SS Brewtech's Mill

[augiedoggy]

Yeah, the problem is, I have to buy like 6 different things then make it all fit on a table not designed for the mill in the first place to save $200. All these mill companies did themselves a disservice by not having an all in one unit five years ago.

only if you choose to buy from the most expensive american made mill supplier around... If your comparing chinese made mills like we are here with the SS mill, then the 3 roller kegco for $150 shipped which is superior in design to the mm3 with its cheap bushings would be the obvious choice. (the comparable ball bearing pro upgrade mill from MM is even more astronomical in price) Also the savings would be more along the lines of $4-500..

 

[Vale71]

Not necessarily true.

Sorry, forgot to mention that a nano brewery for me starts at a minimum of 20 hectoliters.

 

[bomb]

Not necessarily true. Ive spent a lot of time visiting nanos before opening my own and speaking with owners about equipment. (many do buy premilled with an agreement with a local maltster so it doesn sit long this way)
As I pointed out earlier I have a small brewpub and we have been using the motorized kegco 3 roller mill every week since december.. still works as good as it did when new with no signs of wear. the only downside is I chose a slower 170rpm motor so it takes 20 mins or so to mill everything out for a 3bbl brew.
Again unlike the extremely pricey mm3 setup quoted above... We built an UPGRADED version using a mill with ball bearings for longer life, larger hopper and a heavy duty bodine motor with reverse through a drum switch. its built onto a steel wheeled cart for a total which was under $300. Again its not for everyone but its practical and works well for milling grain which is what we wanted. and if the mill wears out we can swap another in for $150 and not have to toss the whole thing. We do not have it on display like some of our other equipment. Again im posting this from actual use and experience not hypotheticals.

As far as beer styles in the breweries... We get flack from some for having many traditional beer styles on tap and not having the ipas dominate our rotating 11 beer taplist.. The trending beers now at many breweries all seem to be not only cloudy ipas but also the heavy fruit daiquiri style beers. I see now some breweries are even jumping on the fruit seltzer water bandwagon with making White claw style drinks...

Can you send me the information on your mill?

 

[augiedoggy]

Sorry, forgot to mention that a nano brewery for me starts at a minimum of 20 hectoliters.

Ok well 17 bbl brewery systems are normally found in "Micro" breweries.
I dont want to argue semantics here is an explanation of what the term nano-brewery means to most..
https://www.probrewer.com/library/nano-breweries/nano-brewery-basics/

We have a 3bbl system and brew once or twice a week. But we are a brewpub instead of a nano because we have a tavern license and serve wine and cider as well as food and we are not a "farm" brewery which allows us to use hops and grain from the regions where the style is we are brewing originates.. these are some of the factors that can effect the favor of the beer but many dont understand the politics (literally) behind why.

 

[augiedoggy]

Can you send me the information on your mill?

this is the mill we use. (comes up as $134 now with a black base for buckets mine did not have)
https://www.beveragefactory.com/homebrew/pre-fermentation-equipment/kegco-km11gm-3r-grain-mill.html

its also sold under a few other name brands such as the malt munchier. its a good mill and the hopper extension from the MM3 bolts right up to it.

 

[bomb]

this is the mill we use. (comes up as $134 now with a black base for buckets mine did not have)
https://www.beveragefactory.com/homebrew/pre-fermentation-equipment/kegco-km11gm-3r-grain-mill.html

its also sold under a few other name brands such as the malt munchier.

what did you use for the cart, motor, and hopper extension.

 

[augiedoggy]

what did you use for the cart, motor, and hopper extension.

I dont have the photo handy but I posted pics on the motorized mill thread.
I used a standard steel wheeled cart. ($25 with coupon) a 15gallon tote fits under it and I made velcrod skirting to keep the dust down. I use a Bodine gear reduction motor. like this
https://www.industrialmotors.com/06...avOLLOionB3Jcy9ldXijH77Zp4djoANhoCNZQQAvD_BwE


I bought on ebay used for $70 shipped..
and I used this switch to control direction and on /off
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Drum-Switc...fIAAOSwsZJaYFmX:sc:USPSFirstClass!14120!US!-1

Like I said earlier the hopper extension is from a monster mill 3... the kegco/mailt munchier is a chinese clone of the mm3 only with better bearings, a metric 12mm shaft and at 1/3 the price.

sorry this is getting off topic so the questions really should be asked in one of the other current 3 roller mill threads.

 

[Vale71]

Ok well 17 bbl brewery systems are normally found in "Micro" breweries.
I dont want to argue semantics here is an explanation of what the term nano-brewery means to most..
https://www.probrewer.com/library/nano-breweries/nano-brewery-basics/

We have a 3bbl system and brew once or twice a week. But we are a brewpub instead of a nano because we have a tavern license and serve wine and cider as well as food and we are not a "farm" brewery which allows us to use hops and grain from the regions where the style is we are brewing originates.. these are some of the factors that can effect the favor of the beer but many dont understand the politics (literally) behind why.

