Malt Conditioning

[Sambrew]

Looking for a way to improve my efficiency and came across the idea today.
http://beerandwinejournal.com/malt-conditioning/
Wondering who does this and which techniques you use? i.e.: Misting vs steaming. Does it allow a finer crush? - how fine? Does it just make a mess or does it work?

 

[manticle]

Be very cautious with the amount of moisture you use - gummed mill is a distinct possibility. I've tried it and gummed mine but I know it can be done better than my efforts.
Many other ways to improve fficiency too- what are you hitting and why is it bad? Consistency is at least as important as squeezing out high numbers.

 

[Sambrew]

Im getting around 70% efficiency, consistancy is good , no stuck sparges- just wondering what it might do for me?

 

[manticle]

Give it a whirl. There are a few who've tried it with more success than me. I was careless with my moisture amounts.

 

[Sambrew]

I should have said it better in the first instance, I was thinking about efficiency, and how I would go about increasing mine. I'm not desperate to increase it, just toying with ideas- this seemed to make sense.

 

[Sambrew]

Yeah, all I read says moisture amounts are key, and allowing time for the husks to absorb it. Might give it a whirl.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Looking for a way to improve my efficiency and came across the idea today.
http://beerandwinejournal.com/malt-conditioning/
Wondering who does this and which techniques you use? i.e.: Misting vs steaming. Does it allow a finer crush? - how fine? Does it just make a mess or does it work?

It stops the dust and stops dough balling in the mash, the later will result in better numbers.
Nev

 

[manticle]

So mashing in below gelatinisation temp should give similar results to conditioning?

 

[Black n Tan]

I did it a few times. I sprayed water onto the grain at a rate of 1%w/w and then let it sit for 30 mins before milling. I found I could set the mill a lot closer and keep the husk intact and found I could increase the water rate to 2% without gumming. In fact I always found the milled grain after conditioning took up much more room in my buckets than unconditioned milled grain. I think I gained a couple of percent increase in efficiency, but in the end it was more work for little gain, so I stopped.

EDIT: typo