Is a cheap grain mill worth it?

I have my eyes on a cheap grain mill.

As opposed to the $70-$200 mills that you can buy from homebrew markets.

Anyway, is the cheap grain mill worth $20-$30, and is it the worth the hassle? Does anyone here love their cheap grain mill?

Love my Corona. Cheap. Effective. Efficient. Consistent. Enough. And that's all I need. It's not about the gear, it's about the beer.

I've heard nothing but good reviews about coronas.

+1 to a Corona mill, I love mine, I get 80+ efficiency and get to buy my grains in bulk.

+1 I love my corona mill, she gets the job done, and i dont mind turning the crank lol

A simple observation.

I went into my favorite LHBS where they sell $200 mills and filled my grain order as usual. When he went into the back room to mill my barley he forgot to close the door. I was blown away by a cordless drill attached to a bargain basement grinder.

Revvy's would be an upgrade!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/

Over 1030 posts and still going strong. I LOVE my Victoria. Buy one, do the bucket mount as discussed in the ugly junk thread, read about malt conditioning.

You won't be sorry and you probably won't go back!

Looking into a mill. Glad the Corona has such good reviews. Corona it will be. As soon as it is in stock.

Well not to poop all over the party, but I actually bought one of the cheapest corona-style mills out there through an Amazon partner and had lots of trouble with it. It was $25ish with shipping (Prime membership), and made from the cheapest materials. Had to replace all of the hardware on it and then the only bolt I could find to fit it wasn't metric (the mill is), so I had to cross-thread it with an imperial bolt... which subsequently has been stripped from using drills to drive it. And since we cross-threaded it, it's not going to back out. I can still make it work if I screw with it a bit, but it wasn't worth the trouble anymore.

So last week my two brew buddies and I broke down and spent the $150 on the Barley Crusher sold through Brewsmith's site for a small discount. Lifetime warranty and no-fuss exact crush settings are what sold me.

Don't get me wrong, you can do just fine with a corona-style mill, but just don't buy the cheapest one you can find, or you'll find yourself in my situation.

Also, +1 to the malt conditioning. That made a huge difference in reducing the amount of shredded husks.

Pistols,

Thanks for your point of view. It's good to consider all aspects.

Amazon sells one mill called Corona but it's actually a generic "Corn" mill they misspelled. And other various POS's (based on reviews) for around $30... The Victorya/Corona mill is harder to find and not that cheap I guess, around $60 retail or more.

This helped me realize I'm way too casual and too new to buy a mill, even a little one. My supplier cracks grains for me. And I don't want to buy bulk grains, so for now I have everything I need. Plus I just joined the star san cult so now I have to buy that.

I have the $20 Amazon special Victoria mill in the bucket a la "ugly junk" and it works fine. It took quite a bit of work to get it dialed in. If I had to do it over (and I still probably will at some point), I would work out a similar setup using a barebones JSP MaltMill for $85. A roller mill will give more consistent crush with less fiddling on setup.

HomebrewMTB said:

A roller mill will give more consistent crush with less fiddling on setup.

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Curious: do you mean granular consistency in each batch, or consistency across batches, or both, and what benefit do you expect to get from whichever consistency you are talking about?

I have a grizzly mill and it works great.

HomebrewMTB said:

I have the $20 Amazon special Victoria mill in the bucket a la "ugly junk" and it works fine. It took quite a bit of work to get it dialed in. If I had to do it over (and I still probably will at some point), I would work out a similar setup using a barebones JSP MaltMill for $85. A roller mill will give more consistent crush with less fiddling on setup.

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That was basically my experience too.

I love my Corona-style mill. I'd say if anything dial it in to crush slightly on the fine side and just vorlauf well when you sparge. Haven't had any noticeable tannins noted, including a contest beer. I am looking at conditioning but I always forget.

I have the cheap Victoria mill from Amazon for $20. It has crushed about 100# of grain so far, no problems.