This is only partly tongue-in-cheek but according to my experience anything smaller belongs in the category "soon to be bankrupt nano-brewery attempt". You really can't survive with such small production volumes, not if you solely rely on beer sales to some distributor(s) instead of bundling your beer with other services such as food and/or entertainment, but that would make you a brewpub which is a completely different animal deriving its appeal (and a good portion of the revenue) from other factors, as you yourself have pointed out.
Agree that we should stop here as this is getting a bit too off-topic.

 

[augiedoggy]

This is only partly tongue-in-cheek but according to my experience anything smaller belongs in the category "soon to be bankrupt nano-brewery attempt". You really can't survive with such small production volumes, not if you solely rely on beer sales to some distributor(s) instead of bundling your beer with other services such as food and/or entertainment, but that would make you a brewpub which is a completely different animal deriving its appeal (and a good portion of the revenue) from other factors, as you yourself have pointed out.
Agree that we should stop here as this is getting a bit too off-topic.

Ok, as someone who owns a 3bbl brewery and has done the research I can say you actually have it backwards. food or not, Its the only sector of the craft brewing market which has still been growing in the last few years and doing well IS the local Nano.. not a distribution model at this size which I agree makes no sense, but one with a tap/tasting room. Usually these local breweries are in the 2-7bbl range and some end up growing and distributing. There is more customer loyalty and It is far more profitable to sell your beer in your own taproom than to distribute it as larger breweries all do for much much smaller profits.. Also larger breweries with established brand names cannot be a spontaneous with brewing choice. They have much more product to market and unload which takes time. A recipe change is not as easy. Will you get rich? NO but if you do things correctly you will be profitable and have no worries of bankruptcy either.
Where I live two larger micro breweries just went under, one closed for good and it made most of its money contract brewing for smaller "fake" breweries that gave the customers the impression they were a brewery without actually being one which is also becoming more common (many brewpubs fall into this category for the reasons you hinted). Many larger micros end up being bought out by larger breweries who operate them as craft breweries for marketing reasons but with different motivation which impacts the beer often negatively.

 

[Vale71]

In all fairness we live on opposite sides of the big pond so cost structures might be so hugely different that any generalization would make no sense. I was of course relating my experience from my side where the smallest breweries (not brewpubs, those can be quite successful even if their beer is quite awful, go figure...) are all going under because the horrendous costs eat up most of the margins, not to mention the fact that in the end you as an owner and sole employee will end up working for what amount at best to slave wages, that is if you're lucky and don't end up actually losing money. The ones that I don't see closing up have all mustered the resources to step up production by quite a lot but you need a lot more zeroes in your checks to be able to afford it and not everybody manages to do that.

 

[kh54s10]

There is a local brewery here that is very small, I don't know what category or even how much they produce. They started in a small retail space and had a bar and about 5 tables - no food.. There they had one brew rig and 3 fermenters that were about 5 ft diameter and 10 ft tall.

They have since moved into a bigger space not far from the original, still a retail type space. I haven't been there yet so I don't know if they now have food. But they make (made) very good beer for only their sales on premises,I think, as I have not been there in over a year. I have never seen any of their beer distributed, but they may and I haven't been where they sell it.

They seem to be doing very well.

 

[augiedoggy]

In all fairness we live on opposite sides of the big pond so cost structures might be so hugely different that any generalization would make no sense. I was of course relating my experience from my side where the smallest breweries (not brewpubs, those can be quite successful even if their beer is quite awful, go figure...) are all going under because the horrendous costs eat up most of the margins, not to mention the fact that in the end you as an owner and sole employee will end up working for what amount at best to slave wages, that is if you're lucky and don't end up actually losing money. The ones that I don't see closing up have all mustered the resources to step up production by quite a lot but you need a lot more zeroes in your checks to be able to afford it and not everybody manages to do that.

If you have a sound business model with realistic expectations they can be much more profitable than any bar. The problem is many owners judge their success by having thier beer on tap at other bars and in other stores without actually understanding the numbers. To a point it can be good for advertising but can also hurt your taproom sales... Some smart brewery owners get that having their own taprooms are far more profitable and that why here anyway you see more breweries opening multiple locations often with food and other spirits operating as a brewpub but marketing as a brewery.

I have no desire to grow beyond the expansion in our taproom we had in the plans from the onset. I have a business partner which splits responsibilities with me and we have employees.. We also still have our day jobs.

Anyway.. now that we have seriously derailed this thread I will apologize and let the SS mill discussion take course.