Milling grain

[86softi]

I’m brewing a porter and have a Monster Mill 3 grain mill. What gap do I set the mill at for black and chocolate malt?

 

[day_trippr]

Presuming those are barley malts, the same gap as your base malt should do fine...

Cheers!

 

[50calshooter]

Once I got my mill set I've never changed it.

 

[kevin58]

Stays the same.

 

[Jag75]

The only grain I can think of where I had to change the gap was with white wheat . It's a tad bit smaller.

 

[day_trippr]

Malted oats and rye require even tighter gaps than wheat.

Over the 20 years I've been brewing I wore out a pair of two-roller mills turning in my wimpy 44 inch-pound gear-motor's preferred rotational direction (only 40 inch-pounds in reverse!). So I swapped the rollers around and drive them backwards so they use the fresh knurled edges, and they work great powered with my 20v DeWalt. One mill - my original Barley Crusher - is set up for wheat with a 0.025" gap, the other mill - the Cereal Killer - is set up for oats and rye with a 0.020" gap. My third mill - a true no-name Asian import picked up from AMZ with a ~7 pound hopper for $75 delivered and is attached to my mill station - stays gapped for barley malt at 0.032" and I deign to not mess with it...

Cheers!

 

[MaxStout]

My third mill - a true no-name Asian import picked up from AMZ with a ~7 pound hopper for $75 delivered and is attached to my mill station - stays gapped for barley malt at 0.032" and I deign to not mess with it...

Cheers!

Got a link for this one? I wouldn't mind having a 2nd mill dedicated to wheat and rye if the price is right.

 

[day_trippr]

Welp it's now $96... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B1J48ZRW?th=1

My review is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3U2IEHJU77S0W

Cheers!

 

[JohnDBrewer]

I have the same mill, mm3. I played with the gap years ago to try and find the sweet spot for my system and haven't touched the gap again in 8+ years. I run it fat .05-.055, but that works on my RIMS.

I'll run wheat and rye through twice. I'll also test a couple handfuls of grain if they look smallish. Dark grains and even small kernel crystal malts aren't an issue they seem to shatter rather than crush and they are usually such a small part of a grain bill it doesn't matter unless they don't crush/shatter.

 

[MaxStout]

Welp it's now $96... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B1J48ZRW?th=1

My review is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3U2IEHJU77S0W

Cheers!

Thanks for that. Very well-crafted review. I might give that one a try, since the venerable Cereal Killer is no more.

Alternatively, I might consider an upgrade to a good 3-roller mill for most milling, and relegate my 2-roller MM for adjuncts.

 

[day_trippr]

Be prepared to deal with the pita that is gear motor acquisition for anything more than a simple two roller non-geared mill.
I went through that when looking for a motor to drive a two roller geared mill, finally gave up, and bought this mill...

Cheers!

 

[Bramling Cross]

I’m brewing a porter and have a Monster Mill 3 grain mill. What gap do I set the mill at for black and chocolate malt?

There was a fad about 15 years ago, I think started by Jamil Zainasheff, for milling your black malts in a coffee grinder and using them to cap your mash. That later evolved into cold steeping, if I remember that right--no guarantees.

Willing to try anything once, I did. In this case, many times--I was promised amazing dark beers! My take away was that it was a waste of effort. Just take the time to learn how to hit your pH with your dark malts, ignore everything that Gordon Strong has to say about dark malts and pH,* and mill them and mash them as any other malt. Leave the coffee mill for coffee and don't waste your time with cold steeping.

Dark malts are big, powerful malts. They don't need any hand holding or special treatment. They'll look after themselves provided you take the time to learn how to accommodate them in your pH calculations.

*everything he has to say about pH, too.

 

[Bramling Cross]

the venerable Cereal Killer is no more.

Can this year get any worse?

 

[day_trippr]

Oh yeah, if the Cereal Killer was still in production I'd have gone for one of those for sure, especially if they were still selling for the same $99 I paid for my CK. It's a solid mill, waay better constructed than the Barley Crusher, but inevitably the rollers lost their edge in the "right" direction. If I had a better gear motor it'd still be my primary mill, just run in reverse...

Cheers!

 

[AlexKay]

The roast grains are going to fall to bits pretty much no matter what you do to them.

 

[Bramling Cross]

The roast grains are going to fall to bits pretty much no matter what you do to them.

This is a great point! I've never really thought about that before, but you really don't see much dark malt material when you're dumping your grist and cleaning your tun. Maybe a few pointy bits down by the embryo, but the business end of the malt, the endosperm, is pretty much gone.

 

[MaxStout]

Can this year get any worse?

2024 is saying, "Hold my beer..."

 

[Bramling Cross]

2024 is saying, "Hold my beer..."

It's getting old, man.

 

[Halfakneecap]

There was a fad about 15 years ago, I think started by Jamil Zainasheff, for milling your black malts in a coffee grinder and using them to cap your mash. That later evolved into cold steeping, if I remember that right--no guarantees.

Willing to try anything once, I did. In this case, many times--I was promised amazing dark beers! My take away was that it was a waste of effort. Just take the time to learn how to hit your pH with your dark malts, ignore everything that Gordon Strong has to say about dark malts and pH,* and mill them and mash them as any other malt. Leave the coffee mill for coffee and don't waste your time with cold steeping.

Dark malts are big, powerful malts. They don't need any hand holding or special treatment. They'll look after themselves provided you take the time to learn how to accommodate them in your pH calculations.

*everything he has to say about pH, too.

I had the opposite experience. Was at a brew club day and someone told me they just added their dark malts after the mash, and claimed a smoother character. I tried it and have never stopped. I have to add maybe 15% more, but im quite happy with how it works. Must be 15 years now and still do it every dark beer i do.

 

[Jag75]

I had the opposite experience. Was at a brew club day and someone told me they just added their dark malts after the mash, and claimed a smoother character. I tried it and have never stopped. I have to add maybe 15% more, but im quite happy with how it works. Must be 15 years now and still do it every dark beer i do.

After the mash?

 

[JohnDBrewer]

After the mash?

I add it when I start sparging. (Yes I still fly sparge.) I don't do it on all styles, but for styles where I like a subtle roast like a Czech Dark Lager or most any dark lager, I find it works great. Other beers like stouts it better to go in for the entire mash.

 

[MaxStout]

I've added roast grains separately in the last 15 minutes or so of the mash. I brew no-sparge BIAB. Something Gordon Strong mentioned in one of his books. The beer tends to be a little smoother, but that could be confirmation bias on my part.

I only do that if there is a lot of roast grain, like in a stout or porter. If a brew has only a little for color, I don't bother, and I use dehusked Carafa for those anyway, so harshness isn't much of an issue.

 

[mac_1103]

There was a fad about 15 years ago, I think started by Jamil Zainasheff, for milling your black malts in a coffee grinder and using them to cap your mash.

I had the opposite experience. Was at a brew club day and someone told me they just added their dark malts after the mash, and claimed a smoother character.

I think that is pretty much exactly what "cap your mash" means in this context. For example.

 

[Halfakneecap]

I think that is pretty much exactly what "cap your mash" means in this context. For example.

I only do it for dark malts, but, if thats what its called, i guess im a mash capper.

 

[Halfakneecap]

After the mash?

On the way up to mashout temp.