Do you buy your grains from a malt house pre-milled? Have you considered the cost of milling grains in-house? There are pros and cons to either choice. For some brewers, pre-milled grist is a good option. Others find they want greater control. Here, our Brewing and Distilling Sales Engineer Andy Bryan shares his expertise on the differences between buying a grain mill for in-house grist production and using pre-milled grains.
Why the Particulars of Grist Matter in Brewing
Grist, the milled malted grain used to make beer, is one of the most essential components in the recipe. The malted grain provides the sugar necessary to make beer. How it’s milled and used impacts the quality and flavor of the beer, but also the efficiency of the brewhouse.
Malt that isn’t fresh, for example, can be a big issue in flavor. There is disagreement on the shelf life of milled malt, and this can also vary by type, but ultimately, the fresher the grain, the better the beer.
How the malt is milled also impacts efficiency. As Andy explains, “If the grain’s not milled properly, you’re not going to recover all of the starches in it.” The crush on the malt, the particle size, and consistency all affect brewery efficiency, and ultimately, the bottom line for the brewery.
What’s the Issue With Using Pre-Milled Malt?
Pre-milled malt from a malt house isn’t always a problem. Most malt houses provide a high-quality product, and many brewers rely on it. As with any choices you make in brewing, there are pros and cons associated with pre-milled grains.
Many brewers find that malt houses provide high-quality grist. According to Andy, malt houses are “very good on consistency of what they’re providing, but probably the biggest issue is the transportation and handling of it after the fact.”
In other words, malt houses provide a consistent, high-quality grind, but the product might not make it to your brew house in that state. Handling of the bags can cause additional breakdown of the grain, resulting in more fines.
The malt may also not be as fresh as you need by the time it arrives and you’re ready to use it for brewing. How fresh the grist needs to be varies depending on the brewery and individual tastes. For some breweries, the malt that arrives pre-milled is fresh enough to use, while for others, the taste is a little off.
Grist Milling On-Site
While big malt houses are great at providing quality malt with a consistent grind, what’s lacking is control. Some brewers prefer to have greater control over the grind and the freshness of their grist. This is what makes in-house milling so appealing to many. All it takes to get started is your own on-site grist mill.
What Is a Grist Mill?
A grist mill is a machine that grinds malted grain to ready it for the brewing process. Most modern mills are roller mills that use one or more pairs of metal rollers. A two-roll mill with just a pair of rollers is great for a beginner or small operation, while larger breweries can opt to use a mill with four or more rolls.
How Does a Grist Mill Work?
The concept behind a roller mill for grist is simple. The grain moves between two spinning corrugated rolls to crack the kernel and expose the inside. Milling turns whole grains into smaller particles. The size depends on how you space the rollers.
An on-site mill gives brewers more control over how and when grains are milled. They can experiment with and tweak settings until they get the perfect grind. They can also deal with problems more readily. As Andy says, “If you see something going on, you can make adjustments on the fly much quicker than reaching out to a supplier that you got grain from a month ago.”
How RMS Can Help
If you’re thinking about switching to on-site milling, contact us. We can help you decide if your brewery would benefit more from buying a mill or sticking with pre-milled options. In-house milling isn’t right for every operation. We’ll help you calculate a return on investment for purchasing and using a mill compared to buying from a malt house.
And, if you do choose to buy a mill, we’ll be with you every step of the way with setup, training, sieve testing and adjustments, problem-solving, and more. Get in touch to let us know how we can help you get started.
