I want a grain mill.. any opinions on this one?

BADS197 · 06-30-2009, 10:04 PM

I'm pretty much settled on this one but was curious if anyone has/had any experience with it?

I know nothing about grain mills but this one seems pretty beefy and reads pretty good on the site. I was going to drop 100 bones on a BC but don't mind dropping a little extra if it will be something that will last a lifetime.

I'll probaby be doing the 5gallon batches once a month at the most twice depending on funds and resources.

I have a cordless Dewalt drill or if necessary a powercord driven impact gun (aka electric air wrench) that should have enough torque to drive it.

Welcome to Monster Brewing Hardware

Any input would be appreciated.

thanks
jake

Catt22 · 06-30-2009, 10:24 PM

That's an excellent mill and you are sure to be happy with it. Generally speaking, every dedicated malt mill available will do a good jog for you and when adjusted and used properly, any of them can produce excellent grist. Nearly everyone loves their mill regardless of which one they actually have, so it's very rare to hear any negatives.

**Dog House Brew** · 06-30-2009, 10:29 PM

I have it with the stainless roll option. There is no way I could expect to get a better crush. I love it. Building the hopper is easy. My hopper holds 15# of grain and I got an old Black & Decker 1/2" drill that runs at 225 rpm. I have it set at .035. I'm sure all the other mills are great, but I love my Monster Mill. One of the best brewing investments I've made!

BADS197 · 06-30-2009, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dog House Brew

I have it with the stainless roll option. There is no way I could expect to get a better crush. I love it. Building the hopper is easy. My hopper holds 15# of grain and I got an old Black & Decker 1/2" drill that runs at 225 rpm. I have it set at .035. I'm sure all the other mills are great, but I love my Monster Mill. One of the best brewing investments I've made!

Do you have a picture of your setup?

I was thinking attached to some wood but bolted to hte underside of a lid for a 6.5 gallon bucket.

This way it would go right into the bucket and would not take up extra storage room, also preserving the bucket for sanitizing bottles when not used for grain.

Dubcut · 07-01-2009, 12:22 AM

I got the BC for my second all grain, and I think it did very well, because I hit around 77 percent efficiency.

**Derrin** · 07-01-2009, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catt22

That's an excellent mill and you are sure to be happy with it. Generally speaking, every dedicated malt mill available will do a good jog for you and when adjusted and used properly, any of them can produce excellent grist. Nearly everyone loves their mill regardless of which one they actually have, so it's very rare to hear any negatives.

That's almost the exact comment I was going to make.

I have that mill, well, the older version when it was CrankandStein. It works very well.

**wilserbrewer** · 07-01-2009, 02:15 AM

The three roller MM is a brute! That thing could probably grind grain for a goodsize brewpub.

Catt22 · 07-01-2009, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BADS197

Do you have a picture of your setup?

I was thinking attached to some wood but bolted to hte underside of a lid for a 6.5 gallon bucket.

This way it would go right into the bucket and would not take up extra storage room, also preserving the bucket for sanitizing bottles when not used for grain.

I think you may want to consider a more substantial base for that mill. I think you could successfully do what you described, but the mill itself is quite heavy and you don't want to drop it. I bet that you will want to motorize it before long and a better platform would make that easier.

**BrewBeemer** · 07-01-2009, 09:23 AM

I have the Monster Mill 3-2.0, three rollers of 2" diameter.
It came with one of the adjusting eccentrict bushings 0.084" out of it's bore so no way could of been assembled and tested as the instructions said at the factory instruction sheet before shipping and signed off as a ok unit. Besides this the adjuster sticks into the roller a additional 0.008" so there is ac 0.092" gap on the other two rollers end clearance. Same end plate has the other two bushings set into the roller direction by 0.010" and 0.018". How can you hold any side clearance with this mess I ask? The other end plate has 0.015" on the gap adjuster, the other two bushings set into the rollers0.007" and 0.015". A totally usless mess unless your a dump dirt into your engine while adding oil type of person or a "CaveMan". It was tested with the end plates crooked causing scares to be dug into the end plates due to this bushing misalignments unless 0.092" sloppy end clearance is a normal production quality control standard with the eccentric bottomed out without any end clearance? The bushings are all over the place is stickout above the endplates for clearance of the rollers from the end plates. The radiused edges of these thin bushings is a joke and will wear away in no time causing the rollers to wear into the end plate from the bushing edge wear then start contacting the aluminum end plates. They should of used flanged bushings allowing for a lot more contact area for the end of the rollers to wear against. The spindles of the rollers are machined off a production lathe hence not smooth causing uneccessary quick wear on the oilite bushings. They need polishing. The rollers have sharp edges that also need dressing to prevent any more end plate scaring from their testing and normat use. The bushings have a standard ID bore, can not say that for the roller spindles as they are all over the place in diameters. This mill needs to be taken apart and gone thru before being entered into service. The end plates need to be mounted on a 1/4" aluminum plate top and bottom that is longer than the mill to allow for mounting under your table as well to keep the end clearances locked solid and in alighment for longer bushing life. It will also need a mounting point for the discharge chute. I would run a LoveJoy drive direct vs a pulley reduction causing excess side loading on the small drive bushing. I have the 1/2" drive bushing with no flats ordered special for no chuck off a drill motor as I will mill a keyway for a LoveJoy drive unit coupling.
A 6" long exit chute is needed to aim the grain into a bucket not on the floor as well make your own hopper up top.
For $246 I was told "it was common for the bushings to come out of its pressed in bore during shipping", I call this B/S and lack of quality control. Made in China I must ask myself? With bushings set flush, the scars on the end plates dressed as well the roller spindles and roller ends polished assembley can begin. I will add Nylon .006" 3/8" shaft diameter by 2" diameter washers between all rollers and the end plates with the drive shaft having a 1/2" ID. This will be set up with the above aluminum frame top and bottom as well a total 0.002" roller end clearances. This to prevent dust and dirt entering the bushings and spindles greatly reducing bushing and spindle wear keeping these tight end clearances. The thumb screw with a ground rounded end contacts a stainless radiused ring to hold the stainless eccentric from falling out as well rotating out of crush clearance adjustment. They recommend using pliers to lock this thunb screw tight from coming loose loosing the set clearance.
A short slug of brass that just fits in the threaded locks bore grabs this eccentric better than the rounded end steel thumb wing nut against the machined stainless radius groove is what I have found out. A mill that will live a lot longer if manufactured under better quality controls. Done venting on my $246 investment. I feel like a dope after hearing the great results from $112 mills being used. I had to say my comments done venting and sorry Fred you let me down at my $246 a pop.

**wilserbrewer** · 07-01-2009, 12:18 PM

Wow Brewbeemer...sorry to hear of your displeasure w/ the mill. Nice accurate review. Have you seen the Australian 3 roller mill? Looked like a step up from the MM in some aspects but the shipping plus price puts up $$$.

With your knowledge base, and high standards, sound like you should be building mills, rather than rebuilding new units to a higher spec.

Yea, I guess for $246, I would have also expected something a little tighter. Sounds like you have a nice plan to mod the MM to be the mill it should of been out of the box. Do post some photos when you have that mill set up and motorized...should be the Maybach of mills. For me, I think I'll stick w/ my Corona mill, at least w/ that I'm certain it is a piece of junk that was manufactured for $3.26 (materials and labor) in China. It is cast iron and will most likely be around after I'm gone.