Best Mill?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Spring_Chicken

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2010
Messages
217
Reaction score
5
Location
Snohomish
So I'm looking to buy a mill in the next few months and I'm wondering what is the best one to buy. I'm looking for a two roller mill that I'll be motorizing. So far the Crankenstein 2A looks like the best one. It is fully adjustable and looks to have a gear between the rollers so they roll at the same rate and prevent shearing.

What is your favorite mill and why?
 
IMO, Monster Brewing Hardware makes ass-kicking mills. I have the MM2-2.0 and can't imagine using anything less. It wasn't cheap, but I feel I got a bargain anyway. With the hardened rollers option, I have confidence it will outlast the C&S (unhardened) rollers by a healthy margin. I went with the 2" rollers so that the crush would be better. IMO, the only thing that could beat/best my mill is the MM3-2.0 model.

I also ordered their base, hopper and hopper extension all at the same time. The monster holds up to 39 POUNDS of grain in the hopper (as I have it) at a time. Plus, it has a 1/2" shaft for a drill to connect to (or motor). My 18v DeWalt cordless goes to it without issue.

Something else, customer support/service from Monster is top notch in my experience. That's another reason I'd buy from them again, or can so readily recommend them. Plus, Fred is a member of these boards, so he takes care of HBT members (or at least it feels that way). You can email/PM him questions and he'll advise you as to which model, and options, will do the job for you. I did that before making my purchase. I went over the top a bit, but I have the confidence in the mill that it will be going strong when I'm taking a dirt nap.
 
I can't say it's my favorite - it's the only mill I've had, so I can't compare - but I like my Malt Mill, because it's solidly built and has worked without any fuss or muss since I bought it three years ago.
 
I can't say it's my favorite - it's the only mill I've had, so I can't compare - but I like my Malt Mill, because it's solidly built and has worked without any fuss or muss since I bought it three years ago.

As usual, I'll agree with paps. I have a JSP MaltMill too. It was an old one that my LHBS used for years (they sold it to me cheap when they went big). It still works perfectly. Never had to fuss with it all all.
 
I had a Barley Crusher before and the MM2-2.0 makes that one seem like a toy. It also dwarfs my brew-buddy's C&S (1.25" rollers I believe, 5" long, 3/8" drive shaft) mill.

If you don't want to spend the funds to get one mill that will last forever, that's fine. I would just be prepared to (at some point) to replace it. The BC was ok for me (only a scant 7# hopper) for several batches. I grew tired of refilling it. I'd have to refill even their larger hopper (15#) for most of my batches.

BTW, the hopper from Monster is thich sheet metal, that's got precise holes (via a freakin laser I believe) that you could probably beat someone to death with. Of course, the mill could cave in a car windshield with a single toss too. It's hefty... :D
 
Any feedback on the Rebel Brewer mill? I've been considering that one but it's been out of stock for a while. The Monster Mills look real nice but I don't want to spend more than $200.
 
I have the JSP malt mill too. It's probably crushed upwards of 4000lbs of malt so far (used for our 3bbl club brew system usually, works like a champ.

I have the non-adjustable version, on my homebrew system I routinely get 80% efficiency, same goes for our club system.
 
What is the difference between a bare bones Malt Mill and the other Malt Mill ? None of the wooden pieces ?

Do the Monster Mills have gear drive at one end ? Does it matter if they don't ? If not, what prevents grains from getting ground as one roller turns and the other doesn't ?

Thanks
 
I did a bunch of research and settled with the Rebel Brewer "Grain Crusher" (Thanks passedpawn) :) - being delivered via Fedex tomorrow!

Woohoo!
 
Brewing with my new rebel mill on Friday, this thing is built to last, outweighs the barley crusher by at least double.


_
 
I did a bunch of research and settled with the Rebel Brewer Malt Mill - being delivered via Fedex tomorrow!

Woohoo!

Yea, that thing looks really nice. I'd buy one too if I needed one. Just don't call it the "Malt Mill". Rebel calls it the "Rebel Grain Crusher". That way no one gets confused with the JSP MaltMill, which isn't near as blingy as what you are getting.
 
Yea, that thing looks really nice. I'd buy one too if I needed one. Just don't call it the "Malt Mill". Rebel calls it the "Rebel Grain Crusher". That way no one gets confused with the JSP MaltMill, which isn't near as blingy as what you are getting.
good call! :mug:
 
It's good to see a thread about mills w/o a hundred +1s to the Barley Crusher. If my conscience somehow left me, I'd sell mine and upgrade. As it is, I'll probably upgrade and sell mine for scrap.
 
I have a barley crusher that I bought when I first went AG. It worked fine and I had no complaints. Now I'm doing 25g batches and got a great deal on a Malt Mill. It makes the BC look like a toy. Super-beefy, works great. There's nothing wrong with the BC, but when I'm crushing 50+ pounds at a time, the MM is awesome.
 
