Milling/grinding questions

[madman960]

I know BIAB can use a finer crush than traditional all grain.

Pros and cons on running grains through the blender after having the brewhouse mill them or even milling at home? I just got a tall hand powered mill.

Same question for adjuncts like rice, corn, oats etc.

 

[dmtaylor]

I used to "mill" my malt in the blender. Tips for trying this:
1. Do only 1 cup at a time. Yes it's going to take you an hour.
2. Pulse for like 5 seconds. No more than 7 or 8 seconds. Done.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until finished.

You can get good/better efficiency from doing this, compared with the homebrew shop milling for you because they always really suck at it.

Rice, corn, oats, need to be pre-cooked in a little water to gelatinize. But not crushed. If you use "instant" or flaked versions of these, you don't need to pre-cook, just add directly to the grain bag.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

I have always ground my grains with a Corona style mill. It’s what I had on hand when I moved to all grain, so I used it. I typically get a few points higher on my o.g., so I have been reluctant to abandon the process, even though I picked up a motorized barley crusher in an equipment bundle purchase.
My only fear starting out was that I might end up with a stuck sparge. Out of all the batches I’ve done in last half dozen years or so, I’ve only had one stuck sparge. I think it was an oatmeal stout, so no real surprise. (I didn’t grind the oats.) It was not a huge problem, I just stirred it a bit, recirculated a bit, and carried on.
When I day “I grind my grain”, I don’t mean to the point where it is a powder. I just set the plates tight enough to give me a grind where I don’t see whole grains coming through. There are some fines, but that’s not the majority of the mix.
The only other concern I had was that maybe I was cutting up the husks too much and might get more tannins or something out of them that would be unpleasant. Does not seem to be a problem.

 

[Kickass]

It sounds like you have a mill or have access to one. It might be worth it to simply run your grain through the mill twice.

I use BIAB. I set my 3 roller mill to the tightest gap then run my grain through twice. I’d think this would be quicker, more consistent and dirty less equipment than bringing a blender into the mix.

 

[dmtaylor]

It sounds like you have a mill or have access to one. It might be worth it to simply run your grain through the mill twice.

Yeah, I guess I missed that part. @madman960 , if you have a mill, use it. Better than a blender.

 

[hottpeper13]

I set my 3 roller to .040 on the first set and .025 on the second. I also use a bag in my cooler tun when doing 11 gal batches. I get 80% when BIAB and 86% MIAB because of the sparge. I found that if you're using a lot of flaked grains oat malt is a stuck run off super hero with it's fluffy husk.

 

[madman960]

This is the mill I picked up for $40 on Amazon. I have not opened it yet. I may be sending it back as I found a Corona style mill with a bunch of other gear for $50 locally. Have not yet decided if I want to store all the other gear.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

This is the mill I picked up for $40 on Amazon. I have not opened it yet. I may be sending it back as I found a Corona style mill with a bunch of other gear for $50 locally. Have not yet decided if I want to store all the other gear.

This is what I use. I did modify it with the bottom of a coffee can to make a shield to keep the grain from flying in all directions.

 

[madman960]

This is what I use. I did modify it with the bottom of a coffee can to make a shield to keep the grain from flying in all directions.

Pictures? I actually have a few empty coffee cans in the garage.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Pictures? I actually have a few empty coffee cans in the garage.

Away at the LHBS right now; will try to get one for you later.

 

[Miraculix]

The biggest plus for me was that the grains stay fresh when whole and oxidize when crushed. I got an almond flavour in my beers, sometimes less, sometimes stronger when using store ground malt. I often kept it for weeks or months.

Since I started milling my own malt with a Corona style mill, the almond flavour is gone for good! Plus I got better efficiency. And I got my second electric drill as my first one gave up due to being underpowered for my mill... So make sure you have something strong enough on hand when motorising it.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

When I had a Corona mill, I mounted it in a bucket to contain all the grain and dust.
The mill was mounted to a piece of wood that went across, the bottom was cut out of the top bucket, it "stacked' into another bucket that collected all the grain, I had a hole in the top of the bucket that lined up with the opening of the mill.
A drill attached to the outside of the bucket.

When I was done, I set the drill aside, lifted the top bucket and had a bucket with the milled grain, that I could pour into the mash tun.
All of it stacked together, and I had a tote to store it all.
I had made a hopper from a couple of ducting reducers.
Used a coffee container to scoop the grain into the hopper.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station.90849/

You can get some ideas as to what other people have done here.

 

[sibelman]

ducting reducers

That's brilliant!

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Pictures? I actually have a few empty coffee cans in the garage.

