I need a mill

I am getting a mill. I want to get better efficiencies and this seems like a good way to control my process better. What do you think is better a roller mill or a corona mill. Any suggestions on what brand of mill would be awesome as well.

Thanks

I got Monster MM2 mill last month and I am more than satisfied. My efficiency is now at the 80"s, not to mention that I can buy grains in bulk and save some $.

Barely Crusher and Crankandstein are also great roller mills, I choose Monster because its drive shaft is integral part of roller..
I would say it this way: if you want ready-to-roll mill you should choose BC (it is built up already), and if you are willing to do some DIY Monster and Crankandstein are great deals.

I've got a Barley Crusher and always am in the 80's too. I like it, it works well.

cheap $29 corona mill on ebayway to go, save the extra money for some other gadget

Adjustable JSP Maltmill here. Buy a quality roller mill once and get it over with. The quality of the crush is important so the hulls remain as in tact as possible. The Corona style mills tend to shred the hulls.

Beach

It all depends on how much money you want to spend.

Thanks for the feedback, roller seems to be the way to go

Meant to vote roller style but accidentily hit the other one (damned touchscreen). Change the vote numbers accordingly.

I have a Barley Crusher (its what was available, in stock at the vendor when I needed to make the purchase). It has the 7# hopper but I wish it had the larger one. I might see if I can get it extended at some point, or just make one myself.

I just picked up a Weston like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Weston-Cast-Iro...all_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item415c02f980

Works great! I plan on hooking my drill to it but haven't yet. I was suprised how big it was and how quick you can grind by hand.

I was using a converted pasta roller to crush grain (cheap and it does work) but for speed and convenience, I upgraded to a Barley Crusher. Corona Mills work good too and are cheap. It really depends on do you want something that is pretty much DIY or ready to go? if you like DIY stuff then get a corona mill and have a blast making it into a grain mill and making great beer. If you prefer ready made, then get a roller mill and make great beer.

BTW..my Pasta Mill still works but it was starting to take 45 minutes to crush 10lbs of grain. that's less than 2 minutes on the barley crusher.

Another option http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm I use this, with good results.

I have a Barley Crusher and it serves me very well. Awesome crush, with efficiency towards 90% and no lauter problems.

shanecb said:

I have a Barley Crusher and it serves me very well. Awesome crush, with efficiency towards 90% and no lauter problems.

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I am in the exact same boat as Shane. I messed around with building my own mill and got inconsistant results. I actually NEED the highest efficiency possible, not to pat myself on the back, but because I live in an aparment and have a 7 gallon mash tun. With my own mill, it would take two hours to crush 15 pounds of grain and I was getting 73% efficiency. With the barley crusher I got for my birthday, I get 87% with a 45 second crush.

Those 14 points make all the difference on what beers I can brew. So barley crusher is all I can recommend since it is the only one I have used, but I am sure I would have, and you will be happy with any mill you choose!

I think i will be going for this guy:

Barley Crusher Maltmill

That is the exact mill I have. You can litterally take it out of the box and immediately start crushing grain!

The most difficult part about getting the Barley Crusher ready to use is cleaning all the shreadded paper packing material out of it!

Sweet! Thanks for everybody's imput

I'm consistently hitting 80% with my BC, and I haven't even touched the roller gap yet. I just need to pick up a feeler gauge so I can start setting it smaller until I get lautering problems.

I have mine in the "2 o'clock" position and get 87% with it and no lautering issues!

I went with the Victoria (Corona knockoff) for $23 to save some money. After some minor tweaking I'm getting mid 80's efficiency. If you are on a budget and like to DIY, save yourself the money and do what I did. It ain't pretty, but it gets the job done.

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

I just used my barley crusher for the first time this weekend and it worked great.

lawnboy51 said:

I went with the Victoria (Corona knockoff) for $23 to save some money. After some minor tweaking I'm getting mid 80's efficiency. If you are on a budget and like to DIY, save yourself the money and do what I did. It ain't pretty, but it gets the job done.

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

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THIS. Same mill, for the same price, been using it 2 1/2 years, get great results. And as far as "having to replace it," no, I don't think so. From what I can see, it'll go the distance.

Pappers_ said:

Another option http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm I use this, with good results.

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I have had one of these for 2 years .. I am not getting the crush I used to get (there is very little 'flour' in the crush, and I never get doughballs in the mash)


My eff has dropped from the high 60's to the low 50's .. I understand I cannot adjust this malt mill, so not sure what to do, except boost my grain bill.

As a final test, I will order some crushed grain from AHBS or NB, and see what eff I get.

Is there anyway to repair this mill, or should I bail for a B.C. ?

I have a barley crusher and I like it. However shipping was slooooooow. Don't plan on getting it for a month unless you go with something else.

I have both a corona knockoff and a barley crusher. Barley crusher is the best of both.
I made good ( and some great ) beer with the corona and so far the jury's out on the BC because I haven't tasted the final product, but if looking at the crush is any indication of what's to come, the BC wins hands down.

acefaser said:

I have a barley crusher and I like it. However shipping was slooooooow. Don't plan on getting it for a month unless you go with something else.

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I ordered mine in February from Rebel Brewer when no one else had any in stock. I had it in less than a week. Order from someone that has them in inventory and you'll have no issue. I would do this for any important items. IMO it's better to do that than have to get it shipped from the manufacturer which could add weeks to the ETA.

acefaser said:

I have a barley crusher and I like it. However shipping was slooooooow. Don't plan on getting it for a month unless you go with something else.

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Brewmasters Warehouse had then in stock a few weeks ago when I walked in a got mine..if they have them in stock they ship real quick.

kappclark said:

I have had one of these for 2 years .. I am not getting the crush I used to get (there is very little 'flour' in the crush, and I never get doughballs in the mash)


My eff has dropped from the high 60's to the low 50's .. I understand I cannot adjust this malt mill, so not sure what to do, except boost my grain bill.

As a final test, I will order some crushed grain from AHBS or NB, and see what eff I get.

Is there anyway to repair this mill, or should I bail for a B.C. ?

Click to expand...

try ordering grain crushed from Brewmasters Warehouse. Before I started crushing my own I was getting them to crush my grain and was getting 72-75% efficiency

BC right out of the box, hook to the drill 22lbs, no problem!