Grain mill
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heckels
Well-Known Member
A lot of folks have good luck using the "corona style mills". I didn't want to go through the hassle of fine tuning one though so bought a "barley crusher" last week. I'll be testing it out this weekend. Most on here will opt for the barley crusher from what I've read (granted it's in your budget).
ReverseApacheMaster
Well-Known Member
Get a good one.
I have used my corona style twice now. Each time was about 10-12 lbs and took under 15 mins. Fastest? No. Cheaper? Yes. I have gotten about 80% eff. each time. I am sure a Barley Crusher would be sweet, but I am happy enough with what I have. If you want the perfect tool for the job and are willing to spend the cash then go with a BC. If cash is tight, a corona will work perfectly fine.
I just did my first brew with my shiny new Barley crusher, last weekend..
My mash efficiency went up from ~65% with the LHBS crush to ~77% with the BC default 0.039" gap. The metal machinework is clean, and seems top-notch. The knurling is sharp, and clean.. The woodwork, however.. The plate its sitting on was crushed in one corner (MDF board) the routing around the outer edge has a few rather large warbles in it, and the wooden crank handle was cut at an angle..
That said, functionally it doesnt make a rip of difference.. Mill works as designed, and makes a good looking crush.
Its easy to use, and moves through grain pretty quick with a drill attached.
I got the 7 Lb hopper version, I'd imagine with a cheap piece of sheet metal from home depot, and a pop riveter, you could easily enlarge the hopper, but 7 Lbs is plenty for me.. I just fill, crush, and repeat again if needs be.
-Jason
My mash efficiency went up from ~65% with the LHBS crush to ~77% with the BC default 0.039" gap. The metal machinework is clean, and seems top-notch. The knurling is sharp, and clean.. The woodwork, however.. The plate its sitting on was crushed in one corner (MDF board) the routing around the outer edge has a few rather large warbles in it, and the wooden crank handle was cut at an angle..
That said, functionally it doesnt make a rip of difference.. Mill works as designed, and makes a good looking crush.
Its easy to use, and moves through grain pretty quick with a drill attached.
I got the 7 Lb hopper version, I'd imagine with a cheap piece of sheet metal from home depot, and a pop riveter, you could easily enlarge the hopper, but 7 Lbs is plenty for me.. I just fill, crush, and repeat again if needs be.
-Jason
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JohnTheBrewist
Well-Known Member
I don't agree that most would buy the Barley Crusher. I'm sure there are equally as many people using corona, crankandstein, monster and JSP malt mills. Each has its own merits. And, it seems everyone loves whatever mill they have.
Here are some points you should consider though:
1. Is the gap adjustable? How important this feature might be probably depends on if you plan to use grains other than malted barley.
2. If you can adjust the gap, how do you do it? I like having an adjustible gap, with detents on mine.
3. Will you be able to motorize it?
4. Do you want one that comes with a hopper or are you confident in making one yourself?
For the record, I have a CrankandStein 3d with stainless rollers and 1/2" drive shaft. It cost me about $260. I've also motorized it on a stainless cart. The crush is beautiful and I couldn't imagine using anything else. But you can certainly spend less to get the same results.
Here are some points you should consider though:
1. Is the gap adjustable? How important this feature might be probably depends on if you plan to use grains other than malted barley.
2. If you can adjust the gap, how do you do it? I like having an adjustible gap, with detents on mine.
3. Will you be able to motorize it?
4. Do you want one that comes with a hopper or are you confident in making one yourself?
For the record, I have a CrankandStein 3d with stainless rollers and 1/2" drive shaft. It cost me about $260. I've also motorized it on a stainless cart. The crush is beautiful and I couldn't imagine using anything else. But you can certainly spend less to get the same results.
kanzimonson
Well-Known Member
I'm close to buying a mill as well, and I'm pretty set on the BC. Includes a hopper for the same price as other mills.
I do have two horror stories about the BC, though - both my LHBS and a friend of mine use a BC and they've recently been having problems with the slave roller not engaging. You'll be driving the one roller, but the other will be stuck so no grain is actually getting pushed through. Not sure what to make of that.
