Grist Cases
As with all of our brewery grain handling solutions, our grist cases come made-to-order with turn-key integration & service.
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Grist cases stage grain before mash and after milling, and are required for about 70% of breweries/distilleries. This allows the mill to work slowly and steadily without the brewer/distiller having to wait for it. When it’s time to mash, the grist can be discharged all at once and the mill can begin working on the next batch. Grist cases are available in a number of configurations as outlined below.
Options For ABM Grist Cases
Configurations
Standard
- Our standard grist cases configurations are as follows:
- 4-legged free-standing
- Cylindrical
- Powder-coated outside
- 60 ft³ working capacity
- 6” inlets and outlets
- Access doors for cleaning
- Exhaust ports for dust collection (or sock filters)
These configurations work for most brewers and distillers using standard grains and whose space doesn’t require changes. Slope will be determined by the type of grain, fineness of grind, and material of the grist case chosen, as all these will impact friction between grain and the grist case. Our grist cases are not the cheapest, but they will spare you the cost and headache of fiddling with an incorrectly-specced vessel.
Custom
As with all our equipment, we can easily make a grist case to accommodate any space restrictions, preferences, or milling practices. They can be made any shape, any size, with any slope, any sized ports, any slope, or can be made to hang from the ceiling.
Materials
Our grist cases are available in either carbon or stainless configurations. Carbon steel grist cases do not have to be powder coated, but we recommend they be for appearance and corrosion resistance.
Stainless grist cases
The benefit of stainless grist cases is that they themselves are resistant to corrosion instead of relying on an outer coating that will eventually chip off. And depending on the look of the rest of your grain system, they may look better.
Powder-coated grist cases
The main benefit of powder-coated carbon grist cases over stainless is that they can be significantly cheaper, but this is not always so. Steel prices fluctuate greatly, and sometimes the cost of powder-coated carbon and stainless may not be that different. For this reason you should always confirm with your sales rep what the current prices are.
The second benefit is that they can be any color or follow any branding you may have extended to your grain system. We can print custom logos, slogans, or even instructions on your grist case.
As a note, powder-coating the interior is generally not needed, as the interior will not rust under normal circumstances. Interior powder-coating is recommended when there is concern it will be exposed to moisture after cleaning or if height restrictions will require a more gentle slope than recommended. In these cases the powder coat can reduce friction and ease flow.
Flow-assists
If your grist case was designed correctly, it will not require flow-assists unless your volume requirements are greater than your space allows and the slope needs to be less than recommended.
Vibratory flow assists will work but are not ideal because they require more work to install and are rougher on grain.
Air-assists are the best method for grist cases, and among these we use a superior method to others commercially available.
Mounting
Any grist case configuration can be either free-standing or ceiling-mounted.
Ceiling-mount
Ceiling-mounted grist cases are superior when there is space above your mash tun because it removes the need of an extra auger or chain-disk run, and allows you to mash-in more quickly.
Free-standing
Free-standing grist cases are most common because most breweries and distilleries don’t have the headspace or ceiling strength to support them.
Weighing
Scale packages
Grain is typically weighed before hitting the mash tun with a scale package. These are provided through our sister company, A-1 Scales, and provide the best blend of price and accuracy on the market. They are enhanced by our software, DSO Sentinel, which averages each weigh-batch to improve accuracy. More can be learned through that link.
Loss-in-weight
Occasionally brewers or distillers will want to weigh directly from their grist case, and measure exactly how much was dispensed. In this case, we set the grist case on load cells and connect them to a controller or software package, whether it’s ours or not.
A word about sizing
When sizing your grist case or conveyance method, keep in mind that milled grain is less dense than whole grain (25 lbs/ft³ vs 35 lbs/ft³) as this article points out. If you opt for augers this means you need to step the sizes up from mill to grist and grist to mash in order to get the same conveyance rate you got from storage to mill. If you went right for chain-disks everything will be on a single line accounting for the higher convey ranges.
Think we might be able to save you some headaches? Simply give us a call or fill out the form below to get your grist case right the first time.