Because of the shearing action of these types pf mills, it is important to do malt conditioning by adding water to make the husk more flexible tokeep it as whole as possible. I use .29 oz H2O per pound. I fill a spray bottle w/ water and set it on a scale and tare it. Then squirt and stir until I get to negative ( whatever the #/oz works out to). Then I mill.

Works like a charm.

I use a Corona mill and I don't "condition" the grain. Works like a charm, so it can't be all that important.

Alright... Whatever, can't ya just let me feel good about it for a little while?

Seriously, if I thought I was wasting my time I wouldn't be doing it. Kapisch ?

Just saying. I don't do it, get nice, whole husks, good crush and consistent good efficiency. So maybe you are.

there is no comparison between conditioned grain and not conditioned grain when milling that's why commercial breweries do it. try it and you can not fail to see the difference.

You see what you see. I see fine results without it. Look, I know people get "married" to their process "improvements". I know, too, that to appear to call them into question rankles people. These so-called improvements are, as often as not, simply following the herd. I'm saying I routinely use my Corona, routinely get a great crush, routinely get a good yield, and routinely get fine, whole husks. I didn't say you shouldn't condition. Though I do think there's a really good chance that you're wasting your time. But feel free. I crank my Corona by hand and I know that's a waste of time. Spend your time the way you like. Defend your sacred cows all you like. I don't do it, don't need it, do fine without it, and THAT is how I define "unnecessary".

I piss in my mill before crushing grain. Really helps with the hulls and getting mash ph down.

Pilgarlic said:

Look, I know people get "married" to their process "improvements". I know, too, that to appear to call them into question rankles people. These so-called improvements are, as often as not, simply following the herd.

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While I'm not arguing with you because I think you are correct on how people tend to adopt new things and then staunchly defend their process, have you ever conditioned your malt?


Source

You tell us which one you think is conditioned. Same crush settings on the same mill with the same amount of grain. One of those is far more likely to cause a stuck sparge than the other.

As an owner of a corona mill, I can tell you I'd never go back to running dry grain through it again.

i suppose the one on the left is the conditioned malt. Interesting I had never heard about that before.
I guess some research is in order.
PS: do I win anything if i guessed right?

ReverseApacheMaster said:

I piss in my mill before crushing grain. Really helps with the hulls and getting mash ph down.

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Customer - "this beer tastes like piss"
bartender - "because we piss in it!"
El Mariachi ftw

I don't have a problem with stuck sparges. None. There's no argument here. This process is put forward as somehow "necessary". Newer brewers will read that and accept it. They'll then repeat it as if it were gospel. Nonsense. It's simply NOT NECESSARY. Do it if it makes you feel better, or if it looks better in a jar, or for whatever reason you choose to do it. But I don't prefer to add unnecessary steps. With all due respect, YMMV, you're free to do as you like, et cetera.... have it your way.

Pistols, here's the conclusion from your source (emphasis mine): "I think that this is an advanced technique for the home brewer and that you should not worry about it as a beginner and even a veteran should only try it when there is interest in this subject. I like to do it because it makes me feel good about my process and it does offer some advantages. Once I figured out how the malt should feel, there were no more messes with the mill either. The mash seems better suspended, which should be a good thing especially with thin mashes, but the lauter can still get stuck when using lots of grain. But that must have to do with the amount of flour that is produced with my tight crush."

Your source and I seem to agree about this technique.

There is a very large difference between "cheap" and "inexpensive". Learn it!

Akavango said:

i suppose the one on the left is the conditioned malt. Interesting I had never heard about that before.
I guess some research is in order.
PS: do I win anything if i guessed right?

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You win 1 billion internets!

Pilgarlic said:

I don't have a problem with stuck sparges. None. There's no argument here. This process is put forward as somehow "necessary". Newer brewers will read that and accept it. They'll then repeat it as if it were gospel. Nonsense. It's simply NOT NECESSARY. Do it if it makes you feel better, or if it looks better in a jar, or for whatever reason you choose to do it. But I don't prefer to add unnecessary steps. With all due respect, YMMV, you're free to do as you like, et cetera.... have it your way.

