Why'd you pick the grain mill you did?

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the_bird

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Lots of people, it seems, have been investing in grain mills. I'll be biting the bullet and buying one in the next month or two. I'm curious why people picked the one that they did - Barleycrusher, Crankenstein, whatever. I know I'll be happy with whatever mill I buy, but I'm curious why people make the decisions that they did.

Discuss...
 
I bought a Barley Crusher based on reviews, and for the price it was ready to use out of the box. I think with the Crankenstein it would have cost more or I would have had to build a hopper.
 
Yeah, This is one I've been pondering for awhile now also...Gonna start milling my own soon as the new year rolls in. To be honest a mill is on my Christmas list(He-He).
Let us know which and why. Shane
 
When I started doing PM recipes, I bought a Porkert (Corona-style) mill because it was dirt cheap and good enough for PM or steeping. I have been using it ever since, now for my AG batches (after motorizing it), but I keep saying my next big purchase is a Barley Crusher. It is a well-priced, 'turnkey' product, and has received excellent reviews from anyone that uses one. And now that I have seen this, I am completely convinced.

Having said all of this, I might never give up my old mill -- I am now getting consistent efficiency in the high 70's or low 80's and just can't bring myself to replace it. But I gotta say -- those Barley Crushers sure look like one nice piece of kit! I am sure I will switch one day.
 
I bought the Barley Crusher based on what other satisfied customers have said. Plus the warranty is fantastic and it is ready to go right out of the box. The price is very fair when compared to other similar crushers. I keep mine in the box it came in. I just crushed 21 pounds with my cordless drill. I knock the dust into my bucket and the BC goes back in the box and back on the shelf till my next brew day (or a neighbor's brew day :) )

In simple terms, the Barley Crusher simply ROCKS!
 
I bought the Porkert also. And again because it was cheap. I get 75% plus on efficiencys and my beer comes out great with no astringency from shredded husks evident to me. I have no intentions on buying another mill just yet.
 
Bought a Barley Crusher for 2 simple reasons.
1. Didn't have to build a hopper for it
B. Price

It works fantastic! :rockin:
 
I was given a porkert mill for Christmas last year. I motorized it and added a large hopper for a total of about $4.00 CAD and I absolutely love it. I get low to mid 80's when batch sparging and no astringency at all.

That said I plan to get either a barley crusher or maybe one of the crankandstein 3-roller models some day. But I'm not at all in a hurry.
 
When I was ordering, it was cheaper for me to get the Crank when I looked at total package with shipping.

Just forget that there's any quality difference between the two and pick the one for your budget.
 
I bought the 3 roll Crankenstein because I like the idea of two crushes in one pass. Does a fantastic job.
 
got the pricess auto version of the corona mill for $20.00.
if i had unlimited funds it would have been a barley crusher.
that said i get 75-80% efficiency and 30 minutes of excercise hand grinding 10 lbs of grain for each batch !
 
I took a look at both out-of-the-box models side by side at a brew outing. The Crankandstein appeared to be a more solid set-up to me and I believe the rollers are thicker. Their guarantee was pretty impressive too.

The delivered price makes them pretty much equal.
 
I'm leaning towards BarleyCrusher; with the 7# hopper, it's only $120 + $6 shipping through Northern Brewer. Just gotta convince wifey to let me buy my birthday present a month and a half early!

Glad to hear about the "ease of adjustment" factor; that's a biggie for me, I want to be able to fine-tune my crush.
 
rod said:
got the pricess auto version of the corona mill for $20.00.
if i had unlimited funds it would have been a barley crusher.
that said i get 75-80% efficiency and 30 minutes of excercise hand grinding 10 lbs of grain for each batch !

I got the basically the same thing at Northern Tool for $14
I took the handle off, installed a bolt, use a drill and I'm done in 4-5 minutes
 
i went with the crank and stein for the price. The only thing I wish it had that I didnt get was a bigger hopper. As of now I can only hold about 9 lbs of grain at a time.

Other than that, for an adjustable mill I love it and have no complaints what so ever
 
Took an HBT poll. Barley Crusher came out on top. Bought it. Very happy with it. 80%+ eff. with factory crush setting. That's all she wrote.
 
dblvsn said:
Bought a Barley Crusher for 2 simple reasons.
1. Didn't have to build a hopper for it
B. Price...

