convince me to buy a barley crusher..

[krausenmustache]

I have a shopping cart loaded with ingredients for a Belgian triple and a 7lb barley crusher from midwest brew supply.

Having a tough time pulling the trigger on the crusher.

help me out here

 

[davesrose]

common.....it's really not that hard to pull the trigger....any excuse is going to make you budge....I can see you've got the homebrew disease OK, I'll make it easy: better efficiency!

 

[mmb]

Saving money by buying un-crushed grain in bulk. Store specialty malts and brew when you want with fresh crushed grains.

Those worked for me and my budget officer.

 

[SnickASaurusRex]

My efficiency went up 20 points when I got my mill, from 64 - 84. That is 20% less malt in my bills.

Oh yeah, Just that much more freedom in the process.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

BC = awesome. Buying a barley crusher and bulk grains enables you to
1. Save money on grain (eventually )
2. Brew whenever the hell you want to
3. Control the quality of your crush

I think #2 is worth the cost alone, and now that I buy bulk grain my cost for 2-row is about $0.60/lb. The more I brew, the close I get to breaking even on the crusher!

 

[ChshreCat]

Here ya go
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/oh-what-difference-crush-makes-117486/

 

[PseudoChef]

Buy the barley crusher or we'll all kick you in the junk.

 

[Ice9]

^Nice^

I just bought my first sack of 2-row and a barley crusher a couple of weeks ago.
Go for it!!! If you don't do it now, you'll just end up getting it later anyway.

 

[zac]

+1 on the junk kickin. I love my barely crusher... 60 cents a lb for base malt? How can you go wrong?

 

[krausenmustache]

sold...


i mean...bought

 

[woollybugger2]

way to go!

 

[krausenmustache]

how does the BC attach the the top of the bucket? or do you just hold it on there?

 

[BrewBrain]

how does the BC attach the the top of the bucket? or do you just hold it on there?

It just sits atop. Even with a drill mine doesn't tip over. Just hold it still while drilling, err, grinding.

 

[PseudoChef]

There's some rubber feet on the bottom of the BC base that nestle right into a standard open bucket. You still need to hold it a bit, but if you hook it up to a drill, then it doesn't take too much effort. I've even hand cranked a couple of times when my drill battery wasn't charged up all the way, and it's not been a big deal.

Congrats, btw...it'll be worth it in that first batch alone

 

[madewithchicken]

I keep trying to buy one but every time i remember that my LHBS has 2 i can use and they are 2 blocks from my house. I love listermanns.com.

wow i did not realize i was drunk till i started typing. **** . . . i have work in the morning.

 

[Ceedubya]

I'm still not convinced you made the right choice. Perhaps you should buy me one to, so I can try it out to be sure that you are doing the right thing

 

[SnickASaurusRex]

Bar keep, Barley Crushers all around!

 

[Homercidal]

I keep trying to buy one but every time i remember that my LHBS has 2 i can use and they are 2 blocks from my house. I love listermanns.com.

wow i did not realize i was drunk till i started typing. **** . . . i have work in the morning.

That is awsome if they let you crush your own there. But do they let you crush it after you bought a big sack of grain? The main reason I built one (besides I wanted to build one) was so that I could buy bulk grain and save money, and get fresh grain. My LHBS is 1.5 hours away though, so it's not as handy for me to just run out and grab some grain.

You know you can save some serious $$ by buying bulk and crushing yourself??

 

[Evan!]

sold...


i mean...bought

congrats! there are some things in my brewing toolchest that I could do without if I really needed to. The BC is not one of them.

 

[EvilTOJ]

You can buy a monster mill or crankenstein too.

 

[hamiltont]

sold...


i mean...bought

You won't be disappointed!! Fresh crushed grains is like fresh ground coffee. It just tastes better!! Congrats!!!

 

[lehr]

If I were to buy a new grain grinder I would get one that has the gears that drive both rollers.

Pat

 

[Pangea]

Barley Crushers also double as workout equipment. It requires quite a bit of force and my arms are usually tired afterwards.

 

[krausenmustache]

Barley Crushers also double as workout equipment. It requires quite a bit of force and my arms are usually tired afterwards.

I can assure you that the handle will not make one full revolution before being removed and replaced with my cordless drill.

 

[lehr]

I can assure you that the handle will not make one full revolution before being removed and replaced with my cordless drill.

I prefer the push a button and walk away method.

 

[MikeG]

Yikes, $120! Sheepishly I'd have to go to the wife and explain after spending ~$80 on a DIY Mash Tun .

 

[sundaybrewingco]

I triple-dog-dare you!

 

[DiveBrew]

If I were to buy a new grain grinder I would get one that has the gears that drive both rollers.

Pat

After seeing your setup it would be even more of a pain to clear a slipping roller. I just picked one up a few weeks ago, set it to .036", and had roller freeze/slip on my second batch 3 times. It's definitely a pain to dump 10 pounds, clear and reload. I noticed on my unit that the edge of the rollers next to the non-drive bearing block, where the o-ring is, have enough offset to where the o-ring is barely running on the edge of the non-drive roller.

Which units have twin driven rollers??

 

[Hang Glider]

I've used mine dozens of times, even after my o-ring wore out both rollers still spin great. The instruction sheet states that the unit should continue to turn freely and that the o-ring is not critical to operation.

 

[Saccharomyces]

congrats! there are some things in my brewing toolchest that I could do without if I really needed to. The BC is not one of them.

Well said!

I would happily brew all grain using only 5 gallon paint strainer bags, and two 3 gallon pots on a stove top. But I would STILL have my Barley Crusher.... that I could not live without!

 

[lehr]

After seeing your setup it would be even more of a pain to clear a slipping roller. I just picked one up a few weeks ago, set it to .036", and had roller freeze/slip on my second batch 3 times. It's definitely a pain to dump 10 pounds, clear and reload. I noticed on my unit that the edge of the rollers next to the non-drive bearing block, where the o-ring is, have enough offset to where the o-ring is barely running on the edge of the non-drive roller.

Which units have twin driven rollers??

My hopper holds 26 lbs and when it locks it is a PITA.

Schmidling malt mill has a gear drive option.
Pat

 

[BobOscarBob]

I've used mine dozens of times, even after my o-ring wore out both rollers still spin great. The instruction sheet states that the unit should continue to turn freely and that the o-ring is not critical to operation.

Seeing as my o-ring lasted all of 30 seconds and I got a great crush, I'd say it's not critical

I'm getting ~84% using this mill :rockin: Allows me to buy several batches worth at a time and brew when I can - rather than rush because the grain's already crushed. Very pleased with it!