To crush or not to crush

[Scottsdale]

I'm brewing up a Left Hand Milk Stout clone tomorrow and had a question about the adjuncts. It calls for flaked barley and flaked oats......do I add them whole to the mash or do I crush them in my mill along with the grains?

 

[VikeMan]

They don't need to be run through the mill, but it won't hurt anything if they are.

 

[day_trippr]

Most likely they'll pass right through a mill gapped for malted barley. I don't bother.
If one is conditioning their malted grain I would avoid running the flaked stuff through the mill...

Cheers!

 

[Scottsdale]

Very much appreciated!

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I heard a pro brewer on a podcast recommend milling flaked grains (to help with efficiency?). I tried it once and had issues with my mill slipping. I went back to just adding them directly to the mash.

The only issue...at least twice I have forgotten to add my flaked grain to the mash. I am a better now about adding the small container of flaked grains into my bucket of milled grains so I don't forget again.

 

[day_trippr]

My habit is to bag any flaked grains the night before brew day, park the bag by my brew rig next to the measured out water salts 'n' stuff, and only mill the malted grains in the morning.

One would have to tighten the mill gap to actually do much to flaked grains. They're way thinner than malted barley and even wheat berries and malted oats...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

Running flaked grains through the mill mixed in with all the other grains will break them down pretty far because the harder grain particles get pulled in along side the flat pieces. The issue is that it really add makes those gummy adjuncts even worse at potentially causing a cement-like grain bed.