Advice on buying a grain mill

The bulk price of 2 row went up 20$ a sack to 87$ at my LHBS. So I'm looking at online options for grains. The issue is I'd have to mill my own grains. I'd like one I can attach to my cordless drill. Right now I'm leaning towards the cereal mill. Anyone that mills their own grains have any advice?

Look up the "Ugly Junk Corona Mill" on the forum here. I made one myself dirt cheap and so have others. I also use a drill to mill the grains, so there is no manual cranking needed. Also, if you do BIAB (like I do) then you can get the crush super fine!

I use the Monster 2 roller and it works well. Before that I had a Corona and it also did the job, but it kinda chews up the husks. Still never had a stuck sparge. I think the Cereal Killer looks good too. I'd just make sure you use it within a reasonable amount of time so that you can return it if there happens to be something wrong with it.

Bummer on the price increase. They happen. Morebeer.com has pretty good rates on grain and they ship fast as hell to everywhere. I'm mean real fast too..like you order and a half hour later you get a tracking number.

I just noticed a similar uptick in grain prices near me as well. :-(

I have a Barley Crusher that is only 6 moths old and starting to be a pain in the butt. I gave up and ordered a Monster Mill. A lot more $$ but at my age I've learned I would rather cry once and buy quality. I'm not against saving money - but often you get what you pay for. I know lots of folks who love their Cereal Killer (I'm assuming that is what you were referring to). I have a Barley Crusher available cheap! LOL

Thanks for the quick responses. More beer is who I was looking at for grains and the cereal killer is what I was referring to

Cereal Killer user here. Love it. Actually improved my efficiency by about 5% since I started using it. I would recommend it to anyone

A couple of years ago, I did my homework before before purchasing and ended up with a Monster MM2-2.0 (now called MM-2Pro). The BC of CK may have worked well enough for me, but I would rather buy it once and not have to worry about it in the future. The Monster mills are top notch.

I bought a Barley Crusher. It's worked so far for me, but there's a lot of question about the long-term ability of the rollers to continue to work well, and the customer service hasn't, from what I've read, always been the best.

Were I to do it over again, I'd probably have gotten something else. I know it's not normal to badmouth one of our purchases (we're supposed to seek validation in the purchases of the same by others!) but if you want to see a struggle, search Yooper's experience with it.

4 years using the MM-2 2.0(pro) with hardened rollers. Well Over 750#s of grain crushed. Still properly adjusted and worry free. Mine is motorized.

I have used a motorized MM 3 roller for several years. No complaints & a great crush. MM has a new model w/ grooved rollers which is even nicer but it will be a while before mine is worn out even at 2-3 batches a month.

I've had a Cereal Killer for a couple of years now. I'm sure it's not the best, but I have put a bunch of grain through it without issues, and would be loath to part with it for the price.

Anyone have info on C&S mills? I've asked a few times but cannot get any straight answers. Particularly, the history between MM and C&S.

I use a JSP Malt Mill. It is built like a tank.

Ive used Barley Crusher. Run through about 2500lbs of grain so far. Works ok. Never an issue with quality of the crush but knurls are not as grippy as they used to be and I have to give it a little nudge with a plastic spoon a few times depending on grain bill. I push the spoon down to manually advance the non powered roller and that usually gets the grain moving again.

Looking back seems I should of gotten the monster mill but at the time price difference seemed like a lot of money. That was before I built an automated 10 gallon brew stand, keezer, fermentation chamber and my outlook on what is a lot of money to spend on brewing gear has completely changed.

Cereal killer here.Going strong after 2 years and hundreds of pounds...Its amazing you were paying $20 for 2 row,I assume 50 lb,and even more amazing it went up to $87.My LHBS has been holding steady for years at around $50

Cerial killer here, only had about 150 pounds through it so far but no issues. I really wanted a monster but for $100 and free shipping I think I made the right choice for my situation.

Another cereal killer user - I've put over 500 pounds through it without a failure - keep them clean and they do a great job.

MM3. Love it.

brewbama said:

I use a JSP Malt Mill. It is built like a tank.

Click to expand...

+1 on the JSP MaltMill. I got the standard (pre-adjusted to ~0.045 fixed.) Works great with a drill and my efficiencies are in the 80s BIAB.

brewbama said:

I use a JSP Malt Mill. It is built like a tank.

Click to expand...

Me too and I have owned mine since the late 1990s.

I am only ~100# into my Cereal Killer, but have been happy so far.

If I were doing it again, I might go with the Kegco:
http://www.beveragefactory.com/homebrew/pre-fermentation-equipment/kegco-KM11GM-3R-grain-mill.html

Not sure if the 3-roller is worth the extra, but the price seems hard to beat.

Look in your area for local group grain buys. Some breweries will sell grain too.

We pay around $42 for domestic 2-row in our group buy.
$87 is really gouging it in that light.

IslandLizard said:

$87 is really gouging it in that light.

Click to expand...

100% True.

I pay $35/bag for domestic 2-row or pilsner, only a few bucks more for domestic vienna or caramel malts. The real key is to figure out who is selling malt to your local micro-brews and brewpubs. If the brewer won't sell you bags for "off the back of the truck" prices, they can at least let you know who they buy from.

