And the consensus best, economical grain mill is...

[mgr_stl]

So what do you folks think is the best, economical grain mill? I'm thinking about requesting one for father's day. Any vendor suggestions for the best deals would also be appreciated.

 

[nettekdl]

Despite everyone hating on them, I use a modified corona mill with great success personally. It was $20 for the mill and about maybe $15 for the parts to make it worth while and I built it in about an hour and a half

 

[1977Brewer]

I use an unmodded corona.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000U5NZ4I/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It will fluctuate. I paid $24.99 two months ago.

 

[mgr_stl]

Probably should have mentioned that I'll be using it for a BIAB setup, so I'd want to be able to get a pretty fine grind.

Does it really take a minute to mill one pound of grain using a corona mill?

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

My LHBS sells a grain mill called The Cereal Killer for $99.99. After seeing the reviews from others who have used it, I am considering adding one to my brewing gear when I venture into all grain.

http://www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Killer-Grain-Mill_p_2310.html

 

[jtratcliff]

Does it really take a minute to mill one pound of grain using a corona mill?

Probably less, using a drill. It takes me longer get stuff out the garage and set up to mill than it does to actually mill 10-12 lbs of grain

 

[amcclai7]

Probably should have mentioned that I'll be using it for a BIAB setup, so I'd want to be able to get a pretty fine grind.

Does it really take a minute to mill one pound of grain using a corona mill?

I've been using one for a long time with no issues. It can do a really fine grind but it takes longer. I have only ever used arm muscle to grind my grain and that takes probably 90 seconds per pound if you're doing a fine crush.

 

[CJ-3]

I use a corona mill I got off Amazon for $19.99. Takes a minute or so to grind a pound and I get a nice even crush every time.

 

[Saboral]

Love my monster mill, but it isn't what I would call economical.

 

[estricklin]

Probably should have mentioned that I'll be using it for a BIAB setup, so I'd want to be able to get a pretty fine grind.

Does it really take a minute to mill one pound of grain using a corona mill?

Give this thread a read, trust me the Corona mills works fine, and can be had for about 25 bucks on Amazon. Takes 15 minutes to build the station with the buckets and works perfect. For BIAB set that baby to grind fine, crush til your scared!

Oh and here's the thread to check out:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=90849

Oh and depending on how fast your drill is, you can crush 10 lbs in 2 minutes!

 

[Riot]

I love my corona style mill, some of the best cash I've ever spent on brewing equipment. Get a high torque drill and let it run. It will crush pretty much to dust for BIAB if you want it to. Even with a conventional mash tun mine is set to always get 80% laurering efficiency and I don't get stuck runoff ever

 

[BowAholic]

Read the thread that Eric posted...or at least a few hundred pages of it... LOL... the Corona is perfect for BIAB... a couple of minutes for 10-12# grinds.

 

[mgr_stl]

Ok, looks like a modified corona mill might be in my future. Thanks for all the info!

 

[mgr_stl]

Has anyone purchased the "duel roller grain mill with 7 lb. hopper" from Williams brewing? It is on sale for $91.98 shipped.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/mobile/DUAL-ROLLER-MILL-WITH-7-LB-HOPPER-P3548.aspx?ItemId=7272718

I find it a little weird that there seems to be no brand name associated with this product. May have to pull the trigger on this. Price is only good through Friday night.

 

[WI_Wino]

I have no personal experience with it but it looks a lot like my barley crusher.

 

[Jupapabear]

I have the $99 Cereal Killer and I am pleased. You can set the gap to suit your needs as you grow too. I believe it has a 7lb hopper, but I use my drill and continuously pour grain into it. I do 12# batches of grain in about 2 minutes or less.

 

[jma99]

I have used one of these for well over 10 years now:
http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm
$110 of the best spend per buck ever!
I now buy my base malt for $40 a sack from my local craft brewery.
I figured the mill has paid for it's self many, many times over.

let's see, 10 years is about 2,000 gallons or 200 10 gallon batches.
At about $0.55 per batch, it's practically free!!

 

[mgr_stl]

So I ended up buying the two roller grain mill from Williams Brewing that I referenced in a previous post.

Today I tried it out for the first time, but I'm not brewing anytime soon so I just used some two year old roasted barley I had sitting around to experiment with the gap settings. With a small gap setting, I pretty much pulverized the grains. Even with a pretty wide gap, I ended up with some whole grains and some that looked like they had been broken in half.

I'm thinking some of this has to do with the age/dryness of the grains. I guess I'll have to try it out again with fresher grains.

I thought I heard that some people soak their grains before crushing. Does this help you do less damage to the grains as they go through the mill?

Here are a couple of pictures...

The first is with a very narrow gap and the second is with a much wider setting. Any thoughts? I'm doing BIAB.

View attachment 1436148003739.jpg

View attachment 1436148084194.jpg

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

Love my monster mill, but it isn't what I would call economical.

I certainly agree here. The three roller MM-3 is excellent, but very expensive. Worth the money if you can afford it, but for most people it is far too much to spend on it.

Having used a Corona years and years ago, I agree that it is usable, but not ideal. I never could get it quite right, but many have had better luck with it than I did.