My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

[tre9er]

You BIAB with an MLT?

Yep. Used to, still could if I wanted to. I didn't want to lose any heat but didn't want to have to wrap and keep a pot on a burner throughout the mash. This way I have an unattended mash and can do a dunk sparge in clean water.

Now I added a hose-braid manifold to the cooler and just did my first batch-sparge. Volumes were off so my efficiency was bad too...have to figure out the new setup.

 

[tennesseean_87]

You BIAB with an MLT?

I BIAB in an extra bottling bucket. It was cheaper than an extra kettle to heat sparge water in!

 

[Beer_Eugenics]

Here is mine.

 

[NRF]

Nice set up.. Hope you don't have a cat though...

 

[rico567]

"Beer Eugenics": A thing of beauty.

 

[tre9er]

I got a 5g. water jug given to me by my neighbor/co-brewer. Next brew I will attach it to the station and I plan on being able to have all of my grain dumped in at once rather than stopping to fill the hopper or doing two things at once, holding drill and filling hopper.

 

[tennesseean_87]

I think my crush is pretty fine, but there still seem to be some whole kernels. I haven't been able to brew in a while, but I tightened it up after getting 65% on my last batch. I'll see how the next one goes and then consider the JB weld on the cotter pin. Is that the recommended fix for an uneven crush?

 

[wilserbrewer]

I think my crush is pretty fine, but there still seem to be some whole kernels. I haven't been able to brew in a while, but I tightened it up after getting 65% on my last batch. I'll see how the next one goes and then consider the JB weld on the cotter pin. Is that the recommended fix for an uneven crush?

I did it and it seems to have worked well to even the gap, but it is tricky to get it aligned...knowing what I know now, I feel it may be just as well to free up the grinding plate to allow it to wobble and the grain should keep it at a close crush...try a looser fit cotter pin or light light grinding to allow the mill plate to "float" to a good position.

Sometimes it can be as simple as the big cotter pin is driven in tight and crooked holding the mill plate at an angle, a smaller pin or bolt will allow it to self align. These things are built so cheaply, but I think the origninal design intent is for the mill plate to be a loose fit and find its own home which shoud be good at the close gaps we use for barley.

 

[tennesseean_87]

I think it is floating, but I'll check again next time I brew, which will hopefully be this weekend. Thanks for the reply.

 

[tre9er]

I think as long as you have a fair amount of large husks available to create a filter-bed on the manifold...the rest can be quite fine. More vorlaufing is probably the biggest "problem" to a fine crush.

 

[Haputanlas]

Finally got around to my first crush. Any thoughts?

 

[Haputanlas]

Some of those husks seem a little bit thrashed, but that could be from my inexperienced eye for this.

 

[rekoob]

Finally got around to my first crush. Any thoughts?

any whole husks in that? looks like a few in the upper right. you want to adjust so no whole husks, or at least that's how i have mine and i hit my numbers every time, and some batches 4-6 points higher. I run a little thinner mash becuase i recerculate with a pump and if i make it to thick it will compact the mash if I have the flow up to much.

 

[tre9er]

If there's no whole grains in there, you're good. Don't worry about the husks being slightly shredded. There are plenty there to form a filter-bed.

 

[beerkrump]

Finally got around to my first crush. Any thoughts?

+1 to go finer
I see too many grains that look either whole or just cracked in half.

A good crush is a mix of partially intact husks and cracked grains. This is a little tough to get perfect with a corona style mill. I get pretty good results with mine if I start to see a little flour in my grist.

 

[rico567]

+1 to go finer
I see too many grains that look either whole or just cracked in half.

A good crush is a mix of partially intact husks and cracked grains. This is a little tough to get perfect with a corona style mill. I get pretty good results with mine if I start to see a little flour in my grist.

Agreed. Use a credit card as a feeler gauge to get an approximate starting point. Crank down from there until you're scared. You will see some flour. I used this method, and have never had a stuck sparge with my Corona-type mill.

 

[Haputanlas]

Agreed. Use a credit card as a feeler gauge to get an approximate starting point. Crank down from there until you're scared. You will see some flour. I used this method, and have never had a stuck sparge with my Corona-type mill.

Yeah, I've read about the credit card method. However, I can only get a credit card in there if I push hard and the upper part of the circular plates touch.

I'll give it a tighter setting and try it out. Thanks

 

[tre9er]

Again, you only need some husks in there to create a filter-bed. If you're worried about stuck sparge, throw some rice hulls in the mash (handful). They are incredibly cheap and work well.

 

[Rivenin]

here is mine, and i normally get over 80ish%

 

[Haputanlas]

Again, you only need some husks in there to create a filter-bed. If you're worried about stuck sparge, throw some rice hulls in the mash (handful). They are incredibly cheap and work well.

I'm not worried about a stuck sparge (Since I'm currently using BIAB methods). I am only concerned about astringent off-flavors.

 

[Haputanlas]

here is mine, and i normally get over 80ish%

And you have no noticeable astringency?

 

[lylo]

Very important when setting the gap on your mill!Always,always always use your swmbo's credit card!

 

[Euphist]

I'm not worried about a stuck sparge (Since I'm currently using BIAB methods). I am only concerned about astringent off-flavors.

If you're BIABing, crank it down. Tannins are more a factor of PH and temperature than the condition of the husks.

 

[tre9er]

If you're BIABing, crank it down. Tannins are more a factor of PH and temperature than the condition of the husks.

This. If you're sparging very thin with high temps (over 180ish) the PH is very alkaline and you run risk of tannins.

 

[Rivenin]

And you have no noticeable astringency?

nope, none at all as far as my taste buds can tell.

 

[Haputanlas]

nope, none at all as far as my taste buds can tell.

Good to know. Probably the only thing that concerns me about using this mill.

After I've found a great setting for the crush, a great brew day, and everyone's assurances, i'm definitely a happy camper.

 

[tre9er]

i'm a firm believer that a Corona-style mill can be every bit as effective as a roller-style mill. Many brewers use them for many years and make great beers. Heck, even my crush isn't too dissimilar from that of roller mills when it's dialed-in properly.

 

[rekoob]

for the people that have drills on your mill, how fast are you running the drill?
I just got a bolt that fits and used my cordless drill the first time which runs pretty slow compared to my larger drill. the second time my drill was about dead so i used the larger drill and was worried about running it to fast so I tried to keep it just moving with the veriable trigger. wasn't much of a problem but just wondering if i could just hit it and let her rip. Not sure if that would mess with my grind or the mill.

 

[djt17]

for the people that have drills on your mill, how fast are you running the drill?
I just got a bolt that fits and used my cordless drill the first time which runs pretty slow compared to my larger drill. the second time my drill was about dead so i used the larger drill and was worried about running it to fast so I tried to keep it just moving with the veriable trigger. wasn't much of a problem but just wondering if i could just hit it and let her rip. Not sure if that would mess with my grind or the mill.

I use a 3/8" Dewalt; I find that my crush is more consistent the slower that I run the drill.

 

[tre9er]

I use a 3/8" B&D and while I don't think it likes it, I run it slow as I can. I wish it had the VSR dial that I could lock in. It's VSR but doesn't lock other than full-speed. Eventually I want a 1/2" with the VSR dial/lock so I can mount it on something and walk away.