Corona Mill

[Dude]

I don't have a mill, and I've always heard that a corona mill works decent if you don't have the benjamins to fork out for a REAL mill, so when I ran across a thread at another forum today, I thought I'd share it with my brewing bros here in case anyone was interested. It's a damn steal. Shipping costs almost as much as the mill (hey, these things are solid metal), but its still a damn good deal.

$15 Corona Mill

Mine is already purchased.

You guys can thank me later.

 

[subwyking]

can you adjust a corona mill so you do not end up with malt flour?

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Looks like a steal if it's adjustable.

 

[Eric_Duel]

I bought one from ebay recently for about the same price. The entire thing is cast except for the hopper. As a result the fitment is not perfect, but it should do the trick for a lot cheaper. It does have an adjustment feature though. The screw opposite the handle moves the plate in and out and that will determine the fineness of the grinding.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

It does have an adjustment feature though. The screw opposite the handle moves the plate in and out and that will determine the fineness of the grinding.

Hmmm...that peaked my interest enough to part with $27. I'll still probably grind the bulk of my grains at the HBS, but for the leftover portions I don't grind there this should work out nicely when I do need to grind them!

Thanks ORRELSE and Eric_Duel!

 

[Ed_Savage]

I just bought one of these for my last batch.

I found it at a place called Bob's Red Mill. It was only like $25 bucks.
It worked GREAT!! They are fully adjustable. You have to do a couple of practice handfulls of grain, or popcorn seeds to get the adjustment down. But after that its smooth sailing!

You can also motorize them and add a large hopper out of a 5 gallon water jug, or a 2 liter bottle.

Here are some other posts that discuss the Corona Mill

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=2212&highlight=corona+mill
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1726&highlight=corona+mill
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=817&highlight=corona+mill

 

[Orfy]

How about one of these, a little expensive at £190 but a good'n non the less.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GRIST-GRAIN-M...417785342QQcategoryZ38172QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You'd need a decent kitchen table to put it on though!

 

[Dude]

I got mine today. Sucker is heavy!!!

I'll probably use it soon--I'm going to need it for some toasted grains that are going in a stout.

I wish I had some uncracked grain in inventory right now so I could test run it!!!

At any rate--I'm glad I have it. Cracking grain with a rolling pin is a royal PITA!!

 

[justbrewit]

i'd llike to have one, but i just have the HBS run the grains before they ship it to me. maybe if i ever go AG

 

[user 574]

All I can say is wow. That may well spin me into finally thinking about getting my 2 row in bulk. Interested in getting multiple opinions on how you like it. Will add that to the Holiday Wish List.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I'm curious, as well. I ordered one once I heard they were adjustable. If it works well I'm definitely getting at least 50# of 2-row. I could probably utilize 10-20# of Munich without too much trouble, as well. Some wheat would be nice.

Guess I'm finally building that lofted storage in the garage...

 

[Dude]

All I can say is wow. That may well spin me into finally thinking about getting my 2 row in bulk. Interested in getting multiple opinions on how you like it. Will add that to the Holiday Wish List.

dB...I'd think twice about doing a lot of grain with it. The hopper is really small and I'm sure it would be a ton of work to handcrank much more than a few pounds of grain. I mainly got this cause it was so cheap, and every once in a while in a pinch I need a little bit of grain cracked so this would come in handy in those situations.
I plan on maybe motorizing mine, but with the hopper being so small that would need some attention too.

At any rate, it was a good price and they shipped it lightining quick. I was expecting it early next week. Got it today.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

As far as I understand, most of these can have their hopper modded with a 2L soda bottle or similar for increasing grain capacity. Seems like I've even seen someone use a plastic water carboy. 2L should be enough for 3# of grain at a time, and if it's motorized you're golden. But I agree, if I'm at the HBS buying some grain for an impending recipe, I'll go ahead and grind it there.

 

[user 574]

dB...I'd think twice about doing a lot of grain with it. The hopper is really small and I'm sure it would be a ton of work to handcrank much more than a few pounds of grain. I mainly got this cause it was so cheap, and every once in a while in a pinch I need a little bit of grain cracked so this would come in handy in those situations.
I plan on maybe motorizing mine, but with the hopper being so small that would need some attention too.

At any rate, it was a good price and they shipped it lightining quick. I was expecting it early next week. Got it today.

Just found this response. Could you retrofit an electric drill for it? Hopper size is small but so is the price.

 

[reddog]

Just found this response. Could you retrofit an electric drill for it? Hopper size is small but so is the price.

Is there any special attachment needed to hook up a drill to speed up the grinding time?

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I believe all you need to do to attach a drill is screw a bolt into the shaft where the handle attaches and put a socket on your drill, but I haven't tried it.

