Crankandstein 2D, Barley Crusher 15, or Monster Mill MM-2. That's the question!

Hi all and thanks in advance for any insight you are able to provide!

I am in the market for a Malt Mill and I am seriously looking at the Crankandstein 2D, the Barley Crusher 15, and the Monster Mill MM-2.

The Crankandstein 2D w/Base & Hopper (9 lb capacity) is $160 including shipping.

The Barley Crusher w/Base & Hopper (15 lb capacity) is $156 including shipping.

The Monster Mill MM-2 w/Base & Hopper (11 lb capacity) is $155 including shipping.

I like them all, and know that people have good things to say about them all, however, I am looking for some real world info to help me decide.

If any of you have any of these models, I would appreciate if you could drop a line with this info.

1) What do you have your adjustment set at? (.030, .035, .040, .045)

2) What efficiency are you getting with this setting? (70%, 75%, 80%)

3) Are you batch sparging or fly sparging?

4) How long have you had it, how many lbs of grain have you crushed with it, and is it showing any wear?

5) Did you buy a hopper/base with yours, or did you create your own? If you created your own, PLEASE post a pic of your setup?

I know this is a lot of questions, however, I never go into something without working out all of the details. I am also considering buying a better quality mill from Crankandstein or Monster Mill (like a 3-roller model) if I can find a hopper/base setup that would work for me, and drawings to create it.

I appreciate any help that you all are able to provide.

Thanks,

Mike

Barley Crusher w/ 7lb hopper. It's the same mill with a smaller hopper...

1) What do you have your adjustment set at? (.030, .035, .040, .045)

.030

2) What efficiency are you getting with this setting? (70%, 75%, 80%)

88%

3) Are you batch sparging or fly sparging?

Batch Sparge

4) How long have you had it, how many lbs of grain have you crushed with it, and is it showing any wear?

year and a half

5) Did you buy a hopper/base with yours, or did you create your own? If you created your own, PLEASE post a pic of your setup?

Bought with the hopper.

I've been stirring during the infusion rest and my effiecncy has gone through the roof. I'm getting close the 10% better. YMMV.

I was considering the same mills 2 weeks ago and went with the Monster mill. I just liked the heavy duty look of it with the hopper. It also have the most surface area of rollers of all the 3. Ive only crushed 13 pounds thus far and set my gap to .41 and must say its pretty sweet. I got it with the base and the hopper and plan on mounting it to a shelf in the near future. Utilize the search option and you will find able information about all the mills as well as motorizing your mill if you so choose. You cant go wrong with any mill that you listed they are all very nice and will serve you well for years to come.

mmb said:

Barley Crusher w/ 7lb hopper. It's the same mill with a smaller hopper...

1) What do you have your adjustment set at? (.030, .035, .040, .045)

.030

2) What efficiency are you getting with this setting? (70%, 75%, 80%)

88%

3) Are you batch sparging or fly sparging?

Batch Sparge

4) How long have you had it, how many lbs of grain have you crushed with it, and is it showing any wear?

year and a half

5) Did you buy a hopper/base with yours, or did you create your own? If you created your own, PLEASE post a pic of your setup?

Bought with the hopper.

I've been stirring during the infusion rest and my effiecncy has gone through the roof. I'm getting close the 10% better. YMMV.

Click to expand...

That was very helpful! Wow, 88% from the Barley Crusher. I believe that is the highest I have heard of so far.

By the by, where can I get Feelers from? Would Home Depot have them?

reddskinnfan said:

That was very helpful! Wow, 88% from the Barley Crusher. I believe that is the highest I have heard of so far.

By the by, where can I get Feelers from? Would Home Depot have them?

Click to expand...

I just bought a set of feeler gauges from kragen auto (checkers, etc..) for $5.

I use the barley crusher in my store. I have opened the gap a tad .40 and spin it @ about 1200 RPM. I have had the grain mill for 4 1/2 years before I opened the store 6 months ago. I have crushed about 1.5 ton, yes I said ton through it in 6 months & it is still going strong. They are a good mill. I just wish they would work w/ the retailers a bit better. I do have a few problems running it at that speed, sometimes it doesn’t want to "grab" the grain and it just spins without actually pulling any grain through. A good whack! On the base with my fist and it always seems to start. I am actually in the market for another mill for the store and am thinking about going w/ the Monster Mill 2.5.
Just my .02
Cheers
Jay

reddskinnfan said:

That was very helpful! Wow, 88% from the Barley Crusher. I believe that is the highest I have heard of so far.

