Grain mill worth it?

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bdnoona

bdnoona

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OK, so I got a belated birthday present in the form of a $100 GC to the LHBS, and it's burning a hole in my pocket. I'm thinking grain mill, but am wondering if it will be worth it. Is it? And is it really messy to crush the grain? Can you do it indoors or does it get too dusty? I would likely still buy most, if not all my unmilled grain from the LHBS. Is it worth it for the control of the crush?
Thanks.

Brian
 
Having a mill sure makes it easy to justify buying bulk grains. I don't brew enough to keep bulk ingredients...but if I did; the first thing Id have to buy would be a grain mill. Hopes this helps...how often do you brew? Do you like the mill at your LHBS?
 
bdnoona said:
OK, so I got a belated birthday present in the form of a $100 GC to the LHBS, and it's burning a hole in my pocket. I'm thinking grain mill, but am wondering if it will be worth it. Is it? And is it really messy to crush the grain? Can you do it indoors or does it get too dusty? I would likely still buy most, if not all my unmilled grain from the LHBS. Is it worth it for the control of the crush?
Thanks.

Brian
Click to expand...

The biggest advantage having a mill gives you is being able to buy grain in bulk. It will pay for itself the first couple of $28 55lb bags of 2-row you buy.
 
I'd argue that the biggest advantage is the ability to control your crush, which influences your efficiency, which then determines how far a sack of grain will get you.
 
Kilted Brewer said:
I'd argue that the biggest advantage is the ability to control your crush, which influences your efficiency, which then determines how far a sack of grain will get you.
Click to expand...

my LHBS just got a new crusher that allows you to control your crush...it is awesome!...but yeah I assume thats rare
 
Mills are awesome, but here is the questions:

Is your LHBS crush a nice crush? If so, and you arent going to buy bulk grain... then why buy a mill at all?

IMHO there are only two reasons to really buy a mill.

1. Your LHBS has a crappy crush, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
2. You are buying in bulk, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
 
My LHBS crush isn't bad. I get ~75% eff usually. My desire is partially motivated by more control, but partially motivated by the never satisfied desire to collect more brewing gear. I would possibly buy base malt in bulk. Hmmm....
 
Yes, it is messy. And yes, you can use it indoors. If you buy a mill, you will need a special piece of equipment. It is called a broom.

Just get the mill. You will thank yourself later.:D
 
If you never plan to buy in bulk or at least a few "kits" unmilled at a time, I don't think it's worth it. I don't know what you pay for malt by the pound, but a sack through a group buy is $40 max. It would only take you about 4 sacks to pay for the mill.
 
The Pol said:
Mills are awesome, but here is the questions:

Is your LHBS crush a nice crush? If so, and you arent going to buy bulk grain... then why buy a mill at all?

IMHO there are only two reasons to really buy a mill.

1. Your LHBS has a crappy crush, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
2. You are buying in bulk, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
Click to expand...

OR

3. You don't have a LHBS, so buy all your grain online.

I buy 3-5 recipes in advance from AHS, and if i got it all milled by them I would have some not-so-fresh grain by brew day
 
The Pol said:
Mills are awesome, but here is the questions:

Is your LHBS crush a nice crush? If so, and you arent going to buy bulk grain... then why buy a mill at all?

IMHO there are only two reasons to really buy a mill.

1. Your LHBS has a crappy crush, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
2. You are buying in bulk, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
Click to expand...

want to add the main reason for my recent mill purchase besides the above

3. Variety and brewing at a whim and the length of time I can keep and store unmilled grain. I just ordered 4 different grain bills from AHS to brew over the next 2 months one shipping saved and can brew one of the 4 whichever I'm in the mood for when I brew over the next few weeks. It also gives me the ability to hold off, for several months, a recipe or change a recipe without worrying about the crush going stale. I had 2 kits form AHS sit for 6 months due to reasons beyond my control and will brew them anyway this autumn but not sure how they will be with the old grain.
 
