slowspoke
Active Member
I'm getting into AG brewing and wondering where is the best place to buy a grain mill and which one is the best. Not looking to spend a lot but want an adjustable mill.
BrianP said:I've ready several good comments about the BarleyCrusher. ~$130. It has adjustable grind and several AG posters sing its praises.
There are some plans for DIY crushers but I don't have that kind of time or skill to tinker with those.
There are only a couple of issues with pre-milled grain; it doesn't keep well, so you have use it soon; The crush, and therefore your efficiency, will vary with however it arrives.JamesKY said:Since we're on the topic...
If you are just starting into AG and you have limited funds, would it be OK to purchase the grains pre-crushed and skip the mill for the time being? I will get a mill in the future but how important is it to the AG product?
joshpooh said:If you're not looking to spend alot of money the Corona mill is the only thing I know of that you can get for under $100. You can always find them new on Ebay for around $30 shipping included. They are adjustable and make a pretty good crush, but it takes a long time to crush all the grains for an ag batch. I use one though and it isn't bad. One of these days I will purchase a better mill, but it gets me through for now. If you're willing to spend some money I have heard really good things about the barley crusher, but never used one.
All my grain bills are around 24lbs per brew and it takes me about an hour to crush that with a Corona mill with a hand crank.JeffNYC said:How long does it take with a Corona mill (Victoria mill), per pound?
Just a point of clarification -- I think this is really only a concern if you are fly sparging. Batch sparging is less prone to tannin extraction (generally speaking), and if you use a SS braid, it is pretty hard to get a stuck sparge. I think that despite a bit of husk-shredding, the Corona-style mills work perfectly fine for batch sparging, and there are lots of us here that are getting 80+ efficiency with them.Waldo said:Corona mills shread the grain they don't crush it, shreaded grain husk are more likely to cause astringent flavors. However they are cheap and do the job but its best to save your money and wait until you can afford a good mill like the Barley Crusher.
I'm a hold out on the mill thingy (for the time being).JamesKY said:Since we're on the topic...
If you are just starting into AG and you have limited funds, would it be ok to purchase the grains pre-crushed and skip the mill for the time being? I will get a mill in the future but how important is it to the AG product?
I'm a hold out on the mill thingy (for the time being).
I've done...well...let's just say I've done a lot of AG beer this year and ordered all of my grains precrushed. No real issues except that I've come to accept a 67% efficiency (not for long though ).
IF you want to go all grain and would rather invest elsewhere, ordering precrushed grains is a good way to go.
Northern Brewer has the Barleycrusher for $119 and they now have $5.99 flat shipping until Oct 15th. I just ordered one, along with everything else, and it should be here on Friday.JeffNYC said:I don't think I can wait until Christmas...
Waldo said:Having a grain mill is almost a must have item for AG, I have 20 canisters filled with specialty grains and a bag of Thomas Fawcett Optic pale two-row and a bag of Rahr two-row, Lots of hops and yeast, I can brew just about anything I want at a moments notice. I would hate to have to order every time I wanted to brew.
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Corona mills do not have rollers, they are flower grinders that have two plates that rotate against each other with the grain in between. The Barley Crusher has two rollers that are knurled to better feed the grain into the gap. I don't think is does much shredding.JeffNYC said:Does the barley crusher shred the hulls also? How do the size and "gripping" of the rollers compare to a Victoria/Corona mill?
BierMuncher said:If anyone is interested, I just posted a brief testimonial on the Barley Crusher Customer Service.
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I change my mind a lot. I'm like a women that way.John Beere said:Just three days ago you said you were holding off on a grain mill... :cross:
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