"Cereal Killer" grain mill

[sandsquirt]

Does anybody have a link/picture of the "Cereal Killer" grain mill from Adventures in Homebrewing? If you use one, how do you like it?

 

[day_trippr]

Do you mean this?

Cheers!

 

[sandsquirt]

They have a $99 grain mill without a picture on the site. To replace the Barley Crusher since it is unavailable.

 

[day_trippr]

They have a $99 grain mill without a picture on the site. To replace the Barley Crusher since it is unavailable.

Ok, I checked the homebrewing.org site and I see the "temporarily unavailable" thing for the Barley Crusher. I just had a new Barley Crusher delivered a couple weeks ago and just finished building a powered station for it. Maybe I got the last one of the latest production run?

Weird that the Homebrewing site doesn't have a pic for their "cereal killer" mill. Also weird that it's a .org site. That doesn't seem right at all...

Cheers!

 

[zip100473]

Ok, I checked the homebrewing.org site and I see the "temporarily unavailable" thing for the Barley Crusher. I just had a new Barley Crusher delivered a couple weeks ago and just finished building a powered station for it. Maybe I got the last one of the latest production run?

Weird that the Homebrewing site doesn't have a pic for their "cereal killer" mill. Also weird that it's a .org site. That doesn't seem right at all...

Cheers!

I thought only non-profits were .orgs?

 

[day_trippr]

I thought only non-profits were .orgs?

I as well...

Cheers!

 

[Revvy]

Do you mean this?

Cheers!

No, that's not what he's talking about.


sandsquirt, I thought I read on either the Adventures website, or their facebook page a "Picture coming soon" for the Cereal Killer mill.

I thought I read somewhere else that the mill was a Chinese knockoff of the Barley Crusher, I thought they said it was a pretty identical looking roller mill.

 

[microbusbrewery]

I thought only non-profits were .orgs?

From wikipedia, "Although org was recommended for non-commercial entities, there are no restrictions to registration."

 

[sandsquirt]

Thanks. I'll keep looking.

 

[FSR402]

Ok, I checked the homebrewing.org site and I see the "temporarily unavailable" thing for the Barley Crusher. I just had a new Barley Crusher delivered a couple weeks ago and just finished building a powered station for it. Maybe I got the last one of the latest production run?

Weird that the Homebrewing site doesn't have a pic for their "cereal killer" mill. Also weird that it's a .org site. That doesn't seem right at all...

Cheers!

The Barley Crusher website only states that there "may be" up to a two week delay.

 

[zip100473]

From wikipedia, "Although org was recommended for non-commercial entities, there are no restrictions to registration."

I stand corrected...

 

[pdxal]

Just got a Barley Crusher a few weeks ago within 2 weeks of ordering.

 

[sandsquirt]

They got a picture up now. Looks good for the price.

 

[day_trippr]

They got a picture up now. Looks good for the price.

An apparent Barley Crusher knock-off for $99 with free shipping?
You ain't kidding.

Who's gonna be the first?

Cheers!

 

[infection]

They got a picture up now. Looks good for the price.

I would not buy an untested mill with no reviews
go with the JSP MAltmill

 

[MPAULSEN300]

I am fortunate enough that the Cereal Killer Grain Mill is provided by my LHBS Adventures in Homebrewing. I can say they are a top notch business. As a matter of fact they just opened up a second location in Ann Arbor, MI. I inquired about this Cereal Killer and it was explained to me that a big reason for this new mill was because they could not procure the Barley Crusher in a consistent enough manner to keep up with the order demand coming through the store.

On Friday Oct. 28 I visited the store and was able to compare the Cereal Killer and the Barley Crusher side by side. Both mills come with a crank handle, metal hopper and a base to sit on a bucket. When it comes to the actual roller mechanism a person would be hard pressed to see a real difference between the two. They both have a thick aluminum base and adjustable knurled rollers (only passive roller is adjustable). The Cereal killer uses two thumbs screws as set screws. I liked this feature because it is nice making adjustments without using tools. There is a difference in the length of the crank handle. The Barley Crusher handle is a couple of inches longer than the Cereal Killer's handle. At first I thought the shorter handle was a negative because it was obvious there would be less torque. However, it also occurred to me that a shorter handle on the Cereal Killer would actually increase the RPM'S making it produce crushed grain faster. The shorter handle might be a perfect balance between torque and speed but having never used either the verdict is still out. However, using a drill on either of these would of course negate any differences in the handle lengths.

The Cereal Killer really shinned through with the superior workmanship on the metal hopper and base. My personal opinion is all of the metal work and base of the Cereal Killer appeared to be very uniform and built with a much greater tolerance than the Barley Crusher. Some of the fitment points, rivets on the Barley Crusher seemed sharp/uneven or to put it plainly it gave the impression of a rush job. I can't say that the "look" would make the Barley Crusher any more/less effective but if you were to pick one out for the showroom you would definitely pick the Cereal Killer.

