Hot answers tagged grain
13
2-row:
Favored by European brewers
Lower protein content
Yields greater theoretical extract
Tend to be more uniform in kernel size (better for less-sophisticated mills)
6-row:
Grows better in the U.S. and is cheaper, so used by big domestic breweries
More enzymes and husks help with adjunct cereals (so good for e.g. an oatmeal stout)
Higher protein ...
8
Taste wise you're going to get a slightly more grainy flavor out of 6 row.
Biologically 6 row has more diastic power and is better used for converting starchy adjuncts. You also will get about 2ppg more out of 6 row than you will 2 row.
But quite frankly, today's 2 row is well modified and has enough diastic power to convert a large amount of starchy ...
7
Honestly, there's often more than 5ºL variation between batches of crystal by the same maltster, so I'd probably just buy the 80L and be done with it.
But, if you want to try to be more precise, the Morey equation for SRM (which is what most software uses) just assumes a linear proportional effect. So, you'd want 3 parts 80ºL to 1 part 60ºL.
In other ...
6
Special B and CaraPils are as different as night and day, so it's going to be hard to compare them directly.
Special B is a very dark Crystal Malt (about 140-150L), typically Belgian in origin, which is used to add flavors like: very dark caramel, raisin, or plum. It is the specialty grain that makes Belgian Amber Abbey Ales taste a bit raisin-like, and ...
6
I made a smoked porter about two months ago, and it turned out great.
I used charcoal and applewood in my cylindrical smoker (they run about $40 at Lowe's). My LHBS advised that I should smoke the base malt before milling, but since I didn't have a mill I ended up milling first and then smoking.
I placed a few pounds at a time on the top rack of the smoker ...
6
Multiply your base malt weight by .75 do get the same (ish) amount in liquid extract.
For example - 10lbs. Pilsner malt = 7.5lbs Pilsner Liquid Malt Extract
For a Dry Malt Extract multiply by .6.
For example - 10lbs malt = 6lbs. Dry Malt Extract
Steep specialty grains as usual.
5
Assuming we're dealing with just basic malted wheat, and plain ol' 2-row malted barley...
Your malted barley has a clean smooth lightly malted flavor. It has enough diastic power to convert itself and other adjuncts, up to 10% of it's own weight. It is relatively low in protein, and easy to mash with a single infusion. Barley can be used for 100% of a mash.
...
5
Are you able to adjust the mill, so that it can mill more coarsely than you would want for flour? If so, I think you should be all set.
When brewing all grain, you want a pretty coarse grind; you essentially just want to crack the kernels open, rather than pulverize them. This leaves the husks in tact, and they serve as a filter bed during the sparge ...
5
I've done all of the following in extract + grains brewing with 1 - 4 lbs of grain and I can honestly say I've never noticed a difference in the final product:
Remove grain bag from brew kettle, place in bowl, pour hot water over it, press it with spoon, add liquid back to kettle.
Remove grain bag from kettle, hold above kettle while spraying with hose.
...
5
If you're grinding a small amount of grain for a partial mash or speciality grain additions to an extract brew, you could use a Corona mill. They don't provide a particularly good crush, and your efficiency will suffer, but if the bulk your fermentables comes from extract, it won't matter too much. And it'll be miles better than a food processor.
You can ...
4
Matt's formula is what I've seen in several places. However, I'd add to that, that you should check the malt chart here (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart) as well. In particular, note the "Mash Req." column, which indicates that a particular grain has to be mashed. If you're doing extract brewing, any ingredient that requires mashing ...
4
The best way to do it is with a grain mill. By buying in bulk, you can use the savings to amortize the cost of a mill pretty quickly. If you have a friend who also brews, you can go in together on a mill to cut the cost. The ease of use and increased efficiency from a proper crush will make you glad you got the right tool for the job.
4
Crop yields vary vastly depending on soil conditions, amount of rainfall, fertilization, pest control, etc. On my family's farm, there are places where the wheat grows tall and thick, and less than 10 feet away, plants are so thin and sparse that it would almost be better to let that area go fallow.
In any case, crop yields for barley tend to range between ...
4
I've brewed with 3 year old grain before and the results were mixed. Light beers weren't great, just tasted like stale grain, and they had a haze that didn't settle out completely, even after 6 months. The old grain worked best in darker beers, where you can get most of the flavor from some fresh speciality malt.
I had 200lb of grain to get through, but ...
4
Grain, and foodstuffs in general should be stored in a cool, dry area, since the warm temperature can increase the rate of staling. It depends upon how long the grain will be around for. If you can use it up within 6 months then I doubt you would notice much change, especially if it's stored in a sealed container.
