My Ugly Junk- Corona Mill Station...

[poptarts]

Definitely a ton of whole grains in NB one. I tightened my corona down a smudge after that grind there and it's friggin pulverized it! I can't believe the different feel of stirring it in to the water, will see if I hit target. Mashing as we speak, I might have to back off a tiny bit next time bc I really don't want tannins.

Keep an eye on PH and you will not have a tannin issue. a 24" french whip is pretty awesome to mash in with if you decide to keep it tight. they are like 10$ off amazon.

 

[ballsy]

Keep an eye on PH and you will not have a tannin issue. a 24" french whip is pretty awesome to mash in with if you decide to keep it tight. they are like 10$ off amazon.

Therein lays my problem, never had pH issues in past and don't want to deal with a pH probe. Thinking of getting a big jar of pH stabilizer, I know it's kinda ghetto and not near as exact as correcting with acidulated malt, etc...but just not wanting to deal with it the "correct" way yet.

 

[phug]

If you know what your water report is just use bruin water to get it in the middle of the range. I haven't and probably won't invest in a ph meter

 

[phug]

4 hours all-in for all grain is pretty good. I wouldn't skimp where it counts, but most malts are pretty good and will convert by the 45 minute mark.

With a 10 month old an a five year in the house, anything I can do to get the time commitment down will help to get the wife onboard with brew days. The brulosophy 1 hour all grain brew day has some appeal for me. 30 min mash, 15 min boil. A bit more speedy on hops usage, and his efficiency was only 60% but I think it's worth trying. Maybe even do a partigyle with a second 30 min mash during the boil.

Ok I've gotten silly.

 

[ballsy]

With a 10 month old an a five year in the house, anything I can do to get the time commitment down will help to get the wife onboard with brew days. The brulosophy 1 hour all grain brew day has some appeal for me. 30 min mash, 15 min boil. A bit more speedy on hops usage, and his efficiency was only 60% but I think it's worth trying. Maybe even do a partigyle with a second 30 min mash during the boil.

Ok I've gotten silly.

4 & 7 yr old now so not quite as time limited as before but still don't want a 4-5 hr brew day. Good news is the kit I brewed with the mill hit OG dead on today! Really stoked about that, before I was falling at least 10 points shy with BIAB and milled grain from online vendors. The mill went through the 12 lbs of grain with ease. Really happy with going the corona mill route, thanks to all the "pioneers" on here, I was able to get it set up perfectly from the start following all your previous trials and tribulations!

 

[ballsy]

If you know what your water report is just use bruin water to get it in the middle of the range. I haven't and probably won't invest in a ph meter

Good call, I'll give that a try!

 

[ballsy]

@phug , I forgot the issue I have when I've looked at my towns water report in past. I don't know why but their water reports suck in terms of info they give compared to others I have seen. I live in Cary, NC. The ONLY elements they report on that bruin water needs is Sodium, Fluoride, Sulfate, and iron.....they do not give pH, nor do they specify concentrations of all the other 8 that bruin water wants!! Thus I am back to square one. I might call the town and ask how to get that info....they get their water from Jordan Lake so maybe if I find a report on that lake in general it would be close enough (not sure if each town messes with adding any of those into the water or if it is all naturally occurring, exception of flouride & chlorine/chloramines)....

 

[phug]

@phug , I forgot the issue I have when I've looked at my towns water report in past. I don't know why but their water reports suck in terms of info they give compared to others I have seen. I live in Cary, NC. The ONLY elements they report on that bruin water needs is Sodium, Fluoride, Sulfate, and iron.....they do not give pH, nor do they specify concentrations of all the other 8 that bruin water wants!! Thus I am back to square one. I might call the town and ask how to get that info....they get their water from Jordan Lake so maybe if I find a report on that lake in general it would be close enough (not sure if each town messes with adding any of those into the water or if it is all naturally occurring, exception of flouride & chlorine/chloramines)....

find the phone number for the guy/department that does the report. Just because they don't report it doesn't mean they don't test it. you never know.

plus there might be enough engineers that one of them homebrews

 

[ballsy]

find the phone number for the guy/department that does the report. Just because they don't report it doesn't mean they don't test it. you never know.

plus there might be enough engineers that one of them homebrews

So spoke with one of the chemists there and she pointed me to a corner of their website that has the detailed "lab" version of results and appears to have everything I need. pH is as expected (they say a safe est is 8.0 which is almost exactly what ours is), surprisingly our water is rated as "moderately soft". I will input numbers into bruin water this evening and give this a go next time!

