Barley Crusher vs. Maltmill, anyone tried both?

McCall St. Brewer · 02-28-2008, 05:58 PM

I know there have been a number of "which grainmill" threads here in the past, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried both the Barley Crusher and the Maltmill and can directly compare the two.

One question I have concerns using mills with an electric drill. The Barley Crusher claims "No adapters needed to use a 3/8 drill motor." Is that true also of a Maltmill?

From everything I have seen, I think I would prefer the Barley Crusher, but here's where the issue of instant gratification comes in. I can get a Maltmill instantly from my LHBS, whereas I need to order the Barley Crusher and wait for it to be shipped.

TheDom · 02-28-2008, 06:13 PM

I've got the adjustable Maltmill, and I don't need any adapters to hook up my 3/8" drill. I just un-screwed the set-screw (proper term?) holding the handle on there, and put the drill on it. I couldn't be happier with it.

ohiobrewtus · 02-28-2008, 06:18 PM

Unfortunately I don't have either (yet), but everyone here seems to rave about their Barley Crushers.

**drez77** · 02-28-2008, 06:42 PM

I have the adjustable JSP. I was trying to decide at the time between it and the Barley Crusher. I liked the bigger rollers on the JSP. The price was less than the Barley Crusher and I have all the supplies to make a base and hopper. The mill is great. Hook my cordless drill up to it and it makes short work of 20# of grain. I think you will be happy with either mill

Cookiebaggs · 02-28-2008, 06:48 PM

LHBS has a non adjustable Maltmill. I didn't like the crush and my efficiency numbers indicated that.

Now that's not an indictment of JSP maltmills. The LHBS has probably crushed more grain through that mill than I ever will in a lifetime. Plenty of brewers on here get a great crush with them.

I have a BC and you can hook it up to a 3/8 drill right out of the box. I stuck with the factory gap setting and it has been fine.

zoebisch01 · 02-28-2008, 07:17 PM

*shrug* I have the JSP adjustable. I like it and the 10" rollers are nice. The adjustability is very nice when you crush stuff other than malted Barley, like unmalted Wheat, or malted Wheat. Other than that, they are all (the 3 big names) perfectly capable of doing the job. The Barley Crusher looks like a very good deal, and from what I have heard it is well built. The Maltmill, the hopper is too small imho.

**Short Drive** · 02-28-2008, 09:55 PM

I have the non adjustable malt mill and no trouble running it with my drill.