Grain Milling The Hard Way!

[Diggles]

Does anyone know of an effective way of milling your grain without a fancy mill, ie manually by hand?? I'm just starting out, so doing it the hard way :huh:

 

[avaneyk]

I get mine crushed at the shop I buy my grain from - but AG batches are at least 3Kg of grain and you need the grain husk to be intact for AG brewing. If your only looking at adding some crystal or roasted malts to your kits then I've read that you can use a rolling pin - definitley the hard way though. Husk integrity doesn't matter as much if your steeping the grain, it does matter quite a lot when mashing though.

Personally, I'd get it done for me...

 

[manticle]

Rolling pin's pretty tough.

I use one of these:

.

About $50 from ebay. B bit more work than a motorised millmaster but does the trick. Otherwise see if HBS will do it for you.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Well as your it Karatha I don't think you would be getting your grain locally so just order your recipe crushed... ezy ..

Cheers

 

[Mattese]

I did my first few AGs using a rolling pin. I have arms like Arnie now, but beer to match... Seriously, the old rolling pin is a PITA.

 

[Brewer_010]

I don't have a mill yet but I grind small quantities by hand in a large mortar and pestle (up to a few hundred grams) otherwise I get the HBS to crack it for me if I need 1kg or more.
What I do with the grain in the mortar and pestle is to wet it slightly (about a tsp for 250g grain) and then grind it, which keeps the husks more intact. It has to be steeped immediately though.

 

[seemax]

insinkerator!!! crushes 5kg of grain in about 5minutes, a very tight crush so you get more flour than desired but fine for BIAB, i'm getting similar efficiency to my stainless braid esky mash tun

 

[brettprevans]

i used a metal baseball bat a few times. a coffee grinder has also been suggested. there's a thread somewhere..... if you search for 'baseball', the thread should
come up.

edit: here's 1 thread

 

[manticle]

I used a coffee grinder for a couple of earlier k'nb/extract+ specialty.

Takes time to do small amounts and you have to watch carefully not to do it too much. I've been told it also shreds the husk. Can be done but if you can get a corona, it's cheap, effective and a good workout for your arms.

 

[DiscoStu]

Buy a Marga Mill from CB, bought mine a couple of months ago and after 10 mins to mod it it works great. $150 well spent.

 

[brettprevans]

Buy a Marga Mill from CB, bought mine a couple of months ago and after 10 mins to mod it it works great. $150 well spent.

you spent $150 on a marga christ i bough mine like 2 yrs ago for like $90 (since sold it). at $150 i'd buy a proper mill.

 

[Nick JD]

If you aren't worried about efficiencies and sparge problems ... just whack it into the food processor and turn it into dust. Still makes great beer.

 

[Diggles]

I used a coffee grinder for a couple of earlier k'nb/extract+ specialty.

Takes time to do small amounts and you have to watch carefully not to do it too much. I've been told it also shreds the husk. Can be done but if you can get a corona, it's cheap, effective and a good workout for your arms.

Thanks for the advice, I'm just hanging back from spending the cash until I taste the benefits and decide its for me!! As a side topic, at what point do you stop grinding the grain? I take it you don't want any flour??

 

[kevo]

I don't have a mill yet but I grind small quantities by hand in a large mortar and pestle

The trick is to have two mortars and pestles, one small set and one large set.....then you put the grain in the small mortar and bash it with the large pestle - saves a bit of time I find.

But any large amounts I order milled.

Kev

 

[HoppingMad]

I agree with Manticle. Get one of those cheapie corn mills off ebay, a kitchen supplier or local homebrew store and you're sweet.

I use a Corona mill that looks like the one Manticle has posted up. Two years of all-graining and it's still going strong. If you do larger batches you can modify them with a powerdrill where the handle goes, but you have to engineer it a bit. I crank mine by hand. You do need to tinker with the width on the discs to make sure your crush doesn't wind up floury but that's easily done.

I think Mants used to use a coffee grinder and can tell you all about his trials and tribulations with that device. Chopping up husks to such an extent isn't such a good idea as you can get astringency I gather according to posts here. No idea about insinkerators - but I'd like to have fingers left to hold onto a beerglass? h34r:

If you want some basics on what makes a good grain crush - check out John Palmer's How to Brew. It's online here: Grain Crush - John Palmer

Hopper.