I do have two horror stories about the BC, though - both my LHBS and a friend of mine use a BC and they've recently been having problems with the slave roller not engaging. You'll be driving the one roller, but the other will be stuck so no grain is actually getting pushed through. Not sure what to make of that.
JohnTheBrewist
Well-Known Member
That happens with mine if I spin it in the wrong direction. Found that out when I first powered it with the motor spinning the wrong way (Didn't hurt the mill at all though).
BA_from_GA
Well-Known Member
Well I guess someone has to be the voice for the modified pasta roller grain mill crowd. And it looks like it will be me.
Stainless rolllers, powered by a 3/8 masonry bit in the drill, use a plastic 5 gal water Carboy as a hopper ( holds 25lbs of grain), has adjustable gap. I think that's the whole bullet list. Ooh, and it cost less than $30 including the drill bit.
Just take it apart, use an angle grinder to knurl the rollers, and go to work. I've gotten over 90% eff multiple times on the tightest setting, but opt for one gap wider to feed quicker. Usually hit about 78%.
I love it, well worth the 20 min of work it took to knurl the rollers.
Stainless rolllers, powered by a 3/8 masonry bit in the drill, use a plastic 5 gal water Carboy as a hopper ( holds 25lbs of grain), has adjustable gap. I think that's the whole bullet list. Ooh, and it cost less than $30 including the drill bit.
Just take it apart, use an angle grinder to knurl the rollers, and go to work. I've gotten over 90% eff multiple times on the tightest setting, but opt for one gap wider to feed quicker. Usually hit about 78%.
I love it, well worth the 20 min of work it took to knurl the rollers.
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
I bought a used BC from my LHBS and I love it. I consistently get between 80 and 85% efficiency with a gap setting between .032 and .036 depending on the grain, larger for 2-row and smaller for pilsner. I have had a similar issue with the slave roller not engaging if the gap is set too close. Sometimes running it backwards very slowly will get it to catch (the grains just fall through uncrushed when you run it backwards) then you can run it forwards, but I had to double crush at successively smaller gap settings before I started conditioning my malt. I will never crush another batch without conditioning...it is easy and makes a world of difference in the crush, with almost completely intact husks and very finely crushed endosperm and no stuck sparge!!!
If you can get a good deal on a BC you will not regret it. I agree that the ability to adjust the gap and eventually motorize/ modify it are important so you won't outgrow it.
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Pretty sure it just means wetting your grain before crushing.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2010/01/16/malt-conditioning/
I have a 3 roller monster mill. It's awesome. I wanted to build my own hopper and base to fit my own applications (storage and size). If you just want something out of the box that works get the Barleycrusher. If you want a fun little project, the others are great as well.
I've heard no one complain about their mill whether it is the 3 roller, 2 roller, monster, crankandstein, barleycrusher, jsp, etc. You will get opinions supporting all of these. They all work great, and most importantly you get the same crush every time.
One mill I do not like, is the grain gobbler from morebeer. My friend has one and even he will use my mill when he gets the opportunity. I would not recommend this one.
I've heard no one complain about their mill whether it is the 3 roller, 2 roller, monster, crankandstein, barleycrusher, jsp, etc. You will get opinions supporting all of these. They all work great, and most importantly you get the same crush every time.
One mill I do not like, is the grain gobbler from morebeer. My friend has one and even he will use my mill when he gets the opportunity. I would not recommend this one.
ReverseApacheMaster
Well-Known Member
I use a grizzly (a corona knock off). I used packing tape to strap a 2 liter soda bottle with the bottom cut off to the metal hopper to expand capacity. I lock it in to the handle of my 10 gallon cooler mash tun, throw a target bag over it to prevent grain and dust from flying out, and get cranking.
It's not fast or nice looking, but it is cheap and effective.
It's not fast or nice looking, but it is cheap and effective.
I bought a new barley crusher a few months back and have run about 100 lbs. through it, no complaints. At first I hooked the drill up and powered through, but lately I've been hand cranking while I heat up the strike water, decent exercise while I'm waiting. I'm routinely getting 80-85% efficiency on the factory setting.
