Milling your own grains...

2 ways to condition grain, one way is just to moisten the grain with a spray bottle to mill better, the other is to completely wet the grain prier to mashing after milling for a more unified temperature at the start of the mash
 
Just listened to a podcast that touted producing wort which contains considerably more particulates. It seems that the particulates contain considerably more zinc and fatty acids which are both good for yeast health. After great results with my BIAB brews, which produce a fairly turbid wort, I 'm thinking about not Vorlaufing when I do batch sparging. Whatever you end up with in the fermenter settles out any way, and we now know that astringency, caused by tannin extraction, is a result of pH rather than husk residue, I think it's worth a try.
Here's a link to a video with the same content as the podcast:
 
Yep totally agree my wort is similar and my way of milling absolutely shreds husk. I dont put much thought into filtration prior to fermentation just the biab bag...

The cake compacts well even dumping all trub hops ect.
 
Yeah I've never really had an issue with particulate in the final product due to my brewing practices. My corona mill basically turns it into flour for me, mashing in a bag removed a stuck sparge risk.
 
Trialben said:
conditioning grain so more husk is intact better filter bed fr sparging ect
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Yes, if the grain is conditioned to ~5-8% moisture, it can crush finer while keeping the husk very much intact. It will also cut down on the amount of dust in the air. But it's trickier than it sounds. If the grain is too wet, it will gum up the mill. If the grain isn't wet enough, it can lock up the rollers. If you wait too long after conditioning before milling, the moisture will soak past the husk and the starch won't crack. If the mill isn't stainless, it runs the risk of rusting.

Most home mills are not great at this. I bought a millmaster from Australia specifically for conditioned milling. It's stainless, the rollers are adjustable on both sides, and are geared together for much better pull. But it's really expensive to ship to the US. You don't have that problem.
 
Ive actually experienced what your talking about and its not fun at all
 
Sounds like I'll stick to dry milling.
 
I have a "Barley Crusher", is it normal to have a lot of kernels get through without being cracked open? I first noticed this when I was checking for conversion with iodine.
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Uh I don't have a barley crusher but mine only lets a small number through like that.
 
Kind of a catch 22. You find the crush that works best for your process and ignore the few kernels that sneak by. Nothing slips by if you're doing a fine crush for BIAB, but all that does is inch you closer to the efficiency you'd get with more traditional methods. Just like most everything else in life, there are tradeoffs you need to expect and accept.
 
Doesn't look like too many get through aye? None more than I get with my glorified blender. I'd say crush as fine as allows a Good flow through your grain be eh;).
 
I never looked that closely, guess it's not so far from the norm. I do wonder though if the wheat malt is getting through, it is quite a bit smaller than the barley malts. Maybe I should mill it separately with a tighter gap.
 
Craigerrr said:
I never looked that closely, guess it's not so far from the norm. I do wonder though if the wheat malt is getting through, it is quite a bit smaller than the barley malts. Maybe I should mill it separately with a tighter gap.
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Wheat is smaller but I'm totally guilty of not adjusting my gap to account for it.
 
I did a beer with a couple pounds of rye and thought about setting my old mill tighter to mill it. It was smaller than the red wheat I use. Decided to run it through with the mill I use now at .042 first and was surprised that I saw almost no whole kernels. When you think about it, to gain a gravity point in a 5.5 gallon batch, you're adding about 3 oz. of an average yield malt. That's equates to a boat load of uncrushed kernels to drop the gravity a point, so not really a concern.
 
Craigerrr said:
I never looked that closely, guess it's not so far from the norm. I do wonder though if the wheat malt is getting through, it is quite a bit smaller than the barley malts. Maybe I should mill it separately with a tighter gap.
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Either that or measure it separate and run it through the mill twice then mill the rest of the grist.
 
I'll bring this back a little close to the OP's questions.

Yes, get a mill. I make the plunger about a month ago and don't regret it at all. Used is always good but I'm not sure how available they are. Of all the used equipment I've browsed online, a grain mill never seemed to come up. I got the Crop Duster mill from Adventures in Homebrewing https://www.homebrewing.org/Crop-Duster-Grain-Mill_p_9880.html and it's really nice. It comes in about $30 less than the Cereal Killer.

I think folks already covered where to get grain. Check your LHBS for prices on 50 lb bags. While they're grain-by-the-pound is usually spendy, they get the big bags for the same prices as everyone else and can probably match any online prices. A couple of things to think about that I didn't see mentioned.
1. Figure out how to store it. Since homebrewers don't use an entire bag at once, you'll have lots laying around that needs to be carefully stored. There are a million different containers that you can find but to protect your purchase, something airtight is best.
2. You'll still need to buy plenty of specialty grains by the pound. Going through 50 lbs of base malt 8-10 lbs at a time takes long enough, going through a big bag of specialty malt 1-2 lbs at a time would ensure your malt would get old before it gets used.
3. If you have kids, leave the handle on the mill and "let" them keep busy preparing your grain bill.
 
mrskittle said:
I'll bring this back a little close to the OP's questions.

Yes, get a mill. I make the plunger about a month ago and don't regret it at all. Used is always good but I'm not sure how available they are. Of all the used equipment I've browsed online, a grain mill never seemed to come up. I got the Crop Duster mill from Adventures in Homebrewing https://www.homebrewing.org/Crop-Duster-Grain-Mill_p_9880.html and it's really nice. It comes in about $30 less than the Cereal Killer.

I think folks already covered where to get grain. Check your LHBS for prices on 50 lb bags.
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I've discovered it's actually cheaper for me to buy multiple 10 lb bags from MoreBeer than to buy 50 lb bags from anywhere. The unit price (price per lb) on my briess 2 row malt is actually less on a 10 lb bag from MoreBeer than a 50lb bag from my LHBS or Northern Brewer. Of course the price on MoreBeer's 50lb bags is even better but they don't qualify for their free shipping. So I figure if I need 50lbs I'll just buy 5 bags and get them shipped free.
 
SabreSteve said:
I've discovered it's actually cheaper for me to buy multiple 10 lb bags from MoreBeer than to buy 50 lb bags from anywhere. The unit price (price per lb) on my briess 2 row malt is actually less on a 10 lb bag from MoreBeer than a 50lb bag from my LHBS or Northern Brewer. Of course the price on MoreBeer's 50lb bags is even better but they don't qualify for their free shipping. So I figure if I need 50lbs I'll just buy 5 bags and get them shipped free.
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Ha, same here. Williams Brewing does the same. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense does it?
 
I've been taking advantage of that for a couple of years now from MoreBeer.. Even better is that you can mix and match your base malts by the 10 lb. bags and keep a smaller inventory than when ordering sacks. They also offer a decent discount on 5 lb. bags, so you can save on often used specialty malts too.
It's been about a year since most shippers put the surcharge on items 50 lbs. and over (or has it been 2), which makes the cost of sacks prohibitive if you're buying on line.
 
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