Bierliebhaber
Well-Known Member
Just ordered the Millar's Barley Crusher off Ebay. Includes 7lb hopper and aluminum cast scoop. Dual gap adjustment. Just $110 w/free shipping. Looks like a dandy of a deal.
barley crusher or ? what mill should i buy...
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davidr2340
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kraypd
Well-Known Member
I love my BC and would highly recommend it!!!
No matter what mill you buy, just remember that the drill creates a lot of torque and if you don't hold down the base the entire mill will quickly rotate tossing all of your uncrushed grains onto the floor/driveway or whatever... especially applies to when you've already had a few before crushing....
No matter what mill you buy, just remember that the drill creates a lot of torque and if you don't hold down the base the entire mill will quickly rotate tossing all of your uncrushed grains onto the floor/driveway or whatever... especially applies to when you've already had a few before crushing....
I built my mill for about 16.70, which didn't include all the wood I had lying around to mount it to. just got to fab up a hopper and do some efficiency test runs on small samples. There are a ton of solutions to having a mill, go with what makes you happy. Just throwing money at a 'problem' is not going to mean you have the best fix though.
Bierliebhaber
Well-Known Member
Keep us posted on it... I may pull the trigger on it!
It's been a few weeks since the last brew, but I burned through 41 lbs of grain with no problem. I can't remember if I set it to .35 or .37, but the efficiency was excellent. So far, pretty awesome.
I got mine (BC) for X-Mas last year. At factory setting I am pulling 85% eff with my rig. My setup is all pretty ghetto with 2 pots and a cooler MLT fired on my electric stove. I seriously couldn't be happier with it. Uniform and consistent crush every time. A little over 200 lbs of grain through it so far. The o-ring to turn the slave roller shredded of, still not sure when that happened. But it is completely unnecessary to the operation of the mill. Still rocking great crushes, still getting great efficiencies, and still VERY happy with the Barley Crusher. Even with the 7 lb hopper at most I fill it twice. 7-14 lbs of grain fresh crushed immediately before doughing in in less than 3 minutes. I am sure the other mills are also quality products, but I have no experience with them. The BC is as plug and play as it gets, from what I can tell. VERY highly recommended.
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rico567
Well-Known Member
This is true. I have always been happy that I thought through a design for mounting my Corona mill before I bought one, with the help of the "Ugly Junk" thread.
This is what I came up with, after buying the mill for under $25 delivered from "Discount Tommy" on eBay:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/index99.html#post3974135
It provides a solution for the biggest problem with this style mill, which is that it throws grist out and makes a mess. This way, it's all in the bucket = no mess. A neighbor provided the big water jug which makes a hopper that will hold 20+ pounds of malt. A big 1/2" drill and a 25-cent bolt from the hardware store, and I was ready to go. Been crushing with this setup for 3 1/2 years, and hitting all my numbers......
flyingfinbar
Well-Known Member
Silly question, sorry to hijack...
What kind of feeler gauge do you all use to check your roller gap for your BC? I just got one, and I wanna check/optimize my gap!
What kind of feeler gauge do you all use to check your roller gap for your BC? I just got one, and I wanna check/optimize my gap!
Run it once first and brew on it. Tightening it up could result in stuck sparges. I get close to stuck almost every time with factory settings, but never actually stall until the very very end and I have enough wort collected. See what you think where it is, and if you don't like it go from there.
flyingfinbar
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the heads up! I BIAB, so I'm not worried about a stuck sparge, but running it once with factory settings isn't a bad idea, at least to get a baseline. I do wanna just check the factory gap, as I've heard it can vary slightly from unit to unit.
I too have been very pleased with the barley crusher brand. I use marris otter and two row and have found mine works best with the adjustment just slightly counterclockwise of factory settings. I lightly condition grain to cut down on dust, and get a perfect crush with whole husks remaining for a perfect sparge.
I haven't had any complaints (knock on wood) so far with my Barley Crusher. Great results, fast crush. Not sure if the other brands also do this (I would assume they do) but BC scores the 1 roller so you can adjust and know where the factory settings are to go back to it as a baseline for testing.
logdrum
Well-Known Member
Gap setter from the auto parts store.
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