Scmidling Maltmills or Barley Crusher

So, I've been looking at going AG and using Deathbrewer's stove-top method.
Enquiring minds wanna know: Schmidling Maltmills or Barley Crusher?

BC... it is fully adjustable, costs less, larger hopper... cant see a downside. Then again, I own a BC... so I am biased.

Yeah, I noticed at AHS (no offense to Forrest) the Schmidling is, like 144.99. At Brewmasters Warehouse the 15lb BC is 145.00. So now, it just comes down to quality.

hcarter said:

it just comes down to quality.

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Don't know about the Schmidling, but the Barley Crusher has a lifetime warranty. I've owned one for a year and half with no problems.

+1 for the Barley Crusher. I have had mine for 2 years...its great

AHS sells Schmidling Malt Mills but USES Barley Crushers... so does Brewmasters and others. That should say something.

I used my barley crusher the first time today. I've never noticed anyone say anything bad about any of the roller mills--you can't go wrong with any of them. It cost less so I bought it. It made the best looking crush I've seen, even Midwest's and they use a barley crusher too. I just broke my hydrometer so I don't know how if it helped efficiency or not.

The Pol said:

AHS sells Scmidling Malt Mills but USES Barley Crushers... so does Brewmasters and others. That should say something.

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I wonder why they use one mill but sell another. There must be something simple I am missing. If I used a mill in my shop, I would try very hard to sell that mill. Maybe becoming a distributor for the BC isn't all thast easy. {shrug}

I think the BC is the best for the price. They seem to be more widely used, and when every HBS that I know of uses them, that sayes a lot, to me anyhow.

According to the descriptions from Midwest, the BC can be connected to a drill without modification, but maybe the maltmill cannot?

Why not something like this? Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Grizzly H7775 Cast Iron Corn / Grain Mill

Too slow? One of the reviews said it takes 3-5 minutes per pound of grain. If this is true, you could be turning that crank for an hour! The weird thing is, he gave it a good score and so did the other brewers who left reviews. Either that guy was wrong about the speed or they all have tons of time to waste. I'd love to save some money by getting this but not if it means turning the crank for an hour.

I have a Schmidling, and it eats Barley Crushers for breakfast.

Seriously, the Schmidling is great, and I've been using it for years without any problems. I also got it much cheaper than a BC, and the HBS uses it.
Whichever one you get, I think you would have to look really hard to find somebody who is using one, and is not satisfied with it.

-a.

ajf said:

I have a Schmidling, and it eats Barley Crushers for breakfast.

Seriously, the Schmidling is great, and I've been using it for years without any problems. I also got it much cheaper than a BC, and the HBS uses it.
Whichever one you get, I think you would have to look really hard to find somebody who is using one, and is not satisfied with it.

-a.

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True true... still I have never been able to find a fully adjustable Schmidling for $120... and never with a 7 or 15lb hopper.

The Pol said:

True true... still I have never been able to find a fully adjustable Schmidling for $120... and never with a 7 or 15lb hopper.

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I was hoping that someone who had a Schmidling would chime in, but, Pol where did you find a BC for 120.00? I haven't been able to find it for much less than 145.00

hcarter said:

I was hoping that someone who had a Schmidling would chime in, but, Pol where did you find a BC for 120.00? I haven't been able to find it for much less than 145.00

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My LHBS sells them for $120 even, with the 7lb hopper.

Brewmasters Warehouse sells them for $125 with the 7lb hopper.

I am sure there are more places.

Look, you can buy a Schmidling for what, $180 for the fully adjustable one with a 3lb hopper, or the NO adjustment one for $145 with a 3lb hopper.

Id pay $125 for the Barley Crusher, more than double the hopper size, and have full adjustment for $55 less than a Schmidling with a teeny weenie hopper. Brewmasters will ship it for 6.99 as well.

This is just my opinion, but there is much more value built into the Barley Crusher

The Schmidling from ALL accounts is a great mill, youd be happy with it, I just wouldnt be happy with what it costs me, when I could get more options on another great mill for much less.

