Steeping grains / Partial Mash without mill

[JMath]

I'd like to step up by next brew by using some of the Grouse or Eckert malted grain, most likely just for steeping at first. But I don't have a mill and don't plan on buying one.

Can I get by with crushing any of the grains by hand? I remember back in my regular brewing days I crushed some grain with a rolling pin, but I also remember reading that some GF grain has to be milled very finely. Which grains would be best for this method? Style will be IPA.

Thanks

 

[Osedax]

You want to crack steeped grains to get the most flavor from them. Having said that, you will have cloudy wort due to unconverted starch.

You don't need to do anything if you don't plan on getting any fermentables from the steep.

I just did a side by side of steeped malt. Same malts and weights in both batches. One was crushed and the other was not. I didn't notice much of a difference pre-fermentation. Crushed was a little grainier.

 

[unionrdr]

you could order your grains pre-crushed. Most lhbs's can crush them for you. Steeping grains are generally caramel/crystal, specialty grains & the like that are already converted. Base malts must be mashed to convert the starches into sugars.There are stickies here that explain grains briefly.

 

[JMath]

You want to crack steeped grains to get the most flavor from them. Having said that, you will have cloudy wort due to unconverted starch.

You don't need to do anything if you don't plan on getting any fermentables from the steep.

So are you saying that milling is necessary if trying to convert the grain properly? And cracking is sufficient if just trying to pull flavor?

 

[JMath]

you could order your grains pre-crushed. Most lhbs's can crush them for you.

You must have missed that this is gluten free brewing.

 

[Osedax]

So are you saying that milling is necessary if trying to convert the grain properly? And cracking is sufficient if just trying to pull flavor?

Bingo. Don't get the malt crushed unless you know it is a dedicated gluten free mill. That should be obvious. I know that grouse and norcal will crush your malt for you and have dedicated mills.

Also, for an IPA, I recommend some vienna, biscuit, lighter crystal, or buckwheat. Keep it simple. I like oat in mine but, it will be crazy hazy (new name for a beer) unless you filter or add enzymes.

 

[unionrdr]

You must have missed that this is gluten free brewing.

Yeah, I knew that. Just didn't think of it when discussing the crush. Good point though about dedicated gluten-free crusher. Might be good to get your own. The Barley Crusher grain mill with 7lb hopper cost me $130. Sounds like a lot, but it's cheap compared to the high-end mills. And you know what's been through it.

 

[ricemaltster]

I hate to throw water on this, but my experience with the barley crusher is that you will need to set it to the closest setting possible to just crack my rice malt. (The mill I have used may be older and not adjust as much as newer models.) If this is sufficient, then go for it. I am getting a mill built that I hope will perform below the tolerances for sufficient barley crushing.

Would GF brewers be interested in rice malt milled at the source, understanding that time lag through a retail outlet will slowly diminish the quality? My hope, of course, would be that the malt would not reside very long at the retail store and therefore retain high quality. Advantage would be absolute GF milling since the factory only does rice.

Just checking to see if this is a viable direction for me to pursue.

 

[JMath]

ricemaltster,

I'd be interested in it, but I am not a high volume brewer (3-5 gal every few months).

A mill is just something I don't want to buy right now (too much stuff in the apt already).

 

[mergs]

Bingo. Don't get the malt crushed unless you know it is a dedicated gluten free mill. That should be obvious. I know that grouse and norcal will crush your malt for you and have dedicated mills.

Also, for an IPA, I recommend some vienna, biscuit, lighter crystal, or buckwheat. Keep it simple. I like oat in mine but, it will be crazy hazy (new name for a beer) unless you filter or add enzymes.

Grouse is now being exclusively distributed by http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/store/

I need to contact them and see if they will crush for me otherwise I need a grain mill. Which reminds me I wanted to ask a question about grain mills (in another thread tho).