Grain Mills - Your opinion?

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Just want to double check...No one with a monster mill is disappointed? No one? Not a single person who has purchased a monster mill wishes they went with a different mill? Nobody?

Got it.

There is a safe bet out there and it's called monster mill. They make good mills.
 
I have an MM3.....save your $$ and don't opt for the hand crank. I use an el cheapo 1/2 inch drill - no problems. I changed out some of the thumb screw with set screws and shorter thumb screws for easier access if I want to make any adjustments.

It was one of my best purchases. Combined with me getting in on group grain buys, it's paid for itself twice over.
 
I've had my Barley Crusher for two and a half years now. Brew almost every week. I use the 1/2 in. HF low speed drill and have had no problems with the mill.
I think when it craps out, I'll go for the Monster Mill 2.
 
Cereal killer user here and it works great for me but I have found its easy to misadjust the cams that move the secondary roller in and out (and up and down) this causes the roller edges to bind against the side frames and not turn easy or constantly stick.... Its easy enough to remedy though with a feeler gauge once you understand whats going on.. just adjust each side individually while spinning the roller by hand.

time will tell if the bearings in the cereal killer will really have long term advantages over the bushings many other mills are using.
 
MonsterMill, Don't remember which model, but I did opt for 1/2" shaft and Stainless rollers.

I condition my grain, so I didn't want to worry about rust. Stainless just made sense.

Living in a small NYC apartment, I needed a mill I could setup and store easily. I built a frame out of 1/2" ply that sits on top of a 5 gallon bucket. When it's stored, the hopper bucket, the catch bucket, the mill and the 1/2" cheapo drill all fit nicely together.

If you're concerned about oil/shavings/etc. on your rollers when you get it, put a few slices of stale bread through the mill. The bread will soak up oil and pick up any loose shavings.
 
bad coffee said:
MonsterMill, Don't remember which model, but I did opt for 1/2" shaft and Stainless rollers.

I condition my grain, so I didn't want to worry about rust. Stainless just made sense.

Living in a small NYC apartment, I needed a mill I could setup and store easily. I built a frame out of 1/2" ply that sits on top of a 5 gallon bucket. When it's stored, the hopper bucket, the catch bucket, the mill and the 1/2" cheapo drill all fit nicely together.

If you're concerned about oil/shavings/etc. on your rollers when you get it, put a few slices of stale bread through the mill. The bread will soak up oil and pick up any loose shavings.
Click to expand...
I assumed (falsely) that most grain mills including the monster mill came with a plywood base that was pinned or notched to fit on a 5 gallon pail... I know my CK did.
 
I bought mine in 2008/9. It showed up with rubber bands holding the mill together. I'm betting they've upped the 'box opening' experience since then!
 
+1000 to my MM2! Love Love Love it. Works like a champ. I ditched the base and used an old table that I modified and the standard hopper works as intended.
 
Great thread. I know what I'm getting....now it I can find a thread this informative about hooking up a motor and getting the rpm's I need. I saw an adapter somewhere that worked great but have to find it again...
 
I love my MM2 2". I opted to get it fully upgraded and was well worth the money. 2" rollers, hardened ss, and 1/2" drive. Bought the hopper and extension too. Been using a drill to power it for now, but planning to motorize it in the near future.
 
For those of you who got the Monster Mill with the 2" rollers, what is the advantage with the larger size roller? I'm drawing a blank other than it will mill faster which is a downside to me.
 
A 2" roller will have hold its edge a bit longer as well since it has more surface area to grind the same amount of grain.


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boat_eggs said:
For those of you who got the Monster Mill with the 2" rollers, what is the advantage with the larger size roller? I'm drawing a blank other than it will mill faster which is a downside to me.
Click to expand...

The theory I have heard is less tearing of the husks and a better crush. Monster recommends a crush speed of 150-250 rpm. I would call it a "smoother" crush.

Mine is in the mail right now. I went mm2-2.0 with the hardened steel rollers. I expect to be a prolific homebrewer as they say.
 
As an owner of a 3 roller mill I'd gladly trade it in for a 2 roller 2.0 mill. The biggest reason would be the easier adjustment on the 2 roller mills. The greater crush surface area, greater roller momentum, etc. would be of secondary concern... but a consideration none the less.
 
Wreck99 said:
I love my MM2 2". I opted to get it fully upgraded and was well worth the money. 2" rollers, hardened ss, and 1/2" drive. Bought the hopper and extension too. Been using a drill to power it for now, but planning to motorize it in the near future.
Click to expand...

They offer hardened or stainless. It would be nice if you could get both in an MM3-2.0

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Home Brew mobile app
 
I thought about cryogenic treating mine, simply because it is local, and I could get it done cheap. But decided it wasn't worth the effort for the amount of grain I would ever mill. Unless you are milling on a brewery scale hardening is probably not necessary.
 
I got a Victoria Hand Crank Mill. Haters gonna Hate but I dont mind spending an extra half hour crushing my grains to save a bit of money. It's very very little effort to actually crank. The only thing that's an issue is the hopper, but I'll be jiggering some kind of larger hopper to it.
 
FredTheNuke said:
They offer hardened or stainless. It would be nice if you could get both in an MM3-2.0

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Home Brew mobile app
Click to expand...

That must've changed somewhere along the way. When I bought mine, I could've sworn it was hardened stainless steel material. Trying to dig up my invoice because now I'm beginning to 2nd guess that. I remember I had a bunch of roller options to choose from.
 
