Milling Grain on the Cheap.

[spog]

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!

On the kitchen bench lay 2 pieces of baking paper/ foil or glad wrap. One lapping over the over to cover the join.
Then wrap a bread board with the same,weight the amount of grains you need for the recipe and a handful at a time use a rolling pin to crush the grains.
As each handful is crushed brush them off the bread board and do the next handful and so on .
The covering on the bread board helps to prevent contamination,the paper on the bench the same as well as making it easier to collect the crushed grain.
As how the crushed grain " should look like " when done ?
Experiment ! Each to their own,what works for you may not for others,it's what the home brewing bug is all about.
Cheers...spog....

Ha,ha the rolling pin is now your best friend..

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I said it might. And it might.

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

You should try it. Can make a difference. Much better grist with more flower and whole husks. The trick is less is more. To much water and you end up with wet grains that dont crush. You wont just enough in 5kg, stirring with your arm in a bucket, so that there is no water siting in the bottom of the bucket and your arm should only just be wet. Once milled you should not even notice there is any moister in the grist. 150ml is plenty for 5kg

 

[Yob]

Saw it tried once at a case swap, wasn't my idea, damn near broke the mill, jammed everything up, was a right PITA..

mmm.. Manticle Arm hair stout

thanks but no thanks, will stick to dry milling

 

[superstock]

I use a stick mixer to grind small amounts of specialty grains. Cost me about $25.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Saw it tried once at a case swap, wasn't my idea, damn near broke the mill, jammed everything up, was a right PITA..

mmm.. Manticle Arm hair stout

thanks but no thanks, will stick to dry milling

...well...they definately where not doing it right. In no way should it jam anything up. Sounds like they used way to much water

 

[Yob]

Seems to me, a process with that much danger is to be avoided with more harm than good coming from it with a small mistake.

Dry FTW

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Danger..?

 

[Camo6]

So, by using a small quantity of water to prepare the grain before use we can expect improved results with less damage to the husks? Sounds like rehydrating the grain is worth the extra effort. Oooh. Just had the weirdest sense of de ja vu.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

This cant end well...there will be tears...

 

[manticle]

That case swap thing was just a matter of using a wet pot to hold grain. Moistening is a legit technique if done correctly but I wouldn't worry about it for kits and bits.

Just get grain and grape to mill and post it out to you.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Just get grain and grape to mill and post it out to you.

This is actually the most sensible option. Doing 1/2-Kg in a pillow case with a hammer or mallet sure does get very unexciting very quickly...and as for a mortice & pestle.....most people I know didnt even get halfway thru and mumbled things like " &^% this ^%^%" and "your ^%$ ing @#!&&^ me"...

All good HBS can mill it for you. Just buy it milled.

 

[Matty McFly]

Yeah, ordering it crushed seems to be the way to go. That or I'll just continue with the coffee grinder for the moment. It comes with the added bonus of adding a slight Horlicks flavour to my coffee.

Do those 500g of specialty grains make a whole lot of difference to a 20L batch?

 

[crowmanz]

Depends on your coffee grinder but I have milled spec grains with a pretty good crush in my conical burr coffee grinder, opened up to a wide setting. A blade "grinder" will do a similar job to a blender.

I BIAB now and just order my grains milled until I jump on one of these bulk buys.

 

[Spiesy]

Do those 500g of specialty grains make a whole lot of difference to a 20L batch?

Definitely.