Maltmill-Adjustable or Fixed?

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hialtitude

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Making the jump to all-grain. :mug: I am piecing together my setup and I want to do things right the first time. I just built my Lauter Tun from plans on the forum (Thanks!!!). That being said I plan on buying bulk grains based on a few of my favorite styles. Should I get a maltmill with fixed width between rollers (0.045 inch gap) or go for the adjustable. Cost difference is around $30 from what I have seen. Who uses what? Thanks!
 
Brewiz and I have a co-op on the brewing hobby. I use a lot of his stuff and his knowledge and he is cool with it. He's Da' Man!!! :mug:

Brewiz has an adjustable mill and if and when you start to track your efficiency, you will see that the grain "crush" can play a part in higher percentages in efficiency.

Go for the adjustable - if you never use it, so be it... But if you need it, you got it!
 
Hops-4-Life said:
Brewiz and I have a co-op on the brewing hobby. I use a lot of his stuff and his knowledge and he is cool with it. He's Da' Man!!! :mug:

Brewiz has an adjustable mill and if and when you start to track your efficiency, you will see that the grain "crush" can play a part in higher percentages in efficiency.

Go for the adjustable - if you never use it, so be it... But if you need it, you got it!

Have you tracked it against pre-crushed?
 
I recommend the Barley Crusher. It's has adjustible rollers, a hopper and a handle that you can remove and use a electric drill to grind. It's also cheaper. Yes, I do adjust the rollers from time to time
 
Pre-crushed = You are putting some of your efficiency possibilities in the hands of the LHBS - they rarely change the "gap" on the rollers for different recipes / grains - so every grain is cracked the same. Could be good - could be not so good?

We have done 160 gallons of AG and all of them have been crushed by "The Back Yard Brewery" - aka Brewiz - and have been very high efficiency brews. I'll let him respond to the actual percentages.

When I purchase my mill (read - I'm using Brewiz's right now :) ) - it will be adjustable for sure. I want the ability to change as many aspects of my beer as possible to make it the best beer possible.

YMMV :mug:
 
Cheesefood said:
Have you tracked it against pre-crushed?

Yes I have, when I first went AG I bought my grain pre-crushed and was getting 70-75% eff. Now that I have my own adj. mill I have gotten has high as 96%. ;)
 
Go with a Barley Crusher and the 15# hopper.

It Rocks! :rockin:

MyBarleyCrusher.jpg
 
Definitely get an adjustable mill. Malt from different maltsters and from different seasons will vary in size. You actually don't have to adjust often once you get it set, but you don't want to be stuck with an arbitrary factory setting that may or may not be right.

If the cost is a deterrent, go with a Listermann PhilMill I. I have been using one for several years now and couldn't be happier with it. Right now they run about $110. It is only a single roller mill (they do make a double roller one) but even Dan Listermann states that it does a better crush than any of the double roller ones. The multiple roller mills tear up the husks slightly more than this single roller.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company
 
I have a fixed pitch mill (JSP) which I got for a good price. It works really well.
If I had an adjustable mill, I'd be worrying about whether I had it adjusted right.
I must admit that I only use 2 row barley, and occasionally a small amount of wheat.

-a.
 
Bugeaterbrewing said:
Definitely get an adjustable mill. Malt from different maltsters and from different seasons will vary in size. You actually don't have to adjust often once you get it set, but you don't want to be stuck with an arbitrary factory setting that may or may not be right.
Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Roger That :rockin:
 
I have the non-adjustablel JSP Malt Mill and my efficiencies have consistently been in the low to mid 80's.

Life is good. I'm happy. :ban:
 
I have the fully adjustable MaltMill. What sold me on the MaltMill to begin with was the 10" rollers. But pretty much any of the mills on the market will do the job. I used the adjusted spacing on my Wheat malt because it is smaller kernel size. I would spend the extra cash and get the fully adjustable if you are prone to experimentation and like to dabble in other grains etc. The default setting (equivalent to the fixed spacing) gives me a terrific crush with Barley.
 
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