I'm guessing that Perfect Brewing Supply is your LHBS? You are not that far away from the Chicago area where when the Chicagoland Brewers do a group buy from Mid Country Malt you can get in on that. I'm picking up 6 sacks tomorrow for 3 of us local brewers. You can't beat $28/ sack 2-row and like $36/ sack Marris Otter.

The mill will pay for itself in about 2-3 sacks and since you are using a gift card it's almost a no brainer if you have no other important equipment need. The ability to buy in bulk and control your crush are awesome abilities.
 
Whether it's worth it or not depends upon:

.....price per lb for crushed grain at LHBS

.....price for uncrushed grain at LHBS if you will continue to only purchase there

Control of the crush not important if they are offering a decent mill / crush.

Buying by the sack works for me!
 
I think my LHBS's crush is ok to poor. So I am looking into a mill as my next piece of equipment. That said, I am also looking forward to buying in bulk.
 
IMHO there are only two reasons to really buy a mill.

1. Your LHBS has a crappy crush, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
2. You are buying in bulk, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
Click to expand...

This.

I wanted to get a mill but BMW's crush/packaging is just too good. It isn't worth the trouble for me.
 
I think the mills are worth it. I didn't have the money to get a nice roller mill so I got a corona knock off for less than $25 and it seems to be working well. I think it was worth it for the ability to get exactly the crush I want and to crush it 2 minutes before I dough in for ultimate freshness.
 
I got one because where I got my grain didn't crush all that well. I decided to go with the Corona / Victoria mill (or one of its other knockoffs) for $24 delivered, Discount Tommy on eBay. I chose to do this because I'd read enough threads to convince me that I could get a perfectly good crush with this machine, & I don't brew enough to need a $150 Barley Crusher. Also, I devised a "bucket mount" (see "Ugly Junk" thread at:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/

....because I don't have the space to accommodate a permanent piece of dedicated furniture just to crush my grain bill. This way, I just put the bucket on a shelf when I'm done grinding.
 
If you're planning on buying a mill, probably want to budget on motorizing the thing. First time I used the hand crank I thought I was going into cardiac arrest. After motorizing it I'm a happy bunny. Used Bodine motor was 75 bucks; probably another 25 bucks for lumber, switch, capacitor, lovejoys, etc.
 
Is the mill faster/easier with a drill or a motor? Yes.

Is it really that hard to hand crank a Barley crusher? Not at all. It is just repetative, boring and takes longer. (maybe ~10min. max. for 15lbs.) While I agree that using the hand crank is not the funnest thing in the world, it is greatly over-exagerated how difficult it is.

My $0.02
 
big supper said:
Is it really that hard to hand crank a Barley crusher? Not at all. It is just repetative, boring and takes longer. (maybe ~10min. max. for 15lbs.) While I agree that using the hand crank is not the funnest thing in the world, it is greatly over-exagerated how difficult it is.
Click to expand...

The last few batches I've been hand-cranking my Barley Crusher while waiting for my strike water to heat up. It's really not that hard and it's somewhat of a soothing process that gets me in the zone while I'm waiting. I also feel like the slower crush speed gets me a nicer crush. That could be totally in my head, though. :)
 
CharlosCarlies said:
I wanted to get a mill but BMW's crush/packaging is just too good. It isn't worth the trouble for me.
Click to expand...

I know they use a Barley crusher. Not sure of the gap.

I bought mine bcs I never know when I'm gonna brew, so didn't want any kits to get "not-so-fresh." Then I found out about a local grain buy. Now I buy all my base malts in bulk. I still by specialty in smaller amounts (1-10lbs depending).

What I generally do is get all the grain for 5 brews ready and put them into containers. That way on brew day, I just dump the grain in my BC and go. It's more efficient to weigh out several recipes at once. I should start doing the same with my hops, but I sometimes change my mind (like, I just got a pound of Amarillo cheap, so using it in place of cascade in an APA, etc.)
 
