Monster Mills MM-2Pro SL

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I reached out to Monster and was told that very thing: That it was "absolute overkill" for any home brewing situation. I ended up getting the MM2 Pro (also overkill) but I love it and saved some $$. Just FYI
 
It is probably overkill for the homebrew scale. I got the MM2 pro with an All American Ale Works power grinder motor. awesome set up. It is even probably overkill for home brewing but it sure works great. It could probably grind rocks. Nice crush once I figured out the gap setting. Probably one of the best investments in equipment I have done since I started.

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It is probably overkill for the homebrew scale. I got the MM2 pro with an All American Ale Works power grinder motor. awesome set up. It is even probably overkill for home brewing but it sure works great. It could probably grind rocks. Nice crush once I figured out the gap setting. Probably one of the best investments in equipment I have done since I started.

That is a very nice setup. I like that there are no pulleys involved, meaning you don't have to purchase the 3/4" pulley drive shaft.

I went ahead and ordered the MM-2Pro SL. The helical slotted rollers called to me :D I'm 1000% sure it will be complete overkill. I ordered the standard 1/2" drill drive shaft, and was curious how I could add a motor down the line if I choose to. The direct drive motor you're using is the answer, thanks!
 
That is a very nice setup. I like that there are no pulleys involved, meaning you don't have to purchase the 3/4" pulley drive shaft.

I went ahead and ordered the MM-2Pro SL. The helical slotted rollers called to me :D I'm 1000% sure it will be complete overkill. I ordered the standard 1/2" drill drive shaft, and was curious how I could add a motor down the line if I choose to. The direct drive motor you're using is the answer, thanks!

GIve a report on how that mill works for you. The Monster Mills are quality units. The slotted rollers sound interesting. I am just curious how they work. I know that I will not be getting another mill for a very long time The one I have should outlive me.
 
I Just have to say, the product description in the link above is the best I've ever read. I had no unanswered questions after reading it. Seems like a great option (the mill). Please let us know how it works for you.
 
I have the mill up and running. I'm not a big fan of MDF, so I skipped the Monster base and built my own out of a 1" thick block of aluminum. It's pretty substantial and adds to an already heavy mill.

The rollers look to be well machined. Mine arrived with a few small dings in the helical cutters, but only minor and I don't expect them to affect performance. I'm currently running the mill with a 0-550rpm corded Makita drill. It's variable speed and I'm able to run it at 200-300rpm. The mill came set from the factory at 0.045" but I couldn't feed any grain through at this setting. I have adjusted it to 0.060" and get what I think is a good crush by double milling. I'll continue to play with this. I'll brew a batch this weekend using grain crushed from the mill to test out my efficiency.

The mill came with a couple of inserts for the hopper that effecively narrow the infeed gap from 6" to about 4". I don't currently have them installed as they weren't mentioned in the instructions and I assumed they were for use with smaller 4" mills. I'm wondering if I installed those if I may be able to narrow the crush gap.

The instructions said to run a pound of grain through the mill a couple of times to clean the rollers. Before doing this I wiped them down pretty well with rubbing alcohol and ended up with a pretty dirty rag. I expect them to be low maintainance moving forward.
 
I was able to close the mill gap slightly to 0.050" and mill the grain for my batch today. The drill was working pretty hard, but I liked the crush I got. It seemed to me a little finer than the crush I got triple milling at my LHBS. I think the mill is doing its job, unfortunately my efficiency went up only slightly and I'm still stuck under 60%.
 
Sounds like you need to tighten the gap some more. For reference I use .036 on my MM2 Pro and am getting 76% which is right about where I want to be.
 
The mill came with a couple of inserts for the hopper that effecively narrow the infeed gap from 6" to about 4". I don't currently have them installed as they weren't mentioned in the instructions and I assumed they were for use with smaller 4" mills. I'm wondering if I installed those if I may be able to narrow the crush gap.


You need to install these parts to reduce the feed width to 4" at a minimum. IMO

Feeding a 2" dia roller at the full 6" length will take a tremendous torque at tighter mill settings.

I was at a small brewery over the weekend, while the mill was enclosed and I couldn't really see it, they had a huge motor connected to the mill....HUGE like 10 diameter, 14" long!!!
 
Also: YES! Install the inserts in the hopper. They'l keep grain out of the end gaps.
 
I ended up returning this mill. After eight attempts brewing with it, I could not get good conversion efficiency. The smallest gap you can set the mill to is .022". I brewed with the mill at this setting five times and did not see good results. The helical cutters are .03" deep, so even at the lowest gap setting of .022" the effective gap if a grain is between two helical cutters is .082" (.03 * 2 + .022"). Monster Brewing claims the mill should produce only flour at the lowest gap setting, but that is not at all what I was seeing. I almost wonder if they sent me a prototype mill by accident. Maybe the helical cutters on the production mills aren't as deep. That's the only explanation I can think of for the mill being able to produce flour at the lowest setting.

I offered to exchange the rollers only for the heat-treated knurled rollers from the MM-2Pro. There is nothing wrong with the bulkheads (other than not being able to go below .022") and they should be the same as those on the MM-2Pro. I figured exchanging the rollers only would be easier for Monster Brewing, as they don't have to waste a perfectly good set of bulkheads. I inquired twice about whether Monster would refund the difference in cost between the two mills, but they ignored my question both times. They have been helpful so far so I'm hoping they will make it right. I'm already out the cost to ship the rollers back, and 2-3 weeks downtime while I wait for the new rollers to arrive.

Here is a picture of the crush the mill produces at the lowest gap setting:

DSC_1410.jpg
 
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