Austin's Gunnar Maltmill

Did anyone else see the new Gunnar Maltmill from Austin Homebrew?

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=13124

It looks pretty similar to the Barley Crusher but with 6" rollers instead of 5" rollers?

They have it on introductory sale till next week and I am thinking of pulling the trigger since I am in the market for a mill.

If anyone has any thoughts or initial impressions let me know.

Seems decent enough. Wouldn't say it has the perfect size hopper...8lb isn't enough. I have a 7lb on my barley crusher and most of my 5.5G beers are 10-12lbs of grain so I fill it twice anyway.

what is their warranty like? Maltmill has lifetime warranty... although there is not really all that much that could go wrong with them.. it is nice to know you have that warranty, plus I like my 15lb hopper

Are these made in China?

DavidR said:

Are these made in China?

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Not likely, if it were made in China it would be $49, not $149

the sheet metal work looks a little cheesy... just my opinion

wilserbrewer said:

Not likely, if it were made in China it would be $49, not $149

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$100 margin isn't bad...

wilserbrewer said:

Not likely, if it were made in China it would be $49, not $149

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You'd be surprised at the mark-up of what you are paying retail for.

DavidR said:

Are these made in China?

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These are made in the good old USA.

Forrest

Forrest,

The warranty question has been asked a couple of times, but I have not seen an answer yet.

What is the warranty on this mill?

Thanks.

I worked out a Limited Lifetime warranty from the manufactuer.

Forrest

My wife surprised me with one the other day and it's a quality mill. The mill itself is a very heavy machined aluminum housing with serious rollers (wouldnt want to get a finger caught in there) that were shipped at .039 inches(confirmed with feeler gauges). Also the hopper is constructed of a very heavy gauge steel though it only holds around 7or8 lbs of grain. I found there to be nothing flimsy on this mill. I also noticed that the drive shaft has ground flats at 120 degrees so that those of you who wish to use your drills won't have issues with the chuck slipping. The hopper base has three rubber support grommets that happen to fit perfectly inside a five gallon bucket. I used it to grind 10 lbs the other day and it only took a few minutes with the supplied crank however I'm sure it would have been seconds had I dug out my screw gun. I will say that I've never used a barley crusher or the crankenstein mills so I can't compare but I'm very pleased with the Gunnar.

Matt, thank you for the report. We tried to make it as well as we could within the price range that is acceptable. The mill was designed and made in the USA. I am glad you like it.

Forrest

Update I just brewed this morning after crushing with the maltmill and my efficiency jumped from 70 at best with premilled grains to 80 percent. I'm a happy camper.