Crushing Grain in a blender

[jjinsa]

I have come across in my reading, that many BIAB Brewers either double crush the grain, or they order pre crushed grain and then put the crushed grain in a blender in order to get a better crush and thus increase efficiency.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441448038.148408.jpg

This is the "smoothie" blender I have - should this work to better crush my grains?
Any risks to be aware of?

Any tips on this method?

Thanks in advance

 

[theheroguy]

I do BIAB I crush my grain to powder. I actually used a blender once when I couldn't use anything else and I didn't notice and astringency or husk material escaping my grain bag. Those things are pain in the ass for crushing grain though because you can only put in like 3/4 a cup at a time it cannot process large amounts of grain and it sounded like it was VERY harsh on the motor. If you're gonna use a blender maybe consider getting a heavy duty one like a Ninja if you want it to have something for crushing grains that also has other functionality.

 

[jjinsa]

I only do 12L batches, so maximum grain bill I've done so far is about 3.5kg (7.7lb) so shouldn't be too bad?

 

[C-Rider]

I've been using one I picked up at Goodwill for 7 bucks. Works great. I put in one coffee cup at a time for about 30 sec each cup. I can do 5 lbs in less than 10 min. LOVE IT. Powder man, Powder.

 

[cannman]

knock yourself out. Depending on how you end up going about the crush, see if you can NOT pulverize the husk. Maybe initially crush like normal, sift, blow off the husks with a fan (???) and then blend.

 

[estricklin]

I've used a coffee grinder before, but that was just to do a pound for making a yeast starter.

The blender should get you through for the short term. Check out this thread on the cheap 30 dollar Corona mills which are great for any brewers, but especially BIAB:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=90849

 

[jwalk4]

Anyone ever try an immersion blender?

Maybe you could just pour your grain into a bucket and go to town with one of these things.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=imme...ChMI-OuE_rLixwIVUxqSCh2SiwKh&biw=1366&bih=630

 

[passedpawn]

Regarding dbl-crushing to increase efficiency:

• Shredded hulls won't result in astringency or any other bad flavor. But powdering your grain can definitely result in a stuck sparge while lautering.
• If you already know what your efficiency is, just adjust your grain bill to account for it and don't screw around with the blender. Sounds like a big mess in order to save 90¢ in grain.
• Keep an extra pound or two of light extract in your cupboard. Use a refractometer to measure your gravity going into the boil. If you are low, adjust with the extract.
• Or (what I do), just boil a bit longer until you're at the OG you're looking for. Again, a refractometer lets you do this easily. I never ever miss my OG.

 

[cannman]

@passedpawn just 'passing' the info along. *oh god I need more coffee*

From http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html How to Brew, John Palmer

Husky / Grainy
These flavors are akin to the astringent flavors produced from the grain husks. These flavors are more evident in all-grain beers due to poor grain crushing or sparging practices. If the grain husks are shredded during crushing by the use of a Corona grain mill for instance, these husk flavors are more likely to be extracted during the sparge. Follow the same procedures recommended to prevent astringency to correct the problem.

Grainy flavors can also be contributed by highly toasted malts. If you are making your own toasted malts, allow them to age at least two weeks after crushing so the harsher aromatic compounds can dissipate. Cold conditioning the beer for a month or two will often cause these harsh compounds to settle out with the yeast.

 

[passedpawn]

@passedpawn just 'passing' the info along. *oh god I need more coffee*

From http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html How to Brew, John Palmer

Husky / Grainy
These flavors are akin to the astringent flavors produced from the grain husks. These flavors are more evident in all-grain beers due to poor grain crushing or sparging practices. If the grain husks are shredded during crushing by the use of a Corona grain mill for instance, these husk flavors are more likely to be extracted during the sparge. Follow the same procedures recommended to prevent astringency to correct the problem.

Grainy flavors can also be contributed by highly toasted malts. If you are making your own toasted malts, allow them to age at least two weeks after crushing so the harsher aromatic compounds can dissipate. Cold conditioning the beer for a month or two will often cause these harsh compounds to settle out with the yeast.

I don't think Palmer is accurate there. Astringency (which I was king of when I started brewing) is mostly caused by oversparging and the consequent high pH. Oversparging is caused by chasing efficiency (again, I know first hand ).

 

[ACSlater]

These flavors are akin to the astringent flavors produced from the grain husks.

Note Palmer says AKIN to astringent flavors. He doesn't specifically say astringent, but implies similarity.

 

[passedpawn]

Note Palmer says AKIN to astringent flavors. He doesn't specifically say astringent, but implies similarity.

Alright. Everybody knows that guys a noob. For example, check out this post by him (granted, it was a while ago)

(seriously, check it out)

http://hbd.org/hbd/archive/1192.html#1192-6

 

[cannman]

Alright. Everybody knows that guys a noob. For example, check out this post by him (granted, it was a while ago)

(seriously, check it out)

http://hbd.org/hbd/archive/1192.html#1192-6

OMG where the hell did you even dig something like that up?! StalKERrrr :cross:

 

[slym2none]

Aaaaand now I am watching "The Beer Hunter" on YouTube... this computer is such a time-suck...

 

[cannman]

Aaaaand now I am watching "The Beer Hunter" on YouTube... this computer is such a time-suck...

Share the link or it didn't happen!

 

[ACSlater]

Alright. Everybody knows that guys a noob. For example, check out this post by him (granted, it was a while ago)

(seriously, check it out)

http://hbd.org/hbd/archive/1192.html#1192-6

Look everybody! Point fingers at the n00b and laugh!

Seriously? How old are you, 6?

 

[passedpawn]

Look everybody! Point fingers at the n00b and laugh!

Seriously? How old are you, 6?

I miss 6. Those were the days.

 

[Gavin C]

I miss 6. Those were the days.

Those halcyon days.


Seriously give that poor noob a break would ya.

 

[ACSlater]

The sarcasm was clearly sensed, but as I was only attempting to clarify a point....oh, nevermind. I could go on until I'm blue in the face, but nobody would realize I was talking about a completely different point anyway. To the OP, I hope you get the advice you need.

 

[passedpawn]

Note Palmer says AKIN to astringent flavors. He doesn't specifically say astringent, but implies similarity.

Oops, you're right. I didn't know what you were talking about until I went to his site and read the text there for both astringency and pulverizing the husks.

Anyway, I mill the crud out of my grain without any ill effect. Maybe the bad flavors "settle out" as Palmer says it can do with time/temp.

 

[slym2none]

Share the link or it didn't happen!

Well, it's on the same page as the Palmer post, but here -



:fro:

 

[estricklin]

Oops, you're right. I didn't know what you were talking about until I went to his site and read the text there for both astringency and pulverizing the husks.

Anyway, I mill the crud out of my grain without any ill effect. Maybe the bad flavors "settle out" as Palmer says it can do with time/temp.

Me too. I feel like there's only 1 metric you can really judge this by, crushed, or not crushed. People look to much into this husk thing. Either you've crushed your grain well, or you haven't. For BIAB I crush it to freakin cornmeal damn near, and I haven't noticed the slightest bit of difference in any of my recipes. Recipes that I've brewed many many times before I might add.