DIY Grain Mill Feedback (overhead with gravity)

[topsecret]

Looking to build a grain mill for our 5BBL brewery, and have some interesting opportunities / possible snags ahead. Details to each area of concern I have is below.

1) We're planning to mill our grains from the floor above the mash tun, and using gravity will mill and feed the grist into our dry mash tun below. From there we will fill, hydrate, and mash in from below rather than above. Feedback from Stout says a few of their brewers do this with good results. Anyone have experience in either of these areas?

2) (see picture below as your read) I've sourced parts for a plastic, conical inductor tank (will be used for grain hopper) that will hopefully hold a couple bags of malt at one time. From there, we'll feed the grain into the mill, and will drop into another hopper below that will be connected to process piping where the grist will make its way down to the mash tun.

I'm wondering what your feedback is for this design. Very early stages. All-in, I'm looking at $800 for the build. Still need to source a few small parts and the piping though.

Thanks.

 

[jsprinceiii]

Hi Topsecret.

What about dust, static, and the grains sticking to the hopper, and the process pipes? Motor must be a sealed motor, to prevent sparks.

Me personally, I would loose the Plastic Hopper, and make one out of stainless. I would want to include some sort of ventilation, and would recommend not having the mill in the same room as the brewing equipment. Dust is a pain to control. It makes a mess of a "Clean" brewery.

I am no expert here, however I have seen flour mills leveled from a single spark. I would suggest consulting with someone from a larger brewery, and discuss what they use, and at least look at some of your options.

Additionally, Not sure what country you are in. If I assume this is some sort of commercial brewery you are creating because of the size, it will need to be inspected.

 

[topsecret]

All good points. A similar build I've reviewed is below (besides the gravity feed). You bring up a good point about having the mill away from the brewery. Currently, this will be exposed on a catwalk that overlooks the brewery. May need to figure out a solution for this.



IMG]https://www.allamericanaleworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/grain-mill-motor-for-brewers.jpg[/IMG]