Does anyone have any designs or links to designs for making your own grain mill?
Homemade grain mill?
- Thread starter Denny's Evil Concoctions
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
OP
OP
Thanks for the links. Have you used any of these plans?
sebbeerbiker
Active Member
Are you planning on having one made for you or are you making it your self? What kind of tools do you have access to? I designed my own mill and had it made for me by a local machine shop who did the work in exchange for beer (quite a bit of it too!). I have Autocad plans if you're interested. If you care, go to www.goatpunch.com, follow the link for Seb and go see my brewery photos. The mill has 4.5" diameter rollers. I've got it set to about 0.065" gap and crushes like a champ. It'll crush 10lbs of grain in less than 2 minutes.Denny's Brew said:
Let me know.
Seb
BlightyBrewer
Well-Known Member
Seb,
That's a fantastic set of photos, and a neat setup!
How long have you been brewing?
BB
That's a fantastic set of photos, and a neat setup!
How long have you been brewing?
BB
OP
OP
Looking to do it myself on the cheap as I am currently broke. (foot injury; battle for workers compensation).
I like your mill though. Probably make one like that later on. I'm new to this area so I don't have contacts at machine shops here.
The only place I can buy grains around here is at a brew pub, and he sells them to me for cost, but I have to wait for ever for him to mill them for me since he runs a 10000 liter at a time operation, is busy and then forgets to grind my grains. If I have my own mill then I can just pick up the grains and no milling charge!
I like your mill though. Probably make one like that later on. I'm new to this area so I don't have contacts at machine shops here.
The only place I can buy grains around here is at a brew pub, and he sells them to me for cost, but I have to wait for ever for him to mill them for me since he runs a 10000 liter at a time operation, is busy and then forgets to grind my grains. If I have my own mill then I can just pick up the grains and no milling charge!
sebbeerbiker
Active Member
Hello BB,BlightyBrewer said:
Thanks! I started brewing back in 2000, I guess this makes it 5 years now. It all started thanks to an Aussie! He got me into it and haven't ever looked back. I started with malt extract and specialty grain and after 3 months went to AG. My first ever was a pale ale. The setup you see can do 10 gallon batches. But recently I've gone back to making 5 gallon batches just because I like having a variety of beers. I've made all the equipment you see and regularly give advise to members of our club here in Montreal. We're called the MontreALers.
Cheers,
Seb
sebbeerbiker
Active Member
Have you thought of asking him for some yeast? He's probably got lots to spare! Not to mention hops too...Denny's Brew said:Looking to do it myself on the cheap as I am currently broke. (foot injury; battle for workers compensation).
I like your mill though. Probably make one like that later on. I'm new to this area so I don't have contacts at machine shops here.
The only place I can buy grains around here is at a brew pub, and he sells them to me for cost, but I have to wait for ever for him to mill them for me since he runs a 10000 liter at a time operation, is busy and then forgets to grind my grains. If I have my own mill then I can just pick up the grains and no milling charge!
BlightyBrewer
Well-Known Member
sebbeerbiker said:
You did a fantastic job! I like the kettle exhaust and pump arrangement. Did you do all the welding yourself?
How long did it take to make everything? I'd love to be able to do all that, but we have real trouble getting hold of SS kegs in the UK (it's illegal to buy them unless you are a licensed beer brewer / distributer / seller. One guy from this forum here in the UK (orfy) has managed to get hold of some though.
sebbeerbiker
Active Member
Nah, I can only manage to weld a hole into a piece of stainless! All the welding and machining was done by a friend machinist who barters all work for beer (lucky me!) I slowly started picking up beer kegs which I bought from local metal salvage yards. I think they get dumped by metal salvagers. However you can get them from the breweries when they get damaged and are unusable for beer. Anyway, I guess this whole kit was put together over the course of a few years, adding this, changing that, ... I only went to electric recently (2 years ago) since I lived in a 2nd floor apartment and couldn't heat with propane indoors and here in Montreal, it'll get down to -30degC in the middle of February. Bringing in the brewery indoors required some thinking after I noticed water rolling down the walls after a boil! The vent hood works really well. I now own my own home and brew in the basement but the setup I had is perfect still. I occasionaly tinker with it, always trying to make it better.BlightyBrewer said:
Cheers,
Seb
BlightyBrewer
Well-Known Member
This is what I love about this hobby...endless opportunities to be inventive both with the beer and equipment.
sebbeerbiker
Active Member
Don't forget drinking LOTS of beer!
BlightyBrewer
Well-Known Member
sebbeerbiker said:
Surely, that goes without saying.
Blighty, some of them have your name on them
Denny's Brew, I guess you could get away with bashing the grains in a nylon bag with a rolling pin if you need to. Failing that could a coffee grinder be used? or a food blender in avery slow setting?
Denny's Brew, I guess you could get away with bashing the grains in a nylon bag with a rolling pin if you need to. Failing that could a coffee grinder be used? or a food blender in avery slow setting?
BlightyBrewer
Well-Known Member
orfy said:
Some of what? If you're talking about the beers, I hope so!
The kegs if you want them. Some still have beer in.
sebbeerbiker said:
Very cool gadgets. I'm impressed. I love the way you set up the gas hook-up outside your keg fridge. I'll be borrowing that one for sure.
All the others great ideas to fit your unique needs.
