Mill Advice

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amrmedic

amrmedic

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Ok so I am getting a mill.

Any advice?

Crankandstein, Monster, Barley crusher?

2 or 3 roller?

I saw Monster has a 1.5 and 2" diameter 2 roller mill. What is the advantages of the bigger diameter rollers?

thanks
 
I can only speak about the Barley Crusher, as that's all I have or used. I love the thing and have no bad things to say.
 
amrmedic said:
Ok so I am getting a mill.

Any advice?

Crankandstein, Monster, Barley crusher?

2 or 3 roller?

I saw Monster has a 1.5 and 2" diameter 2 roller mill. What is the advantages of the bigger diameter rollers?

thanks
Click to expand...

If money isnt a problem then go all out with adjustable 3 roller with the biggest roller they got with a hopper to hold 25lbs of grain for 10 gallon batches :) I would assume the bigger the roller the bigger the surface area the more even the crush!!
Either way make sure u can hook up a drill motor to it + make sure it is gear driven! Have fun shop'n
 
IMO, any of the commonly available home brewing class of malt mills are capable of producing high quality grist regardless of the number or diameter of the rollers. My choice for best value, high quality desigan and construction would be the Monster Mill MM-2:

http://www.monsterbrewinghardware.com/mm-2.html

I would not recommend spending the extra money for a three roller mill, stainless steel rollers, larger diameter or gear driven rollers unless, of course, you just want to impress the neighbors. If that's the case, by all means go for it, but spending a lot of money on a mill will do nothing at all to improve your beer. Just my take on it, nothing more.
 
I have the Monster Mill MM-2, and think it's great. Great price too.
Only bit of advice is to get a set of feeler gauges to set your gap.
 
Catt22 said:
IMO, any of the commonly available home brewing class of malt mills are capable of producing high quality grist regardless of the number or diameter of the rollers. My choice for best value, high quality desigan and construction would be the Monster Mill MM-2:

http://www.monsterbrewinghardware.com/mm-2.html

I would not recommend spending the extra money for a three roller mill, stainless steel rollers, larger diameter or gear driven rollers unless, of course, you just want to impress the neighbors. If that's the case, by all means go for it, but spending a lot of money on a mill will do nothing at all to improve your beer. Just my take on it, nothing more.
Click to expand...

Is the MM-2 really worth the extra money compared with the one from Barley Crusher??
 
Golddiggie said:
Is the MM-2 really worth the extra money compared with the one from Barley Crusher??
Click to expand...

IMO, yes. The main reason that I would choose the MM is that the axles are an integral part of the roller. IOW, they are machined as a single unit vs. relatively short, press fit pins on the BC IIRC. I think the Crankenstein uses threaded pins. It's been awhile since I've taken a close look at any of these mills, so the designs may have changed since then. Something to look into though. There are tons of happy BC and Crankenstein users out there and the same for all of the other available mills. That's the problem when inquiring about mills in a thread like this. Only rarely will anyone tell you they do not like the mill they have and the problems they encounter are typically due to lack of or poor maintenance habits and not actually something wrong with the mill itself. The good news is that you can't really go wrong with any of them. Some people even use the Corona corn grinders or modified pasta makers as malt mills and they too gush all over them. Home brewers tend to be very brand loyal for some odd reason and will defend whatever it is that they happen to have no matter what. Are you a Chevy man or a Ford man, eh? IMO, mills is mills with only very minor differences from one to the next. Toyota for me BTW.:D
 
Yeah, I drive Toyota too...

JSP 2 roller gear drive adjustable Malt Mill for me. Works like a charm.
 
Catt22 said:
IMO, yes. The main reason that I would choose the MM is that the axles are an integral part of the roller.

I think the Crankenstein uses threaded pins.

Only rarely will anyone tell you they do not like the mill they have and the problems they encounter
Click to expand...

Sorry Catt22 as I have the highest respect towards you, I had to chime in.
Crankandstein mills use one solid piece of stock for their rollers and journals not "threaded pins"; http://www.crankandstein.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=18
enlarge the photo for a closer look of Crankansstein's rollers.

I do not like my mill, without I would have nothing to work with hence my time and labor machining and correcting the damage and problems as delivered NIB, it was not operational at all unless you are the type that can rebuild a watch with a sledge hammer.
 
I'm on a tighter budget than I would prefer, and have to go with what's in stock with vendors. So, I've just ordered a Barley Crusher, with a 7# hopper) from Rebel Brewer... Included a few other items with the order (some whole hops for a couple of coming brews). I wasn't able to find the Monster Mills (close to the same price range models) in stock, and I really don't want to wait a few weeks (or longer) before it ships from the manufacturer.

Time will tell how the BC holds up to my use.

For the record, I've been a Ford person so far. But, I'm rather soured on Ford these days due to issues with my Ranger that might not have been issues at all if they were designed a bit better. Not exactly sure what I'll get next time, but I'm going to shop around. It's more a matter of what will have the features I really want, at a rate I'll be happy with...

