Crushing grains

JesseMcG · Post by **JesseMcG** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:17 pm

I have a really stupid question.... do ALL grains need to be crushed? I just bought a couple of books (Clone Brews and Beer Captured) because the recipes are written with the extract brewer in mind (me). It says to steep your grains... I'm guessing all grains need to be crushed in a mill first, but I just wanted to ask to be 110% sure I should be buying a grain mill.

Thanks.

Jess

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:25 pm

Yes, you have to crush them. Some homebrew supply places will crush small quantities, otherwise you have to mill them.

JesseMcG · Post by **JesseMcG** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:37 pm

Gedge wrote:Yes, you have to crush them. Some homebrew supply places will crush small quantities, otherwise you have to mill them.

Thanks Gedge. To eliminate the "sparge" can I just steep the crushed grains in a grain bag or something? That way I'd be able to just do everything in one pot...

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:24 am

I don't do partial mash brewing, but if I've got it right you can steep the grain in a grain bag (with the grains packed somewhat loosely). I believe you steep them in a separate pot at 150F for about an hour, then pour the liquid in with the rest of your wort. Last month's BYO recommended that you do not squeeze the grain bag to maximize extraction as this will release unwanted "stuff" into your wort. It said to sparge the bag with 170F water to get the last bit fermentable material out.

JesseMcG · Post by **JesseMcG** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:10 am

Ok cool... that's sort of what I figured. I'm going to give this a shot sometime soon... I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for your help.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:23 am

The first time I steeped grains, I didn't realize you had to crush them either. Live and learn.

cannondale · Post by **cannondale** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:47 pm

Is it really necessary to invest in a grain mill just for crushing a small amount of specialty grains for steeping? I've done it manually for just a pound or two. Or maybe even a quick zip in a kitchen electronic chopping type gizmo? Certainly particle size is not as important as it is when you are mashing, no?

On the other hand, if you plan to eventually move to all grain, may as well buy the mill now.

iguenard · Post by **iguenard** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:35 pm

A Grain mill is an essential tool.

I'd highly reccomend buying one.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 10:02 pm

cannondale wrote:Is it really necessary to invest in a grain mill just for crushing a small amount of specialty grains for steeping? I've done it manually for just a pound or two. Or maybe even a quick zip in a kitchen electronic chopping type gizmo? Certainly particle size is not as important as it is when you are mashing, no?

On the other hand, if you plan to eventually move to all grain, may as well buy the mill now.

Years ago I mail-ordered specialty grains that weren't locally available. I tried crushing them (with a hammer) in a ziplock freezer bag, but it didn't work so well. There wasn't much, so I just ground them up in a coffee grinder & added them to the mash. It's such a small portion, it'll get filtered by the rest of the mash anyway.

I should really buy a mill someday.

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:36 pm

I have had success using the ziploc back and large tin can method. use a larger bag than required to hold the grains, roll the can back and forth on the floor. It gets the job done for specialty grains but its a pain in the butt.

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:46 am

I would love a proper grain mill. Crushing 10+ lbs. of grain with a corona mill is not fun.

Of course, I'd also like a Therminator. And a draught fridge. And.....

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:55 pm

My mill paid for itself in just one year of brewing; I was able to buy 55lb sacks for dirt cheap, instead of buying crushed grain in small amounts/supplementing with extract. I showed the numbers to my wife, and it was a no brainer.

grub · Post by **grub** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:57 pm

yeah, a barleycrusher is great. i waited a while to get one, citing cost as a big reason. but in the end it was roughly $125 with shipping, saved oodles of cash by gaining 10-15% efficiency (an instant 10-15% savings on grain) and allowing us to buy in bulk (a much larger savings). like mark said, it easily paid for itself in that first year.

oh yeah, and motorizing it means that it crushes 10# in the blink of an eye rather than cranking a corona for an hour. i remember the days when we'd have 40-50# to mill on the corona and spend half the day working on that...

cannondale · Post by **cannondale** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:17 pm

grub wrote:oh yeah, and motorizing it means that it crushes 10# in the blink of an eye rather than cranking a corona for an hour. i remember the days when we'd have 40-50# to mill on the corona and spend half the day working on that...

Any recommendations on the best choice/source for a motor/grain mill?

grub · Post by **grub** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:30 pm

cannondale wrote:Any recommendations on the best choice/source for a motor/grain mill?

i'm a big fan of the barleycrusher. cheap and reliable, excellent crush, great customer service.

as for motorizing, your options are to use a drill (any cheap corded variable speed drill should work), or get fancy and put something together like i've got using a motor + sheaves. i like the "set and forget" nature of my setup, but some folks like drills.