I have a Schmidling. Non adjustable. Bought it used for $50 and see no reason to get a different mill. IIRC, gap is set at 45mm so, I may have some issues with wheat if I ever do one. I suppose I could always run twice or thrice.

Ran the mill with a Dewalt for years, as did the original owner. Now it's powered by a personal tactical skud. :rockin:

GilaMinumBeer said:

I have a Schmidling. Non adjustable. Bought it used for $50 and see no reason to get a different mill. IIRC, gap is set at 45mm so, I may have some issues with wheat if I ever do one. I suppose I could always run twice or thrice.

Ran the mill with a Dewalt for years, as did the original owner. Now it's powered by a personal tactical skud. :rockin:

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My points are only valid if talking about buying a new mill. If someone gives him a FREE Schmidling... well, that is a better deal than buying a Barley Crusher.

The Pol said:

My points are only valid if talking about buying a new mill. If someone gives him a FREE Schmidling... well, that is a better deal than buying a Barley Crusher.

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I was actually replying to an earlier thread but did not quote. Someone sed something about wanting an actual JSp owner to chime in.

Honestly, if I were to buy a new mill I'd prolly get a 3 roller Monster Mill.

Cause they so purdy!

hcarter said:

Yeah, I noticed at AHS (no offense to Forrest) the Schmidling is, like 144.99. At Brewmasters Warehouse the 15lb BC is 145.00. So now, it just comes down to quality.

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Make sure you realize that the $145 Malt Mill at AHS is NOT adjustable. Having a fully adjustable mill for the same price would be a HUGE convenience.

Barley Crusher. Lifetime warranty, great customer service and ready to go out of the box.

It slices, it dices... it can skin the skin of a tomato... AND A LIFETIME WARRANTY!

The Schmidling also has A LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Mine is non adjustable, and I was a little concerned when I bought it (for less than $100) that this could be a problem. However, the lack of adjustment hasn't been a problem for me. In fact, it's a benefit as I don't waste any time adjusting it, or run the risk of the adjustment slipping.

-a.

Yeah, Id still buy a fully adjustable mill for $125 before I bought a non adjustable mill with essentially no hopper for $145... cmon.

The Pol said:

Yeah, Id still buy a fully adjustable mill for $125 before I bought a non adjustable mill with essentially no hopper for $145... cmon.

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Yeah, but the non adjustable mill doesn't cost $145. You can get it from Schmidling for $110, and quite possibly cheaper from other places.

Why do you find it necessary to inflate the price of the one you don't have by at least $35... cmon

Yes, it has a smaller hopper, but longer rollers, so it grinds faster. That makes up for the few seconds it takes to refill the hopper.

As I said, non adjustable is actually a benefit for me.

I think lower price, and faster grind is worth weighing against a larger hopper and adjustability, and to let a potential purchaser decide what is important to them.

-a.

The OP is the one that said it was $145 from AHS. And he is right, that is why I used $145... not inflated, just retail.

Okay, so it is $110 plus $18 for shipping. So, $128... so it is about the same as the Barley Crusher. My bad.

One thing that is important to me (at least) is to be able to use it out of the box. I may not adjust the rollers right away, but I may want to. I'm not a handy guy, which really sucks for the kinds of hobbies I have (brewing, BBQ), so I am not good at the whole DIY thing. Because of that, I have to be willing ( I think) to pay a little more for the ease of use. I'm gonna look more into it, but right now I think the BC may be the way to go.

hcarter said:

One thing that is important to me (at least) is to be able to use it out of the box. I may not adjust the rollers right away, but I may want to. I'm not a handy guy, which really sucks for the kinds of hobbies I have (brewing, BBQ), so I am not good at the whole DIY thing. Because of that, I have to be willing ( I think) to pay a little more for the ease of use. I'm gonna look more into it, but right now I think the BC may be the way to go.

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Yeah, if you dont want to adjust the BC, it comes pre-adjusted to .039" which is a perfect gap many would say. It is ready to go right out of the box.

