How to mill your malts

All grain brewing is a very satisfying hobby that takes a good deal of time. We need to get things right from the get go, so getting the grain ready to mash in is high up there.

The precious fermentable sugars in malted barley are contained inside the husk of the kernel, and we need to expose this material for conversion. So it is very important to pay attention to how the grain is milled

Size does matter

Once milled, the size of the grist particle has a huge impact on the finished beer. We do not want to pulverise and turn the malted barley into powder (or flour), but we simply want to crack the grain open to allow the brewing liquor access to convert the starchy material into fermentable sugars. Ideally, each malt kernel should be cracked into three to six individual pieces, leaving the husk intact.

Husk

The husk contains tannins and harsh bitter flavour compounds that will impart a negative flavour to the finished beer, so we do not want to extract them. One of the best ways to avoid this is to take care and get your grist production right, and not to shred the husk. We only want to crack the grain open into several pieces, that way we can keep the husk intact which will aid in the filtration and clarity of the wort.

The mill

If you can, invest in a malt mill with adjustable rollers, or at least a pre-set roller gap. As your brewing gets more in-depth you will want to change the gap settings for different grains.

The long and short of it

When running your grain through the mill, do a short test run first to make sure you are not completely destroying the grain and husk. Try to get the malt through the mill into about three to six pieces and above all, aim to keep the husk intact. Avoid shredding and pulverising the malt into flour or you will run into flavour and processing issues.

Tags: 　　 where to buy brewing equipment 　　