SS Brewtech's Mill

[Blazinlow86]

Have you got a grudge against them? They have been around a while and have a very good reputation.

Not at all. There reputation is more based on Chinese made stainless kettles though and there's little to go wrong in that regard. In not a fan of expensive chinese made proprietary products (dell,apple etc) and most definitely not a fan of Chinese made grain mill rollers specifically. Again time will tell. Cheers

 

[kh54s10]

Not at all. There reputation is more based on Chinese made stainless kettles though and there's little to go wrong in that regard. In not a fan of expensive chinese made proprietary products (dell,apple etc) and most definitely not a fan of Chinese made grain mill rollers specifically. Again time will tell. Cheers

Also not a fan of Chinese made products, but since I want things, I have plenty of Chinese made products in my house. And yes some of it is inferior but some of it is very high quality...

 

[shoengine]

Exactly. It's a beautiful, compact piece. If I were considering the mill from morebeer linked to above (the clunky, pieced together looking thing with the ridiculously oversized power button and motor hanging off the table that looks like it was assembled in some homebrewer's garage), I would spend the extra cash and go for the SS mill.

Big power buttons on industrial equipment are very nice for those times when you have to slam the off button due to someone getting parts of them or a piece of clothing stuck in the machine. I paid a good $20 for one of those for my bandsaw when everyone else is using a $2 light switch.

 

[kevink]

Big power buttons on industrial equipment are very nice for those times when you have to slam the off button due to someone getting parts of them or a piece of clothing stuck in the machine. I paid a good $20 for one of those for my bandsaw when everyone else is using a $2 light switch.

I understand that big buttons are a safety feature, but there is absolutely no reason to have an enclosure that big and stupid looking. They could have even mounted that giant enclosure under the table, with the button more or less flush-mounted with the table top.

But jeez, this is a homebrew grain mill. If you get tangled up in one and actually need an emergency stop, you've got issues.

 

[kevink]

I just found this post from a year ago which has a few prototype photos.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/ss-brewtech-mill-prototype.652215/

 

[shoengine]

I understand that big buttons are a safety feature, but there is absolutely no reason to have an enclosure that big and stupid looking. They could have even mounted that giant enclosure under the table, with the button more or less flush-mounted with the table top.

But jeez, this is a homebrew grain mill. If you get tangled up in one and actually need an emergency stop, you've got issues.

Some people have long hair or jewelry. I'm not sure why this is a point of contention. Is there a danger of death or dismemberment? Then have an emergency stop switch.

 

[kevink]

I totally understand the purpose of an emergency stop button. I am fine with them. I originally said the physical size of the e-stop and enclosure was way too big on the morebeer mill and you assumed that I was anti e-stop, which I am not. It was just done poorly on that mill.

 

[augiedoggy]

I find it hard to believe the barley crusher is American made. Maybe assembled in America but that's meaningless advertising. My buddies cereal killer did last abit longer than my barley crusher but he only brews casually. The rollers always wear out on Chinese mills. Maybe the ss will be better but the all in one design is additionally why I wouldn't buy it. How long will they sell individual parts for it? Will they sell everything to rebuild it or do you just throw it away when it fails? Same reason I wouldn't buy a MacBook and the reason I dont have anything proprietary in my brewery. Cheers

The Barley crusher is made of chinese parts with an american made wooden base and american made rollers (which are much softer BTW than the rollers on a cereal killer ofr the other versions of the mill like the kegco made by the same chinese factory.)

I'm going to once again point out that some mills like the barley crusher and the mm3 use bushings and some of the better engineered mills use ball bearings and are not necessarily more expensive. all the pro mills ive seen use real bearing as well.
I have been homebrewing with my cereal killer for 6 years and the mill shows no signs of wear even from the pulley side load its using with a motor.

