A Cheap, Lowtech Solution for Milling Grain

[EinGutesBier]

For a long time, I've been fretting about whether to buy a grain mill, and I'm sure I will eventually, God willing. Until then, though, I've found a nice lowtech approach to milling grain if you're in a pinch or just plain frugal. I had some 120L that I needed to mill (bought it locally - I usually have the HBS mill my stuff) for a batch the same day. So I laid out the grain on my clean countertop and used my rolling pin to crush the malt. The results were pretty darn good, I have to say. The malt itself was crushed in halves or quarter, maybe a little more, and the hulls were maybe halved or split, though left whole. I mean, the same general idea applies - crushing the grain to leave the hull intact but not mashing it to flour. Time consuming, a little. Worth it - yeah.

Now I'm sure someone else has posted an idea like this, but c'mon, just let me have my moment in the sun here. :rockin:

 

[Bobby_M]

Hulls intact doesn't mean just a cracked kernel with the endosperm still contained. In a perfect world, you'd want it split in half perfectly with the endosperm kicked out and maybe broken into a few pieces (but not flour). This is tough to acheive.

I've crushed steeping grains with a rolling pin once...... once.

Even if you only do a pound or two at a time, it's horrible. I'd buy crushed ingredients as needed in that case. For all grain? No way, not a chance. You'd be better off with a cheap corona mill or buy that grain crushed too.

 

[david_42]

I hope it's your rolling pin and not SWMBO's (unless you have a marble pin like I do). Grains are hard, particularly the darker roasts.

 

[adx]

That's when you need a marble rolling pin. Thing works great in a pinch.

 

[SavageSteve]

Last time I brewed, I had to press a bottle of red wine into service to crush some chocolate malt that didn't come magically pre-crushed for me in the mail. Don't remember where my rolling pin has got to these days.

It worked OK, but I ended up with some of the grains still whole. I see a Barley Crusher in my future.

 

[RobertHSmith]

I crushed with my wife's marble rolling pin. My OG's were higher than both of the the recipes called for that I brewed that weekend.

some pictures here of the method and results
http://www.robertandcathy.com/pictures_20080311/

 

[Brewing Clamper]

I crushed with my wife's marble rolling pin. My OG's were higher than both of the the recipes called for that I brewed that weekend.

some pictures here of the method and results
http://www.robertandcathy.com/pictures_20080311/

Nice pics... at what point of the boil does the cat go in? Or is it mashed? I do remember another thread about the proper mash temp of a kitty...

 

[Beerthoven]

I once used a hammer to smash up some steeping grains. No kidding. Put the grains in a large ziplock bag then smack them gently with a hammer on the driveway. I did this after trying and then abandoning the rolling pin trick.

 

[JohnA111]

I once used a hammer to smash up some steeping grains. No kidding. Put the grains in a large ziplock bag then smack them gently with a hammer on the driveway. I did this after trying and then abandoning the rolling pin trick.

I prefer them in a ziplock using a large cast iron skillet, rocking it back and forth under as much pressure as I can apply. I crush until they look like the grains that were crushed for me at the LHBS. Fine for 1/4 lb of roasted, but I get my Crystal crushed in bulk.

Still, I'm thinking this isn't the best way of doing things and have been looking for a mill when I AG, as its just for specialty grains for now.

 

[RobertHSmith]

Nice pics... at what point of the boil does the cat go in? Or is it mashed? I do remember another thread about the proper mash temp of a kitty...

Actually, he was so curious about what I was doing that he almost laid down on the grain. Why cats have to lay down on what you are working on I'll never know. When I finally chased him out of the kitchen and finished crushing both batches, about 2 hours later, he had made him self a bed in the carboy box my AG kits were sent in. He was just sitting in there purring all by him self...must have known that something good came in that box

BTW, one of the kits was the NB IPA kit. My OG was 1.071, batch sparging.