Grain mill?

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Kuhndog said:
I would be a little hesitant about Millars Mill only because if you look at the website overall - he's like a Ron Popeil...selling all kinds of things that he "invented". Exspresso machines, pizza ovens, malt mills...etc.

I found out that he only warranties it for 1 yr as a homebrewer, 6 months commercial. It may have "upgrades" compared to Barley Crusher or Monster Mill...with better bearings and the "pro-last" roller design which he claims adds life to the stainless steel rollers.

I don't have a mill yet...but I do know a thing about business and sales. If you are going to say we have this and that....why not back it up with a warranty then? Barley Crusher, Monster Mill, Rebel Mill....etc they all have warranties longer than the Millar Mill....BUT the Millar Mill is supposed to be better? It hasn't been out that long and they are already on the 3 version. Also people haven't had them that long to see if they last. That would be my issue in picking a mill....the others have been out for a while and all of them have pros/cons....but all of them have large customer bases too. I guess I'm just a little skeptic when they say they have the best mill available, sell it for cheap, but the warranty is only for a year vs other manufacturers who have basically an unlimited warranty. That makes we wonder if he believes in the product he is selling....that's all.

It's sort of like a brand new car or a complete redesign with a new engine...it might get great gas, more horsepower...etc but until it's been out there for a while and it's got some miles put on it - you don't know about it's reliability.
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying but for me the factor was money and convenience. While I enjoy DIY I simply don't have the time anymore to build everything myself so I went with an affordable solution that has the hopper and rails included. But I agree that it might not be the same high quality as the MM or Crankandstein. You get what you pay for :)
 
TNTgill said:
I'm using the Cereal Killer as well. Only milled 1 batch so far but it was 14 lbs and with the hand crank I got through it in maybe 5-6 minutes. Using the stock settings I got 74% efficiency with it. I have already tightened it down a bit for my next batch. Can't be beat for 100 (I also go free shipping on mine as well).
Click to expand...


One more vote for the Cereal Killer. Good quality and it was inexpensive (I think I got in on the $90 plus free shipping deal too). I've had mine about a year and have milled hundreds of pounds of grain with it. The settings haven't changed a bit. The one thing I would possibly change is the handle. The quality is top-notch but the length of the handle could be a little longer for leverage. I condition my grains and set a tighter gap as a result and it was tough-going with the handle in it's original configuration. My fix was to simply chuck the shaft up in a drill and I can now mill the grain for most of my 5 gallon batches in under a minute.

With that said, I've seen the MM3 and a powered version of the Barley Crusher in action and they both look great too.
 
Another Barley Crusher user here. So far I like it. It gives me a far better crush at the factory setting than my LHBS, and it didn't break the bank to buy it. I finally stopped having stuck sparges and my efficiency seems to have increased. I don't know how it compares to the other mills but I'm fully satisfied with the BC.
 
mobrewdude said:
One more vote for the Cereal Killer. Good quality and it was inexpensive (I think I got in on the $90 plus free shipping deal too). I've had mine about a year and have milled hundreds of pounds of grain with it. The settings haven't changed a bit. The one thing I would possibly change is the handle. The quality is top-notch but the length of the handle could be a little longer for leverage. I condition my grains and set a tighter gap as a result and it was tough-going with the handle in it's original configuration. My fix was to simply chuck the shaft up in a drill and I can now mill the grain for most of my 5 gallon batches in under a minute.

With that said, I've seen the MM3 and a powered version of the Barley Crusher in action and they both look great too.
Click to expand...

I think they changed the length of the handle on the newest batch of cereal killers. Mine is 7 inches from hole to handle and I milled 14 lbs in 5-6 minutes by hand. I love mine.
 
hunter_la5 said:
Another Barley Crusher user here. So far I like it. It gives me a far better crush at the factory setting than my LHBS, and it didn't break the bank to buy it. I finally stopped having stuck sparges and my efficiency seems to have increased. I don't know how it compares to the other mills but I'm fully satisfied with the BC.
Click to expand...

It def gives a better crush than I've been getting commercially. And I only brew 1-2 batches a month,so it's not like I'll wear it out in no time. Def gets me good efficiency without all the extra floury part.
 
Here's Todd's [Millar's Mill] reply regarding the return or the entire mill because it's off-centered:

What ever you want to do is fine. Just to let you know you are the only mill so far that has had a problem at all. So we are curious about why it has happened. It could be the bearing was not pressed strait but we are not sure until we see it. Did you mill any wet or damp grain? The reason why I ask is maybe it damaged the bearing to make it out of round if the roller got caked with wet grain wich would push the bearing out of round. This could also happen if the mill has cracked too hard of a grain such as popcorn or a foreign object going through the grain mill.
Best regards
Todd
Click to expand...

I am no engineer by any means but should the bearings really be so sensitive that the rollers can get out of alignment but milling wet grain? Should that be an argument for returning the mill? I'd like to get other inputs please on how to interpret this email. He was very nice and quick but what he is saying worries me.
Thanks! [I also posted this in the Review thread about the Millar's Mill]
 
JohnSand said:
It sounds like he's willing to fix it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but barely. There's some clear deflection by pointing to wet grains, hard corn, undefined foreign objects (UFOs?), etc.

