Milling Grain on the Cheap.

[Matty McFly]

Hey there brew pals,

I'm looking for some kind of device or tactic that will mill small amounts of speciality grains to improve my very mediocre kit n' kilo efforts. The only brew store that can do it for me (Grain & Grape) is a bit out of the way, I'm gunning for convenience, so that's out for now.

Is there some trick or cheap small device (under $30 would be nice) that will do the job? I only do 500g at a time and I refuse to attempt the rolling pin method again.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

A hammer and a pillow case.

 

[Feldon]

A kitchen wiz, or blender, if you've got one already is an option. You can do small amounts at a time. The grain might turn into dust rather than crushed, but OK for stove-top steeping in hot water, then strained.

Another way is a zip-lock bag (again, small quantity) and a hammer rather than a rolling pin. Tap, tap tap...

 

[Killer Brew]

My first partial today and i wet 800g of grain with 20ml of water, mixed around and let sit for an hour. After that whacked it in the blender in two batches for 15 secs at lowest speed. Not much flour at all, most grains cracked. Im far from an expert but it was easy as and my beer hit above target OG.

 

[indica86]

Use your head like Homer and the Orange.

Coffee grinder or blender???

 

[indica86]

i wet 800g of grain with 20ml of water,

why?

 

[MartinOC]

A Corona-type mill will do what you want & will stand you in good stead if/when you want to do larger amounts of grain for mini-mashes etc.

This was the first one I found on evil-bay:http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/500G-Universal-Hand-Manual-Corn-Grinder-Crusher-Grain-Coffe-Nuts-Mill-Family-Use-/130909151507?pt=AU_Business_Industrial_Restaurant_Catering_Equipment&hash=item1e7acb2113 (get-in quick for this one!) , but I'm sure with a bit of shopping around, you could get something for a good price second-hand.

 

[Pogierob]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brand-New-Barley-Crusher-Malt-All-Grain-Mill-for-Home-Brewing-Monster-Mash-/291371309955?pt=AU_Barware&hash=item43d7155b83

obviously not in your price range, but the way I see it...

you know you are going to want one of these in the future.......
Invest in the future.....


otherwise definately go with what Martin said... great suggestion.

 

[indica86]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brand-New-Barley-Crusher-Malt-All-Grain-Mill-for-Home-Brewing-Monster-Mash-/291371309955?pt=AU_Barware&hash=item43d7155b83

GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Matty McFly]

Thanks for the advice gang!

I did try the coffee grinder route once, but I've been told that it's quite inefficient because the grains aren't actually crushed.

The pricier mill looks peachy, and I definitely want to get into all-grain brewing at some point this year (once I get around to building a mash tun) but yeah, cheap is what I'm after at the moment.

What do you guys think of the coffee grinder method? I hear many mixed opinions.

 

[MartinOC]

Degree of crush isn't as critical with specialty grains as it is for base malt. The coffee grinder will do what you want NOW, just fine.

Either the Corona-type I suggested, or the "proper" grain mill are adjustable, so you get control where you need it.

Having now said that you want to get into AG at some point, I'd definitely recommend getting the proper mill now, so you can transition into it without having to buy two mills. That said, I've used a motorised Corona for years & had good results from it, so it's far from useless down the track...

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

why?

It softens the husk allowing the kernel underneath to crack without smashing up the husk, leaving it intact. More suited to full AG/BIAB. If you wet your grain before milling at the rate of about 120-150ml/5Kg you will get a better crush and better efficiency and better lautering

 

[dammag]

Pestle and mortar does the trick.

I have "milled" grains for whole batches this way.

Not too much work for a few hundred grams of spec malts.

 

[Spiesy]

Plenty of brew shops will ship to you, if none are close.

But if you're going to be "getting in bed" with grain, buy a decent mill and do it right. The money you'll save milling your own grain will pay for your mill in time. The more you drink, the more you'll save - so drink up

 

[Spiesy]

It softens the husk allowing the kernel underneath to crack without smashing up the husk, leaving it intact. More suited to full AG/BIAB. If you wet your grain before milling at the rate of about 120-150ml/5Kg you will get a better crush and better efficiency and better lautering

And potentially rusty rollers, unless they're stainless.

 

[Killer Brew]

why?

I read it on here. Will need to track it down. The theory was that it removed the husk without shredding it from memory.

Edit: here is the link
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/78909-trying-to-mill-grain-with-a-blender/

 

[Killer Brew]

It softens the husk allowing the kernel underneath to crack without smashing up the husk, leaving it intact. More suited to full AG/BIAB. If you wet your grain before milling at the rate of about 120-150ml/5Kg you will get a better crush and better efficiency and better lautering

That's the one

 

[bigmacthepunker]

My wife brought a 2000 dollar thermomix and said I can use it for brewing. I brought a grain mill for a tenth of the price.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

And potentially rusty rollers, unless they're stainless.

The grain is only supposed to be moist, not wet. ....but somehow I knew someone would bring up the " It will rust your rollers thing"

 

[Spiesy]

The grain is only supposed to be moist, not wet. ....but somehow I knew someone would bring up the " It will rust your rollers thing"

I said it might. And it might.

Shouldn't really be a need to wet grain before milling.