Why'd you pick the grain mill you did?

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Went ahead and ordered my Barley Crusher for my birthday. Should be here before Yankee Ingenuity V. Now, gotta go buy me a sack of grain!

I also bought a vial of Papazian's "Cry Havoc" yeast to play with...
 
the_bird said:
Went ahead and ordered my Barley Crusher for my birthday. Should be here before Yankee Ingenuity V. Now, gotta go buy me a sack of grain!
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yeah BOYEEEEEE. Welcome to the club. I think you'll find that it rocks faces. If you don't get at least 80% efficiency most of the time (with the factory settings) then...uhhh...quit ;)

Congrats. :mug:
 
Bird, I'm doing the same thing for my birthday today as well. SWMBO fears the Paypal (getting the barley crusher too) so she just told me to "buy it".

I'm just getting the 7# hopper variety.
 
I got the 15# hopper for x-mas last year and it ROCKS HARD!! Factory settings work but I tweeked it a bit and crush a little finer. I goofed on my last brew but come tomorrow I should have a great beer! I will post results. See thread "QUAD B PORTER".

Thanks

- WW
 
OOOOOHHHH MAAAAAANNN! SWMBO is feeling generous all of a sudden and told me to "go ahead and order it". I gotta figure out what the occasion is; part of me says to just order it before she changes her mind! :D I'm looking at the 7#, just cuz' I don't want to store a massive hopper, and I can just as easily add grain incrementally.
 
Looking at getting a barley crusher for xmas, or maybe a refractometer, can't decide...but anyway...

When you guys say 80% efficency with this mill is that into the boiler or into the fermenter?
 
I finally got my Crankenstein mounted and tried it for the first time. It rocks, chewed thru 9.5 pounds in well under a minute. I mounted it on a $39 cart from Northern Tool and picked up a motor off ebay.

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Should'nt you be running a 12 inch pulley on the mill. Seems to me it would run way too fast and throw stuff all over the cart. I thought mills were supposed to turn 250 to 300 RPM tops.
 
You can buy gearhead motors that step down the output shaft speed. I run mine under 150 RPM off a 431 rpm Bodine gearmotor with a 3:1 pulley ratio (2" and 6")
 
WBC said:
Should'nt you be running a 12 inch pulley on the mill. Seems to me it would run way too fast and throw stuff all over the cart. I thought mills were supposed to turn 250 to 300 RPM tops.
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It's a 155 RPM gear reduction motor
 
It seems like you'd throw a lot of grain dust around. Is there a way to create a chute to contain the fying crush.

Course..not an issue if you're crushing ourdoors.

Very nice set dude.
 
BierMuncher said:
It seems like you'd throw a lot of grain dust around. Is there a way to create a chute to contain the fying crush.

Course..not an issue if you're crushing ourdoors.

Very nice set dude.
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Crushing in the garage no problem, outside in the wind, problem. Thinking of a small canvas or wood chute.
 
I just bought the 7# hopper; I figured it would be very easy to take some scrap lumber and build an extension for the hopper if the 7#'er isn't big enough.
 
the_bird said:
I just bought the 7# hopper; I figured it would be very easy to take some scrap lumber and build an extension for the hopper if the 7#'er isn't big enough.
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Or some HVAC sheet metal, tin snips and a pop rivet gun.

The 7 lb hopper works for me. I really don't care if I have to load it up a few times.
 
Looks like CrankandStein / Monster mill web site is down. Appearently the result of a business disagreement between the mgf. dude and the marketing and sales dude. I only heard one side of the story so I won't comment.
 
Congrats Bird! I love my Barley Crusher. I've definitely noticed an increase in efficiency over the crush I was getting at my LHBS.
 
agentgonzo said:
Does anyone know of where to get a decent mill in the UK? The Barley Crusher seems to be great, but there's only one place in the UK that seems to sell it and it's listed at £150, over twice as expensive as buying it in the USA! Other mills I've seen seem to go for £200. Anyone know where to get something in the £70 range (equiv to $140, which seems to be what they are going for in America).
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I'm in the same boat.. well a similar one. Check out the monster mills, you'll need to build a hopper and base, but $99 plus $38 shipping gets you in just under £70. CrankandStein doesn't mention international shipping but you could mail them.

As for my mill, I bought the B3 grain gobbler. It tanked after a year. I'm now in the market for something a little more durable.
 
the_bird said:
Went ahead and ordered my Barley Crusher for my birthday… Should be here before Yankee Ingenuity V. Now, gotta go buy me a sack of grain!

I also bought a vial of Papazian's "Cry Havoc" yeast to play with...
Click to expand...

Did you get the special accessory?


