[jlo]

Kent Fletcher gave a talk at the AHA Conference this year and it included a device he called a "Grist Gun". I'm looking for a picture or two of said device.  The PDF had pics of some parts, but not the finished grist gun.  Anybody have a picture of said device?

[jlo]

I found a video with the beast in action.  I've assembled most of the parts for it, now I'm off to construct my version.

[punatic]

(craft beer) "... is just about $27 per gallon, which would make a five gallon batch about 110 bucks..." 

Interesting math.   

$15 per sixer of 12oz bottles is pretty steep too.

[weithman5]

(craft beer) "... is just about $27 per gallon, which would make a five gallon batch about 110 bucks..." 

Interesting math.   

$15 per sixer of 12oz bottles is pretty steep too.

just pay for four gallons, the fifth is free

[AleForce]

After watching that video, it gave me an idea on what I could do with my barley crusher mill.. Using some airduct pieces @ the hardware store, some L brackets and cotter pins, now I have my mill installed on my brewstation.





Tried it out on Saturday by doing a double batch of Pumpkin Ale (recipe from Radical Brewing) and a single batch of G.Strong's Old English Ale.   

It worked like a charm, easier mount/unmount and didn't have to stir the grain as much in the mashtun - there was some heated water already in the mashtun when we began crushing.

[jlo]

AleForce - I think you found a winner for me.  I was going down the route of transferring the grist from the mill into a grist case and then from the grist case through the grist gun and into the mash tun.

I already have a motorized Monster Mill 3 with the extended hopper, and I can remove some equipment from my process by going straight from the mill into the mash tun.  I am a bit concerned with steam backing up into the mill, but if I mount it to the side I should be good to go.

[AleForce]

The functional part of the L brackets, cotter pins and air duct is so you can remove it in seconds if you need to.  I remove (the mill )after I am done milling, and later use the L brackets to mount my sparge arm since it doesn't fit over my 15 gal. mashtun...

Since the mill is much higher than the mashtun the steam isn't as big of a deal than if you just put the mill on top of the mashtun.  I tried that about 2 years ago when I was using 10 gal. coolers and the mill fit perfectly over the top of the cooler, but I wasn't happy with getting the bottom of the mill wet/steamed...

[denny]

You just want to be careful to keep everything clean with that kind of setup.  You don't want bits of grain or dust around where they could contaminate your wort.

[mmitchem]

I try not to mill in the same place where i will be brewing or fermenting. I take it outside. So much nasty stuff in that grain dust...caution indeed

[bluesman]

I saw Kent's "Brewgyver" talk in Seattle and got to see his grist gun in action.  I even took a couple of photos.  A very cool design for sure.  It certainly automates the process.

[brewgyver]

(craft beer) "... is just about $27 per gallon, which would make a five gallon batch about 110 bucks..." 

Interesting math.   

$15 per sixer of 12oz bottles is pretty steep too.

OK, my arithmatic was under the influence!  But as far as the $15 being steep, I was specifically talking about the beer we were making that day, a Belgian Holiday Ale, and the $27/gallon figure was actually low.  Anyway, we start our Shop Brews at 8 am, and we'd already been sampling some similar (> 9% ABV) brews, so my little grey cells were at a slight disadvantage  .

Back to the topic, the heart of the grist gun is a flower bulb auger, available online for $20 or less.  About $5 in ABS (and one PVC) parts, and I made the stand with less than half a sheet of plywood.  If anybody wants I can email the NHC session Powerpoint, just shoot me an email: brewgyver@gmail.com
Mounting your mill above the MLT may work for some of you, but it wasn't an option for the Club system.  We brew at our host LHBS, and use the Shop's mill ( a Crank and Stein 328D).  So we crush, put the grist in empty 25kg malt bags, and take it out to the brew rig.  The Grist Gun neatly sits on top of the boil kettle, we dough in, and then it gets put in the Club House til the next brew. (edited for spelling email addy)

[brewgyver]

Tried it out on Saturday by doing a double batch of Pumpkin Ale (recipe from Radical Brewing) and a single batch of G.Strong's Old English Ale.   

It worked like a charm, easier mount/unmount and didn't have to stir the grain as much in the mashtun - there was some heated water already in the mashtun when we began crushing.

AleForce, it looks like it would be pretty tight to stir around that!  And you mentioned "some" heated water in the tun?  It really is best to have ALL of your strike water in the tun, then stir constantly while adding the grist, which is why I made the Grist Gun in the first place - I was stuck doughing in 80+ lbs of grist when my two brew partners for the day were late.  If you add the grist and THEN stir, especially with less than your full volume of strike water, you're asking for doughballs and/or a stuck mash.

[AleForce]

We had all of the water we needed for the mash in there when we were milling. There is plenty of room to stir the grain if need be and the bottom piece can be rotated. After we finished milling we easily removed the bottom two pieces and stirred the grain. We didn't have to stir much as the grain was nicely distributed. No stuck mash either. Compared to milling in a bucket and having someone stir while another is slowly dumping the bucket of grain, this could easily be a one man process.

Also, after each brew session all of my equipment gets tore down and completely cleaned.

[brewgyver]

Sounds like it's working for ya!