brewcephus
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I was just looking at that too... I'm tempted to pull the trigger, but I'd like to hear some feedback first.
Any feedback on the Captain Crush Grain Mill?
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Yeah, I was just looking at that too... I'm tempted to pull the trigger, but I'd like to hear some feedback first.
BrandonS
Active Member
I ordered one during the sale but it will be a bit before I get to use it. Homebrewfinds is in the process of doing a review on it: http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2014/01/first-looks-captain-crush-adjustable.html
I purchased one on sale. It arrived, but was damaged in shipping. NB were great about processing the shipping return and replacement. From what I saw of it, I liked it: very heavy, solid construction of the mill body. I'll post again when the replacement arrives and I get to mill with it.
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zombiefreak
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Shame you can't just buy the roller section. I love NB but I would never overpay for the rest of that plastic stuff just because the rollers seem good.
I would have to disagree with you on NB's customer service.. Good friend of mine who I told should order some bottles from them almost half his bottles were shattered and they would not respond to any of his emails, but gladly sent him promotional emails about all the great stuff he could buy (captain crush). Just my opinion...
Yeah - I'm still waiting for the replacement. Should be here Tuesday. It take a follow-up email on my part to confirm they were sending the replacement. Not bad service, but not stellar.
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Hey just a quick review, got this when it was promoted with 20% off.
It's a nice mill... I've worked in a Homebrew store, brewed forever, and am familiar with other products... Even owned a few other mills.
The adjustment on crush is quick, the mill will do fine crushes without trouble or jamming. And the rollers grab grain so a geared drive isn't necessary to keep a feed going.
As to the plastic... I actually like that the most; I can see when the bucket is full and there's a coolness factor like watching beer ferment in glass... You can see the crush happen. Newbies will love that. And I gotta say I like it too.
The three roller gives a nice even crush, and yes if you frig with grinds and go real fine, you can get higher efficiencies (at the risk of a stuck mask and getting some husk in your boil). But hell, that's preference, Miller pulverizes it's malt with a hammer mill. They get 95 + efficiency by doing so. That's closer to mash filters than lauter tuns.
I have a barley crusher too... (I have brew setup a in multiple states ... Haha) the barley crusher is great too. I don't care for wood though, gets a little musty and moldy if it gets wet. I'm lazy and hose off equipment to keep things clean and prefer plastic or metal; those materials dry without mold.
Anyway the thumb screws don't appear to be a problem but will keep you all posted. All and all, slick mill with selling points for sure.
It's a nice mill... I've worked in a Homebrew store, brewed forever, and am familiar with other products... Even owned a few other mills.
The adjustment on crush is quick, the mill will do fine crushes without trouble or jamming. And the rollers grab grain so a geared drive isn't necessary to keep a feed going.
As to the plastic... I actually like that the most; I can see when the bucket is full and there's a coolness factor like watching beer ferment in glass... You can see the crush happen. Newbies will love that. And I gotta say I like it too.
The three roller gives a nice even crush, and yes if you frig with grinds and go real fine, you can get higher efficiencies (at the risk of a stuck mask and getting some husk in your boil). But hell, that's preference, Miller pulverizes it's malt with a hammer mill. They get 95 + efficiency by doing so. That's closer to mash filters than lauter tuns.
I have a barley crusher too... (I have brew setup a in multiple states ... Haha) the barley crusher is great too. I don't care for wood though, gets a little musty and moldy if it gets wet. I'm lazy and hose off equipment to keep things clean and prefer plastic or metal; those materials dry without mold.
Anyway the thumb screws don't appear to be a problem but will keep you all posted. All and all, slick mill with selling points for sure.
Just pulled the trigger on one today. Thanks to Christmas gift cards and my AHA 10% discount the sticker shock was not too bad.
