is this grain mill any good? got it free

KIAKillerXJ · Nov 26, 2011

Another brew guy gave this to me when I went to pick up some other stuff i bought from him, since he was getting out of the brew game.

curious what you guys think? would love to start buying my base malts in bulk

beninan · Nov 26, 2011

That looks exactly like the same mill used by the natural food store here, which doubles as a small LHBS. The mill they have worked great for steeping grains, but never had the chance to use it for base malts to check the mash efficiency. The only issue I had with it was the hand crank. It's pretty slow just milling 1-2 lbs of malt, so I can't imagine doing 10+ lbs. I would suggest to cut the weld off of the handle and remove/replace it with a power drill, to make things a lot faster.

Get yourself a pound of base malt and run it though there, see how well the crush looks.

I believe the picture us actually upside-down, so you actually have the bottom of the mill pictured. there should be a hole on the opposite side that you feed the grain through, and the whole assembly gets clamped to the side of a table with those "L" shaped bolts.

ZuzBrews · Nov 26, 2011

It is a Phil Mill. I had one that I used when I first started doing partial mash batches. There is a set screw on the side that lets you adjust the crush. The top side has a small hole. You can make a grain hopper by cutting the bottom off of a 2 litre soda bottle. It takes a long time to crush the grain, but it was effective.

KIAKillerXJ · Nov 26, 2011

it is a phil mill.

most of my batches are 12+ lbs of grain... so maybe not the most efficient method. Ii have no problem adding power to it, would that speed it up a lot, or is the mill design the biggest limiting factor?

beninan · Nov 26, 2011

The limiting factor is the handle. I'm sure it would be a pretty decent mill (especially for the price) if you could spin it faster than hand speed.

The_General · Nov 28, 2011

I recognize that! I picked one of them up a couple years ago on Craigslist.

Like other people said, do yourself a favor and attach a drill to it. I did a couple 5 gallon batches of 1.050-ish beers hand cranking and it wasn't fun. Now, with the drill attached, I've done up to about 25 lbs for a barley wine or RIS without a problem. I use a cutoff 2 liter soda bottle as a hopper. The only improvement I'd make right now is to get a bigger hopper. The one I have holds about 2 lbs per fill. If I had the space, I'd be buying grain in bulk for sure.

On another note, I have the adjustment plate cranked WAY down. I batch sparge and I've never had a problem with a stuck or slow sparge. That and my efficiency jumped way up after I started crushing my own. I go a little finer than the homebrew shop would.

runningweird · Nov 28, 2011

I had one of those, I regret selling it. It gave me a beautiful crush. If you do a bit of on the fly carpentry you can set one up to havea 5 gallon hopper- about 25 pounds of grain

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/index66.html#post3118507

a pic of mine in its glory. it really is a great little mill. You can buy the drill attachment online somewhere - don't remember where.

KIAKillerXJ · Nov 28, 2011

Awesome! Got it for free, and the guy claimed it wasn't good for much other than specialty grains. I have no problem modifying it to be powered, so it looks like I got a great little mill!

runningweird · Nov 28, 2011

KIAKillerXJ said:
Awesome! Got it for free, and the guy claimed it wasn't good for much other than specialty grains. I have no problem modifying it to be powered, so it looks like I got a great little mill!

That you did, I thought I needed a bigger mill, I have a two roller schmidling malt mill, its very nice but the phil mill does the same thing in a smaller package.

Congrats.

jsguitar · Nov 28, 2011

I've used my philmil for a number of years now and still love it. I do use the shaft they sold as an extra to attach to a drill though. Free!? Great find!! I think I paid around $100 for mine new. I believe Dan Listermann made the Philmill. You might be able to contact him for info on the drill shaft attachment if you don't want to cut the handle off. I kept my handle/shaft in case my drill failed me which has happened. A strong 1/2" slow speed drill will hold up and do a great job as I've finally learned though.

is this grain mill any good? got it free

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