I now have TWO grain mills

After many years, I have upgraded from only a Phil Mill to a Barley Crusher, that'll be playing first fiddle.

I am thinking I will motorize the Barley Crusher and reserve the Phil Mill for roasted grains and wheat malts, both set at different tolerances and keeping the Phil Mill human powered.

My primary source for grain is Thomas Fawcett and Bairds. I don't use a whole lot of raw wheat, raw barley, and wheat malts; probably around 1% to 6% if ever on 12.5 gallon fermentations.

I have been batch sparging for ages. Typically I sparge no more than twice as I prefer beer in the session range. I have considered switching to a fly-sparge setup, controlling the flow with a float valve.

Suggestions on gap settings for both.

I think you should sell the Phil Mill to me. You don't need two mills. A man with two mills never knows what his gap is. Seriously, I would be very interested in the Phil Mill if you want to sell it.

Catt22 said:

A man with two mills never knows what his gap is.

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That is a funny one liner if I ever read one.


I thank you deeply for the offer, but I have been brewing since the 1990's and have a fondness for the old girl. As I have read your profile I imaginethat you must have been brewing for quite some time yourself.

As to my model: After reading letters from an old Guinness brewery guy, I was convinced to use two different mills by him; a tight gap on the roasted grain mill and a different setting on the brewers bulk malt mill.

StAnthonyB said:

That is a funny one liner if I ever read one.


I thank you deeply for the offer, but I have been brewing since the 1990's and have a fondness for the old girl. As I have read your profile I imaginethat you must have been brewing for quite some time yourself.

As to my model: After reading letters from an old Guinness brewery guy, I was convinced to use two different mills by him; a tight gap on the roasted grain mill and a different setting on the brewers bulk malt mill.

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I started brewing back in 1999, so you pre-date me some on that. I agree with your adviser on crushing the roasted grain finely. I using a motorized Phil Mill I. I like that you can easily adjust it on the fly, so I can't really see a need for a second mill. I was interested in buying yours for a friend of mine who is mill-less at present. I wish the Phil Mill was still in production. I think mine will last longer than I will, but if it does wear out I will be bummed if i can't find a replacement or overhaul it.

Catt22 said:

I started brewing back in 1999, so you pre-date me some on that. I agree with your adviser on crushing the roasted grain finely. I using a motorized Phil Mill I. I like that you can easily adjust it on the fly, so I can't really see a need for a second mill. I was interested in buying yours for a friend of mine who is mill-less at present. I wish the Phil Mill was still in production. I think mine will last longer than I will, but if it does wear out I will be bummed if i can't find a replacement or overhaul it.

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Yes. From what I understand it is one of the better mills. And, it is a dinosaur. Homebrewing for me has been a slow hobby. Although homebrew is an aid in figuring out GK Chesterton's commonsense, it kind of takes a back seat to my being indulged in the writings of Etienne Gilson and his analysis of what makes for commonsense.

Factory on the Barley Mill is like .039, something like that, but if it is still at factory set, leave it. I monkeyed with mine, made it smaller and it locked up my mash re-circulation. and a bad sparge. If it aint broke don't fix it.

I have a barley crusher and mine is set at .032". I condition my grains prior to crushing and after about 10 batches I haven't had a stuck sparge yet.

GRHunter said:

I have a barley crusher and mine is set at .032". I condition my grains prior to crushing and after about 10 batches I haven't had a stuck sparge yet.

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I am just curious... How the hell do you "Condition" your grain prior to crushing?

That is what I changed my Barley mill to. In my Brutus set-up, .032 sucked! I went back to .039 and it rocks. Sometimes we tinkerers and DYIers just need to leave well enough alone.

Simphoto02 said:

I am just curious... How the hell do you "Condition" your grain prior to crushing?

That is what I changed my Barley mill to. In my Brutus set-up, .032 sucked! I went back to .039 and it rocks. Sometimes we tinkerers and DYIers just need to leave well enough alone.

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http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Malt_Conditioning

I do this every time I brew now. It's well worth the effort IMO.

Catt22 said:

http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Malt_Conditioning

I do this every time I brew now. It's well worth the effort IMO.

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A while back he and I spoke at some length about this. My method has been to put my grains into a bucket and spray while rotating the grains. If too much moisture has built up on surfaces, I let the grains absorb the available mist and then spray some more.

With 5-gallon buckets any more than say 20# and it becomes convienent to use a larger bucket or else corns start to spill out.

Concerning the mill...

I'll set the Phil Mill at a tighter tolerance than the Barley Crusher. I think I have it set to around 0.030" right now as malt conditioning does allow for the closer gap setting.