I too have the Corona style mill. Ugly, but it gets the job done. I just use a drill and it's quick as can be. I'm not certain it does as consistent of a job as the expensive ones, but works great for a infusion mash.
Whatever you get, make certain you factor in a drill. Big one, like 1/2" chuck.
Whatever you get, make certain you factor in a drill. Big one, like 1/2" chuck.
i have a jsp maltmill, and it works well. fully motor-izable, but i use a drill. crushes to about 75% efficiency if i run my drill too fast, which is fine with me, since i want to get it crushed and get on with the brewing. i get about 80% if i run the drill at the right speed
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
I've used grain crushed at the LHBS, a Corona mill, and a non adjustable JSP mill.
I didn't notice any difference in efficiency between any of them.
But, when I bough the pre-crushed grain, the LHBS gave a decent crush.
I found the Corona mill to be very difficult to adjust, and it took a long time to mill 10 lbs grain. The JSP has always worked great for me, but it may not be so good if you use large amounts of 6-row or wheat. The JSP is much quicker then the Corona. I put the strike water on the stove to warm up, then measure out my grains and mill them, then I have to wait for the strike water to come up to temperature.
-a.
I didn't notice any difference in efficiency between any of them.
But, when I bough the pre-crushed grain, the LHBS gave a decent crush.
I found the Corona mill to be very difficult to adjust, and it took a long time to mill 10 lbs grain. The JSP has always worked great for me, but it may not be so good if you use large amounts of 6-row or wheat. The JSP is much quicker then the Corona. I put the strike water on the stove to warm up, then measure out my grains and mill them, then I have to wait for the strike water to come up to temperature.
-a.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
I have a Barley Crusher mill... I was thinking of going with one of the corona mills (or the knock-offs) but didn't want to mess around with it that much to get the gap set to where it will work best, and not have to do the additional mods in order to get it to run into a bucket easily. Plus, the smaller default hopper size had me concerned, as did what you needed to do in order to motorize it (via my cordless drill)...
So, I went with the BC with the 7# hopper (the larger hopper model was out of stock where I got mine). My drill is set to not go over 500rpm, and goes through the grain easily. I'm using the default gap of .039", but can change that if I wish (without much difficulty at all)... I like how it comes with the base, and hopper. All you need to do is add a bucket to catch the grain and feed it. Both of those are easy to do. I just use the bucket fermenter that came in my kit (finally gives it a good purpose) and scoop the grains in as needed (picked up a large aluminum scoop for the grains)...
I can go through at least 6# in a minute with this setup. I'll be using it again on Thursday/Friday (my next brew night) and actually plan on timing how long it takes to crush my grain bill. I'll be going through 10# of base malt (the other grains were ordered before I had a mill, so they're already crushed to .039")...
I don't think you can go wrong with a roller mill, that's adjustable. Be that a BC, C&S, MM, or one of the others out there. Just make sure it's a mill that more people are happy with, than unhappy, and you should be fine... If you're on a tighter budget, and don't want to go the corona route, then the BC makes a solid choice... I got mine for under $120...
So, I went with the BC with the 7# hopper (the larger hopper model was out of stock where I got mine). My drill is set to not go over 500rpm, and goes through the grain easily. I'm using the default gap of .039", but can change that if I wish (without much difficulty at all)... I like how it comes with the base, and hopper. All you need to do is add a bucket to catch the grain and feed it. Both of those are easy to do. I just use the bucket fermenter that came in my kit (finally gives it a good purpose) and scoop the grains in as needed (picked up a large aluminum scoop for the grains)...
I can go through at least 6# in a minute with this setup. I'll be using it again on Thursday/Friday (my next brew night) and actually plan on timing how long it takes to crush my grain bill. I'll be going through 10# of base malt (the other grains were ordered before I had a mill, so they're already crushed to .039")...
I don't think you can go wrong with a roller mill, that's adjustable. Be that a BC, C&S, MM, or one of the others out there. Just make sure it's a mill that more people are happy with, than unhappy, and you should be fine... If you're on a tighter budget, and don't want to go the corona route, then the BC makes a solid choice... I got mine for under $120...
