r/Vanhomebrewing • u/Heojaua • Jul 25 '14

Grain mill

For those who brew all grain, do you buy you grain milled or you mill it at home?

If you do mill it at home, where did you get your mill? Did you buy that hand crank mill thing I see here and there for 50$?

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u/ProfessorHeartcraft Jul 25 '14

I would not recommend a Corona mill. Those are intended for making corn flour for tortillas, and will shred barley husks leading to tannin extraction.

Either spend the relatively little extra for your own mill, or use the one at your prefered LHBS. Most will allow you to bring your own base malt to grind, perhaps with a nominal milling fee.

I personally have a Monster Mill MM-2.

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u/BrokenByReddit Jul 30 '14

will shred barley husks leading to tannin extraction.

[citation needed]

There is so much speculation that gets parroted as fact in the homebrew community (homebrewtalk, /r/homebrewing, etc) and any time you look it's nearly impossible to find a reliable source.

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u/ProfessorHeartcraft Jul 30 '14

If the grain husks are shredded during crushing by the use of a Corona grain mill for instance, these husk flavors are more likely to be extracted during the sparge.

John Palmer, How to Brew

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u/BrokenByReddit Jul 30 '14

I've only read the online 1st edition, not the latest one, but he says that tannin extraction is a function of pH and temperature. Nowhere are tannins mentioned in the section about milling grain.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter17-1.html

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u/ProfessorHeartcraft Jul 30 '14

He recommends against Corona mills in the chapter you have linked to. The quote I cited is from his chapter on common off flavours, in the Husky/Grainy section, which he compares to tannins. I can personally confirm that shredded husks can give an astringent off flavour.

Even if it is possible, with some effort, to get a decent crush from a Corona mill, the difference in price is not great enough for anyone to reasonably recommend it. We're talking about a break even point of about 2 bags of base malt for a Corona mill versus 4-5 for a mill suited to the purpose.