Spritzing malt before crush to keep static and dust down

This is an interesting question. I know a pro-brewer at a fairly big local brewery that uses a wet mill, ie the grains are milled after being wetted. The mill was very expensive. Apparently, this is done in order to reclaim some efficiency. So, you might be onto something...

Regarding how much moisture and what the grains were moistened with? Sorry, I have no idea. Why would you want to use Star San instead of water?

 

Go to the 99 cent store, get another spray bottle, put water in it. Problem solved.

 

I don't even want to know what trying to clean my barley crusher would be like when crushing with moist grain. Or what I'd find growing in it a few days later.

 

I do this all the time. Spray the malt, give it a good mix by hand, let it sit ten minutes, and then mill. Not only does it keep the dust down, the husks stay more intact, so you can crush a little bit finer.

If you're gumming up the rollers when you condition your grain, you're using too much water.

I wouldn't use star san solution, though.

 

Do it with the right amount of water and you're conditioning your malt, which as pointed out, can help increase efficiency and lautering speed. A google of "malt conditioning" will take you down a nice little rabbit hole.

 

I know that Sierra Nevada wets the grain before crushing it, although I'll be darned if I can remember why they say they do it. What I do remember is that it is a pretty exacting process--they don't just spray it down with a garden hose, they use precisely calibrated instrument to wet the grain to just the exact degree they want--and they certainly don't use sanitizer.

 

yes, the husk becomes more elastic and will not shatter in the mill. you want a fine mist, so that only a little malt sticks to your hand if you run it through the grain.

they are wet milling, the grain and water come in and the grain is conditioned, milled, and the milled grain has hot water add so it is at mash temp before it goes to the tun.
http://www.geabrewery.com/geabrewery/cmsresources.nsf/filenames/Millstar_E.pdf/$file/Millstar_E.pdf

I have conditioned malt at home, less dust n my eyes and nose is a benefit.

 

I always add a bit of strike water first to my mash tun prior to adding the grain to keep the dust from being an issue. Not sure if this is an accepted practice but I find it helps prevents the mash from getting stuck.

 

I'll have to scoff at this on a homebrew level. While a few points of efficiency can lead to a trainload of grain on a bigger brewing level it's only a handful out of the bag on a homebrew level. My mill is one of the more expensive pieces of equipment I own and I abuse it enough.

 

The efficiency is just a bonus, an easy lauter is the main perk. Also, I've been doing it for a couple of years and the rollers on my mill have yet to show any sign of rust or mold. It's the pebbles that maltsters don't sort out that are doing the damage.

 

I started doing this a couple years ago to combat stuck mashes. Hot water in a spray bottle does the trick. It's not soaked, just enough to barely moisten. It has no effect on the cleanliness of my Barley Crusher.

 

I know a lot of guys conditioning their grains. If and when I get my own mill I will be going down this rabbit hole. I've seen it in practice and it makes mashing out a breeze.