Grainfather grain mill

[MashBag]

Guy,

That is a very good and very honest answer. Thank you.

[MashBag]

Flip side is my 25kg sacks often last over 12 months and seem to resemble the hoover bag towards the bottom - maybe I should just ditch and buy new or the 5x5 option from TMM.

I divide my 25kg sack the day it arrives into 4 or 5kg tubs. They stack well, store well, are air tight, mouseproof and if measured exactly save time on brew day.

If you feed the birds fat ball tubs are free, and hold 4kg tightly.

Screenshot_20221127-060234_Google.jpg (292.85 KiB) Viewed 7331 times

[Pigster]

Great answer Guy, really helpful, thank you!

[Pigster]

Flip side is my 25kg sacks often last over 12 months and seem to resemble the hoover bag towards the bottom - maybe I should just ditch and buy new or the 5x5 option from TMM.

I divide my 25kg sack the day it arrives into 4 or 5kg tubs. They stack well, store well, are air tight, mouseproof and if measured exactly save time on brew day.

If you feed the birds fat ball tubs are free, and hold 4kg tightly.



Screenshot_20221127-060234_Google.jpg

Another good tip!

Does malt have a shelf life? Once 12 months has gone is it ok? I usually crush a bit between my teeth, if it tastes ok it is!

[Eric]

Malt does have a limited shelf life, but kept dry and away from vermin it will last more than a year. The first sign of deterioration is usually when the malt goes slack and extraction potential is reduced, but this can be more difficult to assess in sacks of pre-crushed malt due to settlement. This should not happen when milling your own, and further, be crushed to best suit your brewing equipment and setup.

[guypettigrew]

Malt does have a limited shelf life, but kept dry and away from vermin it will last more than a year. The first sign of deterioration is usually when the malt goes slack and extraction potential is reduced, but this can be more difficult to assess in sacks of pre-crushed malt due to settlement. This should not happen when milling your own, and further, be crushed to best suit your brewing equipment and setup.

That's the important bit! The extraction potential of crushed malt definitely drops with time. Over the 4-5 months I stored my 5kg bags of crushed grain there was a steady drop in efficiency totalling about 5 percentage points, sometimes a bit more. Not critical, but I assumed (no evidence for this) there might also be a drop in quality. Taste and body. Maybe, maybe not.

Mr Pigster; do you work out your mash efficiency?

Guy

[MashBag]

You could be forgiven for thinking Guy is on commission

I am always left with the question: buy a mill or buy more than a quarter of a tonne of malt... And that is a lot of beer?

[guypettigrew]

You could be forgiven for thinking Guy is on commission If only!

I am always left with the question: buy a mill or buy more than a quarter of a tonne of malt... And that is a lot of beer? Or buy both?

Guy

[LeeH]

A mill makes sense for me, fine tune your crush for maximum efficiency, and buy malt by the 25kg sack for 19 quid from the local micro.

[IPA]

If you need convincing as to why you should buy whole grains and crush them or buy ready crushed try this.
Put some crushed grain in a bucket and give it a good shake. Take a look afterwards and you will clearly see that the husks have come to the suface and that any flour has settled on the bottom. Which means you are not getting the correct weight of whole grain into your mash tun.

[MashBag]

Absolutely. This is why dividing the sack up immediately into airtight 4kg containers is important.

[IPA]

Absolutely. This is why dividing the sack up immediately into airtight 4kg containers is important.

By which time the problem I highlighted has already happened and the malt in each container has a different composition. Made worse by the fact that it has not only been shaken up in transport but then again disturbed by the transfer to different containers
The only answer is to weigh the grain required for the brew and then crush it. Thus insuring that you have the correct mix of grain in the mash tun.

[MashBag]

There is no one way. We all choose our own path.

Many enjoy the process and the processing and I get that.

Me, I am (rightly or wrongly) logical and environmentally friendly (that used to be called "tight" and yet to hear a substantial reason for buying a mill when in the UK it comes already done (and works fine for me) and I save £250 & imo an unnecessary step.

[IPA]

There is no one way. We all choose our own path.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing
There is a field
I will meet you there

RUMI

[Eric]

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing
There is a field
I will meet you there

RUMI

Interesting, I thought you might have quoted,

When you set out on a journey, do not seek advice from those who have never left home.