Grain miller question

[SureLook]

Probably a straight forward question for most on here. Bought my grains pre-crushed from geterbrewed for my last BIAB batch. Final ABV ended up low so I suspect the grains weren't crushed well enough?...

I want to buy a manual grain miller to get some consistency into my batches. Leads me to two questions:

1) Any particular style/brand/type of miller suggested from experience?

2) While I understand the overall importance of how 'well' or 'fine' the grain is crushed for the mash, does this have much of an overall impact once the milling gets the grains down to a particular consistency that seems acceptable (I realise this might be quite subjective). That is, once its milled well is there m much point in going further?

Hopefully I've explained myself well enough to get some answers.

[johnrm]

Hey Surelook,

It could be that you need to mix your mash more frequently to ensure more even dispersal of Liquor/heat.

1. Mills

There are many mill types depending on the application.

The simplest and most economical for homebrewers is the 'Corona' Mill.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253787212537
Cheap, most brewers start with this and have had excellent results.
Add a DIY hopper and a drill for additional capacity, speed.
Not as adjustable as other mills. Messy output

Next is the 2 roller mill. These tend to be adjustable - useful for smaller grains, wheat, rye etc.
https://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/brewferm-adjustable-roller-maltmill-p-1975.html
Generally you can add a drill to these which makes it quicker.

Drill: Adjustable speed is preferable, milling too quickly can be harsh on your malt.
I have not tested, but I think this can be overcome by malt conditioning.
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning

There are multi roller mills, wet mills, hammer mills etc. for commercial applications.

2. Crush

Generally, stuck mash/poor extraction can result from too fine a crush, poor extraction from too coarse.
I brew on a Braumeister. I once bought a mash kit from homebrewcompany and I had 'Wort Fountains' - wort channeling through the grist and squirting out without rinsing all the sugars. I believe this was from too fine a crush. I do not buy mash kits any more.

Oat hulls mixed in with your grist can greatly improve flow through your grist, or if you are milling you could condition your malt. http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning

Mills in my book are a must have.
Store your malt whole and mill as necessary.
Your beers will be fresher than if using stored milled malt.

[DEMPSEY]

Out of curiosity the crushed grain you got,did you use it all in one brew. When you receive crushed grain you may notice a lot of the flower is in the bottom of the bag so it important to mix it well if only using part of the bag.

[SureLook]

Hey Surelook,

It could be that you need to mix your mash more frequently to ensure more even dispersal of Liquor/heat.

1. Mills

There are many mill types depending on the application.

The simplest and most economical for homebrewers is the 'Corona' Mill.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253787212537
Cheap, most brewers start with this and have had excellent results.
Add a DIY hopper and a drill for additional capacity, speed.
Not as adjustable as other mills. Messy output

Next is the 2 roller mill. These tend to be adjustable - useful for smaller grains, wheat, rye etc.
https://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/brewferm-adjustable-roller-maltmill-p-1975.html
Generally you can add a drill to these which makes it quicker.

Drill: Adjustable speed is preferable, milling too quickly can be harsh on your malt.
I have not tested, but I think this can be overcome by malt conditioning.
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning

There are multi roller mills, wet mills, hammer mills etc. for commercial applications.

2. Crush

Generally, stuck mash/poor extraction can result from too fine a crush, poor extraction from too coarse.
I brew on a Braumeister. I once bought a mash kit from homebrewcompany and I had 'Wort Fountains' - wort channeling through the grist and squirting out without rinsing all the sugars. I believe this was from too fine a crush. I do not buy mash kits any more.

Oat hulls mixed in with your grist can greatly improve flow through your grist, or if you are milling you could condition your malt. http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning

Mills in my book are a must have.
Store your malt whole and mill as necessary.
Your beers will be fresher than if using stored milled malt.

Cool. Sort of what I had in my head re milling - straight forward enough it seems.

I suppose the grain coarseness is user dependent? Maybe I'll just have to try and see. I'm only doing small enough batches (9-10 L) trying out different recipes so I suppose I'll get the hang of it through trial and error.

[SureLook]

Out of curiosity the crushed grain you got,did you use it all in one brew. When you receive crushed grain you may notice a lot of the flower is in the bottom of the bag so it important to mix it well if only using part of the bag.

I used it in two different brews but with the same recipe. OG was well below what was expected so that where the suspicion of grains not being well enough crushed from. Now that you mention it there was a lot of flour at the bottom of the bag so maybe that was the issue.

[Phil.cork]

I just listened to good podcast (once you skip the first 20minutes of adds) about grain mills in detail. I use a 2 roller mill with my cordless drill attached on lower speed. Works well with conditioned malt and then I throw 500g of dry malt through at the end to dry out the rollers.

[SureLook]

Whats the podcast called? Link takes me nowhere!

[Phil.cork]

I'll try and fix the link but the podcast is homebrew diy and the episode is called grain mills a deep dive

[Phil.cork]

https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/homebrewing-diy-914050/episodes/grain-mills-a-deep-dive-61780319

That should do it