I feel bad; I got home late that evening and promptly forgot to send the pictures. When I set it up this week to mill 21.5# of grain, I immediately remembered.
When I first used the mill before adding the shield, grain flew out everywhere; top, sides, bottom, just everything. I had a lot go on the floor. Fortunately, I wasn’t doing all-grain brewing at the time, but was only grinding corn for my chickens. So, I just swept it up and fed it to them; they were eating it off the ground anyway.

I took a quart sized metal can an cut off the bottom about an inch up the sides. Then I cut the side off the part of the can that was directed downward so that the grain would drop out the bottom side of the plates. Next, I removed both the grinding plates. The back one is held on by several screws. If I remember correctly, I used the back plate as a template to mark holes on the bottom of the can. Also, you must cut out a hole where the auger feeds the grain through the back plate to be ground. I then cut off any unnecessary excess, rounded and filed the corners and mounted the shield behind the back plate.
I also added washers between the bracket on the sides. I think this was done to allow a coarser grind when I was doing the corn, but not sure.

One note: The first grain to reach the auger will not get ground properly. I always get it going a few seconds, stop, and put that grain back in the hopper. Stop to refill the hopper when you can see the auger; don’t run it dry until your last grain goes through.

 

[Miraculix]

I feel bad; I got home late that evening and promptly forgot to send the pictures. When I set it up this week to mill 21.5# of grain, I immediately remembered.
When I first used the mill before adding the shield, grain flew out everywhere; top, sides, bottom, just everything. I had a lot go on the floor. Fortunately, I wasn’t doing all-grain brewing at the time, but was only grinding corn for my chickens. So, I just swept it up and fed it to them; they were eating it off the ground anyway.

I took a quart sized metal can an cut off the bottom about an inch up the sides. Then I cut the side off the part of the can that was directed downward so that the grain would drop out the bottom side of the plates. Next, I removed both the grinding plates. The back one is held on by several screws. If I remember correctly, I used the back plate as a template to mark holes on the bottom of the can. Also, you must cut out a hole where the auger feeds the grain through the back plate to be ground. I then cut off any unnecessary excess, rounded and filed the corners and mounted the shield behind the back plate.
I also added washers between the bracket on the sides. I think this was done to allow a coarser grind when I was doing the corn, but not sure.

One note: The first grain to reach the auger will not get ground properly. I always get it going a few seconds, stop, and put that grain back in the hopper. Stop to refill the hopper when you can see the auger; don’t run it dry until your last grain goes through.

View attachment 855693View attachment 855694

Nice work! I just use a cut open freezer bag held in place with rubber bands. It's like a flexible funnel that leads the ground malt onto the plate I place below the grinding disks.

 

[ClaudiusB]

The biggest plus for me was that the grains stay fresh when whole and oxidize when crushed. I got an almond flavour in my beers, sometimes less, sometimes stronger when using store ground malt. I often kept it for weeks or months.

Since I started milling my own malt with a Corona style mill, the almond flavour is gone for good! Plus I got better efficiency. And I got my second electric drill as my first one gave up due to being underpowered for my mill... So make sure you have something strong enough on hand when motorising it.

"The biggest plus for me was that the grains stay fresh when whole and oxidize when crushed."
If I am forced to store crushed grains because of hardware failure, I put them into male grain buckets which I purge with CO2 to minimize O2 uptake.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

"The biggest plus for me was that the grains stay fresh when whole and oxidize when crushed."
If I am forced to store crushed grains because of hardware failure, I put them into male grain buckets which I purge with CO2 to minimize O2 uptake.

I have not done it yet, but I am planning on taking some of my spare kegs and using them for grain storage. I got them cheaper than the gamma lid buckets, they’re bug proof, a mouse can’t chew through them, and they are already fitted with the posts to purge with CO₂.

 

[ClaudiusB]

I have not done it yet, but I am planning on taking some of my spare kegs and using them for grain storage. I got them cheaper than the gamma lid buckets, they’re bug proof, a mouse can’t chew through them, and they are already fitted with the posts to purge with CO₂.

Bug proof can be misleading.
I grew bugs for a beer camp and decided to store them in the plastic-lined Wyermann grain bags.
They chew right through them.
Your spare kegs will perform a lot better than my bags.

 

[IslandLizard]

I grew bugs for a beer camp [...]

You "grew" them? On purpose?

Are you sure they're weevil larvae?
I've had grain moths, their larvae look like that too. IMO, they are much worse than weevils...

 

[ClaudiusB]

You "grew" them? On purpose?

Are you sure they're weevil larvae?
I've had grain moths, their larvae look like that too. IMO, they are much worse than weevils...

I let them mature. They look beautiful under the microscope when grown up.