King Ruddager Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 So tonight I came home with a couple of bags of grains and realised that I didn't know how to crack them. The first 250g I tried sorta smooshing and banging between two chopping boards, and then with the next 500g I was pouring it into a large bowl and trying to crack them with the bottom of a glass. At the time it looked like it kinda worked, but I was expecting to make a very dark beer and in the end it was just kinda brown, so perhaps something went wrong or didn't happen enough? Any tips on how to do this efficiently with basic household gear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I use a pestle and mortar but some use a couple of sheets of baking paper and go at it with a rolling pin. If push comes to shove you can give them a quick blast in a coffee grinder but these tend to do too good a job too quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I used to use the rolling pin method but this gets old if you are doing any more than a couple of hunndred grams. Not to mention it doesn't really work too great in my opinion. This is what I use nowadays. The Barley Crusher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I used to use a rolling pin then went with the mortar and pestle now just have a mill. Maybe next time you order ask if the hbs will crack them for you. Most do with no worries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I used to use the rolling pin method but this gets old if you are doing any more than a couple of hunndred grams. Not to mention it doesn't really work too great in my opinion.... I use a Rolling pin, grease proof paper and a chopping board. I find it works well but only if you are patient, I crack less than 50g at a time. The minimum I usally add to abrew is 250g and I have added up to 500g so as Chad says it becomes old very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Maybe next time you order ask if the hbs will crack them for you. Most do with no worries. Yeah I asked but they don't do that. So if using a rolling pin and doing it in small batches, how much time do you spend rolling each batch and how hard do you go at it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 i do it two ways to mix it up. Either buy the grains in the quantity you want in the bag (for example, Grain and Grape do that for you) then use the rolling pin method while it's in the bag (prick it a few times to let air move around) or if i have bulk grains i do some in a baggie and some in the mortar and pestle to get a range of grinds. Seems to work well enough. I see the Eh! is on that site Chad - a Canadianism? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Ooh, just found this: http://kking.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/super-cheap-grain-mill/ I love how cheap and ingenuitive home brew guys can be!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I see the Eh! is on that site Chad - a Canadianism? [lol] This is very much a Canadianism, eh. It is as common as you blokes saying "mate", eh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I see the Eh! is on that site Chad - a Canadianism? [lol] This is very much a Canadianism, eh. It is as common as you blokes saying "mate", eh! I spent two years in WA down at Bunbury. If you didn't know any better you'd say Canadian's settled that place....eh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 So if using a rolling pin and doing it in small batches' date=' how much time do you spend rolling each batch and how hard do you go at it?[/quote'] I just roll them until I hear them stop cracking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Over here we have a xcheap mill called a corona grain mill. It has the grinder on the bottom with what looks like a metal spray paint cup on top open ended to put the grain in. It's about $30USD. I have my 1st partial mash kit laying in wait till I get a mill myself. It's the cascade pale ale PM kit from midwestsupplies.com. It's supposed to be like Sierra Nevada's pale ale,which I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 A suggestion from Luke (haven't seen him around for quite a while) was to place the grain in a good sized plastic ziploc bag and run a rolling pin over them [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Hmm, that sounds like a good idea actually. It'd keep it all together at least. So, with a picture being worth a thousand words and all, can anyone point me in the direction of some example pictures of grain that's been cracked just right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 you want something like this at the end of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Cheers. Looking at that I don't think I cracked them nearly well enough. Ah well [smile] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Even though that is a good texture, if you are only steeping grain then you only need to crack them. I bet Yob cheated and what you are seeing is grain that has come out of a mill [bandit] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 This might seem like a silly question, but what's the difference between steeping and mashing? From what I've seen of AG stuff online it seems to be like a giant steeping of the whole grain bill, but there must be some difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 It is pretty much the same process but mashing involves maintaining a constant temperature. Base grains need to be mashed to extract dextrins and fermentable sugar from the grain. The enzymes that do this conversion are active during a particular temperature range so this needs to be maintained for a longer period (say 60 minutes). With specialty grains there is no conversion taking place. You are really just extracting colour and flavour so temperature isn't overly important. You can find a more scientific answer on the web; try "How to Brew" by John Palmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Ahh righto. Thanks Hairy, makes more sense now [biggrin] I'll check out that How to Brew site too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.