How do I crack the grains

[Cadbury]

G'day Men,
I'm doing my first extract brew using specialty grains. I have Chocolate Malt and Black Malt grains. Before I steep them, do they need to be cracked? If so, what the hell do I use if I don't have a mill? I'm sure I read somewhere that you can use a rolling pin, but how much do they have to be crushed up?
Thanks for any help.
Cadbury

[lethaldog]

Yes they do have to be crushed and yes you can use a rolling pin, what you want to do is put them in a strong enough bag to withstand the crush then roll the pin firmly over them until they stop cracking ( you will have to use a bit of judgment here) basically you dont want to turn them into dust but they also have to be well crushed which is why i said until they stop cracking, the grain will make a fair bit of noise when rolling them and when this disapates they are done.

[Boonie]

Do you have a coffee grinder? It works for small batches....big batch takes a while.

[timmy]

I've also used my blender with the ice-crushing blades to crack/puree my grains for the last 3 partials I've done. It's bloody messy but can be done.

[SpillsMostOfIt]

For small amounts, I often use my Bamix StabMixer. I'm happy brewing with flour, though...

[gregb]

I buy mine cracked.

This is not recommended if buying bulk lots.

Cheers,
Greg

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I buy mine cracked.

This is not recommended if buying bulk lots.

Cheers,
Greg

Yes it is.

I don't and wouldn't, but there are people who do.

Dogger Dan does, from memory.

Emerald Hill Brewery buys their grain cracked, but that is a different matter *entirely*...

[rwh]

You don't like Emerald Hill, do you?

Before I got my Marga mill, I used a mortar and pestle. It's a bit of a PITA if you're doing more than about 150g, but it works fine.

[KEG]

contrary to advice handed out most places i've seen, i use a blender. a few pulses, enough to crack all the grains - not any more.

the 'concern' most people have had is over-crushing the husk, meaning tannins leach out easier. but it definitely is not happening for me. that probably has a lot to do with my careful temp control during steep as well though.

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I think the over-crushing leading to tannin extraction argument is flawed. If over-crushing led to tannin extraction, then tannins would come out regardless.

I think pH is probably a more likely culprit. But, I am a failed scientist...

I like the Emerald Hill Brewery a lot. If I had the money, I would buy it. Their beer, now that is a different story.

[Cadbury]

Thanks for all the help. I'll start cracking away!

[drsmurto]

Cracking husks wont lead to tannins as far as i understand the process, too higher temps and pH as SMOI said.

Commercial breweries crush their grain to dust to get better efficiency but obviously have better ways of filtering the grain bed than us.

[rwh]

Heh yeah, I hear Coppers gets >100% efficiency. I'd need to explain how efficiency is calculated to show how this is possible, but gregb might get angry.

[warra48]

I'm not afraid of gregb.....LOL

Here is how efficiency is calculated, courtesy of Jayse on AHB:

Mash Efficiency

anyway brew maths is quite simple.

How it works is all malts and adjuncts etc give a different gravity.
The specs are all written as H.W.E which is hot water extract with sugar being the highest at 386 so everything else is given as a % of that. ie, pale malt is around 81% which gives you around 309. this is the total gravity you can get with 1 kilo in 1 litre but it is impossible to get this, this is 100% efficiency.
The same goes for american calcs but its in P.P.G which is the gravity of 1 pound in 1 gallon. The same specs are used ie. 81% for pale malt gives you 37 points of gravity.

So a simple example to work out total potential for 5 kg of pale malt in 23 litres is
5 x 309 / 23 = 67 (1.067)

now to work out your effiency you divide the gravity you got with this brew. Say you got 1.050 so 50/67 =.74 you got 74% effiency.
Then next time when you do the calc. 5 x 309 /23 =you simply times this by .74 .
This gives you your expected gravity,

For your first batches i would stick to using 60-65%.
So do the 5 x 309/ 23 = 67.
then times 67 by .65 = 43(1.043)

p.s the hwe numbers are all on the malt craft site other malts like crystal malt are around 75% some malts can be lower and some higher.
to get the number times 386 by the percent as a decimal point ie pale malt at 81% gives you 386 x .81 =312

Ale -------81% X 386 = 312
Pilsner----------------81%
Hoepfner Munich----80% 308
Melanoiden--------- -80%
Caramalt pils---------79% 305
Crystal---------------- 75%

Well, it's the method you will see in Australia.

