My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

Grind the spit out of it. Half flour and half husks is about what I end up with. My runoffs can be slow at times (braid loop) but I'm stuck on 80% efficiency and love the predictability.

the_axis said:

I had the same problem with the tapped hole for the crank retaining bolt being off center and at a pretty bad angle. This is a link to a very short video showing my solution to the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76AJTwnWp2Y

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Excellent idea. You made a universal joint of sorts! I love it! I messed around with getting my drill and mill at the same level so much, now if I want I can just use this method and forget about perfect heights!

tre9er said:

Grind the spit out of it. Half flour and half husks is about what I end up with. My runoffs can be slow at times (braid loop) but I'm stuck on 80% efficiency and love the predictability.

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I just did this exact same thing. I won a 55 lbs bag of 2-row at a club meeting and finally have a good excuse to put my Corona mill to good use. The first (recent) batch ended up with husks and chunks of meat and only got 67% efficiency. I adjusted the plate gap a bit and tried again. This time I ended up with husks, 50-70 percent flour and 30-50 chunks of meat. I got a more tired arm but also ended up with 77% mash efficiency using a full volume BiaB mash with mashout (no sparge). I'm going to brew again soon so we'll see how repeatable it is, but I'm happy for not.

Well here's my ugly junk, the OG corona mill. Added a few washers good to go. Still a few whole kernels, need to tighten a little bit next time.



I may cut a hole through the tray table and rig up PVC or a downspout to direct the killings into a bag/ bucket.

sethlovex said:

Well here's my ugly junk, the OG corona mill. Added a few washers good to go. Still a few whole kernels, need to tighten a little bit next time.

I may cut a hole through the tray table and rig up PVC or a downspout to direct the killings into a bag/ bucket.

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Where did you find that amazing funnel hopper?

I removed the cotter pin and collar on mine and welded the plate to the auger shank. No more wobble.

Vellum said:

Where did you find that amazing funnel hopper?

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I have the same funnel I got mine a Midwest brewing supplies but I'm almost sure most brew shops have those big funnels.

Vellum said:

Where did you find that amazing funnel hopper?

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Hehe it's just a regular funnel for the carboy, it works pretty good. I store my grain in a home depot bucket with lid and I can pour it right in the funnel about 3 pounds at a time.

Thanks so much. Going to pick one of those up

Here's my first trial run. Ran about a pound through. I don't see whole kernels, I see some flour but doesn't seem like too much. Any thoughts from those of you who have more experience with these things? Thanks.

Can't see too much in the photo, but if you say there are no whole grains left, I would say you are done...now get busy and make a batch of beer!

I want to further add my respect for the corona mill....

I've got about 5 or 6 batches on mine and I'm pretty regularly hitting 78% or 79% efficiency which is good enough for me!!

10# = 1 18v battery = 5min =

Yeah that pic wasn't the one I wanted sorry. But that's the idea right? Somewhere between uncracked kernels and all flour. Then just start brewing and dial it in. I'm going to finish my dual bucket system then hopefully brew a pale ale next weekend.

I am becoming more convinced than ever to get a corona mill. With the numbers people are posting up here and the standard 68% I have been seeing from my LHBS crush, it just seems stupid not to get one.

My process gives me consistency but I would like a higher efficiency to go with that consistency haha.

VTrookie said:

I am becoming more convinced than ever to get a corona mill. With the numbers people are posting up here and the standard 68% I have been seeing from my LHBS crush, it just seems stupid not to get one.

My process gives me consistency but I would like a higher efficiency to go with that consistency haha.

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Do get one. This mill was the easiest (I.e. cheapest) way to get into bulk grain buying for me. I BIAB and regularly get 80+% efficiency (beer clears just fine with a nice cold crash). I love my corona mill and do not have any plans to replace with a more expensive roller one. The only problem I see with this mill is the DIY aspect. I love DIY so this didn't bother me but for others it could be a detractor.

Yeah. I like DIY but I have a limited set of tools, both physical and mental. The only issue with the corona mill I forsee is building a hopper/base set up that is contained and easily stored.

There was a mill on here somewhere that was attached tot he top of a rubbermaid bin and it closed up all nice and looked clean. I would like to achieve that with the corona mill... but howww...

So I was heating some strike water, preparing to brew with some friends on Saturday. This would be my second brew with my corona mill. I started to mill my grain with my Craftsman hammer drill at low speed (varied by trigger pressure) and about half way through my drill starts POURING smoke. I let it cool down and went at it until it smoked again, and repeated this until all grain was milled.

It seems I am going to need to find a drill more suited to low RPMs. Are there any cheap drills that max out at 200 RPMs or so?

Check out this drill at harbor freight. I think there are several people on here that use them. There are 2 different drills, one with a D handle and one without. Either should work.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-low-speed-electric-drill-97594.html

I have done 4 batches using my Corona Mill. I used a Dewalt corded drill, and I can usually get through about 7 lbs before it starts getting too hot and smoking. I will be picking up a cheap heavy duty low speed drill here soon, hopefully.

Anyways, using my full-volume BIAB in a keggle, I got a consistent 72-76% efficiency with the Corona Mill. That was without hardly any adjustments at all. I think I can tighten it up a little more, and I'll be tweaking my mashing/boiling setup soon as well. I'm hoping to bump it up closer to 80% and I'll be really happy with it.

Thanks for the links. It would be nice if HF included an RPM value, but I have come not to expect too much from them haha. It would be great if I could pick up a drill that maxes out at an optimal grind speed. I will stop by HF and check out those drills for sure. My Craftsman drill has been great up until now, I would hate to kill it.

