Accidentally ordered grain uncrushed

[Joshua Hughes]

It was 2 pounds of my order that I forgot to change to crushed. I own no grain mill. What are my options to crush? Without buying a mill.
thanks

 

[rburrelli]

Rolling pin is probably your best bet. Blender is possible but you would need to be careful about crushing too fine depending upon your system.

 

[day_trippr]

What's the total grain bill weight? If it's more than 10 pounds you might get away with running those 2 pounds through whatever macerating machine you have handy - even a blender in small bites.

Otherwise, is there an lhbs you could appeal to?

Cheers!

 

[BruceH]

It was 2 pounds of my order that I forgot to change to crushed. I own no grain mill. What are my options to crush? Without buying a mill.
thanks

I would take it as a sign to buy a Corona style mill. I understand you don't want to buy a mill. Should be less than $35 shipped from ebay, will last a long time.

Otherwise maybe you have a burr coffee mill or mortar and pestle?

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Rolling pin is probably your best bet. Blender is possible but you would need to be careful about crushing too fine depending upon your system.

Brew in a bag. 1-1.5 gallon batches

 

[day_trippr]

So, that two pounds is pretty much your entire grain bill...

 

[Joshua Hughes]

So, that two pounds is pretty much your entire grain bill...

Yes I’m usually under 3 pounds of grain each batch.
I do have a decent burr coffee grinder.
no local home brew store

 

[day_trippr]

Well, at least you're doing biab so there's at least a chance a wicked fine grind will still lauter.
Any other process would definitely not tolerate what a coffee grinder is going to produce...

 

[Gruel]

Maybe putting the grains in a plastic bag and pounding them with a meat tenderizer would work?
Or a pasta maker, assuming those have sub-millimeter settings?

Otherwise, I'd say 'well played' to your Id/subconscious: sounds like you're pretty much forced to buy a grain mill now, in order not to waste the money spent on 2 lbs of grain. Converting it to bird feed is another option. Do you like chickens?

 

[passedpawn]

Not sure if it'll get through the coffee grinder. I have one on my counter that I've never tried with barley. If you do try that, let us know how it went.

I did use a paper shredder once. That worked great

 

[Gruel]

I would not use a coffee grinder already used for coffee. Or any coffee grinder. That just seems like the wrong process. A meat grinder attachment for a food processor might work. A ball mill. A rock polisher. A steam roller on one of those big metal sheets they use to cover holes in the road. Actually, scratch that: unless that is your day job, getting a street construction crew to mill your grain might cost you more in beer than you are going to get out of it. On the other hand, they might want to support the noble cause. It never hurts to ask.

 

[BruceH]

Not even going to try the burr mill set at it's widest gap? Just a few grains? Nothing says it will work but I would try it if I was in the same situation.

Actually I wouldn't, I'd go to ebay and get a Corona type mill but I know that's not where you want to go even though it will set you free, lol.

 

[Lefou]

I did use a paper shredder once. That worked great

LMAO It never surprises me what people can come up with that might work when beer is the ultimate reward.
When I first started out with brewing on the brain just walking into a supermarket was a journey to search out new stuff that might ferment. Then I realized you gotta eat ... sometimes.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

missed a lot of funny stuff while I was outside. I do have a paper shredder and my step dad has heavy equipment and I think a roller.

my subconscious has wanted a mill. My wife wants no more stuff for my “little hobby”

 

[BruceH]

missed a lot of funny stuff while I was outside. I do have a paper shredder and my step dad has heavy equipment and I think a roller.

my subconscious has wanted a mill. My wife wants no more stuff for my “little hobby”

Have it delivered to a friends house or work

 

[passedpawn]

LMAO It never surprises me what people can come up with that might work when beer is the ultimate reward.
When I first started out with brewing on the brain just walking into a supermarket was a journey to search out new stuff that might ferment. Then I realized you gotta eat ... sometimes.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Wow

 

[day_trippr]

hahahaha! That's wild, PP!

 

[jerrylotto]

Where are you? Maybe someone with a mill is close by

 

[mannye]

Easy. Put it in a large plastic bag, doubled up kitchen bags should do just fine. Then put that in a heavy canvas bag and roll over it with your car a few times.

 

[BrewerOTP]

There must be someone close to home with a crusher. - it is Kentucky!

If not, I'd work with a blender.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

2 lb is a lot for rolling pin. a flat meat mallet can be used when you get tired of rolling. Doing it this way will assure that you won’t likely forget to get your grains milled again. 30 bucks for a corona mill is a good investmen.

 

[IslandLizard]

Just to add something to the list of possible crushing tools:

Large mortar & pestle
Spinner-type coffee/spice mill
Heavy duty canvas or woven plastic rice or grain bag and a hammer

Since you're doing small batches crush and powder is really not much of issue. Lauter and vorlauf through a sieve or a grain bag used for steeping. The heap of grain in the sieve or bag is your filter.

 

[JSmetalcraft]

I just graduated from extract kits to buying grains needed to match those found in the extract kits. I did buy a mill but it was a few days behind my grains and I wanted to brew. I think it was 1.5 lbs for seeping. I used a big heavy zip lock bag and the roller pin. Crystal type barley seems to be fairly crunchy or brittle and crushed up surprisingly well. Matter fact at the time I thought to myself why did I spend $100 for a mill. But I am now I am in third grade by getting ready to brew my first all grain.

 

[tellyho]

Here's your excuse to buy a mill!

 

[tinoespinosa69]

Maybe you can have a look at this
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/we...-ORSHbMnOJGFa5p95FVa1RLqux8sJ250aAibZEALw_wcB

 

[tld6008]

If you have other crushed grains to dilute it with just use a blender. If not I used a rolling pin years ago, two pounds wouldn't kill you.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

I could get a good workout. I have over 2 pounds of the same grain that is crushed. So I’ll grind some and mix with the crushed. It doing a brew with this particular grain for probably a month or so, It’s Maris Otter. I am doing a Faux Dunkel next and then probably a Faux Helles so I can use up the hops and reuse the yeast so I don’t need it for a bit.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Maybe you can have a look at this
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/we...-ORSHbMnOJGFa5p95FVa1RLqux8sJ250aAibZEALw_wcB

I seen that last night. May be an option if I get something.

 

[lurker18]

I would try the burr coffee grinder at the widest setting. The one I have opened right up will just about let a coffee bean through. Try a little bit wide open and then play with it.

 

[ehall]

get drunk and buy one off amazon... beg for forgiveness later if you need to.

 

[smata67]

How about taking it to a grocery store that has a coffee grinder and running it through that? Of course, you might need to change your recipe to some variation of a stout, but these are desperate times. Skip asking whether it's ok to do, just do it. And don't forget to wear a mask in case Kentucky has a law against this type of shenanigan.

 

[bracconiere]

for 2 pound 1 gallon batch....what about mashing it whole for 3-4 hours or something like that?

 

[Lefou]

There must be someone close to home with a crusher. - it is Kentucky!

If not, I'd work with a blender.

I use a blender with wheat malt for my wheat beers. It bumps the conversion efficiency up a bit.