milling

Can anyone recommend a mill to grind grain? I used a chopper to grind the barley but the beer was very cloudy. I think it was because there was too fine of a mash.

 

Malt Mill, by Schmidling, barley crusher, or ant type roller mill. I personallyhave the Maltmill, the adjustable one, and love it.

 

I'd recommend a roller mill if you can afford it. A Corona style is fine if you don't want to spend $100+.

FWIW I built my own, so I can't comment on the quality of one commercial mill over another.

 

If you're serious about making your own beer and needing a mill, I think a roller mill is irreplaceable. I decided to just bite down and buy a Monster Mill 3 roller because I'd rather spend money once. I'm In this to save cash by not buying $100 cases of beer (plus I like the control and process) but at the same time I'm not a cheap skate that won't spend cash. I'd rather spend the money on a good piece of equipment that makes my life easy vs being cheap and having to figure out ways around some things.

 

I've been using a corona mill. Old faithful. They're nice and cheap too. Nice ghetto hopper made from a 1 gallon water jug with the bottom cut off.

However I do plan on upgrading eventually.

 

I too bought the MM3 monster mill, I also motorized it and its a beast or..... monster

 

I got a Corona mill because of its price and simplicity. It's been completely satisfactory. I BIAB, so I'm able to crank the wheels down pretty tight and get a fine crush, grind, or whatever and not worry about stuck mashes/sparges. I'm not a real efficiency freak, but I suspect I'm getting around 80% or so. I'm using the OEM hopper, but have mounted the monster in a bucket to cut down the mess.

 

I LOVE my corona mill. It worked well out of the box, but being a do it yourselfer I made some minor mods. I'm really not sure if it helped or not but so it goes. I have about $25 wrapped up in it, and am getting a nice consistant crush. I've never used a roller mill, but I have no doubt they work great too. It all depends what you are prepared to shell out for your mill.

 

I have a Barley Crusher and its great. Simple, easy to adjust, lightweight. I can simply attach my cordless drill to it and buzz through 15lbs of grist in just a few minutes.

 

Mine just got delivered by FedEx today. Going to try it this weekend. It gets sooo many good reviews and doesn't require anything special to use a drill to crush so I was sold.


Rev.

 

Yeah, I've had mine for about a year and a half (maybe longer?). Just check the factory gap - you might want to tighten it up just a tick. My Hitachi drill has a low rpm/high torque switch, and I keep in on that and run about 2/3rds speed. I could probably just go full bore, but I've read varying stuff about creating too much powder. It doesn't take much longer, but feathering the 'throttle' can be a bit of a pain. I have an old fan that I might rip apart and use the motor to power the mill at some point in the future.

 

You motorized mavens are missing out on the zen of cranking. Puts you in touch with the grain.

 

meh. I got tendonitis from cranking.

Odd thing though. My mill has been motorized for a while now...

 

But if you don't hand crank mill your own grains it's no different than using extract, you're not truly making your own beer!!!

Totally just kidding of course.

@sheeshomatic - is there a way to check the gap without using feeler gauges? I don't have a set yet and would prefer avoiding a run to the hardware store, or wherever they can be bought, over the holiday weekend.


Rev.

 

If you buy your grain instead of growing and malting your own, you aren't truly making your own beer.

Sure! just run a few kernels through and check them with your micrometer, or don't you have them either?

 

Haha! Same here. Think I was about 15 at the time....

"All your home brew are belong to us!"

 

My mill I set using my American Express Card.

 

^ guy stayed at a holiday inn express last night... Jk get a set of feeler gages they are not overly expensive and will last a while.

 

Actually measured everything in my wallet with a caliper and that card was bang on.

 

i think you mean too fine a crush? anyway, a fine crush will not cause cloudy beer.

 

I got a Corona-pattern mill ("Victoria" version) from Discount Tommy on eBay. Cost $23 delivered. I mounted it in a bucket, put on a 50 cent bolt in place of the crank, and drive it with an old Craftsman 1/2" AC drill I had lying around, and with a minimum of experimentation adjusting it, got a crush that lets me hit my OG numbers from mild bitters to imperial stouts. That was 2.5 years ago, and it still just cranks out the malt. Simple, crude, ugly piece of cast iron, but it does exactly what I want it to.

I found this thread quite helpful in planning how to mount and use the mill:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/