Conditioning grain == awesome.

[pjj2ba]

I conditioned my malt for several batches last year and found no difference in efficiency. I may have used too much water because it gummed up my barley crusher every time, which was a huge pain. It did cut down on dust and make the crush look nice and fluffy. After a few batches and having to clean my barley crusher each time with a wire brush, I abandoned malt conditioning. To each his own, but I saw no measurable/noticeable benefit to malt conditioning.

Yes, you used too much water! I used about 100 ml for 9 lbs grain

 

[TTB-J]

If you brew in the same area where you crush, conditioning is almost an imperative. Grain dust is combustible, so it's a potential safety hazard to mill a bunch of grain and then fire up your turkey fryer in the same area.

 

[KitB]

I condition in a tray I purchased at Home Depot that is intended for mixing concrete/mortar.
I spray & mix, then check whether I can grab a handful of grain & have a substantial portion stick to my hand, when opening my fist.
Then, I allow the grain to sit for roughly an hour.
This gives the hulls some time to absorb the water & get a bit more pliable.
My Barley Crusher is set to .024".

I get damn near 100% extract efficiency.

Edit:
And...The hulls come out very well intact...Contributing to a great filter bed.
As others have stated...The intact hulls lead to clearer wort, once the bed is set.
I don't know what nickharbour was getting at, but I have to disagree.

 

[BrewinBigD]

Ya think you get enough filter media to skip the use of rice hulls for wheat beers?? Maybe not for fly spargers but i batch anyway and wouldnt mind saving the money that i could be using to buy other cool beer stuff.

 

[milldoggy]

I condition in a tray I purchased at Home Depot that is intended for mixing concrete/mortar.
I spray & mix, then check whether I can grab a handful of grain & have a substantial portion stick to my hand, when opening my fist.
Then, I allow the grain to sit for roughly an hour.
This gives the hulls some time to absorb the water & get a bit more pliable.
My Barley Crusher is set to .024".

I get damn near 100% extract efficiency.

Edit:
And...The hulls come out very well intact...Contributing to a great filter bed.
As others have stated...The intact hulls lead to clearer wort, once the bed is set.
I don't know what nickharbour was getting at, but I have to disagree.

Do you condition your wheat and barley together?

 

[KitB]

Do you condition your wheat and barley together?

Sorry...I've never brewed with wheat.
My wife & I are not big enough fans of wheat beers, to consume 5 gallons.
Wheat beers would take up precious keezer space, for far too long.

 

[Randar]

Once you go spray-bottle, you never go back.

Ya think you get enough filter media to skip the use of rice hulls for wheat beers?? Maybe not for fly spargers but i batch anyway and wouldnt mind saving the money that i could be using to buy other cool beer stuff.

Depends on what % wheat. I may still use a small amount of rice hulls for 50% wheat beers or 25% ryes. Depends on the quality of your manifold as well. From what understand, braids tend to gum up moreso than a good manifold on rye/wheat beers.

Do you condition your wheat and barley together?

I condition wheat with the barley, but I don't bother conditioning rye.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning#Conditioning_Wheat_Malt

 

[bighorn_brew]

I just did this successfully by putting my recipe together in a five gallon pot, total of 13lbs, and remembered that I wanted to try this technique. So, I took the hand sprayer nozzle of my sink and gave my malt quick sprays with lots of working the malt from top to bottom until I felt that all the malt had been moistened. With a long handled spoon and my hands was able to get down to the bottom and get every bit of it. Then I let it sit for an hour to kinda "even out" the moisture....I crushed directly onto the mash water, and didn't think of grabbing a handful to check it out, but hopefully I see a nice easy runoff....I have a barley crusher set just slightly tighter than factory settings....

 

[MaltyHops]

Do crushed grain that had been wet-conditioned need to be used asap?

Have been thinking of crushing grain a day or two before mashing and wondering whether the added water will cause the crushed grain to go mouldy fairly quickly?

 

[November]

What gap does everyone use for conditioned grain? I just did my first at .030, can I go tighter than that?

 

[KitB]

Mine's set to .024" & works nicely.


If your mill gums up, you used too much water.

 

[donshizzles]

Once conditioned, do you mill right into the MT or into another bucket first?

 

[Kit_B]

Typically, I crush the night before brewing.
I never crush directly into my tun.
I always crush into a bucket, lined with a bag.

I found this method to be a good idea, on two occasions...

Once, a bolt fell out of my mill base & dropped into the grain.
With the bag, I could easily reach in & pluck out the bolt...
Without it, I would have had to sift through a hot mash tun.
(I always slowly add milled grain to a tun of water, to avoid air pockets & dough balls.)

Another time, my mill bound up & I couldn't get it to continue grinding, without a susbstantial amount of time spent on cleaning & maintenance.
Had I ground into my tun, my mash would have already been started & be too hot, for a correct mash temp.

 

[hbr2547]

So I tried this for the first time today. Approx three ounces of water with 12 lbs of grain applied last night and just milled....AMAZING!!!! Lets just say I wasn't sure how this would work and I was more than surprised. I'll let all know efficiency tonight (tightened rollers)

 

[benco]

After reading this thread, I sure don't want to piss anybody off. Would the conditioning of grain help people doing biab? Thanks!

 

[thatjonguy]

I know you guys mentioned if it is wet, too much water was applied.

Any issues with rusting on the mills?

 

[day_trippr]

Reserve a half pound of base malt before you condition the rest, and run it through the mill at the end of the crush...

Cheers!

 

[thatjonguy]

Thanks!

 

[Kit_B]

I know you guys mentioned if it is wet, too much water was applied.

Any issues with rusting on the mills?

If done correctly, you won't have rusting issues, because the husks will have soaked up the moisture, before you've ground your grain.
Basically, it makes the husks somewhat leathery or pliable & makes them more resistant to tearing.
Consequently, they are more intact & able to be better utilized as a replacement for the addition of rice hulls, or other extraction aids.