All grain help needed.

[FrozenInTime]

I'm fixing to brew up 2 all-grains again. I'm not real experienced at it, but so far been good. I'm gonna grind up the grains using my kitchen aid mixer attachent. Question is, at the coarsest setting, it still produces some very small bits/pieces. Also creates some flour albeit not alot.

Should I use all of it, or sift the flour out? I'm using a 10 gallon mash tun I built with a stainless steel bazooka type drain, also built by yours truely. What say ya'll? Sift, or use everythang ground? A stuck mash would sure make for a ... fun... day.

[Beer-lord]

You really don't want too much flower and you'll have to strain some of it out when you go from the kettle to the fermenter. Some say too much flour causes tannins but I can't prove that. Also, if you are not doing a BIAB, all the flour could cause a stuck mash.

Do you have a LHBS or homebrew club in your area? If so, ask or trade them some beer for the use of their grain mill.

[jimjohson]

https://www.google.com/shopping/product ... IQBEPMCMAU

they don't cost much

[gwcr]

I agree with Beer-lord. There will always be a little flour, but keep it to a minimum. I haven't had a stuck sparge, but they don't sound like much fun. Have you used the mixer attachment before? Does it shred the husks, or just split them? The husks are important to form a filter bed in the MT (helps prevent stuck sparges).

From what I understand, the tannins come from the husks and are produced when exposed to higher water temps (+170-180ish) for an extended period of time, so no worries there.

[FrozenInTime]

Thanks

I've used it before, I've always strained the flour out. It cuts the husks into 2-3 pieces so that should not be a problem. Problem is the only sifter I have sifts out a heck of a lot of small grain pieces. Sifting out the flour (and tiney bits) I usually need 14 lbs of grain to have 11-12 lbs of crushed in the end. I hate wasting that much grain, that's why I was thinking of leaving the flour in it. It's not a whole lot of flour, I may just try and use it all Thurs when I brew.... hopefully and see what happens.

[gwcr]

Is there a speed setting on the grinder? Try setting it as slow as you can while still being able to pull the grain through. May take a while longer, but should help cut down on the flour. I'm sure you already do this, but make sure when you start your lauter and vorlauf stage, that you have a very slow flow out of the MT until the wort runs clear. That makes sure the grain bed is set properly to help filter out the stuff you don't want. Once that happens open the valve fully to transfer to the BK (if you are doing a batch sparge). I do a 2 step batch sparge and haven't had any problems that way. It's the Dennybrew method.

http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

[FrozenInTime]

Hmm, I'll have to try to grind it slower, never thought of that. I usually run it a little fast to get it done. I do drain the tun slow and recycle until it clears.

[Brewbirds]

FWIW I get my grain already milled at the LHBS and it always has a lot of flour in it so I posted on our old site a while back and generally everyone said not to worry about it.

That being said I'm just doing LBK sized, mostly partial mashes and mash in the brew kettle so I don't have the stuck sparge issue.

[Beer-lord]

For grain to be properly milled, it will certainly have some flour in it. What you don't want is all flour. Each grain should be cracked, many in more than one piece but not pulverized.
Sometimes it takes a few batches with an efficiency check to get a good idea if the grain is milled properly. Most of the online shops I've used do a pretty good job as does my LHBS but my mill works perfect for me right from the factory.

[gwcr]

One other thing you may try (if you haven't already) is conditioning your malt before you mill it. Basically spray (fine mist) your grain with a certain volume of distilled water based on your total grain weight. Make sure it is mixed well, and let it sit for 10 minutes prior to milling. Helps keep the husk from shattering, and some say results in less flour too. The formula I use is: total ounces of grain x 0.02 = oz of water to use. Example: 10lb grain bill would mean 10 x 16 = 160oz of grain. 160 x 0.02 = 3.2oz of water. This isn't a lot of water. You're basically creating some humidity for the husks to soften a bit. It definitely should NOT feel "wet" to the touch.

[haerbob3]

Ahh......... they all beat me to the answer once again. I need to mill at a low to medium speed to get the best results in a cooler. In my HERMS a finer crush works Better. Like you said you have done it before so I would give it a shot with some of the flour to see where you would actually need to shift the flour out or not

[ScrewyBrewer]

For grain to be properly milled, it will certainly have some flour in it. What you don't want is all flour. Each grain should be cracked, many in more than one piece but not pulverized.
Sometimes it takes a few batches with an efficiency check to get a good idea if the grain is milled properly. Most of the online shops I've used do a pretty good job as does my LHBS but my mill works perfect for me right from the factory.

I have my grains crushed at my LHBS and it's ok to have some flour in it. The grains for a good crush should be cracked into 2 or 3 pieces and when packaged in a clear plastic bag a little bit of flour near the bottom of the bag is typical. The good stuff we want to mash is light colored and the darker husks are what sets up the grain bed to act like a filter.

[FrozenInTime]

Well, I've done up 2 batches recently using the mill I have. It does produce some flour but not as bad as I remembered. No stuck mash or sparge with either one. I think I'm just a noob grain worry wort. I missed my mark on gravity a small bit on both batches but I know what happened, not due to the grain. Thanks for the ideas ya'll, as usual, this place rocks!

[haerbob3]

glad to hear it is all coming together for ya soon you will have beer. I never worry over a couple of points either way.