Millet: the grind

[Michaelinwa]

Going to try my first all grain with millet this weekend.

What should I be aiming for in terms of the grind? Not flour-like, correct? I'm thinking maybe about the same level as ground coffee or something?

Thanks for any pointers.

 

[mergs]

Going to try my first all grain with millet this weekend.

What should I be aiming for in terms of the grind? Not flour-like, correct? I'm thinking maybe about the same level as ground coffee or something?

Thanks for any pointers.

I've been using this is a guide for now:

http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/all_grain_brewing_tutorial.php

Mill your grains to release the starches within the grain. It is recommended that you do not mill your grains coarsely, but more finely as to release as much of the starch as possible.

I'm trying to get a fine crush, unfortunately the mill I purchased doesn't close down too tight so I am milling mine with 3-4 passes until I don't see any intact millet grains.

Maybe others are doing it different and will chime in but my impression if that you'll get poor efficiency with course grind but with a fine grind you risk stuck sparges. Adding in rice hulls to help with the sparge seems to be the general solution to that, or biab or both.

 

[brwmistr]

Try a coffee grinder

 

[Osedax]

One pass .010" and then a second pass of .008" works for me. Should look like grits.

 

[Michaelinwa]

One pass .010" and then a second pass of .008" works for me. Should look like grits.

That's what I was after, thanks. More or less where I was with it.

 

[igliashon]

I grind at around .63mm, or around .025 inches. Single pass. I used to crush finer and slowly backed down to this level without seeing any drop of efficiency. This is not quite the closest gap on a monster mill MM-2. Twila grinds at .65mm and her mill produces a very nice crush at this setting. Millet has a diameter of around 1-2mm, so .5mm is about the lowest you would want to go, assuming your gap is uniform and your rollers don't have teeth/knurls/grooves that are large enough to pass kernels through uncrushed. Mill speed is also a HUGE variable with millet. If you run in it too fast the kernels basically explode and you get a lot more flour. It's not a big deal with my batch-sparging method, but if you are trying to fly sparge you will be hating life if you grind too fine.

 

[burns766]

For the past couple years i've been using a Nutra Mill, works great for making flour, but i'm tired of the stuck sparges and 14 hr brew days. I am doing my first all millet mash using a roller mill. I have the barley crusher (I bought it for my brews but then my wife was diagnosed as celiac.) I tried the 63mm with the knurled rollers by measuring with a feeler gage. I think that i may have messed up and not cracked the grains near enough. what you look for when milling grains and is there any recommneded type/model for home brewing? Thanks.