Spike mill in the wild

[bf514921]

Been waiting 10 monthes for this, I ordered the first hour it went live last year, had to find somewhere to share,

 

[mashdar]

What, no pics of the working bits?
Outside is pretty, though

 

[bf514921]

Good call

 

[mashdar]

Looks neat. Have you used it yet? Curious to know what you think of the crush from those helical rollers.

 

[bf514921]

It will get used next weekend, I thought about taking a couple lbs through just to see, really like table it's on, very stout, the mill itself is heavy, it's a bit different than the barely crusher mill ots replacing

 

[mashdar]

I like your setup too, with floor drain etc. Is that at home? Pitched floor? If I were the jealous type, I'd be green.

 

[bf514921]

Yes it's at home. I was fortunate enough to build my space into the house. The floor is garage epoxy, and it has a little slop. A floor squeegee works wonders. Here is a little better view

 

[Cornelder]

I milled about a pounds worth. It looked very good at 0.040” crush. I might even go a little wider on the crush. It seemed to crush more than my original mill at the same gap setting. My old mill is a 3 roll knurled design and measured using feeler gauges. I was crushing twice before (one run through using a hand drill, the second using a hand crank). I don’t think 2 rounds will be necessary. Husks looked less torn than the old mill, but I need to mill a little more to be certain.

Dust was all concentrated into the bucket (I bought the bucket lid adapter). So far overall it looks very promising.

 

[bf514921]

That's awesome. The table has a dust chute on the underside to help with that, I was going to start around .35 ish to figure out where I need it for my setup

 

[Cornelder]

I wasted a couple of pounds of grain to experiment and found all the grains at least cracked at 0.050”. Not much malt flour. The husks looked in excellent condition at that setting for what would be a nice lauter.

At 0.040” there was a moderate amount of malt flour.

 

[hilljack13]

Thanks for sharing. Mine is getting delivered tomorrow!

 

[bf514921]

Ran almost 10 lbs through at .040, little flour, worked awsome, very very consistent. It's an absolutly awesome upgrad. Next batch I will open it up just a little. The girst was 1/2 pilsner, 1/2 wheat. The dust control is excelent. Made a quick video, but it was to big.

 

[natmartin]

Just got mine as well, planning on using it this weekend for a Czech Pale Lager!

 

[jeebuscrisis]

I am hoping to get mine soon.. I was in the second wave of pre-orders so still awaiting tracking number. For those who have run some batches have you found your "sweet" spot for efficiency/lautering?

 

[Cornelder]

I have brewed 8 batches since I received my spike mill and have gotten better efficiency than before receiving this mill. I have settled on 0.040” gap for standard malts. My biggest takeaway from this mill is how well the husk is left intact and not ripped or shredded. My perception is I get no unintentional grainy flavor that always bugged me before with my old mill (MM3). Another plus, I don’t need rice hulls anymore, even for NEIPAs (>20% flaked oats or wheat). I use a herms system, so being able to recirculate full speed is important.

My only complaint is the bucket lid opening is too tight to be able to remove the dust funnel fully. It’s not a major issue, but would be more accessible for blowing out any leftover particles after milling.

 

[jeebuscrisis]

I have brewed 8 batches since I received my spike mill and have gotten better efficiency than before receiving this mill. I have settled on 0.040” gap for standard malts. My biggest takeaway from this mill is how well the husk is left intact and not ripped or shredded. My perception is I get no unintentional grainy flavor that always bugged me before with my old mill (MM3). Another plus, I don’t need rice hulls anymore, even for NEIPAs (>20% flaked oats or wheat). I use a herms system, so being able to recirculate full speed is important.

My only complaint is the bucket lid opening is too tight to be able to remove the dust funnel fully. It’s not a major issue, but would be more accessible for blowing out any leftover particles after milling.

This is good to hear! I am also running HERMS on the 20gal Trio, when I had my LHBS mill my grain they were milling to BIAB which meant I couldn't really go too hard on the recirculation because it would compact. I was hoping with this mill I'd be able to get out of that cycle and finally recirculate at better speeds. Now I'm definitely excited to get milling.

