Grain crush?

[David_Trucks]

Does this look like a good grain crush? All we have right now is a coffee grinder and we plan on buying in bulk. If it matters, we do BIAB.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Pilgarlic]

The husks are more shredded than I'd like but I suspect you'll be fine.

 

[duboman]

Personally my crush is finer and if your doing BIAB you can certainly crush it more as there is no traditional sparge to worry about getting stuck, your efficiency will improve as well!


Sent from the Commune

 

[David_Trucks]

Personally my crush is finer and if your doing BIAB you can certainly crush it more as there is no traditional sparge to worry about getting stuck, your efficiency will improve as well!


Sent from the Commune

Are you saying I could/should crush it more? I thought it was best if the husks were whole (or close)?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[David_Trucks]

The husks are more shredded than I'd like but I suspect you'll be fine.

Hopefully this is a short term fix anyway. We just found out how to buy bulk in an easy fashion, so I guess buying a grain mill is next on the agenda. They are expensive though!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[duboman]

Are you saying I could/should crush it more? I thought it was best if the husks were whole (or close)?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Yes, my crush generates a bit of flour


Sent from the Commune

 

[theck]

Hopefully this is a short term fix anyway. We just found out how to buy bulk in an easy fashion, so I guess buying a grain mill is next on the agenda. They are expensive though!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Got the mill from adventures in homebrewing happy with it so far, about 15+ batches, $99 shipped.

 

[David_Trucks]

Got the mill from adventures in homebrewing happy with it so far, about 15+ batches, $99 shipped.

That's what I'm saying. $99 - That's expensive to me and hard to justify to my family. I'll have to keep a lookout for bargains...


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[theck]

That's what I'm saying. $99 - That's expensive to me and hard to justify to my family. I'll have to keep a lookout for bargains...


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Ya but it's a main tool if you want to buy in bulk. The savings will catch up to the purchase. I was paying $2 a pound buying recipes one at a time. Now I only get the specialty grain, which is usually not much, and the rest (base) is under $.80 last time the local shop had their sale. Making a 5.5 gallon $12 Hefe by reusing yeast is amazing... Just reused my last pale ale yeast in a new batch for $22, more hops. Buying hops in pounds now to even bring it down more, of course I had to get a vacuum sealer for $40 but again down the road it will pay itself off. I completely understand how tough it is to flip that initial cost though. I troll craigslist for cheap brew stuff and resell it if I can and then parlay that into other equipment.

 

[David_Trucks]

Theck- yeah I hope to slowly start saving money by buying bulk, etc. Our LHBS is offering $30 bags of 50 lb. MO (with a minimum purchase but still). So we'll jump on that. I'm hoping to start doing all grain in a cooler transformed mash tun next. Then maybe bulk hops and reusing yeast. Slowly, but surely I'll save money and make great beer. As is, we're still doing $25-30 batches - cheaper than store bought and better too. Thanks for the tips.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[RM-MN]

Are you saying I could/should crush it more? I thought it was best if the husks were whole (or close)?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

When you use a conventional mash tun you depend on the husks to form the filter so you can drain the tun. With BIAB you have no such limitation so you can forget about what the husks look like. As long as the husks aren't so fine of pieces that they go right through the bag, you can rip them totally apart.

Grain crusher mills are a bit expensive but there are cheap Corona style mills that work fine for BIAB. Check out this one from Discount Tommy.

http://www.discounttommy.com/p-189-...er-for-wheat-grains-or-use-as-a-nut-mill.aspx

I still hand crank mine but people have motorized them, usually with a heavy duty drill.

 

[Pilgarlic]

I'm using a Cereal Killer mill now, and love it, but I used a Corona for over a year (hand cranked) and I was able to get a very good, consistent crush. If I were doing BIAB today I'd have no reluctance whatever to going with a Corona and crushing it fine.

 

[Dave_K]

I'm using a Cereal Killer mill now, and love it, but I used a Corona for over a year (hand cranked) and I was able to get a very good, consistent crush. If I were doing BIAB today I'd have no reluctance whatever to going with a Corona and crushing it fine.

So are Corona mills only good for BIAB where a fine crush doesn't matter as much? Or is it possible to get a good crush for sparging?
I was considering this route for the price, but I'm not BIAB.

 

[stpug]

Your crush looks fine to me, but it could be finer for BIAB. I would not hesitate to brew that one up and find out where your efficiency lands. If you're happy then no further adjustments needed.

Cheers!

 

[RM-MN]

So are Corona mills only good for BIAB where a fine crush doesn't matter as much? Or is it possible to get a good crush for sparging?
I was considering this route for the price, but I'm not BIAB.

People do use the Corona style mill for a conventional mash tun too but to me it seems perfectly suited for BIAB. The mills are adjustable to get the kind of crush you need for either.

 

[Pilgarlic]

So are Corona mills only good for BIAB where a fine crush doesn't matter as much? Or is it possible to get a good crush for sparging?
I was considering this route for the price, but I'm not BIAB.

My Corona served me VERY well for sparging.

 

[David_Trucks]

Well it looks like I'll be adding a corona mill to my list. Thanks everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[brew_darrymore]

I have been using a Victoria grain mill (Corona style) and get over 80% efficiency. I'm very happy with it.

There is a popular website that talks about some minor modifications to the mill. Just google corona mill mods.

There is also a great and funny thread about corona mills:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/

Cheers!