Grain Mill

i am a new AG brewer and so far the grains that ive used were ordered crushed. is there some sort of alternative to a grain mill? if i can find a sutable method for crushing it would be nice to save on the $100+ on a mill. If there is no getting around it i guess i have no choice

For crushing anything more than steeping grains for an extract batch, you're gonna need a mill. You can get grains crushed by your supplier, but that means that you're at their mercy for the quality of the crush. I've seen posts about people modifying pasta makers, but that just seems like a lot of work to create an inferior product. I started out with a Corona mill, and tricked it out with spacer washers to help fine tune my crush, and did some basic grinding witih a dremel to convert a bolt into a driveshaft for my drill. I was still not really happy with my results, and finally sprang for a Barley Crusher. There's lots of great mills out there, and I really don't have anything to compare it to, but I'm more than satisfied with it. It's easy to drive it with my drill with no modifications, and turns out a great crush right out of the box. It also doesn't throw grain and grain dust all over the place the way my Corona did. For me, it was money well invested.

save up the cash, you'll be glad you did. you can buy in bulk and pay for the mill in no time. this is one of the things you can't get by on the cheap (some may disagree, i.e. corona mill) - you can have your lhbs mill them for you if you like if you don't buy the mill, otherwise, get one - and if you do, don't buy a cheapo. I went with monster mill and love it, but there are a lot of good ones.

I've gotta agree that you should buy a grain mill. I don't know anyone who has regretted getting one...

I love my Barley Crusher.

get yourself a barley crusher, or a corna mill, i have had/used both. i love my barley crusher, the corona will werk just as well when you dial it in.