Pistols, here's the conclusion from your source (emphasis mine): "I think that this is an advanced technique for the home brewer and that you should not worry about it as a beginner and even a veteran should only try it when there is interest in this subject. I like to do it because it makes me feel good about my process and it does offer some advantages. Once I figured out how the malt should feel, there were no more messes with the mill either. The mash seems better suspended, which should be a good thing especially with thin mashes, but the lauter can still get stuck when using lots of grain. But that must have to do with the amount of flour that is produced with my tight crush."

Your source and I seem to agree about this technique.

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Just let me say up front that I'm not arguing with you and agree that everyone should just brew their own way.

That said, you didn't answer my question: Have you ever done this?

There are advantages to doing this, whether or not it is necessary. The same is true for many aspects of brewing. I'm interested in making the absolute best beer I can, so I do this. Unsurprisingly, so do commercial breweries.

My source and you agree only in that you don't need to do it if there is no interest, but he also says he does it because he sees advantages. That's fine if you don't care, it certainly doesn't bother me. I also see the advantages, so I do it. That's why it gets recommended ad naseum. It also takes all of 5 minutes, so the only advantage I can think of to not doing it is you save a very small amount of time. That may make a difference to some folks either way.

My mileage showed that I got a lot less dust, way fewer shredded husks and I could crush a bit finer when I conditioned first. If you're doing a BIAB, then it's certainly not as advantageous, but it always was for me when using a MLT.

I used a corona style mill for a long time and recently upgraded to a Monster Mill. I started getting inconsistent results with mine, mostly due to needing to lock down the set screw better or some other thing. It was difficult to fine tune to the crush I wanted (it was either full kernals, powder, or crushed - no real shades in between). I could have continued to use it just fine and just deal with the little nuances it had. I typically got 70 percent efficiency although like I said, sometimes my crush was off and I had to remill or reset, etc. For me, I had a gift certificate and splurged on something I wanted. I know for sure now that the crush will be exactly the same time after time and there's less variability in my process, and therefore less hassle the night before or during the brew day. Did I NEED a new mill - no? But it's a nice to have and I really enjoy the dependability, configurability, and convenience it offers.

Pistols, people adopt new processes for all sorts of reasons. I usually make changes (and I'm changing my process constantly) because I have an idea as to how they will help me make better beer. I wouldn't add this process to reduce dust. I don't have a dust problem. I wouldn't add this process to reduce my stuck sparges. I don't have stuck sparges. I wouldn't add this process to get more whole husks. I get good whole husks that do the job and I don't brew to get whole husks, I brew to make good beer. I wouldn't do this so I can get a finer crush, because I'm not trying to get a finer crush. I would adopt this process if I believed it would make better beer. I don't. It's not necessary, I don't choose to do it, I don't mind if you do.

. Redacted

I got my cheap Corona knock-off as a Christmas present. I linked to one and was told that another was bought because of the price for shipping on the one I chose. I did a little tuning by adding some washers to set the spacing. I have adjusted the set screw for finer when doing BIAB and back for batch sparging. It has been very easy and quite consistent.

I don't know how long the thing will last but could go through 5 of them before getting to the price of a good roller mill.

In the mean time the savings have gone into making more beer!

Pilgarlic said:

Curious: do you mean granular consistency in each batch, or consistency across batches, or both, and what benefit do you expect to get from whichever consistency you are talking about?