Anyway, I should have the mill (and other items) before the weekend. Which is good, since I'm about to have the 7 sacks of grain here (hopefully before the end of the week too)...

I'm not one to stick with a brand when they don't perform up to either expectations, or their claims.
 
Sounds good Natick, run the mill and get some miles on it.
FE diehard at this end in the 68 Camper Special, 454 FE.
Sold the 69 after 33 years at 922K miles, it's still on the road working hard.
Old school no smog. Left coast time for my nap.
 
BrewBeemer, should be putting at least 400 pounds of grain through the mill in the coming ~12 months... Good thing I have a strong cordless drill to power it... :D
 
That will get old fast, look into a parallel shaft or worm reduction motor drive system for it. Mill while doing other chores, I bet that cordless will eat batteries besides holding onto it will get old rather fast.
I see your into hoists, I have an old Eaton 1/2 ton chain hoist 120 volt must be 40 years old with a trolley. I'll locate a beam someday in the garage for lifting plus pulling engines. sack time seeing double.
 
Until I get a house, hoists and such are not in the cards... I'm more concerned with getting a fermentation chamber built before middle of spring comes along. That way I'll be able to keep brewing when summer hits... I'll probably need to either bottle condition in the basement, during the really hot weeks, or get another freezer to use for conditioning... Although, the fermentation chamber might do the trick during those weeks. As long as I have enough room for at least one primary, and the carbonating brews, I'll be ok... :D

Oh and I'll be using a decent amount of base malt when I brew MOAB (Mother Of All BarleyWine)... :D I'll post up the recipe either when I'm closer to actually making it, or when it's fermenting away... :rockin:
 
BrewBeemer said:
Sorry Catt22 as I have the highest respect towards you, I had to chime in.
Crankandstein mills use one solid piece of stock for their rollers and journals not "threaded pins"; http://www.crankandstein.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=18
enlarge the photo for a closer look of Crankansstein's rollers.
Click to expand...

Hey Carl, as I mentioned, it's been a couple of years since I handled a Crankenstein mill so they may have changed the design, but the drive shaft on the three roller version that I worked on was threaded and not integral. Not really a big deal either way if put together right.
 
Catt22 said:
Hey Carl, as I mentioned, it's been a couple of years since I handled a Crankenstein mill so they may have changed the design, but the drive shaft on the three roller version that I worked on was threaded and not integral. Not really a big deal either way if put together right.
Click to expand...

I didn't know Don made threaded mills way back when.
I do know Don answered many and all my questions and is one smart machinest, I have the highest respect of him. I've bounced ideas to him with always positive quick answers.
Did you notice the shallow step relief on the roller ends preventing the rollers from contacting the mill frames with the Crank mill? I applied this relief idea to my Monster Mill, polished the journals, knocked down the second idler roller knurling like Crank mill
offers then sent out for case hardening. Now the knurling as well polished journals are case hardened matching in clearance to replaced undersized bushings that were reamed to fit. This should extend this mills life.
Making a pinned rollered mill about a lifetime unit drill out then ream the roller ends then press in hardended steel dowels, basically cylindrical roller bearings with polished surfaces. Somewhere in the 50 to 58 RC hardness range. I bet this would run longer against oilite vs rollers with journals as a single machined unit. Heck going this far let the dowels run in sealed needle bearings, the knurling would wear out first even if case hardened.
Not going to happen with a $50 cost limit materials alone would be above it.
 
I ordered one of these and it should arrive this week:

schmidling.com/maltmill.htm

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Home Brew Talk
 
Ok, I did it. I went witht he monster mill 3 roller model and to save me the hassle, I got the base and hopper with it.

Now, I need some sacks of grain.
 
Now, does anyone know of a feeler gauge set that goes up to 0.065?

I found a bunch online, but most do not go up to that setting. But do you need a feeler gauge that high? Is there any type of grain that would require such a setting? I know most people run between 0.03-.04.

Thanks
 
amrmedic said:
Now, does anyone know of a feeler gauge set that goes up to 0.065?

I found a bunch online, but most do not go up to that setting. But do you need a feeler gauge that high? Is there any type of grain that would require such a setting? I know most people run between 0.03-.04.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Ummm, hoss, you can combine different fins of the gauge to MAKE the thickness you want/need... :rolleyes:

Such as combining 0.030 and 0.035 to get .065... The one I'll be getting/using is about 1/2" thick total... Old school from when my father was a mechanic and used it often...
 
BrewBeemer said:
I didn't know Don made threaded mills way back when.
Click to expand...

Maybe he didn't. I believe that there were a few mills put out there as Crankandstein mills by Fred just after he and Don split and before Fred renamed his business to Monster Mills. I've read various posts that those first few mills from Fred were pretty poor quality.

I have a new CS 3D mill, its a thing of beauty. And, it's made in America! Check those other mills, I bet they aren't.

Moose
 
MenkeMoose said:
Maybe he didn't. I believe that there were a few mills put out there as Crankandstein mills by Fred just after he and Don split and before Fred renamed his business to Monster Mills. I've read various posts that those first few mills from Fred were pretty poor quality.