By the by, where can I get Feelers from? Would Home Depot have them?

Click to expand...

I picked my set up at AutoZone for under $5. They're the cheap spark plug gap feelers.

You have to remember that there are a lot of factors for efficiency. Equipment, water chemistry, and process matter much more that crush. Out of the box I was getting 78%.

The mill is showing no wear and I blow it out with the air compressor after using it. It's as clean as the day I received it. Black roasted 500L tends to color the rollers a bit but it cleans right off with compressed air.

1200 rpm sounds really fast. I thought you would want to target under 500? I use the BC at about 250, with a geared drill, and .036 which is just a bit tighter than factory. I am doing malt conditioning now and the crush is fluffy and not dusty, the rollers stay clean.
The BC is not as robust as the MM or crankenstien but it does the job just fine, and fits right on a bucket. My friend bought a MM 3 roller, it weighs a ton.

I have a 7# BC at the factory settings and get 82-86% using a batch sparge. I've had it about a year and it still looks/works like new.

reddskinnfan said:

2) What efficiency are you getting with this setting? (70%, 75%, 80%)

Click to expand...

It would be helpful to specify which "efficiency" you'd like to know about. For example, with my barley crusher gap set at 0.028in running at 170rpm I get 86% mash efficiency and 82% brewhouse efficiency for beers <= 1.070sg.

I wet mill and batch sparge as well...But, I'll start fly sparging on my new rig soon, so I'm sure my efficiency improve for higher gravity beers.

I have the Schmidling Malt Mill . It's fantastic, default gap of .045 I believe.

http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm

10" wide rollers, it's a crushing machine.

I usually get upwards of 80% efficiency.

nickpgoodman said:

I have the Schmidling Malt Mill . It's fantastic, default gap of .045 I believe.

http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm

10" wide rollers, it's a crushing machine.

I usually get upwards of 80% efficiency.

Click to expand...

Isn't this mill a bit cheaply made with the formica sides? How long have you had it? Any wear? Any dislikes? Do you have the Gear Drive option? Thanks!

reddskinnfan said:

Isn't this mill a bit cheaply made with the formica sides?

Click to expand...

The Plexiglas on the sides is really just for dust reduction and doesn't affect the strength of the mill. If you check out Crankandstein or Monster Mills, you will see they don't have anything on the sides on many models.

RandomSF said:

The Plexiglas on the sides is really just for dust reduction and doesn't affect the strength of the mill. If you check out Crankandstein or Monster Mills, you will see they don't have anything on the sides on many models.

Click to expand...

So there is plexiglass on the sides? From the pictures I see, it looks like Formica!?

reddskinnfan said:

Isn't this mill a bit cheaply made with the formica sides? How long have you had it? Any wear? Any dislikes? Do you have the Gear Drive option? Thanks!

Click to expand...

I have crushed in excess of 2000lbs with no problems whatsoever.

I do not have the gear drive option.

I have been driving it with a 3/8" electric drill up until this week. I came across 1/2hp motor and bought everything else to motorize the mill today.

At 10" wide solid steel rollers, it's the largest mill I know of.

Once I finish motorizing mine I will post pics. I plan to do it similar to this guy I found on youtube.

Monster MM-3 is my mill. Love it, never had a problem.

I have the BC gap set at .039 and hit 82% efficiency when I batch, 85+ when I fly sparge.
A very well made product and Randy the owner stands behinds his products!

Thanks for all of the great info!

I pulled the trigger on a MM-2 w/Stainless Steel rollers, 1/2' drive, and the 11# hopper. Will make the base myself, so I can increase it's size, install feet to fit right into a bucket, and ensure I can strap a drill to it.

Mike

The mill made it to my house, in less than two days! Fred Francis is the man! This thing is truly a MONSTER!

I put the hopper together, built a base, and set the gap to .039. Ready to grinde up some barley!

Mike

Nice. I love my MM2. I made the base to fit on a 5-gallon bucket so everything can nest compactly and live inside the bucket when I'm not using it. Thread with pictures

-Joe

Crankenstein 320D. .45 gap. Efficency - not certain. Hand crank. Wonderful. Montanaandy.