Hope he stands behind his promise. Obviously some mechanical defect from the get-go.
 
TNTgill said:
I think they changed the length of the handle on the newest batch of cereal killers. Mine is 7 inches from hole to handle and I milled 14 lbs in 5-6 minutes by hand. I love mine.
Click to expand...

That was the needed fix then, good info! I think mine was maybe just a hair over an inch and a half, it was pretty tough milling with no leverage. If I ever go back to hand cranking I'll either fabricate a new, longer handle or maybe try to get one in the new length.
 
So...if you had the choice between:

BC for $128
Cereal Killer for $110
Monster Mill 2.0 for $166

Shipping is included in the above prices and include the hopper and base.

Which would you choose?
 
I just ordered a BC after debating the exact same thing, Kuhndog. I wanted the MM, but it was $45 more than the BC, and didn't include a manual hand crank (which I may use from time to time). The cereal killer seemed just OK to me, so I wasn't too upset spending an extra $20 for an American Made mill.
 
I was talking to the owner of one of my LHBS's and he said that he used to carry the barley crusher. He also used one in his store and he wore it out. He was milling 500 lbs of grain a day on it. When he contacted the manufacturer, they told him it wasn't designed for commercial use and that they would not honor the warranty.

Not saying it's a bad mill, but just another bit of information that might be useful for someone making a decision.

With that being said, I am going to order a mill this summer for sure and I haven't made up my mind between the Barley Crusher and the MM2. It will be one of the two though.
 
LovesIPA said:
I was talking to the owner of one of my LHBS's and he said that he used to carry the barley crusher. He also used one in his store and he wore it out. He was milling 500 lbs of grain a day on it. When he contacted the manufacturer, they told him it wasn't designed for commercial use and that they would not honor the warranty.

Not saying it's a bad mill, but just another bit of information that might be useful for someone making a decision.

With that being said, I am going to order a mill this summer for sure and I haven't made up my mind between the Barley Crusher and the MM2. It will be one of the two though.
Click to expand...

How long did he have the BC for? 500 lbs. a day will wear out any of the mills we've spoken about here that are designed for home brewing use. Milling in one day, what the average homebrewer probably mills in a year (probably 2), you'd be crazy to not expect a failure at some point.

I've had the Barley crusher for about 8 months now. So, I've probably run about 160 pounds of grain through it. Other than losing the rubber O-ring, it looks and works as good as the day I bought it. Plus, running 500 lbs. a day through it, i would think you'd want to tear it down and do a through cleaning/oiling at least once a day.
 
Clonefan94 said:
How long did he have the BC for? 500 lbs. a day will wear out any of the mills we've spoken about here that are designed for home brewing use. Milling in one day, what the average homebrewer probably mills in a year (probably 2), you'd be crazy to not expect a failure at some point.

I've had the Barley crusher for about 8 months now. So, I've probably run about 160 pounds of grain through it. Other than losing the rubber O-ring, it looks and works as good as the day I bought it. Plus, running 500 lbs. a day through it, i would think you'd want to tear it down and do a through cleaning/oiling at least once a day.
Click to expand...

If that O-ring is an issue (and I've seen it stated before on here), then why isn't it fixed? Isn't it a pretty easy fix? Because to be honest, that seems to be the only problem with the BC...other than people saying the hopper is a little flimpsy...but most of the hoppers are not tanks to begin with...as long as it holds grain...it's good enough.
 
After all my research I went with a Schmidling MaltMill. I really wanted both rollers to be active (gear driven). We mill 100lbs every time we brew, never had a problem, great crush. I have 4 LHBS, each with different mills. The one place that never seems to have a problem with their mill and always seems to make the best crush uses a Schmidling (always hit my OG). They have been in business for 20 years and it's what they recommended to me, even though they don't sell mills.

Don't let their very old school website scare you.

http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm
 
The JSP MaltMill has been a great investment (http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm).

I have the adjustable mill and I have been very happy, great crush. However I recently removed the safety guards allowing more grain to come into contact with the rollers, the extra torque caused me to sunder (and yeah I hand crank) my particle board base. I've since made a plywood replacement and have been happy as a calm.
 
Can't believe it took so long for somebody to mention the JSP Maltmill and now that's 3 of us in a row. Love mine.
 
I would stay away from the Barley Crusher. I have had mine since August and it is getting worn down. I had to email him twice to get a response, and now waiting for another response on a replacement. I can't even mill at .035 with out it skipping most of the time.

Check out this thread on the crappy customer service, and I can vouch for how crappy it is

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/barley-crusher-customer-service-297352/

Compare what metal the Barley crusher and the MM is made of, the MM is wayyyyyyyy stronger metal and will last longer.
 
