Thoughts...2 or 3 roller grain mill???

IwanaBrich · 02-22-2009, 12:48 PM

I am in the market for a grain mill and I was wondering if there is a big difference between a 2 or 3 roller mill? Iin your opinion. is it worth the added expense? I typically only brew 5 gallon batches.

Thanks!

MoRoToRiUm · 02-22-2009, 01:08 PM

I don't mill my own grains; going from what I've read on this site, and the little bit of reading I've done, I would invest in a good 2 roller mill. Just ensure it is gapped properly, and you maintain it well (blow it clean, don't get it wet!).

buckeyebrewer · 02-22-2009, 01:11 PM

MaltMill, grain mill
I bought one of these last year. Works great. Good craftsmanship. My local brew store has a really bad mill so I had no choice to buy one. My efficiency went up significantly.

**runhard** · 02-22-2009, 02:18 PM

I bought the 3-roller crankandstein. It works great and my efficiency is always up in the mid to high-80's but I prefer to have a fair amount of flour. Having said that I don't really know if the fixed gap between the first rollers of a 3-roller mill really benefits the crush. I would think that a properly gapped mill will provide very good results. Everyone I know who has purchased the Barley Crusher, which is ready to roll right out of the box, have loved the results. No need to make a hopper or base with the BC. If I had it to do over I'd gone with the less expensive two-roller. The worst thing that I could see happening is possibly the need to run the grains through the mill twice. Anyway, you'll be happy with whatever you purchase. My LHBS crushes grain for brewers but I feel they do so to the lowest common denominator; they don't want their customers sparges to stick. As soon as I got my mill the efficiency went sky high.

**Derrin** · 02-22-2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by runhard

I bought the 3-roller crankandstein. It works great and my efficiency is always up in the mid to high-80's but I prefer to have a fair amount of flour. Having said that I don't really know if the fixed gap between the first rollers of a 3-roller mill really benefits the crush. I would think that a properly gapped mill will provide very good results. Everyone I know who has purchased the Barley Crusher, which is ready to roll right out of the box, have loved the results. No need to make a hopper or base with the BC. If I had it to do over I'd gone with the less expensive two-roller. The worst thing that I could see happening is possibly the need to run the grains through the mill twice. Anyway, you'll be happy with whatever you purchase. My LHBS crushes grain for brewers but I feel they do so to the lowest common denominator; they don't want their customers sparges to stick. As soon as I got my mill the efficiency went sky high.

I also have a Crankandstein 3D mill. I agree with everything runhard pointed out. Having a mill ready to roll so to speak is nice but if you're going to motorize it you'll need to do some fabrication anyway.

In all the years I've been reading forums and read the "Which mill to get" posts, never once have I seen someone post: "I bought mill X and man do I hate it." Everyone seems to love the mill they bought.

wildwest450 · 02-22-2009, 04:28 PM

You can't go wrong with the barley crusher. Single best piece of all grain equipment I have purchased so far.

**Bob869007** · 02-22-2009, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildwest450

You can't go wrong with the barley crusher. Single best piece of all grain equipment I have purchased so far.

+1 on the Barley Crusher. I hook up my 1/2 inch drive electric drill to the BC and crush the grains. Works like a champ and for the price with the base and 15 pound grain hopper you really can't beat it.

sirsloop · 02-22-2009, 11:39 PM

I opted for the smaller hopper on my BC. Its easier to store, cheaper, and only takes a couple seconds to refill...

steelerguy · 02-23-2009, 03:03 AM

Same here on the smaller hopper. Crushed 15 lbs. of grain yesterday in about 5 mins with two refills, of course used a drill hooked to it which made it so very easy.

**BierMuncher** · 02-23-2009, 03:13 AM

Larger hopper on the Barley Crusher.

For only a few $'s more...no refills needed.