Grain & Malt Handling

Grain & malt handling systems that minimize dust, improve yields, and often pay for themselves in under a year. With in-house engineering, fabrication, and service, our systems produce some of the highest quality to Total-Cost-of-Ownership ratios in the industry.

Intake

Conveying

Milling & Weighing 

Spent grain

Storage

Hopper for specialty grains and malts

SPECIALTY HOPPERS

We make all varieties of hoppers with custom features, shapes, and colors. Used for specialty brews and small breweries, specialty hoppers allow smaller portions of malt to be staged before grinding.

Bulk bag unloaders for breweries and distilleries

BULK BAG UNLOADERS

Our specialty BBUs are the best in the industry. They facilitate the most efficient use of supersacks and come in low-profile, hoist & trolley, stainless steel, and other options.

Brewery silos lined up next to each other

SILOS

Our silos are made-to-order with custom shapes, colors, and features. Also known as malt bins, silos store large quantities of malt, allowing bulk purchases and fewer loading instances.

Conveying

Brewery auger transferring grain to a bucket elevator

AUGERS

An auger is a tube with a corkscrew-like shaft snaked through it. A motor rotates the shaft, progressing the grain. Flex augers use PVC tubing and a flexible shaft allowing angled sections. They are the cheaper conveying method but are hard on product and not modular.

Brewery Chain disk running to and from the mash tun

CHAIN DISKS

By pulling segmented disks through a tube, chain disk conveyors can transfer grain in special conditions like about consecutive tight corners. They can move grain more quickly than augers and are gentler on grain, improving yield.

Pneumatic conveying line for blowing grain into a brewery or distillery's silos

PNEUMATIC CONVEYORS

Using compressed air, pneumatic conveyors are for larger breweries or silo fill lines. They can move grain upwards of 4000 feet per minute but are expensive and very hard on product, especially malt. For this reason they’re typically used silo-mill or at low pressure between truck and silo. View at ABMEquipment.com.

Split view of outside of a chain conveyor and inside, showing the drag chain

CHAIN CONVEYORS

Chain conveyors are the fastest, gentlest method of conveying grain but are rarely used because they take up a lot of space and are expensive. But when possible, they deliver the highest yields and consistency possible. Numerous chain configurations are available, allowing them to go up steep inclines. View at ABMEquipment.com.

Milling & Weighing

Brewery Mill with bag of grain next to it

MILLS

The more finely malt is milled the greater the extract production but the more likely you will run into problems during wart separation and degradation during conveying. We carry up to quad-roller mills which grind up to 8,000 lbs./hr.

Scale package for breweries and distilleries, which weight grain coming from multiple inputs at a single point

SCALE PACKAGES

Our sister company, A-1 Scales, designs and calibrates all of our systems. The most common method used for automated portioning is a scale hopper, but different applications can call for different solutions.

Carbon steel grist case hung over a mash tun

GRIST CASES

Grist cases are mini silos which relax mill schedules by staging grain after grinding and before mashing. This steel vessel is particularly crucial when a brewhouse shares a floor with the mill room. They’re made-to-order with custom shapes, colors, and features.

Grain-Out

Spent grain out pump

SPENT GRAIN PUMPS

Spent grain is heavy and rich in bacteria as it was soaked but not boiled. Pumps are expensive but keep the workspace clean, save backs, reduce labor, and mitigiate liability. Dry runs and moisture inconsistencies make things difficult. but there are solutions.

Brewery silos lined up next to each other

SPENT GRAIN SILOS

Spent grain silos are smooth-walled stainless or powder-coated mild steel with steep (typically 60°) bottoms. Ideally they will be raised enough that trucks can get under them and will store 2 days’-worth of grain in case pick-ups are missed or there are unexpected increases in production.

Spent grain drying centrifuge

Spent Grain Dryers

A two-phase process consisting of dewatering centrifuges and fluid bed dryers, our spent grain drying systems quickly preserve nutrients. They can be connected to bulk bag fillers to automate the packaging step as well.

Ancillary Equipment

Compact dust collection system outside brewery

DUST COLLECTION

Small, contained mill rooms can get by with frequent cleaning, but excessive airborne debris is hard on the lungs and creates cleanliness and safety issues, particularly when wet. Our solutions reduce hazards and always satisfy the latest NFPA regulations. View at ABMEquipment.com.

Floor scale for weighing ingredients

FLOOR SCALES

Simple floor scales are used for special batches, smaller quantities of ingredients added manually, and for small breweries. Click here to browse floor scale models on A-1Scale.com.

Indicator for controlling beer and spirit recipes

PROCESS CONTROLS

Controllers allow automation of various process functions. These controls can be as complex as needed and can dynamically auto-correct different stages of processes. Our standard solution comes with multiple inputs and pre-programmed recipes.

Contact Us

Reach out for a quote, more information, or just to talk about your process. We love discussing new ideas and want to hear about your application.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.