I have a new CS 3D mill, its a thing of beauty. And, it's made in America! Check those other mills, I bet they aren't.

Moose
Click to expand...

IIRC, the Barley Crushers, Monster Mills, Crankenstein Mills and the JSP Maltmills and the Grain Gobbler are all made in the USA. There is one less common mill that I think is made in Australia, but it's very expensive and I don't know anyone who owns one. Can you point us to the various posts reporting/complaining of poor quality on the MM's, or is this just B.S.?
 
Thanks for the tip on the feeler gauge.

What is a decent starting place to set the gap on the rollers?

BTW-I do remember using feeler gauges to set the gap on points and spark plugs
 
Catt22 said:
IIRC, the Barley Crushers, Monster Mills, Crankenstein Mills and the JSP Maltmills and the Grain Gobbler are all made in the USA. There is one less common mill that I think is made in Australia, but it's very expensive and I don't know anyone who owns one. Can you point us to the various posts reporting/complaining of poor quality on the MM's, or is this just B.S.?
Click to expand...

Not on the open forum, I have a "gentlemen's agreement" between one mill manufacture and myself hence no more postings, pictures or comments.
This was brought up by me a couple years ago on HBT.
 
amrmedic said:
Thanks for the tip on the feeler gauge.

What is a decent starting place to set the gap on the rollers?

BTW-I do remember using feeler gauges to set the gap on points and spark plugs
Click to expand...

I'm using a .035 gap, do batch sparges and get between 75-78% efficiency.
 
Catt22 said:
IIRC, the Barley Crushers, Monster Mills, Crankenstein Mills and the JSP Maltmills and the Grain Gobbler are all made in the USA. There is one less common mill that I think is made in Australia, but it's very expensive and I don't know anyone who owns one. Can you point us to the various posts reporting/complaining of poor quality on the MM's, or is this just B.S.?
Click to expand...

Just B.S. I guess, because I'm not really willing to go searching through threads again about this to prove myself. It has been a long time since I was researching mills, but I spent days reading pages and pages of posts on various forums about them. There were problems with the rollers IIRC, and I remember Fred making statements about correcting the issues. As far as I know Monster Mills are currently a very good product.

I would be happy to know that all the other mills are made in the States, but I can't find anything on their websites that says so (Except for the BC which has a note on their ordering page that there will be a delay on new orders, but they feel its important that the BC is an American product of quality craftsmanship.).
 
I thought feeler gauges were used to set spark plugs. I remember as a kid helping my dads friend work on cars and having to use a metal shim like device to set the gap. Oh well that's why I went into medicine and not auto mechanics.
 
BrewBeemer said:
"Feeler gauges" are not the proper tool to gap spark plugs.
Click to expand...

Actually, back in the day where mechanic's were actual mechanic's not "service engineer's" they were the proper/correct tool to set spark plug gaps. With multi-point plugs, you don't set the gap anymore, but for any single point plugs, you want to make sure they are set to the correct gap for your vehicle, and that plug. Otherwise it won't run either right, or as well as it can/should.
 
Thats what I thought. I remember working on a big block chevy, helping during tune ups. No fancy computers or fuel injection. Back in the day when you could be a shade tree mechanic. Now you cant work on your own car. Hell even a simple oil change is difficult and on some cars require special tools.
 
amrmedic said:
Thats what I thought. I remember working on a big block chevy, helping during tune ups. No fancy computers or fuel injection. Back in the day when you could be a shade tree mechanic. Now you cant work on your own car. Hell even a simple oil change is difficult and on some cars require special tools.
Click to expand...

Bryan, i've got 20 years on ya still setting solid cams, MPI with tunable closed loop laptop as well open loop systems. BTW wire spark plug gauges are used for single or multi ground plugs. I can see using a feeler gauge when dealing with 3 piece rebuildable plugs of the 20's era and older, at 5:1 CR any gap was good enough. Nuff said.
Different thicknesses of SS strips stamped with the these thickness numbers be it three or four on a keg ring next to the mill is quick and handy way to check or change clearances.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I just got my mill today. I ordered it on my B-day as a present to myself and got it today.

It is beautiful. Now I have to attach the hopper and base, and find some grains to crush.

Cant wait til I crush my own grains and then brew with them.

Soon, I will be planting barley and hops in my back yard. The wife might get a little pissed but who cares.
 
Which mill did you end up ordered/getting??

As for planting barley and hops in the back yard... IF I had my own place, and enough land to do it (enough to make any sense at all), I would... Of course, I'm still single, so I don't have anyone else to try and keep happy... :D How many acres of land do you need to plant enough barley to use for the year??

I bet the wife will change her tune once she gets a taste of the first brew you make with your own ingredients... :rockin::drunk:
 
Well, for all I knew you were sitting on 100 acres... :mug:

Personally, once I have a house, or a landlord that's not an a$$hole, I plan on growing my own hops. If nothing else, I'll use them for flavor/aroma additions...

My own mill is due to arrive tomorrow... I'm planning on getting feeler gauges during the day, so that I can make sure it's gaped properly before running grain through it.
 

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