Incidentally, it's on sale now for $12.99:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...tDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=36689&R=36689

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

So now that I am officially keeping this thread alive, I have 3 things to say:

1) The mill rocks, and I can only imagine what a 'real' mill would do. 11.5lbs of grain in < 30 minutes under my own power (woohoo!) with an efficiency of 79%, measurement taken in the kettle pre-boil. Pretty cheap efficiency @ $15.
2) The mill apparently is sold out, as I couldn't find it on the NT webpage any longer.
3) It's freaking cold here, and brewing was not as pleasurable as it might have been. However, it may have been motivating and assisted in cooling, contributing to a 5hr AG session on a weekday.

Good night, and good luck.

 

[Dude]

So now that I am officially keeping this thread alive, I have 3 things to say:

1) The mill rocks, and I can only imagine what a 'real' mill would do. 11.5lbs of grain in < 30 minutes under my own power (woohoo!) with an efficiency of 79%, measurement taken in the kettle pre-boil. Pretty cheap efficiency @ $15.
2) The mill apparently is sold out, as I couldn't find it on the NT webpage any longer.
3) It's freaking cold here, and brewing was not as pleasurable as it might have been. However, it may have been motivating and assisted in cooling, contributing to a 5hr AG session on a weekday.

Good night, and good luck.

SWEET!!!! I'm glad you got it to work so well!

I haven't used mine yet--I planned on doing it but my last order of grain came all crushed--even when I specified I wanted 2 lb.s uncrushed. I was goign to toast it then crush it.

Sold out, huh? Glad I got one.......

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I'm guessing when it dropped to $12 or so it went fast. I went through probably a couple pounds of cheap 2-row to get the grind how I wanted it...it may not be consistent on a grain by grain examination, but the bottom line was that the grain was crushed and the husks plenty intact for filtering. I went ahead and marked the set screw position with a sharpie for both barley and wheat as I needed to set it finer for wheat.

I'd also like to rig up a deflector for the grinding wheels like I've seen on Coronas as I had to hold my hand cupped around the top of the grinding wheel since grains fly out in all direction, not just down.

It's still the best $-for-$ improvement I've made to my process if my efficiency wasn't a fluke, and a moderate workout to boot.

 

[user 574]

Out of Stock? Doh, I had this on my Christmas wish list. Hope on of my family members was one that helped reduce their stock!

 

[woodstone]

Guys -

I've been thinking AG myself and have picked out some equipment to supliment my extract/partial grain background. I've read the Carona mill is not that good, particularly since it is non-adjustable and cracks grain too small. For those that own, is it adjustable? I'm fairly handy and I immagine a blow torch and an electric drill would convert this thing into something other than a manual crank machine and with a hopper attachment we are talking "large scale" grinding, not 1/4 pound at a time. Thoughts??? I'd rather spend the change on this thing than the "buck fidy" for a real mill. ARE YOU WITH ME?

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

The one we bought from NT is adjustable and I've never seen a Corona type mill that wasn't adjustable, though they may exist. Typically, there is a set bolt on the grinding wheel that moves it in or out relative to the static grinding plate. You can crack grains pretty much any size you want from completely uncracked to dust, but you certainly will not get the consistency that you see from a roller type mill. Also, the stock hopper on mine holds exactly one pound of grains, but that's still kind of low capacity so I'm going to try to rig up something a little larger.

 

[subwyking]

if you do a two man operation, one pouring the grain while one cranks away, does this seem to help on the small hopper size?

 

[subwyking]

Your link is dead for the grain mill...... That was a steal!!!!

 

[woodstone]

Thanks for the info men. I'll shop a bit on the old e-bay and see what I can come up with. I've been given miss-info with the non-adjustable thing, I suppose. If I purchase, I'd pull off the handle and use a drill or some other set-up to mechanize it and also rig up a decent hopper. Corona = cheap and easy for the first few AG batches I say! Hey, there's always room to upgrade later!!!

 

[subwyking]

if you see one being bid on by subwyking, dont bid!!!!!

 

[Lounge Lizard]

I bought two of the suckers back before Y2K. Sold one in a garage sale. Still have one new in the box. Now that I'm into homebrewing, the one I have left will come in handy.

Survival/preparedness websites should have some for sale if you search around.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I bought two of the suckers back before Y2K.
.
.
.
Survival/preparedness websites should have some for sale if you search around.

Are these two statements at all related to each other?

 

[Lounge Lizard]

Are these two statements at all related to each other?

Hmm.... yea... maybe... lol

A lot of your Mother Earth News and Backwoods Home Magazine type people are also into self-reliant living, milling grain, and all of that.

Now if there was only a way for me to turn 200 lbs or so of organic wheat into something drinkable. I don't think Hefes could be made out of it without some sort of malting process first....

 

[user 574]

I got one for Xmas. Guess I was one that was lucky to get one before they sold out!