Milling your own grain??

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DSMbrewer

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Fro those of you who do not have a LHBS, a mill seems to be on e of the logical things to have around. For those of us who have a LHBS, it seems to me that having the store house the grain and to let them grind it is the way to go. Any thoughts on having your own grain mill with a LHBS vs. not having a mill? Is it cost effective to own a mill with a local store in your backyard?
 
You can control the crush. Just because they have a mill, doesn't mean they give you a good crush. Plus with your own, you can buy grain in bulk and be ready to brew anytime. Regardless is the shop is open.
 
It's a matter of convenience. It's REALLY inconvenient for me to have to mill my grain at the LHBS, because their selection sucks. So, I buy in bulk and mill it myself.
If you have a LHBS with good selection and a mill, it's up to you if you want one.
 
I have my own mill, it is one of the best purchases I have made. I buy in bulk, I condition my malt and crush as fine as I like, prior to getting my own mill I rarely got above the 65% eff. Now that I have tweaked my own milling process I am rarely below 85% eff, so my grain money goes farther to hit recipe target numbers.
 
I don't have a fancy mill but I got one of those cast iron hand cranked ones, from my shop. I could fit with a drill, but I really like having control over my grain, doing it by hand for the old fashioned touch.
 
I got a cheap corona mill. it much more convenient to mill the grain myself. I have the flexibility to brew whenever i want, without having to go to the LHBS to get grains. Keep around 100 lbs or so on hand and I can decide to brew last minute if I want. I also get around 83% eff. with my own crush .... but some like to have somebody else crush their grains. To each his own.
 
I live a ways form the LHBS, but even if I lived close, I'd still want a mill around. I built my own, so the cost was not an issue. Consider the facts:

1. Crushing your grain means you can keep bulk grains fresher longer.
2. Crushing you grain means you have fine control over your crush. Your LHBS *may* crush your grain perfectly. Or not.


It's a cost thing. I like having one, but if I had to buy one instead of building one using scrap at work, I'd have to think hard about it (not really, after owning one. It's just so handy!)
 
I also have the cheap hand crank corona knock off. I have 3 HBS within driving range but I still like to buy and mill as I need it. One store is close and cheap, but has slim selections. The other two have better selections but they are more pricey and further away. I always overbuy a little more than I need so I have a stock of various grains on hand for those emergency/experimental/test batches. If I had it all milled it would go stale before I could ever use it all.
 
DSMbrewer said:
Fro those of you who do not have a LHBS, a mill seems to be on e of the logical things to have around. For those of us who have a LHBS, it seems to me that having the store house the grain and to let them grind it is the way to go. Any thoughts on having your own grain mill with a LHBS vs. not having a mill? Is it cost effective to own a mill with a local store in your backyard?
Click to expand...

Its never cost effective to NOT own a mill.

If you have a mill, you can buy in real bulk, and get grain at about $.70/lb. You can get a corona, which isn't flash, but works fine, for $20-30.
 
That's kinda the thing.....my LHBS is close by and has great selection. Crush always seems good and i get about 75% eff. Looking at the price of a mill, bout $170, seems to me it would take a long time to get my money out of it. How much are bulk grains, money and bag size, and what is the best way to store?
 
A mill isn't always $170. I bought mine (corona knockoff) for $30 shipped and I bought got about 55 lbs of grain for $35, whereas is would have cost me 70+ from the LHBS. Paid for itself right there.

Having a mill is always convenient.
 
I think that a grain mill was one of the first investments I made after the basics (carboy, large pot etc...) It was also one of the best investments I have made. I like to control how my grains are crushed and it is also fun to play with as many power tools as I can on Brew Day!!!
 
So, would you people buy a grain mill over a new Brew Kettle? I have to do split batches now and would love to brew in one pot...
 
No.

A mill is definitely a secondary investment, for me anyway. You need to start off with a good basis, which includes a pot large enough to do full boils in.
 