Better yet I have been doing all of my milling at my nanobrewery since December of last year on my $150 3 roller kegco mill driven by a $80 used ebay motor at 170rpm on a harbor freight metal cart. (I also have the MM hopper extender) The mill has needed Zero maintenance and has been used at least once a week every week for 3bbl batch brewing now milling literally thousands of lbs of grain. There is zero wear noticable on the knurling of the rollers and that is all the proof I need that an $800 mill is not necessary for a Nano brewery.. Nothing wrong with it, Its just not actually necessary either.
I also have not yet seen any first hand accounts reported of the knurling ever wearing down on a cereal killer mill like I have seen on other brands like the BC.
Also I dont know what SS uses for the rollers but stainless steel is NOT a good choice for roller construction and some seem to buy it for the whole "conditioning of the grain" thing which I have never heard of being done anywhere but homebrewing carbon steel is probably the best choice but whatever hardening the manufacturer of the CK and keg king, kegco mills uses (They are all from the same manufacturer) I really havent seen any wear complaints.

 

[Blazinlow86]

The Barley crusher is made of chinese parts with an american made wooden base and american made rollers (which are much softer BTW than the rollers on a cereal killer ofr the other versions of the mill like the kegco made by the same chinese factory.)

I'm going to once again point out that some mills like the barley crusher and the mm3 use bushings and some of the better engineered mills use ball bearings and are not necessarily more expensive. all the pro mills ive seen use real bearing as well.
I have been homebrewing with my cereal killer for 6 years and the mill shows no signs of wear even from the pulley side load its using with a motor.

Better yet I have been doing all of my milling at my nanobrewery since December of last year on my $150 3 roller kegco mill driven by a $80 used ebay motor at 170rpm on a harbor freight metal cart. (I also have the MM hopper extender) The mill has needed Zero maintenance and has been used at least once a week every week for 3bbl batch brewing now milling literally thousands of lbs of grain. There is zero wear noticable on the knurling of the rollers and that is all the proof I need that an $800 mill is not necessary for a Nano brewery.. Nothing wrong with it, Its just not actually necessary either.
I also have not yet seen any first hand accounts reported of the knurling ever wearing down on a cereal killer mill like I have seen on other brands like the BC.
Also I dont know what SS uses for the rollers but stainless steel is NOT a good choice for roller construction and some seem to buy it for the whole "conditioning of the grain" thing which I have never heard of being done anywhere but homebrewing carbon steel is probably the best choice but whatever hardening the manufacturer of the CK and keg king, kegco mills uses (They are all from the same manufacturer) I really havent seen any wear complaints.

I wish I had the same luck as you did with my Chinese mills. Unfortunately I didn't so I've moved on. I did consider the kegco this time around but didn't wanna risk having the same thing happen yet again and it wasn't much cheaper in my location. Who knows maybe the monster mill will wear out too. Only time will tell. Cheers

 

[augiedoggy]

I wish I had the same luck as you did with my Chinese mills. Unfortunately I didn't so I've moved on. I did consider the kegco this time around but didn't wanna risk having the same thing happen yet again and it wasn't much cheaper in my location. Who knows maybe the monster mill will wear out too. Only time will tell. Cheers

I'm not trying to agrue here or derail the thread any more than I guess I have already but im not sure what you mean by it not being much cheaper. The kegco is $150 with free shipping when not on sale.. I do believe the mm3 is like 2 times that cost with the same hardware purchased separately like the hopper and handle in the 48 states. and thats the cheaper version of in with bushing... If you want the version with bearing its a couple hundred more on top of that.

 

[Shades]

I bought that morebeer motor a little under 4 years ago. I immediately replaced the spider coupling because the one that came with it is plastic. I connected the motor to an MM2 and have that on the mill cart.
The E-stop enclosure is a little big but has come in handy for me. Once in a while a rock will get stuck and stop the mill.
I have used this mill for my 3.5 bbl pilot system for the last 3 years. The motor still runs like brand new and the mill shows no signs of wear.
I spent $200 on the mill and $180 on the motor. An old extension cord to wire it all up i had laying around. $380 for a very good mill and motor is really cheap.
I mill roughly 1000lbs per week through the mm2 and it has served me extremely well.

