Barkey Mill?

[driverseat]

I am looking for opinions on using this guy as my grinder. Good price, the seller has a good rep, and it will do the small batches I always brew. Looks to be a bit of work, but I need the exercise....beer drinker ya' know..

Since I am a beginner to all grain, any alternative suggestions, critisisms, humiliations and opinions are always happily accepted..

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Premium-Cas...850?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b0f7f90a

 

[user 21663]

Probably not great for brewing. You want to crush your grain to expose the starch to the enzymes, not grind it. If you grind it too much, you'll get astringency from the husks ( think sucking on a tea bag ).

Barley Crusher is my recommendation, but they are not cheap ( about $130 )

 

[bdupree]

yeah get the barley crusher -- you need something you can hook a drill up to. it takes all day to do it by hand and that corn grinder looks like it only holds about a lb of grain

 

[driverseat]

got it. thanks guys...

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

I started with one of those when I went all grain since it is what I used for my mini mash. But after 25Lbs of grain and about 2 1/2 hours of cranking and cursing I manned up and ordered a barley mill. Plus the crush on them is poor, it’s ok for extract/mini mash and specialty grains but too poor of a crush for all grain.

 

[jubelale]

Do a search for Corona Mill. Lots of people are using these to brew all grain. They take some effort but do work.

 

[driverseat]

sounds like too much work for bad returns. I checked out a corona at our brew store just now. Expensive but it sounds worth it.

 

[driverseat]

I wonder if a corona can be fitted for a drill -- slow drill

 

[jubelale]

Yes you can attached a drill to it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/best-bucket-setup-corona-grain-mill-143325/

Also I believe I read somewhere Charlie Papazian has brewed with a Corona style mill for years.

 

[jubelale]

Here's a quote from the link I posted

Yeah, I say that in the very first post.....That's one of my counter arguments for all those "you HAVE to have a barley crusher" noobs.
Charlie get's 87% extract efficiency with his according to the basic brewing podcast.

Thanks for re-iterating that fact!