IrregularPulse said:
You can control the crush. Just because they have a mill, doesn't mean they give you a good crush. Plus with your own, you can buy grain in bulk and be ready to brew anytime. Regardless is the shop is open.
Click to expand...

I completely agree. I brew a lot so I just buy in bulk and I can control my crush.


Primary- 10 Gal Oatmeal Stout
Kegged- Sorachi Ace Pilsner, Wet Hop Citra Pale Ale, 10 Gal Black IPA
Bottled- Berliner Weisse, Zeus IPA
Next batches- Kolsch, Pale Pale #4 w/Greenbelt Yeast
 
Really depends on how your LHBS mills your grain. First online order: not so good crush. Local LHBS: good crush (like the pics in the million of threads showing nice crush) and saw a 10% jump in efficiency.

I'm looking for a cheap Corona style mill but haven't foudn one yet. Since I'm almost the only guy who drinks my homebrew, paying to get it milled is not such a hassle since I'm not ready to buy in 55lb sacks yet. My half sack lasted all of two weeks after all...
 
One thing is if you are not going to brew right away, the crushed grain may absorb some moisture from the air and not be as fresh when you get around to brew. I don't live close to my LHBS, so I'll pick up the supplies when I get a chance and brew later on so I need a mill to keep my grains fresh.
 
jfr1111 said:
Really depends on how your LHBS mills your grain. First online order: not so good crush. Local LHBS: good crush (like the pics in the million of threads showing nice crush) and saw a 10% jump in efficiency.

I'm looking for a cheap Corona style mill but haven't foudn one yet. Since I'm almost the only guy who drinks my homebrew, paying to get it milled is not such a hassle since I'm not ready to buy in 55lb sacks yet. My half sack lasted all of two weeks after all...
Click to expand...

Here you go, http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Cereal-Multi-Grain-Mill-36-3601-W-/150468471408?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23089eaa70#ht_2091wt_1189

Which looks better than the one I bought here http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Premium-Cast-Iron-Corn-Grinder-Wheat-Grain-Nut-Mill-/230543731005?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ad7a293d#ht_4115wt_1123
 
I like letting someone else measure, crush and bag my recipes. I let BMW do it for me and its super convenient. The $7 flat rate shipping is usually cheaper than what TN sales tax would be. It would be one thing if all I had to stock is 2 row but looking through all the specialty malts I would have to buy is kind of discouraging. Plus I always get over 80% efficiency, sometimes close to 85%.
 
devilishprune said:
Here you go, http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Cereal-Multi-Grain-Mill-36-3601-W-/150468471408?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23089eaa70#ht_2091wt_1189

Which looks better than the one I bought here http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Premium-Cast-Iron-Corn-Grinder-Wheat-Grain-Nut-Mill-/230543731005?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ad7a293d#ht_4115wt_1123
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I live in Canada. The first link only ships to the US and the second one would cost 45$ shipping to get to me. I'll buy a Barley Crusher locally before dropping almost 100$ on a Corona Milll... I've yet to see one of these in stores around here.
 
Mills are also good when you want to do stuff to your malt before it gets crushed. Like smoking malt, or making your own crystal malt.

Grain crush control is nice too.
 
I like crushing my own grain. I buy in bulk but it just feels nice to open the bag and weight what you need then mill it and pour it in your mash tun. To me its all part of going all grain.
 
I would still own a mill if I lived next door to a hbs. I want total control over every aspect of my brewing. I don't want anyones filthy mits on my grains. Total Control Damnit!

:)
 
olivergothe said:
man... i am drooling quite a bit right now. How long does uncrushed grain stay "fresh"
Click to expand...

I have heard up to a year if properly stored, I was worried about thay myself, however I blow through 50# sacks of basemalt like a howitzer in a Normandy hedgerows war when I'm upping the pipeline. Never had the opportunity to test the long term storage, all of my non base malts are bought in 2, 5, or 10lb increments and get used up fairly quickly as well.
 
it's the non basemalts that worry me. I am shredding the 55 pounders as well. I suppose I could look through my brew book and check which specialty malts I regularly use
 

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