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The output from a roller mill is going to be the same every time. No grain can make it past the rollers without being crushed the same fixed distance. The corona style mill is much more variable in what passes. Depending on how well the corona mill is setup, the tolerances, and play in the grinder wheels, etc can greatly affect the output. Some grains get ripped to shreds, others fall right through. I'm sure some are better than others and a lot depends on setup. I spent quite a bit of time and effort setting mine up (replacing the hardware etc) and have had much better consistency with conditioning the grain. YMMV

As I said, the corona style mill works fine but a solidly constructed roller mill will be more consistent. Whether the variability will affect the final product depends on your MLT design (braid, manifold, false bottom...), your process (fly or batch sparge), your expectations and your taste.

I'm currently looking at the Monster Mill not because I need it but because I want to reduce some variability in my process.

I noticed some uncrushed grains among my grist today. I have a corona style mill and conditioned it. I sort of think much of it has to do with a few other factors too though such as the kernel size variance. Some grain seems to have mixed kernel sizes making it tough to get smaller kernels crushed.

I also have decided to crush different grains separately in order to make sure the mill is crushing each sufficiently. I wonder sometimes if the kernels in say, NW Pale Malt are smaller than GW Premium 2-row. Wheat kernels can also be smaller, too.

I hope these factors are what's giving me the occasional uncrushed kernel. If they don't help I'll have to do more tweaking with the mill as I know many have great success with them.

I love my Victoria mill,its easy to set up crush and disasemble.It consistanly crushes grain well and only takes about 5 min or less to crush 2# of grain by hand.Or you can attach a bolt and use a drill if you have alot of grain to crush too.
Although i would like to get a barley crusher grain mill,i dont really need it. And i probably would get a better aeration system instead of using a paint mixer to aerate.
The only whole grains that dont get crushed are the very last few bits (or first few)that you have to tilt to get out of the mill. Otherwise no uncrushed grains here.

I've initially bought a Corona which I hated!2
The crush was awfully inconsistant. I think the 2 disks were not perfectly alligned and this resulted in flour and whole grains whatever the gap I would set it to.

I've used it for 4-6 batches with poor efficiency.

I've recently bought a barley crusher and it is so more convenient to use. My efficiency has raised by a good 10% which will reimburse it in a whiff.

I bet some coronas are good but mine was awful. In addition, I hated the vise system to hook it somewhere. Placing a barley crusher on top of a 5gal bucket is so much more convenient for me.

Enjoy your brewing

jchudon said:

I've initially bought a Corona which I hated!2
The crush was awfully inconsistant. I think the 2 disks were not perfectly alligned and this resulted in flour and whole grains whatever the gap I would set it to.

I've used it for 4-6 batches with poor efficiency.

I've recently bought a barley crusher and it is so more convenient to use. My efficiency has raised by a good 10% which will reimburse it in a whiff.

I bet some coronas are good but mine was awful. In addition, I hated the vise system to hook it somewhere. Placing a barley crusher on top of a 5gal bucket is so much more convenient for me.

Enjoy your brewing

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They say that the trick is to set up the rotating disk so that it is loose on the spindle and let the pressure of the grain equalize the distance.

But i haven't had the time to set mine up and test it yet.

Consistency of the particle size in a crush MAY have an effect on lautering efficiency. I've heard it said, but then we've heard pretty much everything said. Anecdotes here and elsewhere would suggest that the particle size also has an effect on extract efficiency. There's much science, though, that suggests otherwise. For those interested, check this out. Much good information: http://www.scientificsocieties.org/jib/papers/2005/G-2005-1123-280.pdf

Pilgarlic said:

Consistency of the particle size in a crush MAY have an effect on lautering efficiency. I've heard it said, but then we've heard pretty much everything said. Anecdotes here and elsewhere would suggest that the particle size also has an effect on extract efficiency. There's much science, though, that suggests otherwise. For those interested, check this out. Much good information: http://www.scientificsocieties.org/jib/papers/2005/G-2005-1123-280.pdf

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I'm talking about kernel size, such that larger kernels are crushed with some flour and smaller ones aren't, or all aren't crushed. I noticed that with my batch Saturday and wondered if I should just crank it down more or crush each different grain separately.