We have a few LHBS in my area, but the one I shop at is the guy who distributes pallet quantities to the small breweries in the area.

Good Luck

joebob296 said:

Anyone have info on C&S mills? I've asked a few times but cannot get any straight answers. Particularly, the history between MM and C&S.

Click to expand...

I have a CrankandStein from before the split. I don't expect to ever have to replace it, and to be able to pass it on to my children once I die. I actually do want one of the big Monster Mills, but given that my mill works perfectly fine, spending $300 is a bit unreasonable for me, at least right now. Haha.

The only wear showing on my mill is from when there were rocks in the grain, and it wore a couple grooves.

I have the cheapest CrankandStein 2 roller mill (I bought it when I was in college and was on a tight budget). I also have it motorized with a gearmotor using spidercouplings, and it is now wall mounted and wired to a switch, so it is really simple and easy to mill my grains now.

As for the drama, there were two parties involved, Fred the frontman that we all dealed with, and then the mill maker who he contracted the mills from. Fred was the business guy and actually owned the name, web address, etc. The mill maker thought he owned it, they decided to separate, there was confusion for a while, and then Fred started Monster Mills and gave up his rights to CrankandStein to my understanding.

If I were to buy a mill now, I would buy a Monster Mill in a heartbeat. I would get one with hardened rollers just for the heck of it, and if I had the money, I would get the three roller 2 inch mill.

I consider Monster Mills to be made with the best alloys for the rollers, even for their cheapest mills. If you look up the alloy compared to what the others are using, you will be able to see the difference.

If you search for barleycrusher problems, you will see that they were really popular when they came out because they hit the right value point because they were using a cheaper alloy. If you read about the service for the 'lifetime warranty', you will not want to buy a mill from the guy. After a certain amount of time, the knurls will wear down, and good luck getting help in a reasonable amount of time.

Because of what has happened with barley crusher, and what continues to happen, it makes me very hesitant to try other value priced mills, or to recommend them.

Because Fred is who I worked with when I bought my mill from crankandstein, he is the one I trust, which is why I would recommend Monster Mills. I also did the research into the alloys for those that publish that information, and I like the steel used in his mills better.

@gnef thanks for the detailed response. The main reason I was looking at C&S is because they sell 4" rollers on the 2S. I'm ok if it takes 5 minutes to mill a batch vs 2 minutes with longer rollers.

With that being said I'm starting to lean towards the monster mill. While space is a priority, 2" longer rollers isn't going to kill me.

gnef said:

I consider Monster Mills to be made with the best alloys for the rollers, even for their cheapest mills. If you look up the alloy compared to what the others are using, you will be able to see the difference.

Click to expand...

Which alloy are you talking about? I've been doing the same research as OP and looking at the budget MM-2 from Monster Mills website there are 2 options for Roller Materials and 2 Drive Shaft size options. Which material are you referring to as the best alloy?

If OP or myself were looking for budget friendly options will the cheaper 1144 steel still be better than say the Cereal Killer for AIH? or to see a difference do you need spend the extra 40$ to upgrade to the 303 SS? the 1144 is already $40 more expensive than the CK if you need to tack on another $40 its starts pricing itself into another bracket IMO. Not saying it wouldn't be worth it but definitely a different price tier.

SGTSparty said:

Which alloy are you talking about? I've been doing the same research as OP and looking at the budget MM-2 from Monster Mills website there are 2 options for Roller Materials and 2 Drive Shaft size options. Which material are you referring to as the best alloy?

If OP or myself were looking for budget friendly options will the cheaper 1144 steel still be better than say the Cereal Killer for AIH? or to see a difference do you need spend the extra 40$ to upgrade to the 303 SS? the 1144 is already $40 more expensive than the CK if you need to tack on another $40 its starts pricing itself into another bracket IMO. Not saying it wouldn't be worth it but definitely a different price tier.

Click to expand...

I am referring to the 1144. When I was researching about the alloys, the 1144 had better wear characteristics than others that published their alloy, and looking around at most value priced mills now, they don't even list the alloy that they use, so you have no idea of the quality of the steel.

The stainless alloy is actually not as hard as the 1144, but is better suited if you are exposing it to a significant amount of water (either humidity or wet milling).

I should also say it depends on what you want to do in terms of running the mill. If you plan on hand cranking, the value mills with everything built in are definitely a good price. I knew that I wanted to motorize the mill, so all the extra stuff that you get with the value priced mill would be wasted on me, as I was going to fabricate everything anyway, so I wanted the money to all go into the mill itself. There aren't as many convenient gear motor options as there were when I bought my equipment a long time ago, but if you are willing to use a pulley for your reduction, you can find motors all day long (pulleys scare me and aren't as compact as the gear motor I am using).

It also depends on how many pounds you are going to be putting through your mill, and how long you expect the mill to last. If you aren't putting much through it, a mill even like the barley crusher should last for many years. If you are going to be putting a good amount of grain through it though, I would say to spend the extra money up front to save you frustration later on.

I don't know the exact amount of grain I've put through my mill, but I would say it is well over 1000# by now. I've had it about a decade now, and am just basing it off the amount of bulk grain I've bought over the years, not including the specialty malts. The knurls still look great except for where the rocks wore into the steel.