Don't You Just Hate It When........

[1975sandman]

you order a 25kg bag of crushed ale malt, get everything ready on brew day, open up the bag................

GRAIN IS NOT CRUSHED! :angry:

and I don't have a mill..............try the coffee grinder.........30% efficiency, guess this one is going to water the grass.

Good excuse to buy a mill earlier than expected!

Ah well, you live and learn.

 

[big78sam]

you order a 25kg bag of crushed ale malt, get everything ready on brew day, open up the bag................

GRAIN IS NOT CRUSHED! :angry:

and I don't have a mill..............try the coffee grinder.........30% efficiency, guess this one is going to water the grass.

Good excuse to buy a mill earlier than expected!

Ah well, you live and learn.

Definitely a mill is the way to go. You should be able to go in on AHB bulk grain buys and you'll find you cover the cost of the mill pretty quickly with the savings.

I also wouldn't want to keep cracked grain for too long. How quick do you go through 25kg? You'll get differing opinions as to how long is OK (refer links). I'll admit I've never tested it.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=22880
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=20331
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=45113

 

[Batz]

you order a 25kg bag of crushed ale malt, get everything ready on brew day, open up the bag................

GRAIN IS NOT CRUSHED! :angry:

and I don't have a mill..............try the coffee grinder.........30% efficiency, guess this one is going to water the grass.

Good excuse to buy a mill earlier than expected!

Ah well, you live and learn.

25kg of crushed grain Who did you order that from? I bet they didn't believe you really wanted 25kg of crushed grain.

 

[Bribie G]

Sacks of crushed malt are readily available in the UK - heaps of guys on Jim's forum etc get their malt that way. However the climate is more friendly and distances shorter there.
Wouldn't like to keep two or three sacks of crushed malt sitting around in my garage at Darwin temperatures for too long.

 

[enuun]

Couldnt you get it out to your LHBS to get it crushed for u?

 

[wessmith]

Sacks of crushed malt are readily available in the UK - heaps of guys on Jim's forum etc get their malt that way. However the climate is more friendly and distances shorter there.
Wouldn't like to keep two or three sacks of crushed malt sitting around in my garage at Darwin temperatures for too long.

Actually heat is not such a major problem - humidity is the killer. I have seen micros in the UK holding half a tonne or more of pre-crushed grain in paper multiwall bags for 6 to 12 months and still get good results. I dont think you could describe the UK climate as a "dry climate" either. UK ale malts are quite low in diastase to start with compared with our local malts but any malt, once it gets over 6% moisture content will start to degrade in diastase. Provided you keep the malt sealed from the atmosphere you should get many months of storage life.

Wes

 

[1975sandman]

Well, the idea was to get a 25kg bag of cracked ale malt so I could practise some SMASH ales to learn the art of all grain brewing. Figured I would get a mill later. Maybe it was a mistake on my behalf when I ordered a bag already cracked from a site sponsor, not sure if they did or didn't.

I have the grain stored in 2 extra grain sacks inside a metal garbage can. Hopefully it would keep out the humidity. Only have the one bag at the moment.

Would love to get LHBS to do it but they don't even sell grain!

 

[wessmith]

Well, the idea was to get a 25kg bag of cracked ale malt so I could practise some SMASH ales to learn the art of all grain brewing. Figured I would get a mill later. Maybe it was a mistake on my behalf when I ordered a bag already cracked from a site sponsor, not sure if they did or didn't.

I have the grain stored in 2 extra grain sacks inside a metal garbage can. Hopefully it would keep out the humidity. Only have the one bag at the moment.

Would love to get LHBS to do it but they don't even sell grain!

That should be OK for a month or two but if you want to store longer or just to be sure to be sure, then put the whole lot inside a plastic bag and cable tie the top, then put in the metal garbage can - keeps the little furry ones away (assuming you have them up in north!) Dont rely on the plastic liner inside the malt bag - it "leaks" like sieve especially around the stitching.

Wes

 

[Spork]

I'm sure there must be someone on this forum who lives near you and has a mill.

 

[peaky]

you order a 25kg bag of crushed ale malt, get everything ready on brew day, open up the bag................

Yikes! If you're putting down brews that need 25kg of grain you could certainly do with owning a grain mill

I love my monster mill.......



EDIT: I just clicked that you must be storing crushed grain. Yep, you still need a mill

 

[Batz]

I want to know who you ordered 25kg of crushed grain from.

 

[1975sandman]

I want to know who you ordered 25kg of crushed grain from.

Not to speak ill of anyone or cause any trouble but I just ordered from Craftbrewer and checked the milled box. Again not sure if they do or don't mill that much, just ordered it.

I am only doing single batches and as freight can be a bit pricey to here, ordering a 25kg bag is the most economical option.

 

[peaky]

I am only doing single batches and as freight can be a bit pricey to here, ordering a 25kg bag is the most economical option.

Are there enough brewers in Darwin to organise a bulk buy? Might be worth getting a whole pallet sent. The cost of your grain bill would decrease markedly I would imagine.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Not to speak ill of anyone or cause any trouble but I just ordered from Craftbrewer and checked the milled box. Again not sure if they do or don't mill that much, just ordered it.

I am only doing single batches and as freight can be a bit pricey to here, ordering a 25kg bag is the most economical option.

I'd hazard a guess that if you got a good 25kg (aka at a bulk price) then you would have to consider it a bit audacious to expect them to run 25kg through a mill at a time.

The upside - they probably saved you some money, because 25kg of grain wouldn't keep in Darwin - hell the weather here has necessitated me getting the temp controller back on the brewing freezer.

Bulk a mill and save some dosh long term.

Goomba

 

[Batz]

Not to speak ill of anyone or cause any trouble but I just ordered from Craftbrewer and checked the milled box. Again not sure if they do or don't mill that much, just ordered it.

I am only doing single batches and as freight can be a bit pricey to here, ordering a 25kg bag is the most economical option.

No worries I was just curious which HBS would offer milling of a 25kg bag of grain, not something they would do all that often. I know all about ordering bulk grain into remote locations, I did it before Ross even considered home brewing himself.

 

[Bribie G]

Could be worthwhile for CB to add a disclaimer re milling to the sack purchase screen.

Regular customers know what the deal is, but it could be a trap for new players

 

[petesbrew]

I'm sure there must be someone on this forum who lives near you and has a mill.

+1

Make a new friend & pay him with beer. Simple really.

 

[1975sandman]

I dare say I was caught in the trap.

I'm not worried. All part of the learning process!

Now, just to find some more all grain brewers up here......... :icon_cheers:

 

[ledgenko]

contact Strubes .. he is on here ... be is a brewer and keen to get into AG last time I spoke with him ... get into it ... buy a mill and a heap of grain and go to town .. make heaps of mistakes and drink them ... I have loved my learning process .. and now it begins again as I am upgrading my kit ... so yeah .. hook in ..