to line your mash tun with a paint strainer bag like is done with brew in a bag. You can grind the grain pretty fine that way and still get the wort out. If your sparge begins to stick, just lift the bag and let the liquid drain out, then you can continue with a second sparge if you wish.

 

[Banjoman76]

Try adding a couple of washers behind the butterfly nuts. They tend to even out the plates.
Then there is this venerable thread that inspires.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/

 

[MVKTR2]

I love my corona style mill!!! AMEN! (said with an angelic choir chiming in)

Seriously I average 80-81% eff. with mine. A good piece of advice I got from the 'my ugly junk corona mill station' thread was to set it so that when you turn it every now and then you'll get the touching of the metal plates, barely. This seems to be a good place to start. Fwiw Charlie P and a whole lot of award winning brewers use corona mills... if it's good enough for them then it's good enough for lil-ol-me. Fwiw the science I've come across lately, want to say it was from Kai though maybe not, indicates that torn husk isn't really a tannin extraction risk, maybe ups your chances by a few or 15% but not a big deal overall. However the filterbed/stuck sparge aspect is plenty reason to want un-shredded husks.

Schlante,
Phillip