Northern Brewer Grain is not looking so good

[Beerfly]

I just got my order from Northern Brewer. Here is a picture of a handful of my rye malt and white wheat malt. Labeled right on the bags "crushed". It's no wonder why the mash efficiency people are reporting is so low.

 

[oldskooldawgz]

Someone is slacking over there that sucks

 

[BeerguyNC61]

That is a bummer! What did NB have to saw? I would be interested in hearing what their response is.....

 

[two_one_seven]

Weird, I just got two batches of crushed grain from them and it looks fine, efficiency has been good.

Did you contact them to see if they will replace it with a better crush?

 

[PantherCity]

Both those malts are husk-less. I assume they have their mill optimized for 2-row barley. In the future you could request that they double mill your wheat and rye. I bet regular base malts look fine.

 

[two_one_seven]

It does and that makes total sense. I hope he emailed them and let them know. Bad press for no reason they always make good on their stuff.

 

[AnchorBock]

No reason to post like this if you haven't even given them the chance to make it right.

 

[two_one_seven]

no reason to post like this if you haven't even given them the chance to make it right.

+1

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

Just the other night I was on a rant about why you should have your own grain mill if you do AG. If you purchase your grain milled by somebody else you have no consistancy. Don't waste your time figuring out efficiency, utilization, or even a recipe for that matter.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not attacking the homebrew stores. But if you buy the exact same recipe from three different places, you will get three different beers.
Also keep in mind that big internet sellers have people working there just filling orders- bags and boxes. They may have no idea what they are putting in the box. If the ticket says (3) #5 on shelf B thats what you will get no matter what it might be. I guarantee it's not the brewing expert heat sealing bags and taping boxes.
Okay thats my rant. Either get your own grain mill or forget about all your other toys and go back to bring extract or else you will never know what you are doing no matter how good you are.

 

[GinSlinger]

Okay thats my rant. Either get your own grain mill or forget about all your other toys and go back to bring extract or else you will never know what you are doing no matter how good you are.

Does that include those of us who are able to set our own gap/double mill grain at our LHBS?

 

[two_one_seven]

I'm willing to bet the guy running the grain crusher and NB does know a thing or two about brewing. The vast majority of the employees are homebrewers. I've seen a video of the keezer that they keep in the break room for employees to bring in their kegged homebrews to sample.

 

[Beerfly]

No reason to post like this if you haven't even given them the chance to make it right.

Post like what? The grain isn't crushed right and a lot of posts lately have made reference to NB and grain concerns. I made no deragatory remarks, I very much like Northern Brewer and will continue to shop there in the future. If myself and many others are experiencing concerns with grain crush, it is most certainly a topic that should be discussed.

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

If you can control it, or otherwise know it's consistent, then you have control. Otherwise you brew mystery beer.

 

[BeerguyNC61]

So Beerfly ,
Have you contacted Northern Brewer yet? What have they said about the poor service?
It would be a real bummer if they just blow you off....

 

[Beerfly]

Yes, I have contacted them and expect a reply tomorrow. I told them I enjoy dealing with them and will continue, but wanted to give them a heads up.

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

My comments sometimes sound harsh, but I bet if you had a ' off the record' conversation with a hbs they would say that milling grain for customers is a pita and they wish everyone had their own mill. (even if they do charge extra).

 

[two_one_seven]

Post like what? The grain isn't crushed right and a lot of posts lately have made reference to NB and grain concerns. I made no deragatory remarks, I very much like Northern Brewer and will continue to shop there in the future. If myself and many others are experiencing concerns with grain crush, it is most certainly a topic that should be discussed.

A lot? I did a search came up with one from 2/10/12 for BIAB. It mentioned the same issue you had which is adjusting for a non-husked grain. Please post up some links.

Did you get your issue fixed? Mistakes happen but they can not be fixed unless the person making it knows they are making a mistake. I want to hear what they did to fix your issue which is much more important.

I see you did contact them I assume email, call them it's way faster........

 

[BeerguyNC61]

Getting ready to dive into all grain for the first time and will be buying all the gear. A grain mill is on the list of must have items.

I hope NB keeps you as a "happy" customer and sends to a better crush....

Brew-on.......

 

[Beerfly]

+1 on the grind. Northern Brewer does a very poor job of grinding their grain IMHO. My first AG kit from them I didn't re-grind the grain, and I ended up with a very poor efficiency and missed my OG by 4 points on the low side. The second kit I purchased at the same time as the first as they shipped together and my buddy re-ground for me. My buddy took one look at the bag and said that the grind was definitely the problem. I hit over 82% efficiency batch sparging and 4 points high on the OG on the second kit we re-ground. I am going to buy the Barley Grinder and grind myself from now on.

