Corona mill.

Hey guys I just got a Corona mill for Christmas. I put it together and am testing the crush. Curious as to what you guys think. Is this too flowered? Most of the husks seem to be intact just not fully. Let me know what you think

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I have a corona and ran into stuck sparged very often having to rake the top of the mash to keep things flowing but that also gave me mid 80s for efficiency. I turned it back so the grain cracked in 3-4 pieces and didn't have a issue with the spare but I went down to high 70s for efficiency. Based on your picture I would turn it back a bit or you'll get a nice layer of mill flower.

Dial it back a quarter turn. Did you put in the washers as spacers on both sides? Also rice hulls are soon to be your best friend. I have a similar mill and I usually hover around the low 80's

Although if you BIAB that crush would be fine.

I have it all put together. This is not a genuine corona mill this is all it had in the box. When the grain pushes against the outside plate it's pushed against the set screw which sets the gap. If I go to much looser it seems to leave some kernels whole.

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Are you doing BIAB or using a mash tun?

Thanks guys I will try cutting back 1/8-1/4 turn

10 gal cooler mash tun

I'd say back off a little and grab a big bag of rice hulls and keep some DME on hand. I'd personally rather toss in a little DME if your efficiency is on the low side vs battling a stuck sparge all day.

I'm not brewing today but I will definitely do that. I just threw it together and wanted to try it out. I'll for sure back it off

I have one and use a Keggle MLT without issues. I crush it pretty fine, looks pretty close to what you have there with no rice hulls, maybe even a little tighter of a crush. I direct fire my MLT and use a pump to recirculate during the mash, if you're using a false bottom you might not have issues, anything else I would think would get stuck.
Plenty of threads on here about this mill. Most of us crank it down, then crank it down a little more.

Shawnylocks said:

I'm not brewing today but I will definitely do that. I just threw it together and wanted to try it out. I'll for sure back it off

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I wouldn't back it off unless you have issues with the sparge. what are you using in the bottom of your cooler?

rekoob said:

I wouldn't back it off unless you have issues with the sparge. what are you using in the bottom of your cooler?

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i am using a stainless steel false bottom.

Good timing on a mill-tuning thread! I'm about to use mine for the first time this weekend. Also, congrats on getting a mill

Although I've been testing it for a month in my free time... still haven't been able to get what I consider a safe crush. This is how it's currently set, which btw I think is as close as I'm able to get with a decent mix. I'm also using a cooler (but with a SS braid) so it will potentially get stuck.

I also have a corona mill and use a gauge to set the gap to .032" and get a consistent 82% efficiency and rarely have sparge issues. Just keep the run off slow and steady and don't get in a hurry.

Ok you need to add washers in the location in the diagram.

Look at what IanJ did. It should be about 4 washers each side as spacers.

Also see the cotter pin that holds the plate to the shaft? Rip that sucker out and curse its mother. Replace it with an 8-32 screw (can easily be found at home depot) and secure it with two nuts and a lock washer. This will greatly reduce the amount of wobble you have in the plate and increase your consistency.

Good luck.

Thanks guys. All great reasons I love this forum. I'll ha e some fun working this thing.

Shawnylocks said:

i am using a stainless steel false bottom.

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I think you're good with a false bottom, the holes should be large enough to let the really small stuff pass and you will create a nice filter bed that will end up catching the small stuff.
This is how it works on mine, as I stated I recirculate with a pump during the mash and as long as I turn the flow rate down I don't have any problems and I crush mine to the point I don't have any full size husks.
I also didn't add washer to mine, I had plenty of adjustment room so I didn't bother and my cotter pin wasn't allowing much movement so I didn't add the machine screw, although I did disassemble the whole thing and messed around with it so maybe after I put it back together I had the plates in a good enough spot that they were contacting each other pretty flat.
I would say if your plates are pretty even once you add grain it will square them up and depending on your adjustment you may or may not have to add the washers.
If you're really worried about a stuck sparge you could do a "mini" mash to test it out, make it about a 1.040ish and use if for starters.
Once you have it set up and adjusted (crank it down more than you think you need to) to your system, I think you will be pleased with the results.
Good luck

On my corona I have to set one side wingnut all tight and the other has a gap. And I have to tighten a bit every 4 lbs or so. Also, I don't retighten the last 4 lbs and make sure that I am getting whole husks and that they are on the bottom of the mash bed.

I'm confused. What are the washer-shims for?

I have a 40+ year old Corona mill (an original Corona) that I need to clean the cobwebs out of and give it a try. All I've ever ground with it is corn and wheat, mostly corn. Not sure I still if have the stone burrs for it, but it looks like the metal are the right ones for malt.

I've been milling with a tiny roller mill that looks like a pasta machine with knurled rollers. It's so slow I'm about to throw it out in the yard.

z-bob said:

I'm confused. What are the washer-shims for?

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I'd imagine they are to widen the gap for a more coarse grind. I never use them on my mill because I BIAB, but that'd be my guess.

Some corona mills need the washers to widen the gap at the grinding bur plate, some do not.

This often causes confusion for those that don't need washers. If you need them it should be obvious.

I have also played with the pasta roller turned grain mill, in conclusion the corona types are far superior for too many reasons to list IME.