I was set on picking up a MM3, but after seeing the Captain Crush in the store my concerns about "cheap plastic" were alleviated. (For those in the plastic debate, the instructions call it polycarbonate) Whatever it is, it's 1/4" thick or so and seems solid as a rock. It's much more substantial than the galvanized tin on many of the other mills. The roller assembly weighs a ton. I would say there is a lot of quality in this thing. I'm hoping to brew this weekend, so I'll follow up with my impressions. My rationalization for buying my first mill at this price point was that it would be the last mill I would need to buy. Time will tell.
I was set on picking up a MM3, but after seeing the Captain Crush in the store my concerns about "cheap plastic" were alleviated. (For those in the plastic debate, the instructions call it polycarbonate) Whatever it is, it's 1/4" thick or so and seems solid as a rock. It's much more substantial than the galvanized tin on many of the other mills. The roller assembly weighs a ton. I would say there is a lot of quality in this thing. I'm hoping to brew this weekend, so I'll follow up with my impressions. My rationalization for buying my first mill at this price point was that it would be the last mill I would need to buy. Time will tell.
Finished my brew day. It was the first use of my Captain Crush. It would appear there is a bit of a learning curve.
I have no first hand experience with other mills, so I can't say if my problems would have happened with an MM3 as well. I ran into some trouble experimenting with the gap. Since I'm doing BIAB, I tried setting the gaps a little tighter than the recommended starting point. This worked for a few seconds, but then the lower roller would stop rolling and get stuck full of material. It was very frustrating for a while there. I began experimenting with different settings until I got it to work. The bad news is I didn't get much time to play with different settings to get it fine tuned. The good news is that it sucked that grain down in just a few seconds! Once I got things set right it devoured about 10 lbs of grain in less than 30 seconds. I was using a 3/8" Dewalt corded drill. My poor drill was working about as hard as it could to roll that grain through.
I did get pretty poor efficiency despite running it through the mill twice. I've gotten just over 70% with the crush from the LHBS's mill set at 30. I got around 60% today.
So, I'd love some advice from others with a three roller mill like the MM3. Is it finicky about that third roller if you crush too fine? If I can figure out how to get it dialed in, I'm going to love this mill. It's way more sturdy than you would think. If I continue to have to grind too coarse to get it to work, I'll be bummed.
I have no first hand experience with other mills, so I can't say if my problems would have happened with an MM3 as well. I ran into some trouble experimenting with the gap. Since I'm doing BIAB, I tried setting the gaps a little tighter than the recommended starting point. This worked for a few seconds, but then the lower roller would stop rolling and get stuck full of material. It was very frustrating for a while there. I began experimenting with different settings until I got it to work. The bad news is I didn't get much time to play with different settings to get it fine tuned. The good news is that it sucked that grain down in just a few seconds! Once I got things set right it devoured about 10 lbs of grain in less than 30 seconds. I was using a 3/8" Dewalt corded drill. My poor drill was working about as hard as it could to roll that grain through.
I did get pretty poor efficiency despite running it through the mill twice. I've gotten just over 70% with the crush from the LHBS's mill set at 30. I got around 60% today.
So, I'd love some advice from others with a three roller mill like the MM3. Is it finicky about that third roller if you crush too fine? If I can figure out how to get it dialed in, I'm going to love this mill. It's way more sturdy than you would think. If I continue to have to grind too coarse to get it to work, I'll be bummed.
heckels
Well-Known Member
How fast were you running your drill? Too fast and the mill will start tearing apart the grain husks and you'll get a less consistent crush - hurting your efficiency.
Most folks recommend between 150-250 RPM. If you went through 10lbs of grain in 30 seconds you would have likely been running mug faster than that. 10lbs typically takes me about 5 mins with my barley crusher.
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That may certainly have been the problem then. I tried to keep it going slow, but it would tend to surge as I think it didn't have enough power to turn slowly and consistently. I suppose this would explain why it would not crush to a smaller size in one step. It didn't have the power to push it through and crush.
I'll have to look into something with more power for my next try.
I'll have to look into something with more power for my next try.