Say the HWE is 308 litre degrees per kilogram for a malt.
That means 5kg in 20L will give you : (308 x 5)/20 = 77. i.e. 1.077 SG at 100% efficiency. Multiply that by your efficiency (eg. 75%) gives you 77 x 0.75 = 57.75 or close enough to 1.058

Or you can do it the easy way, and let a program like Beersmith work it all out for you.

[rwh]

The specs are all written as H.W.E which is hot water extract with sugar being the highest at 386 so everything else is given as a % of that. ie, pale malt is around 81% which gives you around 309. this is the total gravity you can get with 1 kilo in 1 litre but it is impossible to get this, this is 100% efficiency.

Aah yes, but it depends what kind of efficiency you're talking about. I guess I was talking about Brewhouse efficiency, whereas you're talking about overall efficiency. Normally the grain producer will test their grain in the lab to see what the maximum theoretical yield is. They do this by grinding it into a fine flour, then mashing it and calculating the amount of sugar in solution. I assume that for Coopers to get greater than 100% efficiency, they must do it better than the grain producers in the lab.

From: All-grain extract efficiency & Ozonated

Almost every batch of malt produced in a commercial malt house is analyzed for the maximum amount of solids that can be extracted from the malt in a laboratory mash. The number produced from this analysis is called the laboratory yield. When brewers produce wort using the same batch of malt as a lab they almost always get less extract from the malt. This is because brewers use a coarser malt grind than the lab method and they collect less of the weak "last runnings" from the grain bed

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I think the important thing is Brewhouse Efficiency, which I take to mean what amount of the stuff I extracted from the grains found its way into my glass (roughly speaking).

An integral part of that is Extraction Efficiency (which has been more than adequately explored above), but it is not the entire story in my view.

Imagine that you get exceptional extraction efficiency (say 90%), then lose 5% in your kettle, then another 5% in your fermenter, then another 5% in your packaging line.

Now imagine that you get only 80% extraction efficiency, but just lose 1% in your kettle and fermenter, and nothing in your packaging line.

Which would you rather?

What I am trying to say is that each element is important, but only in proper context...

[scooter75]

Do you have a coffee grinder? It works for small batches....big batch takes a while.

Hi Boonie,
Question from the uninitiated. Does the coffee grinder make it too fine? I have a manual one at home and was wondering about using it for first SG addition to extract recipe. Thought it would turn it to dust?

Any suggestions welcome.

Cheers
Scoot

[Boonie]

Do you have a coffee grinder? It works for small batches....big batch takes a while.

Hi Boonie,
Question from the uninitiated. Does the coffee grinder make it too fine? I have a manual one at home and was wondering about using it for first SG addition to extract recipe. Thought it would turn it to dust?

Any suggestions welcome.

Cheers
Scoot

I have an electric one and if you buzz it for too long... over 5-8 seconds....it will have a fair bit of flour/dust.
Having said that mine is electric. It has a stainless blade that spins very very quickly and seems to shred the grains awefully fast.

Give it a go Scoot. The specialty grains I have been using have not been excessive so it has not affected overall flavour too much.

Cracking husks wont lead to tannins as far as i understand the process, too higher temps and pH as SMOI said.

Commercial breweries crush their grain to dust to get better efficiency but obviously have better ways of filtering the grain bed than us.

I was always concerned about the tannins, but after reading this, it appears I need not worried.

I steep the grains in a large pot and keep them below 70 Degrees.....or, you can try the Cold Steep method whereas you leave in a pot of Room Temp Water for 24 hours. Done this myself and it was no prob at all, very dark liquid from memory.

Cheers

Boonie

[nwbrewer]

A bench mounted corn grinder...the manual crank handle type. the beauty about these contraptions is you can set the grinding wheel to each type of grain size. I have a friend who, is lazy, has attached a shank in place of the handle and uses a power drill to wind it. I prefer to have a mate around for a few ales whilst manually grinding and taking in the aroma.....J

[warra48]

Let me be the last one to boast, but the new MillMaster is the ant's pants when it comes to milling grain. It's a beautiful piece of equipment, and has done wonders for my efficiency. Well worth the $$$$, as it's a lifetime investment.