Is a cheap grain mill worth it?

Williams 728
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tre9er said:
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.
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For what it's worth, I adjust my settings while crushing. Usually to adjust to different kernel sizes.

I know many who successfully just crush the whole bill VERY fine and have no problems, but I still like to try to get a mixture of larger and smaller particles from each grain.
 
I've been thinking of just cranking it down more. I haven't had issues with stuck sparges and use some rice hulls with most batches that are thick. Might as well try it. I use hose braid.
 
I suspect that if you were to set the mill to give you a good crush on your smallest-kerneled grain you'd be fine. I use a braid, too, rarely change it and it works great.
 
I thought I had it where I needed to be but Saturday I did a GB that had 6lbs. 2-row and 5lbs. NW pale ale malt. Afterwards I noticed maybe 1% uncrushed grains, maybe 1 or 2 per handfull. Of course I noticed it right as my preheat was done and strike was coming down. I have the bolt instead of cotter pin, but I still wonder if my mill is grinding inconsistent.
 
I'm sure it's crushing inconsistently. I think it's the nature of this beast. Using my Victoria corn mill I keep an eye on the milled grain throughout the process and adjust as necessary.
 
I have a real corona brand mill I got some 20 years ago (it sat dormant for around 18 of those years). It gets the job done, but by the nature of how they work, it shreds rather than crushes and I find I have to reset it often. Overall I would say it's definitely sub-optimal compared to a mill that actually crushes and will likely replace it at some point with a crusher.
 
I don't mind the shredding, haven't had tannins or astringency. Don't mind flour and fine crush, haven't had stuck sparge. I just hate realizing I have undercrushed grain. I put that on me for rushing through the crush and not taking time to check it. I also need a 1/2" drill as my 3/8" really hates running the mill and is part of the reason I rush to get it over with.
 
After reading this thread I was going back and forth in my mind as to whether I should have bought my $180 grain mill.(not yet delivered) But from what I hear it's as good as or better than the others on the market and I like to have the best equipment I can afford anyway...If I don't get any stuck sparges then I will consider it money well spent and leave it at that.
 
I'd rather get a CO2 tank and a soda keg to play with first. Coz bottle conditioning is killing me.

There's no reason my supplier shouldn't be completely able to mill this stuff and I have no desire to buy bulk. But if I had more room and more time to experiment, I definitely would get a mill.
 
Played around with my Corona style mill last night. Did notice that the rotating plate is uneven and thus 2/3 of the time it's close and 1/3 of the time it's further away from the fixed plate. I tried filing down the shaft it mounts to on one side to counteract, tried various bolts and washers through the collar that holds it on, nothing worked.

In the end I conditioned some grain and ran it through until there were no uncrushed kernels. There was a fair amount of flour but plenty of husks to create a lauter bed. The big difference here is that with the fine crush you'll likely need to vorlauf a bit more but I have been running off 3 pints and then it's clear.
 
tre9er said:
Played around with my Corona style mill last night. Did notice that the rotating plate is uneven and thus 2/3 of the time it's close and 1/3 of the time it's further away from the fixed plate. I tried filing down the shaft it mounts to on one side to counteract, tried various bolts and washers through the collar that holds it on, nothing worked.

In the end I conditioned some grain and ran it through until there were no uncrushed kernels. There was a fair amount of flour but plenty of husks to create a lauter bed. The big difference here is that with the fine crush you'll likely need to vorlauf a bit more but I have been running off 3 pints and then it's clear.
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Usually on these mills, the little nut type thing that the cotter pin rests against has two sets of channels on it.

One of those sets of channels is deeper than the other.

If you move the cotter pin to the deeper channels, the rotating disc will float loose, and the grain pressure should keep the distance equal.
 
TimpanogosSlim said:
Usually on these mills, the little nut type thing that the cotter pin rests against has two sets of channels on it.

One of those sets of channels is deeper than the other.

If you move the cotter pin to the deeper channels, the rotating disc will float loose, and the grain pressure should keep the distance equal.
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I think that's what I did. I'm using a bolt for holding the plate in though. I was happy with my crush last night. Since my drill is underpowered and the higher speed was giving me inconsistent results I think I'll keep hand crushing for a while. Maybe I can get the kids involved!
 
tre9er said:
I think that's what I did. I'm using a bolt for holding the plate in though. I was happy with my crush last night. Since my drill is underpowered and the higher speed was giving me inconsistent results I think I'll keep hand crushing for a while. Maybe I can get the kids involved!
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Although I try to be efficient with my brew day, and to save time, I perversely enjoy hand cranking my Victoria mill, keeping eyes and fingers on the crush. I usually do it the night before a very early brew day, so I'm unhurried.
 
Pilgarlic said:
Although I try to be efficient with my brew day, and to save time, I perversely enjoy hand cranking my Victoria mill, keeping eyes and fingers on the crush. I usually do it the night before a very early brew day, so I'm unhurried.
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I need to start doing this. Even when I have time to mill as strike is heating, then there's time to wait when tun is preheating, etc...I still rush.

I worry my family will leave me if I'm "always down there" in my basement bryggeri, so I try to do it all in the confines of the 4 hour brew day. I gotta sneak away and mill ahead of time and measure hops, though.
 
So long as the grains are broken and the hulls are left pretty much intact, why does one care about the consistency of the crush? My crush yields everything from flour to kernels that might have been broken into just a few pieces. It gives me good, quite consistent results.
 
Pilgarlic said:
So long as the grains are broken and the hulls are left pretty much intact, why does one care about the consistency of the crush? My crush yields everything from flour to kernels that might have been broken into just a few pieces. It gives me good, quite consistent results.
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just like a roller mill
 
Pilgarlic said:
So long as the grains are broken and the hulls are left pretty much intact, why does one care about the consistency of the crush? My crush yields everything from flour to kernels that might have been broken into just a few pieces. It gives me good, quite consistent results.
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because I have sometimes seen uncrushed kernels in my grist. I've said before I don't mind flour or shredded husks so long as there are enough larger pieces to eventually form a lauter bed. Plus, rice hulls are cheap if I were to be getting stuck sparges.
 
Wasn't necessarily directed to you, tre9er. My question was "so long as the grains are broken". Some people seem to have an almost aesthetic wish for uniform grain particle size in the crush. I know that's not you. Personally, I don't care a whit whether my particles are a matched set (and I don't think conversion does either).
 
Pilgarlic said:
Wasn't necessarily directed to you, tre9er. My question was "so long as the grains are broken". Some people seem to have an almost aesthetic wish for uniform grain particle size in the crush. I know that's not you. Personally, I don't care a whit whether my particles are a matched set (and I don't think conversion does either).
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unbroken grains, and insufficiently broken grains, represent an efficiency loss. Whether or not it's significant is up to the brewer imho.
 

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