Same here. Plus, I didn't have to make any adjustments to the BC for use with my household 3/8" drill. At the time I bought mine, they were running a special price on it, too. That sweetened the deal too much in the BCs favor!:)
 
I've always got plenty of scrap wood around and the tools to work with it. Making the assumption (risky I know) that quality is directly related to price, I figured if the pirce was roughtly equal, then the mill without the hopper would be of even higher quality since the extra $ went into the mill and not the hopper. I went with the 3 roller Crankenstein and love it. Very easy to adjust.
 
Instant gratification. I was just starting all-grain, found a little brew store in Amsterdam, picked it up. Corona mill, cost about 50 Euro. Wasn't a great deal, but gets the job done just fine. Makes me feel like a little more sweat goes into my brews :D
 
Has anybody used both a BarleyCrusher and a basic Crankenstein model (one of the models that's around $120 or so, which is what I'm budgeting for this purchase)? I have the wood and just enough skillz to put together a hopper if need be, so the cost between the two of them would be about the same. Does the Crankenstein "win" in any regard other than looking to be more robust?
 
the_bird said:
Has anybody used both a BarleyCrusher and a basic Crankenstein model (one of the models that's around $120 or so, which is what I'm budgeting for this purchase)? I have the wood and just enough skillz to put together a hopper if need be, so the cost between the two of them would be about the same. Does the Crankenstein "win" in any regard other than looking to be more robust?

Rollers on the Crank are thicker, so you have more surface area. That equates to less wear and tear in the long haul.

Looks like Crank's website is down.
 
the_bird said:
Has anybody used both a BarleyCrusher and a basic Crankenstein model (one of the models that's around $120 or so, which is what I'm budgeting for this purchase)? I have the wood and just enough skillz to put together a hopper if need be, so the cost between the two of them would be about the same. Does the Crankenstein "win" in any regard other than looking to be more robust?
I don't have a BC, but I can tell you that I have a crankandstein 3 roller, and you will need a good drill to run that machine if you choose it. I smoked a 5.2 amp corded B&D with a fine crush set on the second gap. And for a hopper, I considered the hopper a waste of money; I find a 5 gallon water jug works great. You can put it on a scale and measure your grains for extra convenience (if you have a scale with the range). I didn't care for either manufacturer's design.
 
mr x said:
I don't have a BC, but I can tell you that I have a crankandstein 3 roller, and you will need a good drill to run that machine if you choose it. I smoked a 5.2 amp corded B&D with a fine crush set on the second gap. And for a hopper, I considered the hopper a waste of money; I find a 5 gallon water jug works great. You can put it on a scale and measure your grains for extra convenience (if you have a scale with the range). I didn't care for either manufacturer's design.

Thanks, that sounds like my corded drill. It sounds like from the link Cheese posted (thanks, bro!) that the Crankenstein, while a bit more robust, needs a bit more OOMPH to power it.
 
I have the cheapest Crankandstein that is still adjustable. I'll say that this might be an isolated case, but I found that the bore for the bearings wasn't made perfectly perpendicular to the side plate (or maybe the bottom edges of the end plates are not squarely cut). The reason I suspect this is when I mounted to an absolutely flat base, the rollers got really tight. When you bow the base by pressing on the side, the rollers spun free. I triple checked that it was indeed a flat surface and it was. I basically had to shim the side plates of the mill to make it spin free. Not so great.
 
the_bird said:
Thanks, that sounds like my corded drill. It sounds like from the link Cheese posted (thanks, bro!) that the Crankenstein, while a bit more robust, needs a bit more OOMPH to power it.

That's fo' shizzle. My 18v cordless couldn't turn wheat through it. You do get a fantastic crush out of it though. I've yet to get lower than high 70's on efficiency.
 
Beauty. I bought un-crushed grains this time so things would be as fresh as possible. I couldn't remember which model you had purchased, I just remember being a wee bit too late to grab the Corona from you!
 
Just bought the barleycrusher last week. It's en route. Decided to go with it based on reviews and research.
 
I bought the Barley Crusher because it was the best bang for the buck. It works great with an electric drill.
 
Northern Brewer is out of them per their website. Serves me right for waiting...
 
I gotta ask....


does anyone here actually use their handle instead of a drill? Do your arms look like Popeye's?
 
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