How long can i keep cracked grains for? Options

[jasonB]

I'm an extract brewer so it doesn't really make much sense for me to get a mill. I've tried cracking small amounts of grain by rolling a wine bottle over the grains with just about all of my body weight. This resulted in a few cracked kernels but most of them were still intact after 10 minutes of effort.

If i order some cracked specialty malts how long will they stay good for? Is there some way that is should store them? Refrigeration?

[Pseudolus]

Cool, dry, airtight containers. I've stored mine for up to a few months and haven't seen any problems.

[frankenthaler]

You could purchase a Corona Mill to crack them.

Northern Tool has it listed as out of stock, but in the past people have said it is a seasonal item. Give them a call. I received mine last year for about $25 w/shipping included.

Or check you local Hispanic stores. You may end up spending closer to $50 there.

I use it for AG brewing.

Kevin

edit: +1 to Pseudolus's comment. I have stored a full AG batch in a twist tie bag for 6mo w/out a problem.

This post has been edited by frankenthaler: Mar 31 2008, 09:28 AM

[jasonB]

You could purchase a Corona Mill to crack them.

Northern Tool has it listed as out of stock, but in the past people have said it is a seasonal item. Give them a call. I received mine last year for about $25 w/shipping included.

Or check you local Hispanic stores. You may end up spending closer to $50 there.

I use it for AG brewing.

Kevin

edit: +1 to Pseudolus's comment. I have stored a full AG batch in a twist tie bag for 6mo w/out a problem.

I didn't realize there was such a thing as $25 mill out there. That is killer deal.

[Pseudolus]

Do some searching here before committing. Reviews are mixed. (I haven't used one myself. Just want to make sure you're fully informed.)

[frankenthaler]

I just realize you are in Charlotte. There is a NT store at:

North Charlotte
9401 Statesville Road
Charlotte, NC 28269
Phone: 704-847-1033

Original price was $15.

I agree with Pseudolus on mixed reviews.

There are 3 AG brewer in town that use one. And one Extract w/specialty grain brewer.

For specialty grains I think it is a great option.

It take me close to 30 minutes to grind 13lb of grain. I get around 70% efficiency and a quality beer. So I'm happy. When I decide to purchase a big amp drill then I can cut my time down.

[Push Eject]

To your original, non-mill related question of storing cracked grains: while you can get away with air-tight storage for a while, it is obviously best to use them as soon as possible after milling. I would say no more than 1 week assuming you want to use the freshest ingredients possible and make the best beer you can.

Cheers,
Push E.

[sidney porter]

in a cool dry air tight place crushed grains can be stored for probably 6 months. The probalem is that they have a tendancy to separate the fine particales settle to the bottom and the husks rise to the top. This isn't a probalbe if you are using the whole bag at 1 time. But if your plan is to get 5 lbs of crystal 60 and spread it out across several beers it may not work. In that instance you may want to separate them to 1lb bags.

As far as the corona. I have the knock off northern tools model and paid 25 with shipping. It is a pain to hand crank but pretty easy to midify to a drill. The hopper is tiny but a 3 gallon plastic water jug is a easy modification. The crush... isn't the best, but will work. It takes practice to figure how to set it up most users will end up placing washers in between the 2 bolts to keep the gap correct. Most of the bad reviews stated that they tired it 1-3 times and were unhappy and gave up. it probably took me 5 batches to get it dialed in. It helps if you know what a good crush looks like. Would I spend $50? Probably not. I would save and get a 100-120 roller mill, but for 15-25 it works.

I am sure that I will eventually upgrade to a roller mill but up to this point it has been low on the upgrade list.