 

[phug]

I've just blindly given mine another quarter turn. I'm in for a surprise next brew day. I did at least test to make sure I could still hand crank it after the adjustment.

 

[Shawnylocks]

ugly junk complete. testing crush this weekend and then hopefully a small brew next week to check efficiency

 

[phug]

I'm awarding bonus points for use of pipe insulation wrap. I on't know how many, or what they can be redeemed for, but I'm awarding points.

 

[Shawnylocks]

i will redeem them for less grain dust haha I have to affix them to the bucket somehow, maybe small zip ties or duct tape haha

 

[Johow]

i will redeem them for less grain dust haha I have to affix them to the bucket somehow, maybe small zip ties or duct tape haha

Most of the pipe insulation I have seen have adhesive on them. After you fit them you just peel and stick. Is'nt that the case here?

 

[Shawnylocks]

Most of the pipe insulation I have seen have adhesive on them. After you fit them you just peel and stick. Is'nt that the case here?

no this is basically a small pool noodle with a split it was in my basement when we moved in a few years back and I have found a few cool uses for it

 

[bokk]

Are you guys satisfied with the corona mill ?

 

[Revvy]

Are you guys satisfied with the corona mill ?

Have you actually read the thread? Do you think it would have been continuously active for 8 whole years if people weren't?

 

[phug]

Are you guys satisfied with the corona mill ?

Yes

 

[bokk]

My new ugly junk! Kinda nice isn't it?
Built in a few hours. Total cost : 0 dollarz

View attachment 1454365255111.jpg

 

[phug]

Looks nice

 

[Shawnylocks]

Have you actually read the thread? Do you think it would have been continuously active for 8 whole years if people weren't?

Bahahahaha.

 

[Shawnylocks]

My new ugly junk! Kinda nice isn't it?
Built in a few hours. Total cost : 0 dollarz

That is not ugly by Any means

 

[ballsy]

Have you actually read the thread? Do you think it would have been continuously active for 8 whole years if people weren't?

Kyack! I kinda laugh at the people spending hundreds of dollars on fancy mills when I see the Corona in action. Best $25 I've spent on anything beer related.

 

[pshankstar]

I'm pumped to try my hand at making an ugly corona mill too! I just purchased the following corona mill from Amazon. I had a total of $20 credits ($10 worth came from Bing). So the mill only cost me $4.88 out of pocket! Can't beat that!

Thank you all for your posts on this thread! I will have a small project to work on this week and I cannot wait! I just wish the mill would be here on Saturday like I thought it would, but not until Monday.

 

[imasickboy]

Perfect! And +1 for using Bing rewards. Reminds me that I need to check mine. Haven't looked in months.

 

[signpost]

I'm pumped to try my hand at making an ugly corona mill too! I just purchased the following corona mill from Amazon. I had a total of $20 credits ($10 worth came from Bing). So the mill only cost me $4.88 out of pocket! Can't beat that!

Thank you all for your posts on this thread! I will have a small project to work on this week and I cannot wait! I just wish the mill would be here on Saturday like I thought it would, but not until Monday.

Nice. And I thought mine was a good deal. It's hard to beat getting it for less than $5.

 

[pshankstar]

Nice. And I thought mine was a good deal. It's hard to beat getting it for less than $5.

Yeah I couldn't pass it up!! The other $10 Amazon credit actually was a bonus from this forum. There is another thread about Local Only Trading (LOT) that I participated in. When I signed up for a FedEx account and shipped my beers I received a $10 GC for Amazon. So between the LOT thread and using Bing I had the $20 credit. [emoji2]

 

[moreb33rplz]

I know it's in here, but can someone post the drill and attachment hardware that is recommended?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Rather than post the bolt size, the easiest and surest thing to do is to take the handle bolt from your mill to the hardware store. Buy a bolt with this threads 3-4 " long, cut the head off the bolt and insert into drill chuck.

Other variations include putting a socket in your drill to drive the bolt.

 

[Revvy]

My new ugly junk! Kinda nice isn't it?
Built in a few hours. Total cost : 0 dollarz

You can't in your right mind seriously consider that thing of beauty "ugly junk" can you?

That's awesome!