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+1 for a more powerful drill. Harbor freight makes a corded 1/2" high torque, low speed drill that many on here use with great success.
Agree on the drill. This one is especially good, and even sweeter if you toss a 30% coupon on top of the listed price:
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html#.Uy8WzfldW5g
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html#.Uy8WzfldW5g
I am having lots of problems with our clubs new Captain Crush. This is the second one. When the first one Refused to feed we just assumed it was a defective mill. Mainly because the design quality seems so good. New mill is in and attached to our 180 RPM gear motor. 77 lb to grind and the first 50 was smooth sailing. Then it refused to feed again. When we can get it to feed its letting lots whole grain through. I noticed that the plastic feels warm. Could it be warping? I am rather frustrated!
fuzzy2133
Well-Known Member
That could be possible looking at the pics on line. If the gap between the rollers and side aluminum plates open up enough grain could jam it up. Measure the width of the roller box cold and when it heats up see how far it expanded. The next question will be why is it getting hot enough for this to happen?
No I am not with NB. I know a machinist that worked with plastics and he always had the QC room set to 72F when customers came to evaluate/measure a run of parts.
fuzzy2133
Well-Known Member
IF you have not done so get in contact with NB and see if they can help before spending money on another mill.
I've used mine a few times now. I picked up the Harbor Freight 1/2 drill. It does a much better job. On the advice in another thread I'm conditioning the grain as well.
I am still playing with the gap adjustments. I've been fairly inconsistent in my efficiencies. I'm not surprised because I've crushed differently every time. Even with the new drill, it struggles to push the grain through, especially if I try to go slow. I don't know how I could get it to go slow enough to take 5 minutes for 10 lbs of grain.
I suspect I'm still trying to crush too fine because I'm still getting a lot of flour in the mix. I really should pick up some cheap base malt and just experiment with settings. So far I've just experimented with each brew day.
I am still playing with the gap adjustments. I've been fairly inconsistent in my efficiencies. I'm not surprised because I've crushed differently every time. Even with the new drill, it struggles to push the grain through, especially if I try to go slow. I don't know how I could get it to go slow enough to take 5 minutes for 10 lbs of grain.
I suspect I'm still trying to crush too fine because I'm still getting a lot of flour in the mix. I really should pick up some cheap base malt and just experiment with settings. So far I've just experimented with each brew day.
I'm having the same problem.
The mill worked fine the first couple of times I used it. The last time I went to use it, the mill would grind a bit and then just spin. I fussed around with it for an hour and was finally able to get through my 30lbs of grain. If I had to guess I would say that the gap between rollers was not even, and that was causing one roller to jam.
I suggest you get yourself some feeler gauges and make sure that the top rollers are adjusted so you have the same gap on either end.
I'm going to contact Northern Brewer in case my problem persists. Other than this last brew day I have been very happy with the CC and I have complete confidence in Northern Brewer. Their customer service has always been top-shelf.
Let me know how you make out (and I'll do the same).
I did do this and have no complaints with NB they tried to help and then sent another mill quickly. It did exactly the same thing. I personally believe there is a design flaw some where that they will just need to find.
The problems with high volume jobs seem consistent enough that NB should have discovered these through rigorous testing. Polished good looks are no substitute for durability.
I'm glad this thread is here. I too am having the stopping after 3lbs of grain milled. I'm going to go home and check my setting. I've read through the instructions again. But it's frustrating to take 30 mins - 1 hour to grind through grain. At $300, it should make the beer for me!!
BungBrewing
Well-Known Member
Have any of you Captain Crush owners posted reviews on Northern Brewer's website on this item? There's still only four reviews and all of those reviews gave it five out of five stars. Maybe if they get more feedback, they will be able to better address issues the owners have. (I hope they're not suppressing less-favorable reviews.)
(FYI: I was waiting for a while to see if I could get a Rebel Mill, but have long since given up on them. In the mean time I have been reading comments on other mills, and will probably end up with a MM2-2.0...)