3
I have put malt in a 1 gallon ziplock bag and crushed it with a rolling pin.
I have done up to 5 pounds that way in the past. It was touch but it worked. I am sure efficiency suffered. Although, I never experienced any tannin issues from over crushing the hulls.
I have also used the bottom of a flat drinking glass. But that was just for a few ounces and ...
3
Unless you actually have the ingredients in your hands, you just have to take someone's word for it. Once you have your ingredients, chew a few grains of malt. They should be hard and "steely", not soft and mushy. Hops should smell like hops...if they have a "cheesy" aroma or no aroma at all, they're old. You can also ask when the hops were harvested. ...
3
I neeeeever quite get all the little bits unstuck. Fortunately brewing is rather forgiving. Any little bits that still make it will just end up going along for the ride in the next batch. The wort is still being boiled, so any baddies hanging out in the few specks of grain aren't going to make it through. Dunk it in star-san just beforehand if you want ...
3
My process usually looks like this:
Empty as much of the bag out into the trash as I can
Rinse the bag under running water, getting off whatever bits I can from the outside
Turn the bag inside-out
Continue to rinse under running water, while mashing and rubbing the bag together in my hands
I find that the last step does a pretty good job, and the rubbing ...
3
I had to dig quickly in case this votes to close (why?), but here's your answer:
Why is 2-Row more plump, generally, than 6-Row? The two types of malting barley get their name from the way the kernels grow on the stalk. Two rows of kernels grow on a 2-Row stalk and six rows of kernels grow on a 6-Row stalk. The 2-row kernels simply have more room. The ...
3
I disagree with Denny's assessment. Compare the theoretical results of not crushing them to grinding them into a powder. The the first case you'll get little flavor/color; in the second you get maximum flavor/color. So the crush does indeed have an important impact.
The key is to do it the same way every time for consistency brew to brew. That way an ...
2
When I did partial-mash batches, I usually placed the bag of grain in a mesh strainer above my brew pot and poured my sparge water over the bag. It helps to find a strainer wide enough so that it's handles rest on the rim of your pot, otherwise you'll need a brave friend to hold it while you pour your sparge water.
2
Fly sparging is not necessarily more efficient than batch sparging. Grain bed channeling is not an issue in batch sparging. Crush is always the first place to look in efficiency issues. My mantra is "Crush til you're scared!". I average 85% efficiency. I never do a protein rest. I never do more than a single batch sparge. 99.9% of the time I do a ...
2
After my first partial mash I just let my nylon bag sit in a bowl of hot water for about 15 minutes and then just rinsed the bag really well with the sprayer attachment on my faucet. All the color and bits of grain came right out. I think it also helped that I turned the bag inside out to clean it as most of what was stuck to the bag was on the inside.
2
I have no idea what the gap on my mill is set to, and I don't really care. Learn what a good crush looks like and how it acts in the mash tun, and settings won't matter to you. Not to mention, a setting that works with one person's system might not work for another's. Keep in mind that you're making grist, not gaps! The finer you mill your grain, the ...
2
In general, yes.
In this month's issue of BYO (Vol. 16 No. 2) Bob Hansen, Manager of Technical Services at Briess Malt, warns:
"... some American malt marketed as caramel, or crystal, malts are actually produced on a kiln and are only partially converted. These can be identified by cracking the kernels. If mealy starch is discovered in many of the ...
2
I'll answer with a method that you shouldn't use - don't use a coffee grinder. It's pretty obvious that you don't want to use a blade grinder, but I thought about using a burr grinder set to the coarsest setting to mildly crush my grains. Before doing so, though, I searched the web and all accounts I read basically said it's called a grinder and not a ...
2
A grain mill is definitely recommended over using a food processor - you want to actually crush the grain rather than chop it up.
Crushing the grain breaks up the endosperm to provide a greater surface area, improving efficiency, but without producing excessive amounts of flour. A grain mill, particularly the 3 roller type, doesn't tear up the husks, but ...
2
Most maltsters ship their grains in bags that are not air-tight, but they don't recommend storing them for long periods of time (12 months, max). A plastic jug isn't as air-tight as it seems because it is gas permeable. Even if it was air-tight, it wouldn't matter unless you used nitrogen or CO2 to flush-out all oxygen from the container. Nobody really ...
1
In my experience, neither of those malts drives mouthfeel more than mash temp. I have brewed dry and crisp beers with more than a half pound of Special B in it, by using a lower mash temp. Head retention has more to do with freshness, protein content of the base malt and how you mash it more than cara-pils helps it out.
Maybe people will disagree, but if ...
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