Forgot to ask for "crushed" grains!! What now?

[Tripod]

D'oh!!

So I order ingredients for my upcoming brew day just like I always do. When they arive at my house I always inspect everything to make sure the ingredients are correct and fresh, etc. Only then do I realize that I forgot to tell the vendor that I wanted the steeping grains crushed!

Now, if I had a mill I could just run them through and be done with it. Even though we're only talking about about a half-pound or so of grains. But right now I'm still brewing extract with steeping grains and I don't own a mill so that is not an option for me.

Do any of you have a suggestion for crushing these if you don't have a mill? I imagine I could do something like hammer-pounding but I'm also guessing that I really need to crush these to a specific level of crushdome rather then just pounding them into submission...

Any thoughts, HBT? I can't be the first to run into this scenario...

 

[BierMuncher]

1) Rolling pin on wood cutting board.
2) Pour them into a plastic bucket and use a 3-pound sledge held vertically or a brick.

I've done both with success.

Do not use a food processor or blender.

Since they are specialty grains...they are likely dryer than normal 2-row and should crush easily.

 

[Richabt]

+1 on the rolling pin or any similar object. You'll be fine....unless you have 15lbs to deal with.

 

[maida7]

Like others have said the rolling pin should do the trick

or

you could find a friend who does all grain and has a mill. I bet there are tons of brewers in your area. This is a great excuses to join a local club.

 

[samc]

I'd just go to the LHBS and buy 1/2 lb of grain crushed, I am all about keeping it simple. Might buy some other stuff from them so you help support local stores. I buy all my grain local as well as 1/2 of my other stuff.

 

[Tripod]

You'll be fine....unless you have 15lbs to deal with.

Thanks All for the ideas. I'm only talking about a very small amount so the rolling pin idea sounds like it would do the trick.

In this case I'm only really using a little Chocolate and Black Patent to get some color so I'm not trying to get a conversion. DME will take care of the rest for now. So I don't really need to think about over/under crushing...am I right on that?

-Tripod

 

[khiddy]

Yeah, my first batch was done with a rolling pin crush on the specialty grains, and because you're essentially just extracting color and only a small amount of sugar, you should be fine. What's the quantity of grains?

 

[maida7]

Thanks All for the ideas. I'm only talking about a very small amount so the rolling pin idea sounds like it would do the trick.

In this case I'm only really using a little Chocolate and Black Patent to get some color so I'm not trying to get a conversion. DME will take care of the rest for now. So I don't really need to think about over/under crushing...am I right on that?

-Tripod

Yeah I think there is a danger in over doing it.

 

[ChillyP]

TWO WORDS: SLAP CHOP

 

[amercuric]

lol Slapchop. I didn't have a rolling pin so I put the grain inside a cookie tray I used a 32 oz bottle as one.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Pour them in your mouth and chew on them a little.

 

[Tripod]

What's the quantity of grains?

We're only talking about maybe 4oz. here. I'm really not worried but I thought I'd ask what others did because I'll probably forget again in the future.

Thanks again for the advice and the laughs. The Slap Chop guy just might be the Sham-WOW guy's long lost twin!

-Tripod

 

[thepyrofish]

Thanks again for the advice and the laughs. The Slap Chop guy just might be the Sham-WOW guy's long lost twin!

-Tripod

Eh? Same guy...

 

[Tripod]

Eh? Same guy...

I had no idea...

 

[ChillyP]

You laugh, but I have slap chop my grain before.....

 

[Tripod]

I think my SWMBO may actually have one of those buried under some dust somewhere...

 

[Lodovico]

You've got boring grains, you have a boring life. Slap your troubles away.

 

[Tripod]

You've got boring grains, you have a boring life. Slap your troubles away.

YAWN...thank you for that incredibly helpful contirbution.