(FYI: I was waiting for a while to see if I could get a Rebel Mill, but have long since given up on them. In the mean time I have been reading comments on other mills, and will probably end up with a MM2-2.0...)
I have not. In fact, yesterday I took my mill apart to ‘really’ clean it. I did find a lot gunk built up on the rollers....so, I’ll do a few more mills before I give them a full review.
BungBrewing
Well-Known Member
Was is a negative review? I wonder if they are supressing anything but positive reviews...
Well, I had some good and some bad with my brew day this weekend. I believe I figured out part of the clogging up problem. I think I had too big of a difference in the gap of the upper and lower rollers. I was crushing pretty tight with the lower roller for BIAB. (.023") I had the upper roller pretty wide, it just cracked the grains. This weekend I tightened up the upper roller to do a little tighter crush. Thus seems to have made it work well. I got through all 14 lbs without incident.
I'm not sure if it was additional pressure on the upper roller, or something else, but when. I got done there was a small pile of bronze below the drive roller. I wasn't happy about this. To add insult to injury, later in my brew day I knocked the thing over from on top of a bucket and the base plate cracked. So that part is official, the plastic will break.
Today I took it in to Northern Brewer here. We discussed the bushing problem and found that the rollers were not parallel when the settings said they should be. They replaced the whole mill without any reservation. We opened a new one and found it did not have the same alignment problem. I am very comfortable that they want to put out a good product and will stand behind what they sell.
I'm a very happy customer as of today. I'll repost in a few weeks when I brew again and let you know how the new one performs.
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I'm not sure if it was additional pressure on the upper roller, or something else, but when. I got done there was a small pile of bronze below the drive roller. I wasn't happy about this. To add insult to injury, later in my brew day I knocked the thing over from on top of a bucket and the base plate cracked. So that part is official, the plastic will break.
Today I took it in to Northern Brewer here. We discussed the bushing problem and found that the rollers were not parallel when the settings said they should be. They replaced the whole mill without any reservation. We opened a new one and found it did not have the same alignment problem. I am very comfortable that they want to put out a good product and will stand behind what they sell.
I'm a very happy customer as of today. I'll repost in a few weeks when I brew again and let you know how the new one performs.
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Just wanted to update my previous post.
Before I start, I just want to say that throughout my issues with the Captain Crush Grain Mill, Northern Brewer's customer service was top notch. When I started having issues with my CC, they worked with me to troubleshoot the problem. When the problem persisted, they sent me another CC to try and had me keep the original CC in case I needed parts. When I had the same problem with the second CC Mill (the rollers would not spin freely). They accepted the mill back for a full refund AND gave me a gift certificate for my trouble. NB has been fantastic throughout the whole process.
That being said, I returned the Captain Crush and purchased a Monster Mill 2-Roller grain mill.
I could never get the Captain Crush to work properly. The fact that I had the same problem with two brand new mills really shook my confidence in the product. While trouble shooting, I also found the build quality to be very questionable. The 'adjustable' rollers fell apart easily and did not seem to be up to the task.
In all fairness to NB, it may be that a 3-roller mill may be more finicky in regards to the gaps and set up - and that may have been a contributing factor. But I don't think that a high end mill aimed at a consumer market should require a degree in engineering to operate.
The Monster Mill 2-roller mill I purchased worked like a charm right out of the gate.
For those folks trying to choose between the Captain Crush and the MM3 - my advice would be to purchase the MM2. I truly believe that the complexity inherent to the 3-roller mill is not worth it for non-commercial use.
Good luck!
Before I start, I just want to say that throughout my issues with the Captain Crush Grain Mill, Northern Brewer's customer service was top notch. When I started having issues with my CC, they worked with me to troubleshoot the problem. When the problem persisted, they sent me another CC to try and had me keep the original CC in case I needed parts. When I had the same problem with the second CC Mill (the rollers would not spin freely). They accepted the mill back for a full refund AND gave me a gift certificate for my trouble. NB has been fantastic throughout the whole process.
