Grain Mills - Your opinion?

I'm thinking about springing for a grain mill. Problem is there are a bunch of them out there and the prices are all over the place. If you have and use a grain mill, which one is it? Do you think it was a good mill for the money? If you were to buy another one would you buy the same one?

I'm doing 5 gal. batches of all grain so I'll typically need to grind 10-12 lbs. at a time.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

I have a Barley Crusher... I don't think much of it.
The rollers are small, which makes the feed stop sometimes.
The frame is not well assembled and can twist on the machine screws. If the frame halves become mis-aligned, they don't roll easily.
The frames are joined with aluminum sheet metal. They haven't bent, but they are pretty flimsy, and I was disappointed in how cheaply they are made.
If I was to do it over, I would spend a little more on something else.

My money will be buying a monster mill. I will go 2" rollers. I just can't quite decide 2- or 3-rollers. My tax return will be here soon.... I am leaning towards 2-rollers.

I have a Barley Crusher and it works great. I don't brew on a weekly basis and the times I've used it since buying it have been good. I don't crush grain very often and couldn't justify the increase in cost to the Monster Mill. I have no complaints for my Barley Crusher and get great efficiency crushing my grain. Of course there are parts that could be improved but then it would cost twice as much. Best of luck choosing.


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stainless steel mashmaster mini... mmmm.... stainless.... - plus it's geared. Of course, it's from Aussie...

Crankenstein 2 roller. I've used it for 10 - 12 batches at 20 - 26lbs each with 0 issues. I'd buy it again, no question. I drive it with an 18 volt Dewalt cordless drill on it's lowest speed/highest torque setting.

I have a Barley Crusher with the large hopper, and it works great for me. I power it with and electric drill and have never had any issues though I have probably only done about 20 to 25 batches with it.

Can't recommend a specific brand. (my mill was a bargain no-name) but I can offer a couple of suggestions.

- make sure the gap in the rollers is easily adjustable

- get the largest bin offered

Good luck.

Monster Mill MM2 gets my vote. Two 1.5" rollers.

The slightly more expensive 2" roller model, the MM2 2.0 may have a marginal edge over the 1.5" one, which you may not notice.

IslandLizard said:

Monster Mill MM2 gets my vote. Two 1.5" rollers.

The slightly more expensive 2" roller model, the MM2 2.0 may have a marginal edge over the 1.5" one, which you may not notice.

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I agree with this. I just bought the MM2 with 1.5 inch rollers. I had a barley crusher that served me well for many years and 1000's of pounds of grain. But, the monster mill is a step up for sure - ripped through the grain with ease. Easily adjustable.

My only complaint is it is screwing up my recipes . . . . . 88% efficiency on my last batch of Mild

I have the MM3 and love it. The out of the box settings crush perfectly for me and even my crappy craftsman drill can turn the mill.

Cereal Killer for me, no complaints at all. Price is awesome, it works great for my use.

I would mention that you should check the default crush gap though, because I found it to be a bit tight.

hunter306 said:

Cereal Killer for me, no complaints at all. Price is awesome, it works great for my use.

I would mention that you should check the default crush gap though, because I found it to be a bit tight.

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I love mine for price you just can't beat them

all the best

S_M

My Barley Crusher stopped working properly after ~5 batches. My monster mill 3 is still cranking out a perfect crush every time for the last ~20 batches. If you're going to get a crusher get the best one....

I bought the crappy Grain Gobbler from MoreBeer and it was a frustrating piece of junk. I then got a Monster Mill MM3 and have pretty much no issues with it at all, except I eventually got the larger hopper extensions, not I can easily dump 25+ lbs of grain in and let 'er rip.

No one has mentioned the Capt'n Crush from Northern yet. Assume it's too expensive for what you're getting, but I do like the design. Would be curious to hear anyone's thoughts on it if they have actually used it.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...grain-equipment/captain-crush-grain-mill.html

Ebay listing for the Aussie Mill, geared and stainless, I don't have one but it was mentioned on page one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/barley-crus...id=100033&prg=9336&rk=0&rkt=4&sd=171179049678

hairymare said:

Ebay listing for the Aussie Mill, geared and stainless, I don't have one but it was mentioned on page one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/barley-crus...id=100033&prg=9336&rk=0&rkt=4&sd=171179049678

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WOW! that's a grain mill

S_M

Thanks for your posts guys. It looks like the average guy probably needs to choose between the Barley Crusher and the Monster Mill. Like everyone else in this world, I'd like to get by with as little cash out for this as possible, but I have also learned that cheap usually buys junk. I guess it's a question as to whether the Monster Mill set up is worth the extra $60. Hmm.

Thanks again for your posts! Cheers!

I have the barley crusher with a small hopper and have been reasonably happy with it. I should throw the handle away instead of hanging on to it - I used it once and said never again. Now I use a HarborFreight mixing drill thingy, which works really well.

I have my gap pretty tight and double crush, so sometimes it's a pain since only one roller is powered - which means there's no crushing until a grain gets between the rollers and causes the 'slave' roller to turn. I think that's a pretty common design, so you might have to go high end to get around that.

I concur that you should get a big hopper - bigger than you currently need. Not much more expensive now, but replacing it will be significantly more - and I've rarely heard anyone say that they've downsized in this hobby...

fmr_army said:

(much cut...) I've rarely heard anyone say that they've downsized in this hobby...

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Well said.

abeasst said:

I have the MM3 and love it. The out of the box settings crush perfectly for me and even my crappy craftsman drill can turn the mill.

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I just went through the process myself of choosing a grain mill. I decided to go with the barley crusher, with the larger hopper. The price was fair, and it was reviewed very heavily. While there were a few negative reviews, overwhelmingly the reviews were positive.