One last note. The Cereal Killer is not a Chinese made knockoff. It is manufactured right here in Michigan. If anything I would consider the Cereal Killer to be an improved version of the Barley Crusher idea.

Will head out during lunch tomorrow to pick up the Cereal Killer Grain Mill. I can give you further feedback, after using it, if anyone wants to hear about it.

Mike

 

[sandsquirt]

I would definately like to hear how things went with your mill.
Thanks,
Eric

 

[macdonaldtomw]

So how did things go with the mill? Should I buy one?

I live on the east coast of Canada so the shipping could be pretty expensive

 

[MPAULSEN300]

haven't crushed grain with it yet. Just bottled my last batch last night. But I can say it is has pretty much the same innerworkings as the Barley Crusher with some improvements. If you felt the the Barley Crusher would have met your needs then definitley the Cereal Killer would also. Am hoping to use it this weekend but I have a family with 8 year old twins so our plans can change on a dime.

 

[FastAndy]

I'm curious to hear how this mill works out. The only drawback in my mind that it only has a 6 month warranty and the Barley Crusher has a lifetime warranty. I dont know if that is worth the extra $40 or so for the BC.

 

[potaetoSON]

My buddy just got 1 of these this week. yesterday, we crushed 13lbs of grain with hand crank. the hand crank is a bit of pain as the grain makes much hard to turn. the bucket will rock and move which makes it harder too.

it took both of us to hold the bucket stable.. but once we figured that out it went pretty quick. probably about 20 minutes once we got it going.

it would be much easier with a drill but, we need a drill bit which has hole for a screw to tighten to the shaft that turns the roller...

all in all.. it worked. got a nice crush ( better then LHBS).....
good quality... good product.

 

[MPAULSEN300]

Finally got a chance to use the Cereal Killer today. Ground about 23 lbs of grain using a 3/8" drill. It did a great job!!. I would have no problem recommending this to anyone at this time.

One small issue that popped up was when a grain got stuck between the passive roller and the metal hopper. It kept the passive roller from turning and the whole operation shuts down. But all I did was reach up from the bottom to spin the passive roller by hand in order to free up the grain and and all was well. I suspect this has happened from time to time with any grain mill that uses on drive roller and one passive roller. ****Please always disconnect the drill from the grain mill before ever touching the rollers with you fingers. It would sure ruin anyone's piano playing life in an instant if the drill was engaged****

The hand crank is short and makes for a long days work if you are alone. But I never needed it because I use a drill. I suppose it was be very easy to get a piece of metal stock and create a longer handle. Seems simple enough. Time to drain the mash tun. Brewing my first RIS today.

PS - to all you veteran' out there. God bless you for your courage and sacrifice on behalf of our sorry butts. You have shown us great love by putting yourselves in harms way so please accept my gratitude and love in return.

 

[solbes]

I just ordered one of these. Hope it works well. I'll try to post after crushing some grain in a couple of weeks.

Do you think a cordless drill would work for this? I have a 1/2" drive 18V model. I'm hoping it has enough torque to get the job done. I will usually crush 9-15 lbs at a time, as I only do 5 gallon batches.

 

[dbrewski]

I just ordered one of these. Hope it works well. I'll try to post after crushing some grain in a couple of weeks.

Do you think a cordless drill would work for this? I have a 1/2" drive 18V model. I'm hoping it has enough torque to get the job done. I will usually crush 9-15 lbs at a time, as I only do 5 gallon batches.

I don't have this grain mill...I have a barley crusher...but my 18v cordless would not even turn it. I bought a corded drill at Menards for $14. It tends to want to go from dead still to really high rpms, but with a little effort it works pretty well.

 

[solbes]

Oh well, good to know. Thanks! I think I can pick up a corded model from someone I know.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, before I motorized my BC I used an 18V DeWalt XRP cordless to run it, and I have seen others use the same drill with their BC mills...

Cheers!

 

[step]

Ordered one of these this morning Pretty stoked to have a mill so I can just brew on a whim as I always have ingredients on hand. Snagged a 1 hp motor from some demo work I did a couple months ago so looks like next brewing project is to build a milling station

 

[solbes]

Just a quick update on how quick they are. They shipped same day as the order, and it will arrive 2 business days later. Should arrive on Monday! :rockin:

 

[MoPhunk]

Cranking by hand sucks and is not recommended. We only had a cordless drill and it kept slipping. After crushing potaetoson's grain I went home and got my corded drill out and clamped the mill to the bucket. Drill in one hand beer in the other. We double brewed and both hit our Target og.

 

[MPAULSEN300]

I used a cheap 18V cordless with 3/8" drive from harbor freight. It never hesistated for a second. I let me 8 year old grind about 11 lbs. (with very close supervision). It is a good idea to have your hand on the base when you first start the drill but after that it really did not require me to hold it (the base).