 

[Cornelder]

This is good to hear! I am also running HERMS on the 20gal Trio, when I had my LHBS mill my grain they were milling to BIAB which meant I couldn't really go too hard on the recirculation because it would compact. I was hoping with this mill I'd be able to get out of that cycle and finally recirculate at better speeds. Now I'm definitely excited to get milling.

You will be golden! I have a 15 gal Spike Mash Tun Tank and the false bottoms spike use should have no problems when the mill is setup properly.

 

[bf514921]

I have been running .04 to .045 still trying to decide which I like better, but that seems to be a good place for me, have done several batches, I have a 15 gallon spike tank, with th spike false bottom

 

[genotype]

Woot! Just received a shipping confirmation email. Ordered August 23rd.

 

[jeebuscrisis]

Woot! Just received a shipping confirmation email. Ordered August 23rd.

Sweet! I ordered september 1st so looking forward to that email soon!

 

[Peteinno]

Woot! Just received a shipping confirmation email. Ordered August 23rd.

Yep, me too! Expecting deliver today.

 

[jeebuscrisis]

Mill has arrived, it will be a week or so before I can get to a brew day. I'm really curious to see where my mash efficiency will land!

 

[stealthfixr]

I was in round 1 and have used the Spike mill for three batches ranging from 12-20lb of malt.

Here's the punch line--I love this mill. The recirc and flow through the grist is better and I am not sure why, at the same gap distance. Efficiency is about the same, maybe slightly higher. So easy to reset the gap for wheat or rye. Super consistent, and mounting the mill to the dedicated table makes the mill a permanent setup in my garage (next to my grain measuring area). Milling used to be an irritant in the brewing process, but no longer.

I don't say this lightly, and your mileage may vary, but for me this is well worth the $$'s. When I think of the dollars I have spent over the last 30 years on cheaper mills that did not do the job half as well, this thing might be a bargain.

 

[Cornelder]

I was in round 1 and have used the Spike mill for three batches ranging from 12-20lb of malt.

Here's the punch line--I love this mill. The recirc and flow through the grist is better and I am not sure why, at the same gap distance. Efficiency is about the same, maybe slightly higher. So easy to reset the gap for wheat or rye. Super consistent, and mounting the mill to the dedicated table makes the mill a permanent setup in my garage (next to my grain measuring area). Milling used to be an irritant in the brewing process, but no longer.

I don't say this lightly, and your mileage may vary, but for me this is well worth the $$'s. When I think of the dollars I have spent over the last 30 years on cheaper mills that did not do the job half as well, this thing might be a bargain.

I completely concur with all you said here.

 

[bf514921]

I agree this mill was a worth while upgrade. Speeds up my brew day by a few minutes to, I used to use a half inch drill to power my mill.

 

[genotype]

Received mine yesterday. First thing I noticed while attaching the hopper was that one of the rollers had something on it. Not sure if it's rust or some liquid. Doesn't come off with compressed air. Opened a ticket with Spike immediately. Waiting to hear back. Pretty disappointing to have waiting 10 months only to have something like this make it through QC.

 

[bf514921]

hopefully they already got back to you and get it resolved, i have had great luck with their customer service

 

[Cornelder]

I was in the first group shipped and the rollers look great. It’s been through 9 batches (10-20 lbs each batch of grain milled) to this point.

 

[genotype]

Update

Spike got back to me the next day. They called it a very thin layer of flash rust due to moisture in the box during shipping. They had me mill a few pounds through which took it right off.

 

[jeebuscrisis]

I was in round 1 and have used the Spike mill for three batches ranging from 12-20lb of malt.

Here's the punch line--I love this mill. The recirc and flow through the grist is better and I am not sure why, at the same gap distance. Efficiency is about the same, maybe slightly higher. So easy to reset the gap for wheat or rye. Super consistent, and mounting the mill to the dedicated table makes the mill a permanent setup in my garage (next to my grain measuring area). Milling used to be an irritant in the brewing process, but no longer.

I don't say this lightly, and your mileage may vary, but for me this is well worth the $$'s. When I think of the dollars I have spent over the last 30 years on cheaper mills that did not do the job half as well, this thing might be a bargain.

What kind of settings are you using for wheat/rye? I did some test grinds on the 0.040" for standard malts and really love how it's coming out. Haven't tried wheat or rye yet.