What is the difference between a bare bones Malt Mill and the other Malt Mill ? None of the wooden pieces ?

Do the Monster Mills have gear drive at one end ? Does it matter if they don't ? If not, what prevents grains from getting ground as one roller turns and the other doesn't ?

Thanks
Bare bones are not adjustable, when the grain go between the rollers the other rotates some add an o-ring to move both JPS has a gear drive but not on the adjustable. I have the one that is adjustable on both ends, rips through a50lb bag in under 10 minutes less if had a bigger hopper
 
Bare bones are not adjustable, when the grain go between the rollers the other rotates some add an o-ring to move both JPS has a gear drive but not on the adjustable. I have the one that is adjustable on both ends, rips through a50lb bag in under 10 minutes less if had a bigger hopper

I think there are actually different levels of bare-bones. Mine was bare-bones, which meant that it came with just the rollers and end plates, but it also was adjustable and had the gears. I built the housing and the hopper myself. I think JSP will do pretty much whatever you need.
 
Do the Monster Mills have gear drive at one end ? Does it matter if they don't ? If not, what prevents grains from getting ground as one roller turns and the other doesn't?


I don't think any adjustable mill gear drives the slave rollers. The knurling on the rollers grab the grain, pulls it through and the grain turns the other roller. The hopper should keep the grain in the center of the rollers so it cant go the other way.

The knurls are dull on my Barley Crusher. I have to reach under and manually spin the slave. It's only garbing for a second or two now until I have to spin it again. I just keep one hand under it. I'm getting a callus on my fingers. BC hasn't replied to my email. I'm defiantly getting another mill before another sack of grain.
 
That's the beauty of the Malt Mill, and a few of the other higher end mills. They do actually drive both rollers. the adjustment is at the end opposite the drive. The drive end is pre-set. That does mean that the gap is tapered, but within the range used for brewing, I've yet to see this be a problem. Also, these are big, beefy, removable gears. Good stuff.

maltmill.jpg


I don't think any adjustable mill gear drives the slave rollers. The knurling on the rollers grab the grain, pulls it through and the grain turns the other roller. The hopper should keep the grain in the center of the rollers so it cant go the other way.

The knurls are dull on my Barley Crusher. I have to reach under and manually spin the slave. It's only garbing for a second or two now until I have to spin it again. I just keep one hand under it. I'm getting a callus on my fingers. BC hasn't replied to my email. I'm defiantly getting another mill before another sack of grain.
 
BC - some people seem to be lucky and get a unit that just keeps on going. Others like myself have issues that require constant attention and I suspect eventually that it will quit working. Mine is a low volume mill at this point and I recently cleaned & lubed, yet it still wasn't right the last brew day.
 
I just got a Barley Crusher for Christmas with a 15lb hopper...it looks great, but I have yet to use it. What's the beef with them?
 
I just got a Barley Crusher for Christmas with a 15lb hopper...it looks great, but I have yet to use it. What's the beef with them?

I loved mine until I needed something bigger. My only minor beef was when I got carried away conditioning my malt and gummed up the rollers. That's operator error, though. I guess I also like that both rollers are driven on the MM. But I have nothing bad to say about the BC. They have excellent customer service.
 
Aaarghhh.. too many good choices...

Trying to narrow it down from JSP's MaltMill, the MonsterMill 2 (or slobber, 3!) and now that Rebel Mill looks damn nice too. What were some of your deciding factors to pick one over the other?

Not dogging the Barley Crusher or it's clone but I'd rather spend a few extra $ to get a better mill now than to wear one out and have to buy another one in a couple years.
 
Those people who have had problems notwithstanding, in our group there are 3 Barley Crushers and not one have ever had a problem. In fact, the largest LHBS in Utah used a BC for their house mill for a few years and it performed wonderfully. They literally wore it out after many thousands of pounds of grain, used 7 days a week.

If I were buying again, I would look at the BC if it were available without a long shipping wait, the Monster Mill, or the Rebel Mill. The BC fully loaded is going to be a bit cheaper than the other 2, but will likely have less throughput and possibly wear out a bit quicker (although in a homebrew setting, this could be a very long time). I'd add that I really like the integrated shaft/rollers on the Monster Mill as it can be driven either way and I think it would take abuse a bit better. The BC does not have integrated shaft/rollers, and I don't know if the Rebel unit does or does not.

I have no experience with the C&S or Maltmill but have heard great things about them as well. All are made in the US. How fantastic that we have so many great options!
 
I have a Maltmill by Schmidling! Bought it used off of Craigslist. Haven't had a problem with it not milling correctly. I oil it with vegetable oil every now and then, never have taken it apart, its not adjustable but it mills and I always run it with a drill motor... Because milling 70lbs of grain per batch is just to much to crank by hand. Had the mill for about 2ish years


check out the link:
http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm
 
Back
Top