Milling your own vs buying pre milled

[cunnol]

So I've just bought the Bulldog brewer from Homebrewest with 25kg free wheat malt for €100.
Amazing offer, I couldn't pass it up. However, I've always found GEBs recipe builder very handy, and they mill the day grain is dispatched.

Looking at the freshness of crushed grain, it seems a few weeks will result in no issues regards freshly milled, with Briess saying up to 6 months is OK (we'll take that with a grain of salt...).
The only dissenting voices seem to be from homebrewer's who prefer milling the day of but that seems to be a preference rather than a fact that grain noticeably degrades over say 2 weeks. Possibly some confirmation bias going on there

So long story short, people who've moved to milling at home, what are the benefits compared to buying precrushed?
Personally I like the thought of buying ingredients in bulk and being able to understand the crush better with regards to efficiency.

[Qs]

I'm just brewing up my first ever all crushed my self beer right now. So I'll let you know in 3-4 weeks 

[armedcor]

Personally I think the most important point of getting whole grain is that you can choose your own crush size. It really depends on your system and just getting it all smashed to one universal size in the HBS isn't always the best.

[mick02]

I also like the flexibility of having whole grain. Instead of waiting for a mash kit to arrive you can crush your own grain and get going (requires a stash of grain though!)

It's also cheaper!

[Leann ull]

It's freshness, plus you can see exactly what you are adding in and the exact quantities.
Fast Food vs Hand Prepared, which tastes best?

[molc]

You can taste test and check if the grain is crisp when you mill yourself as well. I check all my grain before I mill with a quick chew as sometimes a bag will be stale.

[DEMPSEY]

Buy 3 Kg of crushed and use 2 K of it. Then look at the last bit and you find more flour left in the bag. Can effect efficiency as well.

[cunnol]

It's freshness, plus you can see exactly what you are adding in and the exact quantities.
Fast Food vs Hand Prepared, which tastes best?

From what I've read I just don't think that stands up to the actual rate at which grains degrade once crushed and stored in airtight containers.

[cunnol]

Buy 3 Kg of crushed and use 2 K of it. Then look at the last bit and you find more flour left in the bag. Can effect efficiency as well.

That's a good point though I always order the exact amount I need so the bottom bits always get dumped into the mash tun as well so I wouldn't presume it affected efficiency.

[Leann ull]

It's freshness, plus you can see exactly what you are adding in and the exact quantities.
Fast Food vs Hand Prepared, which tastes best?

From what I've read I just don't think that stands up to the actual rate at which grains degrade once crushed and stored in airtight containers.

You are reading the wrong stuff
General consensus with crushed is 2-3 months in optimal storage conditions, they oxidise absorb moisture and are light sensitive so cool room in dark or fridge and vac packed.
http://beersmith.com/blog/2014/02/08/storing-your-beer-brewing-hops-grains-and-yeast/
If I haven't used my base whole in 6-8 months I chuck it now same with speciality.

[cunnol]

It's freshness, plus you can see exactly what you are adding in and the exact quantities.
Fast Food vs Hand Prepared, which tastes best?

From what I've read I just don't think that stands up to the actual rate at which grains degrade once crushed and stored in airtight containers.

You are reading the wrong stuff
General consensus with crushed is 2-3 months in optimal storage conditions, they oxidise absorb moisture and are light sensitive so cool room in dark or fridge and vac packed.
http://beersmith.com/blog/2014/02/08/storing-your-beer-brewing-hops-grains-and-yeast/
If I haven't used my base whole in 6-8 months I chuck it now same with speciality.

2-3 months? Ah sure I was only taking about brewing with them say two weeks post crush and the fact some home brewers look down on this saying there's a definite drop in quality of the final product.

Would you measure your crush width or just go by the look of the grains? Don't currently have anything to measure terribly well with and am loathe to spend yet more money

[Leann ull]

Ah two weeks is nothing, I've seen fellas use 6 month old and it's stale and made shit beer
credit card is a rough gauge
You just want to husk to remain intact and not shredded and the Kernal to have popped out, a very very small amount of water (not damp your mill will clog and rust)15 mins beforehand will help the process and don't whizz your drill as it will shred everything
Variable drills are best

[Qs]

I did the credit card thing with mine yesterday and it'd crushed up nicely, good crush but with plenty of husk left. Seemed similar to HBCs crush I thought.

[cunnol]

Nice idea, thanks for the advice lads

[Leann ull]

I use a variable drill with a clamp start it and then introduce grains, I get more consistent crush as I'm not revving
I also give the specialty grain a good mix through so I don't have pockets of it in the mash