Corona to another mill for BIAB - worth it or not?

[dukes909]

(background info) I had to take apart my 20 year old Corona to thread a new hole in the wormscrew part that the handle attaches to. The original bolt that held the handle on sheared off. I used a tap to thread for a 7/16" grade 8 bolt. Worked great, but now had to disassemble everything to clean after getting metal shavings everywhere... I removed the dreaded cotter pin which I never had problems with before and then JB Welded it back but did not get it quite lined up with the stationary plate. A HBT forum post said they did the same but used a hammer to knock the JB Weld off to re-do it...turns out my JB Weld was stronger than the plate..dang. (/end background info)

So now I'm in the market for a new mill. My question is whether other folks have upgraded from Coronas and never been happier or wished they hadn't bothered?

I strictly do BIAB, 2.5-3 gallon stovetop batches. I don't mill more than 10 lbs of grain at a time. Cereal Killer is on sale right now. Maltmill? ...Barley Crusher???

 

[jay29]

I upgraded from a Corona to a Cereal Killer from More Beer last week. Happy as hell. It was on sale for 89.00 shipped.

 

[imasickboy]

You won't get 20 years out of a barley crusher or cereal killer. For what you're brewing, just go with what you're already doing.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Been down the same road, I think I may be the guy that busted the jb weld off with a hammer.

Also broke the handle bolt thanks to my own negligence and misuse. drilled and tapped another bolt but that was eccentric and couldn’t handle my abuse and misuse and eventually broke again.

So then I took my angle grinder to the mill drive shaft and ground it to a hex shape and now drive the mill with a six point socket....much better as there is some slop in the coupling, and the trusty corona works great once again.

Fast forward, I found a deal on the kegco 3 roller and bought one even though I didn’t need another mill.

Set it up on a tool cabinet w a half inch drill, it works well.

Bottom line, not much difference between the two as far as the grain crush, a little more husk with the three roller but nothing substantial.

Both work very well...

 

[wilserbrewer]

Perhaps a stupid question....would it still work as is or will whole grains leak thru the burr?

 

[Dland]

I used a Corona for years and still have it, made lots of good beer with it. But I recently upgraded to a Barley Crusher, and my efficiency went up about 10 percent. More uniform crush, more precise adjustment, hulls in better shape, and a little neater.

 

[z-bob]

I'm using an ancient Corona mill that my dad bought when I was a kid for grinding cornmeal. I usually do 4 gallon batches on the stovetop (7 to 9 pounds of grain). The Corona works fine; the grist does have too much flour in it, but that doesn't seem to hurt anything with BIAB. I like the concept of roller mills, but they can't possibly last as long as a burr mill -- the rollers will get dull. I have an old 2-roller mill; a small one about the size of a pasta machine. It worked great the first time I used it, but after one or two uses the rollers don't grab the grain anymore. Since the Corona works so well I haven't tried to file new teeth into one of the rollers.

I know a real roller mill won't wear out as fast as this tiny one did, but they should have the same issue.

 

[JohnSand]

I used a second hand blender (5$) for several years happily. When that failed (it was 40 years old) I bought another (15$) but it wasn't as good. I busted out the big bucks and bought a corona knock off for $22. I was very happy hand cranking that until I started doing ten gallon batches. For Christmas I got a Millar's Mill, which I still hand crank and enjoy. If I were doing small batches I would still use the Corona.

 

[mongoose33]

I've long had the impression that the Corona mills are slow. With a power drill attached to a BC or CK, you should be able to crush about 12# of grain in about 5 minutes, double-crushing. How does a Corona compare to that?

 

[z-bob]

I've long had the impression that the Corona mills are slow. With a power drill attached to a BC or CK, you should be able to crush about 12# of grain in about 5 minutes, double-crushing. How does a Corona compare to that?

It takes me a little over 5 minutes to grind 7 pounds of grain in an original Corona. I've never actually timed it; 5 minutes is an estimate. No need to run it thru twice; it's probably too fine after one pass.

 

[JohnSand]

Hand grinding took longer of course, but was still faster than heating strike water.
The plates on a corona provide a large effective surface.

 

[dukes909]

Yes, it was you! HA!

Been down the same road, I think I may be the guy that busted the jb weld off with a hammer.

Also broke the handle bolt thanks to my own negligence and misuse. drilled and tapped another bolt but that was eccentric and couldn’t handle my abuse and misuse and eventually broke again.

So then I took my angle grinder to the mill drive shaft and ground it to a hex shape and now drive the mill with a six point socket....much better as there is some slop in the coupling, and the trusty corona works great once again.

Fast forward, I found a deal on the kegco 3 roller and bought one even though I didn’t need another mill.

Set it up on a tool cabinet w a half inch drill, it works well.

Bottom line, not much difference between the two as far as the grain crush, a little more husk with the three roller but nothing substantial.

Both work very well...

 

[dukes909]

I ended up finding a Victoria mill online with free shipping for $20..couldn't believe it, not sure how they could ship it to me for that cheap. I'm reworking my wilserbrewer styled 5 gallon bucket to work with this new mill. Will try a grind later today. Cheers everyone.

Perhaps a stupid question....would it still work as is or will whole grains leak thru the burr?

 

[wilserbrewer]

I've long had the impression that the Corona mills are slow. With a power drill attached to a BC or CK, you should be able to crush about 12# of grain in about 5 minutes, double-crushing. How does a Corona compare to that?

With a half inch drill spinning by a corona mill, it is not slow at all.

Sorry never timed it, and it all depends on the drill, but 15 pounds like 5-6 minutes would be my guess.

When people say the corona is slow, I believe they are referring to hand cranking.