Do these look crushed enough?

[RobertHSmith]

I just crushed one bag for a nut brown ale and it worked out pretty well. Took 45 min. I'll post some pics later after I do the IPA grain.

I've been corresponding with someone from NB who has been very helpful and is making it right. They were appreciative of the pictures I sent and have been very professional and even gave me about the same advice some of you have with my rolling pin idea...which seems to be working so far... and about the loss in efficiency.


Edited b/c my I wrote some incoherent sentences...

 

[RobertHSmith]

here is the pics, warning pics are huge:

• The first attempt, about two handfulls - DSCN0862.jpg
• two minutes in I started doing one cup of grain at a time - DSCN0876.jpg
• The finished batch about 45 min later - DSCN0878.jpg

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Looks better. Should be good to go now.

BTW, you can use the image tag to display images inline.

 

[BierMuncher]

It's not crushed at all.

This is crushed:

Hmmmm...

That pic looks familiar...

 

[RobertHSmith]

I'm not sure if I'd volunteer to do that again to save a couple of bucks, but It's good to know it will work in a pinch.

 

[bandt9299]

My Barley Crusher fell apart the other day, I panicked, now I know I can roll it out, all 12+ pounds, ouch.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

My Barley Crusher fell apart the other day, I panicked, now I know I can roll it out, all 12+ pounds, ouch.

It'ts a lot easier when he grains are already cracked. You're screwed. lol

 

[Jaybird]

I wonder what a paper shredder would do to crush grain??
JJ

 

[natefitz]

In my experience, a plastic cutting board with a little texture keeps the grain from sliding around under the pin, but it's still not fun.
Last time I got so frustrated that I began ransacking my kitchen in a fit of rage. I was lucky enough to find an old conical burr hand-crank coffee grinder which is easier but not much faster.

+1 On the paper shredder, post pics.

Cheers

 

[WBC]

Hmmmm...

That pic looks familiar...

I borrowed it to show'em how a pro does it.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I wonder what a paper shredder would do to crush grain??
JJ

OK, very curious to see that.

 

[noobrewer]

HAHA, rolling pin method sucks! I didn't get 5 wacks into it when I just went for the coffee grinder (works well). Jeeze dudes, use common sense. This ain't microbiology, its engineering... ha

Actually does a coffee grinder pulverise to much? Or why exactly is it bad/not ideal?

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Coffee grinder = astringent brew. There is a reason we don't grind our grain to flower (besides a cement mix).

 

[RobertHSmith]

HAHA, rolling pin method sucks! I didn't get 5 whacks into it when I just went for the coffee grinder (works well). Jeeze dudes, use common sense. This ain't microbiology, its engineering... ha

Actually does a coffee grinder pulverize to much? Or why exactly is it bad/not ideal?

Bad idea? Never tried it, but I have had a stuck sparge due to grain that was ground too finely in a hand crank mill. My wife and I are coffee snobs and have a burr grinder, not one of those blade choppers that will change the flavor of the bean. It will do a very course grind that you could use in a tea ball or will grind it in to a fine powder for use in a traditional cappuccino maker that you put on your stove.

It could work, but have you ever tried to clean all of the coffee dust out of a big bean grinder? PITA, plus it would have taken me more than 45min per batch of grain. I think having a very hard and heavy, stone rolling pin helped speed things up.

edit: sorry, can't spell before 6AM