MarshmallowBlue said:
I got a Victoria Hand Crank Mill. Haters gonna Hate but I dont mind spending an extra half hour crushing my grains to save a bit of money. It's very very little effort to actually crank. The only thing that's an issue is the hopper, but I'll be jiggering some kind of larger hopper to it.
Click to expand...
I'm not hating at all...I used one for a year... mine was too inconsistent it would either allow half the grain though without crushing or pulverize most of it to powder....
 
Based on some of the advice given here and elsewhere, I've decided to get the JSP (Schmidling) Model A with the hand crank. I don't foresee myself doing batches larger than five pounds in the near future, and I can always add a larger hopper and motorized option down the road.

Coincidentally, this is the mill used at my local hbss.

Thanks for the excellent thread.

Steve
 
Probably not helpful as they aren't being manufactured currently, but if the Rebel Brewer Mill comes back into production, I can't say enough great things about it. I'm approaching 700 lbs through mine so far, no issues. The thing just works, and works well. I run it off a craftsman drill and it plows through whatever I throw at it.
 
Used my Barley Crusher for the first and second times today.

Sweet. Worked as advertised.

Efficiency was improved as well. The recipe I brewed today was 10 points higher than the last time I brewed it. Pretty cool I must say.
 
I just bought a MM2. What is the gap that most folks use? I see on the website it recommends between .037-.055

Oh course I messed with the original gap because I wanted to tinker.


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krduckman said:
I just bought a MM2. What is the gap that most folks use? I see on the website it recommends between .037-.055

Oh course I messed with the original gap because I wanted to tinker.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

The 90% efficiency I accidentally hit when I gapped it at .033 tells me I should back it off a little bit. (my BC was much tighter, and I do condition my grain)
 
krduckman said:
I just bought a MM2. What is the gap that most folks use? I see on the website it recommends between .037-.055

Oh course I messed with the original gap because I wanted to tinker.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly confident that my MM2 is set to .037 - pretty sure on that - and I get a pretty consistent 80% brewhouse efficiency (fermenter) batch sparging on my system.
 
krduckman said:
I just bought a MM2. What is the gap that most folks use? I see on the website it recommends between .037-.055

Oh course I messed with the original gap because I wanted to tinker.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Mine is set to .037 right now. Wonderful crush.
 
Just to chime in, there are a few mentions of the Mashmaster Minimill from Australia in this thread. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere at times too. I actually have one, and the thing is a beast. Those driven rollers work like magic. The only trick to it is that since both ends are adjustable, you need to have both sides dialed in the same or you're gonna have a bad time. I bought because 1) it's frickin' awesome, and 2) I brew gluten free and the adjustability and gear drive mean I can easily mill the different sized (and often very tiny) gluten free grains.
 
I received my Maltmill from JSP last week. Today I had my first chance to mill out some grain with it. Since this is my first mill I have nothing to compare it to. That being said, it ran the grain through with a minimum of fuss and the crush was spot-on. You do need to put a little shoulder into it, but I assume that would be the same for all hand-crank mills. Since I just happen to have a 1/2" angle drill-motor just sitting in it's bag, I think that hooking it to this mill will be in the cards before my next brewing session.

Ordered it direct from JSP and it was shipped the next business day. I hope I get the decade or more of service out of this that others claim. And for $135 including shipping, the price can't be beat.

If you are in the market for a mill I would suggest you give this one a look.

Cheers! :mug:
 
I'm totally confused by his post, but to get this back on track. I used my MM3 again this weekend and pushed it to the max by completely filling the hopper and it chewed right through my grain without a hiccup.
 
Puddlethumper said:
I received my Maltmill from JSP last week. Today I had my first chance to mill out some grain with it. Since this is my first mill I have nothing to compare it to. That being said, it ran the grain through with a minimum of fuss and the crush was spot-on. You do need to put a little shoulder into it, but I assume that would be the same for all hand-crank mills. Since I just happen to have a 1/2" angle drill-motor just sitting in it's bag, I think that hooking it to this mill will be in the cards before my next brewing session.

Ordered it direct from JSP and it was shipped the next business day. I hope I get the decade or more of service out of this that others claim. And for $135 including shipping, the price can't be beat.

If you are in the market for a mill I would suggest you give this one a look.

Cheers! :mug:
Click to expand...

I have been driving my JSP with a 1/2" drill. No problem. That's a great mill.
 
Guys I'm sorry about the post. I was replying to another thread this morning from work when my computer was locking up throwing script messages at me. I was trying to edit the post and hit the back button a few times to try to recover the last 30 minutes of typing. Honestly, I have no idea how I wound up in this thread. I've asked the mod to delete it.

Sorry for the confusion it caused. I'm sure you guys were thinking I was smoking some bad crack or drinking too much brew. Lol

Kenny
 
bigken462 said:
Guys I'm sorry about the post. I was replying to another thread this morning from work when my computer was locking up throwing script messages at me. I was trying to edit the post and hit the back button a few times to try to recover the last 30 minutes of typing. Honestly, I have no idea how I wound up in this thread. I've asked the mod to delete it.

Sorry for the confusion it caused. I'm sure you guys were thinking I was smoking some bad crack or drinking too much brew. Lol

Kenny
Click to expand...

no worries :) homebrew early in the day does that to me sometimes ;)

all the best

S_M
 

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