Have you adjusted your mill? If so, what did you adjust it to and how easy or difficult was it?

taylornate said:

Why not something like this? Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Grizzly H7775 Cast Iron Corn / Grain Mill

Too slow? One of the reviews said it takes 3-5 minutes per pound of grain. If this is true, you could be turning that crank for an hour! The weird thing is, he gave it a good score and so did the other brewers who left reviews. Either that guy was wrong about the speed or they all have tons of time to waste. I'd love to save some money by getting this but not if it means turning the crank for an hour.

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I have one of those, it's a corona style mill, different from the roller type being discussed here. It's a comparitivly very cheap alternative and works fine for me. It can be easily adapted to run off a drill. Yesterday I did 16# of grain in around 10 minutes.

I imagine the roller mills are easier to fine tune though. And I gather they do a better and more consistent job. The Barley Crusher crushes, the corona mill grinds. I am happy with my corona mill unless I can suddenly spare the extra cash to upgrade.

hcarter said:

Have you adjusted your mill? If so, what did you adjust it to and how easy or difficult was it?

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Buy a $3 feeler gauge at an automotive store... (thin strips of metal that are precisely measured). You loosen two screws, slide the feeler between the rollers, turn the adjustment knobs until the rollers squeeze the feeler, then tighten the screws.

If you can open a jug of milk, you can adjust a Barley crusher to within .001"

I use a .035" feeler and it took me, oh, 30 seconds to adjust mine.

My Barley Crusher came unassembled for Midwest. I needed a screwdriver and 10mm wrench to put it together. Maybe they did that to make it more easy to ship?

I didn't adjust it and I don't think I will need to.

I got an old non-adjustable Malt Mill for free, when the LHBS and Brewery bought a BC. I put new bushings in it, reknurled the rollers,and I have powered it with a Bodine AC Gearmotor. I automatically crush twice for everything, due to a wider gap than I would prefer. I use a 5 gallon water bottle with the bottom cut off for a hopper. But it does eat grain like a Mo-Fo, I'll give it that.

But I would not buy one, no matter what it cost.

If I was buying new, my first choice would be a 3-roller Monster Mill, but I would be doing a powered stand and make my own hopper. I can't vote in the poll.

No one b!tches about the BC, and if you are unwilling or unable to build a hopper, your decision is easily made. -LHBS's are using them to control grain crush better. Unsatisfied grain customers hurt business.

Conroe said:

My Barley Crusher came unassembled for Midwest. I needed a screwdriver and 10mm wrench to put it together. Maybe they did that to make it more easy to ship?

I didn't adjust it and I don't think I will need to.

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See, that, and apparently the adjusting, I can do. I am continually amazed at some of the things that are built on this forum.

Conroe said:

My Barley Crusher came unassembled for Midwest. I needed a screwdriver and 10mm wrench to put it together. Maybe they did that to make it more easy to ship?

I didn't adjust it and I don't think I will need to.

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SWMBO ordered mine for a Christmas present a while back. It came fully assembled with the 15# hopper.

Ready to Rock, Roll, & Crush, out of the box.

I have never heard of an UNassembled Barley Crusher... did they dis-assemble it before they shipped? Weird. Anyhow, they are god-awful simple! They crush REALLY well, and the husks are all in-tact.

Depends, if you want to do something custom with it or motorize it get a monster mill...or at least something fully adjustable with a 1/2" drive shaft.

If you don't care about building it to your needs and just want something that works out of the box then get the barleycrusher.

I don't know why mine came needing put together. It was all packaged separate and neatly in the same box as my other things. I don't really care.

Ya know, I went and looked at the monster mill very briefly.I hate when companies don't sell you a complete item. 40.00 for this 15.00 for that. I was on the website for maybe 30 seconds. I could've missed something, but I really don't like that.

Guess I'm in the minority of JSP owners.I bought mine from JSP direct.It's a one side adjustable barebones and cost $99+$13 shipping.I welded up a 20lb. capable aluminum hopper and made a base for it and power it w/ a corded slow 1/2in drill.While fabbing the parts to make it useable I really wished I had bought a Barley Crusher for the out of the box usability but it's all good now.The other concern was the one sided adjustment but it turns out that the gap stays pretty even all the way across except for about the last 1 1/2 inch of the rollers.If I had to do it over I'd probably buy a Barley Crusher though.In all actuality I believe it is the better value per dollar.