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Having a minor crisis.

Just received a small order of grain that came uncracked (because I forgot to ask), so I suppose I need access to a mill if I want to use this grain for a batch this weekend (or ever).

Canberra brewers generally have a good representation on this site, so thought I'd ask if I can use someone's grain mill sometime. Happy to negotiate a fee, as you'd be doing me a big favour.

Cheers.

P.S. In the event that a grain mill is not available, any tips on cracking grain by hand?

Tourist wrote:P.S. In the event that a grain mill is not available, any tips on cracking grain by hand?

Yep. Don't do it!

Seriously tho, I used to crack my specialty grain in a mortar and pestle, used to take me like 10 mins to crack a few hundred grams, and I've no idea what the particle size was, and how much I was tearing up the husks. I've also heard something somewhere about using a rolling pin, but I've never done that myself.

i've given the grain a whizz through the food processor in very small (eg 50g at once) amounts. it's been effective for me. i haven't had any ill-effects from it, anyway. no tannin flavours in my brews. mind you, this has been using specialty grains, at most around 500g of assorted types per brew.

generally i buy mine cracked, but i forgot to ask too on one occasion

Yep i used to use a rolling pin to crack small amounts ( 1-200gms), just used to leave them in the supplied bag, whack a chopping board underneath and roll your heart out although now i have a mill i would deffinately never consider that again

lethaldog wrote:Yep i used to use a rolling pin to crack small amounts ( 1-200gms), just used to leave them in the supplied bag, whack a chopping board underneath and roll your heart out although now i have a mill i would deffinately never consider that again

Fancy a road-trip?

Yeah that would go down well:

Darling im just off to Canberra to crush some grain for a fellow brewer!!

Reaction:

Hope he doesnt mind if you move in cos you wont be coming back here!!

Don't worry - I already spoke to her, she said it was fine.

We have a spare room with a bed and enough room for a grain mill.

If you are a member of the Canberra Brewers (or at least one of the very few members who has access to the website forum...) try asking on there. Can't help you out myself though.

Trough Lolly would be the man to ask but i havent seen him on here for nearly a month. Maybe try over at AHB?

drsmurto wrote:Trough Lolly would be the man to ask but i havent seen him on here for nearly a month. Maybe try over at AHB?

Yeah, TL was the first person I thought of, but not wanting to get into the business of stalking people for their grain mills (I draw the line at inviting people to move into our family home), I thought I wouldn't actively pursue the poor guy.

So, after trialling the rolling-pin, coffee grinder and my own telekinetic powers, I bit the bullet and bought fresh (crushed) grain from the LHBS "BrewYourOwnAtHome" where, for the record, Colin offered to crush the grain I had already bought because he's a champion. I couldn't bring myself to have him do it, though, and will be ordering a Marga Mill next week!

Thanks for the help, anyways.