Newbie question...stepping grains...crushed or not?

[walkertalker]

I pulled a couple receipes out of Joy of Home Brewing. These are both partial extract receipes where you steep your grains for 20 minutes, add extract, boil (adding hops). Anyway, I ordered my ingredients from Midwest Supplies and requested that the black patent malt and roasted barley to be crushed. I receive the products with the invoice. On the invoice the black patent malt and roasted barley were highlighted in yellow with a big "NC" beside them. I am assuming that this stood for "Not Crushed". It even says on the invoice where I requested that they were to be crushed.

I am wondering if they know something that I don't?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[walkertalker]

Also, the receipe calls for gypsum, but nowhere in the instructions does it say when to add this. Do I add it to the boiling wort or after the wort has been cooled?

Thanks so much,
Matt

 

[SixFoFalcon]

Probably "No Charge". A lot of times when you order a recipe kit, you'll see the specialty grains listed separately (so they know what to put in your order) but there is no extra charge for the grains.

You should be able to tell by looking at them if they have been crushed. If the hulls are broken in a few places, they have been crushed (even if the hulls are still clinging to the grains.) If there is any doubt, try crushing them a bit yourself. In a pinch , I double bag them in ziplock freezer bags and then smack them around with a rubber mallet.

Add the gypsum at the beginning, with your water.

 

[walkertalker]

Thanks for the quick reply. No...I know for a fact they were not crushed....I just wasn't sure if they should be or not. It was not a kit that I ordered. All ingredients were ordered seperately. It was like a 1/2 lb of roasted barley and the same of the black patent malt and each came out to .75 cents. Yeah....I have read how to crush them by hand and that is what I will do. I was just curious why they did not crush them. Maybe they thought it would be easier not to crush them and not to charge me for them....that's my guess. Or maybe I need to order a certain amount before it worth their time to crush...who knows. But I do need to crush them...correct?

 

[Evan!]

IIWY, I'd contact Midwest and point out their error. They'll almost certainly send replacement grain free of charge, and let you keep the original stuff. And for steeping-extract batches, you don't need to have a perfect crush, because you're not trying to get any sugar from the grains, so you can use these grains you have with a substandard crush, and then use the replacement ones for something else. Take the grains, put them in a doubled ziploc bag, and run a rolling pin over them for awhile, until they look crushed. Don't pulverize them into flour, but make sure the hulls are breached. In my experience, this works better than the aforementioned mallet. But yes, you need to crush them, or you won't get nearly the amount of color & flavor that you need.

I don't know what Midwest's policy is, but I don't think they charge for crushing, if memory serves me right. They probably just screwed up...and most places are more than happy to replace your order when they screw up. There's tons of OHBS's around, and they'll do a lot to keep your business.

 

[Brakeman_Brewing]

i know for a fact they crack your grains when you buy in store for free, but ive never ordered from them (i live close by) so i cant say the same for mail ordered grains

 

[ThomasRau]

I have ordered many times from MidWest (latest order due to arrive tomorrow) and they have always crushed the grains when requested. But I thought "specialty" grains such as black patent malt, crystal malt, etc. didn't need to be crushed for steeping.

 

[walkertalker]

But I thought "specialty" grains such as black patent malt, crystal malt, etc. didn't need to be crushed for steeping.

That is what I am wondering. If maybe they "detected" that they were going to be used for steeping in a partial-extract procedure and figured that they didn't need to be crushed. Well anyway, I crushed them with a rolling pin and put up the brew this afternoon.

 

[Nyxator]

Also, the receipe calls for gypsum, but nowhere in the instructions does it say when to add this. Do I add it to the boiling wort or after the wort has been cooled?

Thanks so much,
Matt

I would add the gypsum to the water before you steep your grains. It's a typical water additive for mash water.