Drill2.jpg
 
You know, I've got an old, wired drill like that from my old man that I'll attach in your honor! Throws sparks and everything!

I'm not going to have a grain explosion, am I?
 
the_bird said:
You know, I've got an old, wired drill like that from my old man that I'll attach in your honor! Throws sparks and everything!

I'm not going to have a grain explosion, am I?
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Nah...

That's one nice thing about crushing your own...less dust with transferring whole grains. :D
 
Tracking Detail

Your package is on time with a scheduled delivery date of 11/08/2007.

Tracking Number: 1Z 365 64W 03 6320 554 7
Type: Package
Status: In Transit
Scheduled Delivery: 11/08/2007
Shipped To: ADAMS, MA, US
Shipped/Billed On: 11/02/2007
Service: GROUND
Weight: 16.00 Lbs

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
PITTSFIELD, MA, US 11/08/2007 6:36 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
11/08/2007 6:35 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SHREWSBURY, MA, US 11/07/2007 11:40 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
SHREWSBURY, MA, US 11/06/2007 8:44 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, US 11/02/2007 9:00 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
11/02/2007 8:16 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 11/02/2007 5:34 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
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I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning!
 
I'm getting the Monster Mill. Ordered it today, should ship tomorrow and be here in 1-2 weeks. I'll tell you all about it once it gets here.
 
Fred Francis from Monster Mills PM'ed me the throughput and adjustability specs. Here is the updated chart.
millcomp.jpg

Germey said:
Well, my head was spinning after just a couple of pages. For posterity’s sake, here is my summary of this thread. Feel free to correct me on anything I missed or got wrong and I’ll edit the chart. The price and the throughput is from the Mfg websites.
While there was quite a bit of hypothesis on the diameter of the rollers, there was not much mentioned about the length. That would seem to clearly increase throughput.
I did not have a column for adding a drill or motor since that seemed pretty easy across the board (at least for the folks here:D ). Also, my general impression is that 3 rollers makes for a lot more resistance in cranking, but may provide a higher quality grind. In general, efficiencies and lauter speed seemed pretty comparable and probably has more to do with other factors from brewer to brewer.
Good shopping,
Jeremy
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Here comes my Barley Crusher. :ban:

Your package is on time with a scheduled delivery date of 11/09/2007.
In Transit - On Time
Getting a 55# bag of Maris 2-row today and making the Goblin :rockin:
 
I am so happy I ordered my new mill.... It isn't here yet, but I am so looking forward to using it. My old mill still kinda works, but one of the axles is all ****ed up, bent to hell and semi useless. It grinds in a way. I'm brewing tonight but using it was such a pita and my efficiency is 10%+ lower than usual. I am so going to love this new mill.
 
Catfish said:
I am so happy I ordered my new mill.... It isn't here yet, but I am so looking forward to using it. My old mill still kinda works, but one of the axles is all ****ed up, bent to hell and semi useless. It grinds in a way. I'm brewing tonight but using it was such a pita and my efficiency is 10%+ lower than usual. I am so going to love this new mill.
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What are the specs you guys find desirable in a mill? I ask because I have a customer that wants a prototype machined. He has no clue as to what he wants and I'm no home brewer. Also, its cheaper to make several mills than to make a one-off. Any input from you guys would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps I can part with a few extras at a reduced price to anyone interested here.:mug:
 
Oedipus Rex said:
What are the specs you guys find desirable in a mill? I ask because I have a customer that wants a prototype machined. He has no clue as to what he wants and I'm no home brewer. Also, its cheaper to make several mills than to make a one-off. Any input from you guys would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps I can part with a few extras at a reduced price to anyone interested here.:mug:
Click to expand...
My problems with the old mill came from the axles being screwed on (I misthreaded it when I was changing the handle adn was never able to right it). I think the monster mills axles are solid extensions of the actual rollers. For general mill specs, minimum 4" x 1.5" rollers, 6" x 2" would be even better. Also I hate the adjustment method on my old mill; dials on the axles of the powered roller, with a tiny tightening screw under the hopper. To adjust the mill you need to remove the hopper and top cover of the mill, this is a problem with a full hopper. Ideally you would have set your mill to the proper gap before filling your hopper, but the act of grinding turn the adjuster knob.
You should look at these mills to get an idea:
http://www.monsterbrewinghardware.com/productsnew.html
http://www.mashmaster.com/p/389022/millmaster-grain-mill-pre-order-today-and-save-special-introductory-price.html
http://crankandstein.org/
and of course
http://www.barleycrusher.com/
Don't forget to check out the DIY section as some of the people here have already built their own mills and can give you different info than I can.
I'd be interested in seeing your mill s when they're done.
 

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