I have a barley crusher and have had it for about 5 years. I've run maybe 1500 lbs of grain through it, though probably a little less than that. It gives a great, consistent crush but is showing signs of wear. The rollers are getting dull and it slips from time to time. If you are in it for the long haul I would recommend one of the high end mills but the Barley Crusher has been good to me.
 
So I'm kind of in a pickle here. I really like the crankandstein 3E but the available hopper and base are ugly junk. The equivalent Monster mill costs about $60 more but the hopper is nice. How important is the stainless steel option for the MM when crushing conditioned grains? Or should I get the crankandstein and build my own base and hopper?
 
funnycreature said:
So I'm kind of in a pickle here. I really like the crankandstein 3E but the available hopper and base are ugly junk. The equivalent Monster mill costs about $60 more but the hopper is nice. How important is the stainless steel option for the MM when crushing conditioned grains? Or should I get the crankandstein and build my own base and hopper?
Click to expand...

I don't have either of those mills but as I said earlier in the thread I have the cereal killer, which does not have stainless rollers. I have always conditioned my grain and my rollers have never had even the slightest indication of rust. I think by the time we're milling, the grain has soaked up the small amount of moisture we've added it makes no difference at all. So you'll likely be fine either way.
 
If you are worried about rust using conditioned malt, you could take about 1-2mins of extra time to make sure there is no moisture on your rollers buy just using a blow dryer on the rollers on high or medium for a couple minutes. It'll remove all the moisture that might be left behind but just like another poster said - if it's lightly wetted - much if it will be absorbed by the grain (which is what you want). You don't need to saturate it or flood the grain before milling it. It just needs wetted and then sit for a bit...it's absorbed and therefore softens the grain a tad including the all important husk...which in turn allows it to be more pliable and thus stays intact during the milling process. The SS roller version to me is selling the - don't worry about it version but depending on where that stainless steel was made and what quality it is...it may rust as well....especially if you are wetting the grain more because you know you have SS rollers.

Just something to keep in mind....personally save your money and get the non-SS roller versions and go ahead and condition your malt.....but just make sure your rollers are dry afterwards...use the blower dryer - it works.
 
funnycreature said:
Thanks Kuhndog. Do you also have a recommendation MM vs Crankandstein? I would like to order this week so I'm actively trying to get as much input as possible. :mug:
Click to expand...

You'll probably be happy with either one. Especially if both of them worked on mills together at one point. I guess the only deciding factors would be $ and warranties/customer service.

I am a little partial to MM only because that is what our local brew shop bought as their store mill and I like it. Of course I don't like paying $2/lb for grain either...so that's why I'm went with the MM. I'll actually be ordering it here soon.
 
If you are concerned with rollers getting stuck etc, having gear driven would be the way to go. Just my 2 cents.
 
Gear motor is the way to go IMHO: lots of power, low speed, and less safety issues than with belt and pulley. However, I used to have problems with my Barley Crusher powered by gear motor. The non-driven roller would stick while the driven roller would spin. I frequently had to take it apart, clean out the barley dust and gunk in the bushings, lubricate with mineral oil, and reassemble. This kinda sucks when you're in the middle of brewing. I switch to Monster Mill with 3 rollers and a beefier frame and no problems.
 
JSP Malt mill been around for 20+ years manufacture for breweries. Bought mine used 3250 lbs run by me can't beat 10 inch rollers
image-2542409837.jpg
 
My LHBS has left a JSP mill out for customers' use for years, and I always said "whenever I but a mill, it's gonna be that model!" Pretty indestructible. And yes, I did buy that one, and am quite happy. The JSP maltmill has one adjustment screw (instead of two), which is good and bad. Good because it's so quick and easy to adjust, but bad because the gap varies a small bit across the length. But this is minimized by using rollers that are so long, and having the guards that direct the grains to mainly just the center. So this gap variance is probably just academic.
 
SpeedYellow said:
My LHBS has left a JSP mill out for customers' use for years, and I always said "whenever I but a mill, it's gonna be that model!" Pretty indestructible. And yes, I did buy that one, and am quite happy. The JSP maltmill has one adjustment screw (instead of two), which is good and bad. Good because it's so quick and easy to adjust, but bad because the gap varies a small bit across the length. But this is minimized by using rollers that are so long, and having the guards that direct the grains to mainly just the center. So this gap variance is probably just academic.
Click to expand...

Mine has adjustment screws on both ends. I removed the guards on mine when I rebuilt it the hopper now is centered right between the rollers for a better feed and the gear motor has no problem starting with a full load of grain across the length of the rollers.
 

Similar threads

S
Why didn't anyone ever tell me to buy a grain mill sooner
Replies
38
Views
1K
BrewZer
BrewZer
hilljack13
Rate my grain crush
Replies
5
Views
447
Red over White
Red over White
agentbud
Motor for Grain Mill
Replies
26
Views
1K
jerrylotto
jerrylotto
hiphoppotamuss
What To Look For in a Grain Mill?
Replies
29
Views
1K
redrocker652002
R
Zippy123
Does this look like a suitable grain mill?
Replies
12
Views
1K
wilserbrewer
wilserbrewer

Latest posts

Back
Top