2 Roller Mill vs 3 Roller Mill for Conditioned Malt

I'm looking for advice and opinions on the pro's/con's of using a 2 vs 3 roller mill on conditioned malt. As simple as that.

Thanks in advance!

If you are milling your own grain, the issue of number of rollers becomes moot since you can always re-mill the grain at a reduced gap to provide similar results. In my opinion, the diameter of the rollers is far more important than the number. I was just reading in Kunze's book and it says that anything less than 250 mm (10") should not be used since the 'angle of nip' is too large. I have not seen that roller size available to homebrewers, so that is out of the question. But, this concept still has weight. Because of that, I would say that using the largest rollers available is a good idea. Going with something like the Monster 2" rollers may be as good as it gets for a homebrewer.

Are there any other mills out there with larger diameter rollers that are suitable (priced) for homebrewing?

Silentnoiz said:

I'm looking for advice and opinions on the pro's/con's of using a 2 vs 3 roller mill on conditioned malt. As simple as that.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

I use a motorized MM3 2.0 and condition almost all my grain. The only time I don't condition is when my buddies drop by to use my mill or when I'm brewing on my electric pilot brewery. Short side of the story... I mill a lot of grain both ways.

Key points to consider:

- 3 roller mills require large amounts of torque
- They demand even more torque when you tighten the gap (which you DEF want to do if you condition. Thats the point right?)
- Bump up that torque when you condition your grain

Bottom line.. you will need torque!


That said, after I condition my grain with 2.5% water and let it rest for an hour; the crush is simply beautiful. I have my mill set to .0032" and the grain almost looks like it wasn't even crushed b/c the husks are in such good shape. This nets me 87% brewhouse efficiency and allows me to recirc my mash (RIMs) with a high flow rate. When I do NOT condition the grain, you can see a very noticeable difference in the husk integrity. My buddy uses this crush with his Braumeister with 30# grists with no troubles. I use that crush on my continuous recirc ebiab with no issues either. My main 3 kettle RIMs system LOVES the conditioned malt though - in fact, Im mashing right now!

cheers,
~j

PS - SWMBO loves to dump grain into the Monster Mill and watch it get owned!

I think a 2 roller is perfectly adequate. I also condition. Had my rollers at .025 this last batch and that was too fine, I'm going up to .032. You also should crush at as slow a speed as possible, hand cranking speed is ideal but that really works a portable drill, even the beefy 1/2" models.

So, I don't see any reason to spend the additional bones on a 3 roller.

My 2 roller BC works well with conditioned grain. I keep mine set at .025 and always condition.

Funny you should ask. I listened to this podcast last night:
http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/605

John Palmer, Jamil Zainasheff, Tasty McDole, and Bob Hansen from Briess talk about milling grain and actually go into the 3 roller vs. 2 roller mill question. Check out the podcast. It's quite good.

Thanks for the great replies! I'm still up in the air on which to get. I don't know if the 3-roller is going to give me a better output (grist) or if it is just non-value-added excess. I'm just not sure. I've read tons on this subject alone, and one data point that is interesting is that the owner of C&S (I think it was C&S) personally uses a 2-roller mill. At the end of the day...both will make beer.

mabrungard said:

If you are milling your own grain, the issue of number of rollers becomes moot since you can always re-mill the grain at a reduced gap to provide similar results. In my opinion, the diameter of the rollers is far more important than the number.

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I certainly could re-mill, but I only want to have to run it through once and be done with it. And the diameter of the rollers makes a lot of sense, I was planning on getting the 2" rollers already, so that just confirms my plan.

jammin said:

I use a motorized MM3 2.0 and condition almost all my grain.

Click to expand...

I'm planning on motorizing (1/2hp probably) my mill, so torque applied shouldn't be a problem. Do you think you are gaining anything by having 3 rollers vs 2 on your conditioned malt? I guess to truly know, would need an A/B comparison. That would be an interesting test; put the same malt through a 2-roller and a 3-roller, both with the same (tightest) gap setting, and compare. I wonder if anyone has done that...?

hafmpty said:

Funny you should ask. I listened to this podcast last night:
http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/605

Click to expand...

Thanks for that link, I listened to it and it was a good listen.