I am new and only have done 2 AG batches both were kits from NB. I am starting to think my issues with efficiency (54% and 64%) are a result of bad crush from NB.

my water ph is fine and always nailed mash temps w a calibrated thermometer. leads me to believe that NB crush maybe the culprit.

Here's a couple, I'm not looking for any more. I stand by my post and was not being malicious towards NB.

 

[jfrizzell]

[Edit]: Nevermind...

 

[two_one_seven]

These are both from the same thread.......and the OP states "had grain from NB and LHBS and both had low efficiency and that he didn't think crush was the issue"

I believe you about your crush, I just don't believe there is some rash of issues with crush from NB. I have ordered 5 AG kits in the last 2 months. None have had any issues, but they also didn't have an non-husked grains in the grain bill.

Don't be so quick to post until they have tried to solve your issue. If you don't feel like you have had your problem solved come back and let us know. As I said before that's the the most important thing.....

 

[two_one_seven]

having ordered from nb for years and worked with their customer service before, they will take care of you. It's just a shame when people post stuff like this without the store having a chance to make it right first. Yes they screwed up, but to publicly call them out without first giving them a chance to address the issue and make it right isn't cool. Yes they screwed up, but imho there's no need to "give everyone a head's up" that they screwed up. They'll take care of you.

+10000

 

[Beerfly]

These are both from the same thread.......and the OP states "had grain from NB and LHBS and both had low efficiency and that he didn't think crush was the issue"

I believe you about your crush, I just don't believe there is some rash of issues with crush from NB. I have ordered 5 AG kits in the last 2 months. None have had any issues, but they also didn't have an non-husked grains in the grain bill.

Don't be so quick to post until they have tried to solve your issue. If you don't feel like you have had your problem solved come back and let us know. As I said before that's the the most important thing.....

Because I feel there is a concern with efficiency due to grain crush is the reason for the post. Some seem bent on making this out to be a personal attack, far from it. If mash efficiency wasn't such a big concern, there wouldn't be a guide at the beginning of this forum dealing with it. Ok, I apoligize for mentioning NB, I guess we need to keep everything generic. The point is, if you are having efficiency problems and your grains look like mine, that is a problem.

 

[two_one_seven]

Funny but that grain doesn't look spent. What was your efficiency with that batch?

I guess we should sticky this thread since it's such a huge issue. Poor crush does lead to poor efficiency. Ordering grain from Northern Brewer doesn't. Just to be fair.

 

[OG2620]

no reason to post like this if you haven't even given them the chance to make it right.

+1

 

[JimTheHick]

I disagree that there is no reason to post this. I think it should have been kept generic but I for one learned a couple key points from this thread about grains with no husks and what a bad crush looks like.

So, thanks for posting. And NB rocks. I had one experience where they screwed something up grain-wise and they were cool as sheet about it. Anybody writing off a merchant for a lousy pound of poorly milled grains will soon run out of places to order from.

 

[two_one_seven]

I disagree that there is no reason to post this. I think it should have been kept generic but I for one learned a couple key points from this thread about grains with no husks and what a bad crush looks like.

So, thanks for posting. And NB rocks. I had one experience where they screwed something up grain-wise and they were cool as sheet about it. Anybody writing off a merchant for a lousy pound of poorly milled grains will soon run out of places to order from.

Good points all.

Back to brewing Citizens!!!!!

 

[Beerfly]

I have not brewed with this yet. I was having an efficiency issue and went over my entire proceedure including accurate temps and water volumes. I started researching here at HBT and posts here kept repeating the importance of the crush. I double crushed my last grain bill at my LHBS and problem solved. I was placing an order at NB anyways so I got my grain from them this time. I was surprised at least 50% of the grains are untouched. I was not upset, I screw up on a daily basis, who am I to judge. I really wanted to touch on the subject of grind NOT bash NB. I have sent many friends their way over the years and even buy kits for Christmas gifts from them. I like NB.

 

[two_one_seven]

So you haven't even used NB grains before???? Interesting indeed. Yeah you would have done better with a generic post like "I think I got a bad crush"

Then you wouldn't be getting all the attack flak......

 

[LandoLincoln]

I just got my order from Northern Brewer. Here is a picture of a handful of my rye malt and white wheat malt. Labeled right on the bags "crushed". It's no wonder why the mash efficiency people are reporting is so low.

This is why I say that people should not do all-grain without owning their own grain mill. This kind of thing happens all the freaking time, with online mail order houses and with local homebrew stores. For as little as $50, you could own your own Corona mill and not have to worry about someone else doing a proper job of milling your grains, and any grains you have left over will last a heck of a lot longer than if you buy pre-milled.

There's a lot of places where you can cut corners in brewing, but milling your own grain should not be one of them.