 

[goodbrew]

I live near Karratha, there is a home brewshop there that can mill the grain for you, they can also order in bags of grain if you like. Give them a call on 91441041.

cheers
John

 

[Tony]

This has come up sooooo many times now.

People see the price of a grain mill and go.......... Oh dear, thats expensive. And no, there not cheap.

But years back before you could buy a grain mill easily on line (there was one or 2 american options available for the price of a small car), i tried cracking a Kg of Pilsner malt by hand, without a mill, for my first go at mashing malt for a partial.

Well.............. what a nightmare. I got there in the end but the memory of the work involved is well burnt into my head.

THis is back before i found AHB (it was probably just starting out like me) and me and a few others on here were on the old Grumpys forum. I asked the same question as you and got told the same, even searched the net and no luck, rolling pin, beer bottle as a rolling pin, coffee grinder, food pricessor, mincer etc etc.

I tried the rolling pin....... FAIL
I tried the food pricessor......... FAIL
So i wrapped it in a teatowl (ended up destroying 3 of them) and bashed it in handfull batches with a brick.

I got a lot of flour, a lot of whole grains that got missed and a lot of blisters and coins in the swear jar.

I then went and bought a Marga mill as it was just released as a Grain mill in Australia. It was slow but it did a good job.

I ended up building my own big mill, but not everyone can get on a laythe and turn down 10" long 2" dia rollers and make it adjustable etc. Its not cost effective to have it made and not everyone has access to the tools needed.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo...................

THis leaves us with the array of comercially available mills on the market today. They will crack grain a LOT faster than a marga, do a great job giving you less huuk damage, improving efficiency, sparge performance (linked to efficiency) and all in all a more enjoyable brew day.

Once you spend the money you have it forever if you look after it, and the money you save from brewing your own will pay for it in well under the first year depending on how much you brew.......... the more you brew, the more you save

I recon your mad not to get a grain mill! Yes the HBS can do it for you but with your own mill you can set it up to crack the grain how you want it and to suit your mash setup and sparge style. You can also buy 25 kg bags which are a lot cheaper and this helps pay for the mill too.

I vote, even if you have to save $20 a week in a shoe box, GET A MILL!

cheers

 

[matt white]

Thanks for the advice, I'm just hanging back from spending the cash until I taste the benefits and decide its for me!! As a side topic, at what point do you stop grinding the grain? I take it you don't want any flour??

Get a real mill....AG is for you....try it once and your eyes will glaze over and you will obsessed like me....and manticle ...and Ross and screwtop and thylacine etc

 

[warra48]

Best piece of equipment I ever acquired, my own MillMaster.

I did a deal with the whole family a couple of years ago, sayingl the only thing I wanted from everyone combined for Christmas and birthday 2 weeks later was my own mill.

Do some lateral thinking, and you too can have your own.

 

[manticle]

Thanks for the advice, I'm just hanging back from spending the cash until I taste the benefits and decide its for me!! As a side topic, at what point do you stop grinding the grain? I take it you don't want any flour??

I guess the question should be asked: what quantity are you looking to crack and what method of beermaking are you looking at doing?

If you are only just starting to use grain and want to see if AG or partial is for you then get someone else to crack it for you. I'm not one to discourage anyone from experimenting but having done alot of it myself (and on a majorly tight budget) let me save you the pain.

A mill is good - doesn't have to be motorised (mine isn't) as long as you don't mind a bit of work but if you are cracking anything above 500g I wouldn't bugger around with other methods. I tried cracking 3kg of pilsner malt in plastic bags with a wooden mallet and a rolling pin once. The next week I bought my mill.

If you need to reserve judgement then find someone with a mill or use the hbs service. If you were anywhere near my location you could borrow mine - I lend it to a fellow brewer from time to time who lends me his bottle capper and gives me beers and yeast when I run out etc etc. maybe someone can help you out for a day or two?

As for the crush - there seems to be a range people go for - I go for the consistency of crushed nuts with a bit of flour and a few whole-ish grains for balance. If you're only trying out 100g you can use a coffee grinder to achieve this but unless you have to do it today I reccomend saving the headache.