That being said, I returned the Captain Crush and purchased a Monster Mill 2-Roller grain mill.
I could never get the Captain Crush to work properly. The fact that I had the same problem with two brand new mills really shook my confidence in the product. While trouble shooting, I also found the build quality to be very questionable. The 'adjustable' rollers fell apart easily and did not seem to be up to the task.
In all fairness to NB, it may be that a 3-roller mill may be more finicky in regards to the gaps and set up - and that may have been a contributing factor. But I don't think that a high end mill aimed at a consumer market should require a degree in engineering to operate.
The Monster Mill 2-roller mill I purchased worked like a charm right out of the gate.
For those folks trying to choose between the Captain Crush and the MM3 - my advice would be to purchase the MM2. I truly believe that the complexity inherent to the 3-roller mill is not worth it for non-commercial use.
Good luck!
FWIW- I have a MM-3 that I motorized using a Power Grinder set up. Setting the gap could not have been easier & the crush has been consistently great. The third roller hasn't been an issue since it is basically stationary in position.
All the credit for the cabinet build goes to a brew buddy!!
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All the credit for the cabinet build goes to a brew buddy!!
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Brettomomyces
LHBS Curmudgeon
What grinder did you use to motorize your MM3? I'm looking at getting an MM3 and that looks like a great, relatively simple setup.
check out:
http://www.allamericanaleworks.com
http://www.allamericanaleworks.com
Brettomomyces
LHBS Curmudgeon
Awesome, thanks for the heads up.
You'll also need to order two Lovejoys w/ appropriate diameter openings for each shaft & a spider to go between them. Also, the motor shaft is metric and is keyed.
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I agree 100%. I have the MM 2 2.0 with the new "wheel" gap adjustors and it is amazing! The bigger rollers are what really makes the difference in its ability to pull grain through and crush perfectly, and I see no reason to add complexity with the 3-roller version. The crush on the 2 2.0 is spot on IMHO and the large rollers are going to perform WAY longer that any smaller rollers.
I wore out a Barley Crusher to the point where it wouldn't pull grain through anymore due to small rollers and worn knurls. I think even with worn knurls the MM 2 2.0 will still pull grain and crush great. As they say, the perfect grain mill would have HUGE rollers and they would be smooth.
I just purchased a Captain Crunch for my HBS Store and I'm having nothing but trouble with it so far. The flat spots in the bottom of the hopper are a pain because they leave grain behind from the previous run, one of the set screws have already loosened up and fell out. None of the set screw will stay tight if you do as instructed. You have to lock them down or they will work loose and fall out. The free rollers continue to just jam up. I'm hoping that it's a speed issue right now that I have to correct. But for the price I paid this unit should definitely work much better then it does. I'm not happy at all.
bobo31
Well-Known Member
My advice would be to return the captain crush asap. My wife bought me one last Christmas and after battling with it for a month or two I finally gave up and returned it. I ended up getting the Monster Mill 2. 2.0 and have been very happy with it. Super simple to use and the CC doesn't even compare to the quality of the MM.
So tonight I tried one last thing. I motorized the Captain Crush with a large pulley and a 1725 RPM motor. I thought that I had my speed ratio wrong. I was a little fast running at 250 RPM so I decided to get a low speed (variable) high torque drill and mount it. That way it would run as designed and I could try different speeds. This too was a huge failure. No matter what I do to this mill it will not mill grains consistently. I've given up and am now asking for my money back!
What a great thread!!! I have had my Schmidling Malt Mill for what seems like forever now. I have gone through 2 sets of rollers, but it still does the job that it was intended to do. Although, I am looking to buy a new mill as the rollers on my mill are starting to get worn. I really wanted either the NB CC or the MM 3 roller, but after reading this thread, I'm off to order a MM 2, 2.0 right now. I don't need the complexity, headaches, nor do I want to purchase a new drill to run my grain mill. Once again, awesome read here for anyone that has not read the entire thread.
