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Grinding malt - quality?

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Ankerstjerne

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Joined
Apr 6, 2015
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Location
Magtenboelle - 55 22\' 30\'\'N, 10 10\' 14\'\'E
Until now I have got my grinded malt from the local maltpusher. But now I will get a malt mill and grind the malt by my self. But how can I control the quality? I need good ideas to achieve high quality. For example is there measuring methods that can be used before the malt is used?

With regards
Klaus Ankerstjerne
Denmark - Fyn
www.aigis.dk
 
A good mill will allow you to set the gap between the rollers. In my case the gap is set to .031".
You'll most likely need to experiment a bit to get your "perfect" crush. Not any "old maids"(uncrushed malt grains) but not crushed to dust either.
You want the hulls intact. They'll become your filter bed when mashing.
 
A little thinner than a credit card is usually good. Some powder, most pieces of grain reduced to the size of a "." should be a good starting point for most systems. As govner said, start there and adjust your crush based on your needs. If you get a stuck sparge then crush a little coarser next time. Kyle
 
Thanks for yours replies. I wondering that there is no describing about the requirements for malt rolling in detail. For example, both John Palmer and Ray Daniels is rather superficial in their describing of the subject. Can it really be true that there is not made careful studies on what happens during malt rolling? And what error situations that can arise? And how errors can be handled? And should the malt finenes be the same for both barley, wheat, oats and rye?
 
Until now I have got my grinded malt from the local maltpusher. But now I will get a malt mill and grind the malt by my self. But how can I control the quality? I need good ideas to achieve high quality. For example is there measuring methods that can be used before the malt is used?

With regards
Klaus Ankerstjerne
Denmark - Fyn
www.aigis.dk

Hej Klaus (Sorry this will be in Danish)

Har du kigget dig lidt omkring på håndbrygforum.dk? Her fandt jeg et par links til en fyr i Holland der solgte en maltmølle incl. fragt for 100 euro http://www.mega-direct.com/index.ph...mill&action=article&group_id=9&aid=13&lang=EN Den er trinløs justérbar på den valse der ikke trækker, og kører ganske fantastisk. Jeg kører med strammeste opsætning - altså 0,0125mm, men jeg har også et godt aftræk fra mit mæskekar.

Mvh Folke
 
Hej Folke (sorry this will be in danish too)

Tak for dit link. Jeg er på udkig efter en mere professionel maltmølle med motor. Jeg har kigget lidt i håndbrygforum.dk og stillet spørgsmål der angående maltmølle-producenter. Og det er vel det du svarer på her. Her i homebrewtalk ville jeg gerne starte en tråd om kvaliteten og hvilke krav vi bør stille til den valsede malt og hvad vi kan gøre, hvis der opstår fejl. Og så vil jeg foreslå, at vi fortsætter dialogen på engelsk, så andre her i fora'et også kan være med.

mvh. Klaus (tlf. 2086 5492)
 
Thanks for yours replies. I wondering that there is no describing about the requirements for malt rolling in detail. For example, both John Palmer and Ray Daniels is rather superficial in their describing of the subject. Can it really be true that there is not made careful studies on what happens during malt rolling? And what error situations that can arise? And how errors can be handled? And should the malt finenes be the same for both barley, wheat, oats and rye?

There are two books you can review that give reasonable discussions on milling of grains. One is "Brewing", 2nd Edition, by Lewis & Young. This is also an excellent reference on the entire brewing process.
The other is the new book simply entitled "Malt" by John Mallet. It also has a discussion on milling.
As for types of grains, I mill everything at the same setting. You will find grains such as White Wheat to be much harder & they can even throw off the gap on your rollers so keep an eye out for any change when you mill these. If you find the crush to be too coarse you can always double crush your grains. Also, I don't usually mill flaked grains (oats) but I do add rice hulls to prevent stuck spares.
 
I also mill everything the same, though some authors (Jamil Z.) suggest crushing black grains to dust for dark beers. Flaked malts don't get crushed. I have several has indeed pounds, probably nearing the big 1000, on a Barley Crusher and now double mill- first to crack the grains into thirds or quarters and a second time fairly fine...some flour, mostly just very small chunks. Wheat doesn't need double crushed but is usually mixed with barley and gets crushed twice. My system can handle it without a stuck sparge most days, but if yours can't then crush a little coarser. Kyle
 
I wondering that there is no describing about the requirements for malt rolling in detail.
4p.jpg
 
Depending on the lautering or filtering system the requirements are different. With a typical perforated homebrew false bottom you want to keep the husks intact, while for example for BIAB you can even double crush the malt.

Brewhouse design and malt handling are all topics described in detail in the brewing literature. You have to understand that books from individuals like John Palmer and Ray Daniels are intended for homebrewers and therefore are not as rigorous or detailed regarding all aspects of the brewing process. Obviously there are brewing textbooks if you really care to learn about it.

This should cover what you want to know:

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=CrushEval

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Malt_Conditioning
 
I just ordered a mill and 50# of malt and will venture forth into lands unknown. I use the BIAB method which I have often heard prefers a finer crush for better efficiency. Any BIAB brewers out there wanna recommend an initial gap for base malt?
 
It was always my understanding grain will variate from grain to grain, malt to malt, year to year. I figured that to mean I need to adjust to the variation I find to get the crush I want. That's how I've been doing it but I'm open to different ideas!
 

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