I hope they were right. I've got 90 lbs of grain to crush.

I've got the CEREAL KILLER and I'm happy with it so far. However only three 15 gallon batches have been done.

I have a MM2 with a hopper and I am very very happy with it. Having never used a barley crusher personally, I can't say it is worth the extra $60.

Reading these posts 3 people have said they were disappointed with the barley crusher, two have switched to a monster mill, one has not. I found similar results when I researched my mill purchase, it seemed to me there were a few more satisfied customers with monster mills than there were with barley crushers. For me personally I would rather spend a few extra bucks up front and have a item that will last me a long time, and I will be happy with.

I also got the MM2 and have been very happy with my purchase. At it's current gap setting, I get a consistent 80% efficiency. I opted for the MM2 because MM, in general, get great reviews with few issues - and most issues are easily and quickly dealt with by MM. Also, the cheapest BC I could find was around $130 and I was able to get a new MM2+hopper+base for about $155 - I just had to supply my own crank/drill/motor. It was a no brainer to step up for an additional $25. I got my MM2 from NB during a time they had a 15-20% off coupon/sale, and I also had about $10 credit with them over a bunged order from a couple years ago; otherwise, it would have been closer to $165 out the door. Aside from my personal mill, the only other mill I have experience with is my LHBS mills which is a MM3 and produced consistent crush for ~74% brewhouse efficiency. MM definitely makes a good mill, but you'll have to spend a little more to get it.

I've done 4 batches with my Cereal Killer now and I'm happy with it so far. I'll be doing my 5th batch with it on Saturday. That's not a lot of usage to gauge long-term quality, but for what it's worth, I like it.

I just purchased a clone of the Barley Crusher from Ontario Beer Kegs, and it is pretty much what others say. It does what its supposed to but it's no cadilac thats for sure. I'm a little concerned how long the eccentric bronze bushings will last since I had to torque the hell out of the set screws to keep it from coming out of adjustment. Personally I am happy with it, I didn't want a top of the line model. I wanted something that would allow me to buy 55lb bags of grain at $37 CDN instead of $0.99 a lb plus shipping.

I got a Millars Mill (B3 model) for Christmas and I absolutely love it. It about the same price as a Barley Crusher but the quality is definitely superior. I liked the fact that it's 100% Made in the USA...that's important to me.
I hand crank 15 pounds of grain with relative ease. I love it and I'm sure it'll last for many many years


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I have a cereal killer as well. For the price I don't think you can really beat it. Performs well for my needs and I have probably run about 400lbs through it so far (about 30 batches).

I have a Barley Crusher, you definitely want to get the bigger hopper. I love it for the price. I tightened the gap and w/ grain conditioning I get 85% efficiency. I could probably go higher if I wanted to, but I don't.

I bought a $15 harbor freight corded heavy duty drill to power it, works great.

My only complaint is sometimes, when I load it up and and run it, it doesn't grab the grain right away and I have to shake it a few times to get it to start pulling the initial few kernals of grain. I easy rip through 25lbs of grain in a couple minutes.

I've been using a corona grain mill for about a year and a half now. It's cheap, and gets the job done. Looking forward to upgrading at some point. Ran into some issues this past weekend. My hopper (an old "pretzel keg" that I removed the bottom from) almost fell off which would have spilled 3/4 of my grain on the basement floor. On top of that, the corded drill I'd been using decided to overheat and crap out. But I guess that wasn't the mill's fault.

I think that I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of the cheap corona mill, and then some.

I have an MM2 and I am very happy with my purchase. I say this all the time around these forums but I'll repeat myself anyways; I think even if you get a good crush from you LHBS a mill is a worthwhile investment. It gives you another level of control over your process which helps in predictability and repeatability.

opiate82 said:

I have an MM2 and I am very happy with my purchase. I say this all the time around these forums but I'll repeat myself anyways; I think even if you get a good crush from you LHBS a mill is a worthwhile investment. It gives you another level of control over your process which helps in predictability and repeatability.

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I wouldn't have agreed with you had I not bought my own mill, but now I definitely agree. I was content with my predictability before my mill; I am now ecstatic with my consistency and efficiency. Is it absolutely necessary? No, but it does help. Plus, now I can have inventory on hand and come up with recipes based on what I have on hand and never leave the house

This has turned out to be a great thread. I hope that anyone who is interested in buying a mill will find this thread and read all the comments.

mblanks2 said:

Crankenstein 2 roller. I've used it for 10 - 12 batches at 20 - 26lbs each with 0 issues. I'd buy it again, no question. I drive it with an 18 volt Dewalt cordless drill on it's lowest speed/highest torque setting.

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+1. I have the 2A, run it with my old Ryobi cordless.

JSP Maltmill. I've ground 800+ pounds of grain so far and never had a problem.

-a.

ajf said:

JSP Maltmill. I've ground 800+ pounds of grain so far and never had a problem.

-a.

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Which model do you have?

recently upgraded from a corona mill to a cereal killer, loving the cereal killer.

masskrug said:

+1. I have the 2A, run it with my old Ryobi cordless.

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The Crankandstein setup looks kind of off-beat but practical. It appears a person can get a decent mill and still stay well under 2 bills. I like it.

I had the barley crusher for a few years, problems started year 2 and I eventually switched to a MM3. Liked that much much better but adjusting the gap was a real pain. Sold it and went to a MM2. 10 or so batches later I think it is the best compromise. I have the 2" rollers. I'd probably go for the 1.5" rollers if I were to do this over - my drill gets a bit hot if I mill 10 gallons worth! Still I am quite happy FWIW and YMMV & WTF etc.

Steve da sleeve