Get the crusher, and buy in bulk. Getting grain crushed at the LHBS is fine, but I think it's nice to just have the grain at home, ready for when you want us it! Uncrushed stays fresher a lot longer.
 
I don't buy in bulk yet and even I would get the crusher. Why you ask... Because when making recipies I can buy a 1, 2, 5, or even 1lb bag of something and keep it sealed then when I need 6oz, or 8oz of something I can easily measure it out at home and crush it without having to drive 1/2 hour to the LHBS. Also, if anyone is like me, I sometimes plan on making a batch, then something comes up and soon the grains are too old and I have to throw them away. If I crushed on brew day then I would never have to toss grains. In addition, I sometimes buy from my LHBS and sometimes internet. It is really hard to use the crusher from the LHBS if you are bringing in stuff you may have bought elsewhere, even if you buy from them often. I consider this improper myself and only crush grains I purchased there.

Oh, and as for crank, vs drill, vs motor... I vote for using my kids. No batteries to recharge, no motor to plug in and my arm never gets tired LOL
 
Where I live, it's almost impossible to brew with grain without a crusher. My LHBS lends out a Corona mill, but only sells whole grain. I could order online for everything, but it gets expensive.

now that I've got 300lbs of grain, it's the best investment that I've made.
 
big supper said:
Is the mill faster/easier with a drill or a motor? Yes.

Is it really that hard to hand crank a Barley crusher? Not at all. It is just repetative, boring and takes longer. (maybe ~10min. max. for 15lbs.) While I agree that using the hand crank is not the funnest thing in the world, it is greatly over-exagerated how difficult it is.

My $0.02
Click to expand...

I've done a total of 1 lb of grain with the crank. I'm still impatient with 10 lbs of grain with a high speed drill running the show.

Not to put out a challenge here, but I'd be happy to see you crank out 15 lbs of grain in 10 minutes. Not saying it can't be done, but you would be cranking at full speed+ and your arm would be sooo tired! :mug:
 
Having a mill lets you buy in bulk, but not just 55# bags. Any time I need any grain, I get 5#. I keep a brew closet of unmilled grains so I can make mostly anything without stepping out of the house. I keep a lot of frozen yeasts and hops, too, so when the apocalypse comes I'm ready.

P9120003.JPG
 
passedpawn said:
Having a mill lets you buy in bulk, but not just 55# bags. Any time I need any grain, I get 5#. I keep a brew closet of unmilled grains so I can make mostly anything without stepping out of the house. I keep a lot of frozen yeasts and hops, too, so when the apocalypse comes I'm ready.

P9120003.JPG
Click to expand...

Nice! Always good to be prepared... ;)
 
The Pol said:
Mills are awesome, but here is the questions:

Is your LHBS crush a nice crush? If so, and you arent going to buy bulk grain... then why buy a mill at all?

IMHO there are only two reasons to really buy a mill.

1. Your LHBS has a crappy crush, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
2. You are buying in bulk, whereas the mill will pay for itself.
Click to expand...

QFT

I don't have a mill because my LHBS has a good crush and fair prices. I will only buy a mill once I have a good storage solution and space for buying bulk grains.
 
I wouldn't have bothered to buy my mill if I wasn't going to be brewing a lot and buying in bulk. You gotta buy in bulk.

Seeing as you are a short drive from Mid Country Malt, you really have no good excuse not to buy your base grains in bulk if you're going to be brewing more than 10-15 times a year.
 
bdnoona said:
I'd like to know this too as I live very close to you. My LHBS told me just now that they sell 2-row for $36/50#, and MO for $60/55#. That's pretty serious savings. Decision has been made.
Click to expand...

Mid Country Malt.

http://www.countrymaltgroup.com/pdf/2008_HomeBrewCatalog.pdf


Their prices fluctuate a bit, so that won't be accurate, but it should give you an idea of what they have. My last order had 55#s each of German Munich, Pilsner, Wheat, and Vienna for $140 (best malz).

Domestic and Canadian 2-Row are usually quite a bit cheaper.
 

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