I got my mill second hand and the guy had already replaced the hand crank with a bolt for drilling. I wanted to dial in the crush without spraying grain everywhere so I put the hand crank back on...well, I liked it so much that I never went back to the drill. I can grind 5 lbs in about 10 minutes working at a nice, easy pace. Not saying its better than a drill, but you should at least try it once before you go to the drill...plus you get to tone your pipes. And you still have one hand free for a Homebrew!

I've done several batches by hand. Hell of a lot of work. Too lazy for that non-sense

Fordzilla said:

Thanks for the links. It would be nice if HF included an RPM value, but I have come not to expect too much from them haha. It would be great if I could pick up a drill that maxes out at an optimal grind speed. I will stop by HF and check out those drills for sure. My Craftsman drill has been great up until now, I would hate to kill it.

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Sometimes you have to look in the manual (downloadable as a PDF from the individual product page). From BeardedIdiot's links the spade handle drill is 0-550 RPM and the other one he linked to is 0-1,000 RPM.

Fordzilla said:

Thanks for the links. It would be nice if HF included an RPM value, but I have come not to expect too much from them haha. It would be great if I could pick up a drill that maxes out at an optimal grind speed. I will stop by HF and check out those drills for sure. My Craftsman drill has been great up until now, I would hate to kill it.

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I have the HF D-Handle drill with removable t-grip as well. I believe it goes up to 500RPM. I find that I need to run it just above the minimum or the drill seems to be struggling a bit. I'm consistent with efficiency, although my runoffs get slow at times. It's one of those "is it broke? Should I fix it?" type of deals for me.

VTrookie said:

Yeah. I like DIY but I have a limited set of tools, both physical and mental. The only issue with the corona mill I forsee is building a hopper/base set up that is contained and easily stored.

There was a mill on here somewhere that was attached tot he top of a rubbermaid bin and it closed up all nice and looked clean. I would like to achieve that with the corona mill... but howww...

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The two bucket system works really well, is easy to do, and if you can get buckets from your grocery store bakery, almost free!

My top I made out of wood was really easy for me to make, took less than 15 min and looks nice (not the goal of this thread).

Thanks for the tips... Plan on using mine soon.
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Got my discount Tommy mill via an amazon gift card with free shipping. Couldn't wait to use it, so I ground the grains for Revvy's Kiss Your Cousin. Took 15 min. by hand and that was with my 4 yr old helping. I figure without the help I could get it down to 10. I love this ugly junk!

tony579 said:

Got my discount Tommy mill via an amazon gift card with free shipping. Couldn't wait to use it, so I ground the grains for Revvy's Kiss Your Cousin. Took 15 min. by hand and that was with my 4 yr old helping. I figure without the help I could get it down to 10. I love this ugly junk!

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Wow you're killing two thread with one ugly junk or something.

Hit 77% with my first crack at using the corona. I can't believe that something this cheap and easy is this effective. Thanks for all the info from this thread.

tony579 said:

I can't believe that something this cheap and easy is this effective.

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Well, 1390 posts would be a rather long lie...cheers and glad it worked for you!

tony579 said:

Hit 77% with my first crack at using the corona. I can't believe that something this cheap and easy is this effective. Thanks for all the info from this thread.

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80% consistently in my mash tun, 72% BIAB-dunk-sparge last night. It works.

wilserbrewer said:

Well, 1390 posts would be a rather long lie...cheers and glad it worked for you!

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True enough, but I always operate under the assumption that I will be the exception to the rule. Thanks again for all the help/advice in this thread, it certainly would not have been this easy without it!

My ugly junk!


Mill is on my craftsman work station, and yup, thats a 5 gallon water bottle. Cut a flap in the side of the bottle big enough to get the grinding wheels into, then "sealed" it with some cardboard and tape.

Keeps all the flying grain going into the bucket. I hardly have to sweep when im done!

My crappy hand-me-down drill is not powerful enough, so i use my very manly muscles. The crush came out great for my eBIAB system!

sicklesr said:

My ugly junk!

Mill is on my craftsman work station, and yup, thats a 5 gallon water bottle. Cut a flap in the side of the bottle big enough to get the grinding wheels into, then "sealed" it with some cardboard and tape.

Keeps all the flying grain going into the bucket. I hardly have to sweep when im done!

My crappy hand-me-down drill is not powerful enough, so i use my very manly muscles. The crush came out great for my eBIAB system!

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Hooray another hand cranker among us. I have hand cranked my grain for the past few years. I really don't mind doing it by hand and it saves me money on a drill. Your mill look great.

tony579 said:

Hit 77% with my first crack at using the corona. I can't believe that something this cheap and easy is this effective. Thanks for all the info from this thread.

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People forget that this WAS state of the art before rollermills.

Here's mine. I did the bucket inside of a bucket. Still need to make a water bottle hopper to be able to use it with the lid on.

JoeyChopps said:

Hooray another hand cranker among us. I have hand cranked my grain for the past few years. I really don't mind doing it by hand and it saves me money on a drill. Your mill look great.

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How many hand crankers do you think are out there? I hand crank mainly because my drill can't handle the starting torque. I kind of enjoy it now and tend to grind my grain the night before brew day or while my mash water heats up. Makes it feel very official and hand made.

Agreed I don't think that many people are hand crankers. What's funny to me is people on this thread and others spend lots of time money and effort to replicate the speed of hand cranking the mill. I also usually crank my grain the night before and my wife helps so we get to spend more time together.

Exactly, my wife thinks I'm funny when I crank the grain during commercial breaks.