Grain Mills - Your opinion?

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Another fan of the mm2-2.0 here. Built my own hopper/bucket stand, and use a harbor freight slow speed drill. Been only a few brews but great so far.
 
Thedutchtouch said:
Another fan of the mm2-2.0 here. Built my own hopper/bucket stand, and use a harbor freight slow speed drill. Been only a few brews but great so far.
Click to expand...

What is your gap set at? Mind came with around .044 and I was getting 72% EFF with it. I tightened it up for next brew day a bit. I want around 80-85%. Going to run a test crush here soon and see how it looks.
 
ShadyBrewer said:
I got a Millars Mill (B3 model) for Christmas and I absolutely love it. It about the same price as a Barley Crusher but the quality is definitely superior. I liked the fact that it's 100% Made in the USA...that's important to me.
I hand crank 15 pounds of grain with relative ease. I love it and I'm sure it'll last for many many years


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
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I am asking Santa Wife for the Millar's B3 this year. Has it continued working well for you since last year?

Anyone else use this mill? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009601M4I/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Sent from my iPad
 
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I use a Barley Crusher and it works well. I used a Corona mill before that and it worked fine too. Got the Barley Crusher because I got tired of cranking :) Still use the Corona for wheat and rye so I don't need to adjust the Barley Crusher gap.
 
I had a barley crusher that sharted out on me pretty quickly. While BC eventually replaced several parts on my mill, they proved slow and incompetent.

I now have 2 Monster Mills; 1 three roller mill, 1 two roller mill. Both are rock stars. If I had it to do over, I'd get a 2 inch, 2 roller mill with a 1/2 inch drive. The 1/2 drive would be easier to adapt to a pulley to eventually motorize the operation.

Anyways, here is a picture of my 3 roller with homemade base and hopper. I've put unholy amounts of grain through it. Find a gap you like and lock it down!

IMG_0003.jpg
 
bbohanon said:
I use this one as I got it on sale for $75: http://www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Killer-Grain-Mill_p_2310.html
I have run about 50 batches through it with no issues and great efficiency. No more inconsistent crush at the HBS.

I only do 5 gallon batches so I still crank/hand crush mine. Makes it more of a labor of love I guess but its a great mill for the price. :)
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+1 on the Cereal Killer. Not the fanciest mill, but it's a great value. I use a Milwaukee 18v Lithium Ion on speed 1 (slower than speed 2), and it's about perfect.
 
I pulled the plug on the JSP malt mill. I splurged on the hardened rollers and one adjustilbe end. I love this machine with its ten inch rollers. I debated and researched and I'm really happy with it. I love the crush. I still turn it by hand on top of a 5 gallon pail. My son in law borrows it and loves it too. I liked his website and felt he is a really practical person. His barebones model is very inexspensive for the handy types. For example, the crank handle is 15 dollars but if you plan on running it with a drill why buy it. And the shipping is super cheap on the barebones.
 
Another MM 2 2.0 user here - I went with the stainless option because I was conditioning my grain (found it didn't really help much, so I stopped after a while) and because I store it in my sometimes damp basement. I keep it set at .037 - admittedly, I did have some problems keeping it set at a consistent gap, but they changed the side plates a year or two ago and redesigned how the mill locks down in a given gap setting. I upgraded the appropriate parts to the new design, and it's been rock solid ever since.
 
hairymare said:
I pulled the plug on the JSP malt mill. I splurged on the hardened rollers and one adjustilbe end. I love this machine with its ten inch rollers. I debated and researched and I'm really happy with it. I love the crush. I still turn it by hand on top of a 5 gallon pail. My son in law borrows it and loves it too. I liked his website and felt he is a really practical person. His barebones model is very inexspensive for the handy types. For example, the crank handle is 15 dollars but if you plan on running it with a drill why buy it. And the shipping is super cheap on the barebones.
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I agree. I went with adjustable and non-hardened rollers on my base mill. It's about to get hooked to a motor over the winter. The second pic is when I used a drill and it was attached to my brew stand for milling only. Hopping the hopper will be able to be used on the motorized version.

JSP Mill.jpg


smugshot_8208720-XL.jpg
 
I snagged a set of reduction gears from Ebay for $39.00 (new shelf stock item). Did not have time to completely research them - but for that price hopefully they work!

I have a 56C frame 1 hp motor with a 5/8" keyed output shaft. The gears are Dodge Reliance MR94743 D ZY 56/150-10 Tigear Worm Gear 5/8" in 3/4" out 1.03 hp max 10:1 ratio 56C frame. Now to work on ordering the correct coupling equipment... Mill is an MM3-2.0 with hardened rollers. Sweet machine!
 
I've been using my Millar's mill for about 6 months now and I am very happy with it. The gap is easy to adjust and does not seem to waver over time. I would not waste your time with the handcrank though, just hook up a corded drill. The hopper holds ~5lbs of grain and it blows through it pretty quickly. I would recommend really locking down the nuts that hold the hopper in place. Otherwise it can pull off of the milling portion which can be a bit of a pain.

All in all I'd definitely recommend this mill for anyone looking for a two roller option that is not the Monster Mill.
 
I got the cheap ($35 on sale) low torque drill from harbor freight and hooked it up to my barley crusher in Jan. It still slips a little bit but it usually catches, and my husk material is in great shape now. Had it running on a 2000 rpm hammer drill before - not the ideal situation.
 
You can get a Corona for a fraction of the price, and it'll do the same thing as that "deluxe mill." But once you're going north of $100, a roller mill makes much more sense. Money well spent.
 
Still - as a mill that sounds like is specialized for making flour from various grains, I'm a bit dubious as to its utility to a brewer. You want to crack the grains, not pulverize them. And that hopper looks tiny - seems like it'd get frustrating to have to crank out some grain, then refill the hopper, then crank out some more, then refill again, and so on...
 
2 roller Monster Mill here that is now motorized. Been using for 6 months motorized, and 2+ years with drill prior to that. Awesome machine!
 
MM2 2.0 with a Harbor Freight $20 heavy duty, low speed drill here... Works like a champ.

I could see, if you were to try to use a cordless drill, how it would burn right through batteries - but with how well this cheapo drill has held up, I can't imagine the thing actually being tough on drills otherwise.
 
Best build to date in my brew setup is the motorized mill. Burned up a Craftsman Professional trying to get my JSP to start with grain in the bin. Not enough hands to dump grain in the hopper while having the drill already spinning the mill. Speed inconsistencies were also an issue.
 
I think the best bet to turn a mill with a drill is a corded low rpm, high torque, heavy duty drill. I bought the one from harbor freight someone was referring to, but you get what you pay for. I used it for about 6 months, it had no warning sides of wear or burning up, just one day went to use it and it didn't turn on.

I use this and the drill works flawlessly and I also use around the house for heavy duty needs and has a 5 year warranty:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005LEY6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
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