 

[Spartan1979]

Better yet I have been doing all of my milling at my nanobrewery since December of last year on my $150 3 roller kegco mill driven by a $80 used ebay motor at 170rpm on a harbor freight metal cart. (I also have the MM hopper extender)

Is this the mill you're referring to?
https://www.beveragefactory.com/homebrew/pre-fermentation-equipment/kegco-km11gm-3r-grain-mill.html

 

[Blazinlow86]

I'm not trying to agrue here or derail the thread any more than I guess I have already but im not sure what you mean by it not being much cheaper. The kegco is $150 with free shipping when not on sale.. I do believe the mm3 is like 2 times that cost with the same hardware purchased separately like the hopper and handle in the 48 states. and thats the cheaper version of in with bushing... If you want the version with bearing its a couple hundred more on top of that.

I'm Canadian. By the time that 150 is converted for our weak dollar, shipping, duty it's not as great a deal. Wasn't worth the hassle to me to save a few bucks. While I don't like to throw money away my homebrew budget is more or less unlimited. Cheers

 

[augiedoggy]

Is this the mill you're referring to?
https://www.beveragefactory.com/homebrew/pre-fermentation-equipment/kegco-km11gm-3r-grain-mill.html

yes

 

[augiedoggy]

I bought that morebeer motor a little under 4 years ago. I immediately replaced the spider coupling because the one that came with it is plastic. I connected the motor to an MM2 and have that on the mill cart.
The E-stop enclosure is a little big but has come in handy for me. Once in a while a rock will get stuck and stop the mill.
I have used this mill for my 3.5 bbl pilot system for the last 3 years. The motor still runs like brand new and the mill shows no signs of wear.
I spent $200 on the mill and $180 on the motor. An old extension cord to wire it all up i had laying around. $380 for a very good mill and motor is really cheap.
I mill roughly 1000lbs per week through the mm2 and it has served me extremely well.

I actually had a bolt come in a sack of german malt and end up in my mill.. I wired up a drum switch so I have reverse when rocks or something like this happens... they are very inexpensive on ebay.

 

[augiedoggy]

I'm Canadian. By the time that 150 is converted for our weak dollar, shipping, duty it's not as great a deal. Wasn't worth the hassle to me to save a few bucks. While I don't like to throw money away my homebrew budget is more or less unlimited. Cheers

Understood. I assumed the MM would have those same expenses, also coming from the states.

 

[Turbogator]

800 bux is pricey, but I've quit caring about the relative value of things, If I can afford it (and I can) and I want it and it will improve my beer or my brew day then I'll buy it. Me and my buddy are just garage brewers so this is total overkill for us, but if it brings joy and you got the cake, yeah its a no brainer. Now ill wait for real reviews, I'm not an early adopter, but its just too cool to ignore.

 

[augiedoggy]

800 bux is pricey, but I've quit caring about the relative value of things, If I can afford it (and I can) and I want it and it will improve my beer or my brew day then I'll buy it. Me and my buddy are just garage brewers so this is total overkill for us, but if it brings joy and you got the cake, yeah its a no brainer. Now ill wait for real reviews, I'm not an early adopter, but its just too cool to ignore.

Thats just it though... It wont improve the beer in any way vs a regular grainmill..
There has never been any evidence to show that the grain cares how its crushed and how it effects the beer... Theres lots of hypotheticals about shredded husks causing tannins and 3 roller mils vs 2 roller for this but I have never seen a single piece of data showing any real world discerrnible difference in the beer vs any other grain mill. Until SS shows this evidence I see no justification personally just more marketing hype. Its fancy and quite expensive but at the end of the day its job is still just to crush grain.. This kinda reminds me of the wipers on a Mercedes headlight...

 

[passedpawn]

800 bux is pricey, but I've quit caring about the relative value of things, If I can afford it (and I can) and I want it and it will improve my beer or my brew day then I'll buy it. Me and my buddy are just garage brewers so this is total overkill for us, but if it brings joy and you got the cake, yeah its a no brainer. Now ill wait for real reviews, I'm not an early adopter, but its just too cool to ignore.

My thoughts exactly. Also, I wish I had a brewing buddy to split expenses with. Never thought about that.

 

[redllama]

As someone who does a lot of beers with wheat and malted oats I like the idea/ability to quickly and easily change the gap to get a better crush on the smaller kernels. Ideally I'd prefer if it were more in the 500-600 range as opposed to 800 which pushes it down the priority ladder.

 

[BrewinSoldier]

As soon as it's released, I'm buying it. I'll let you guys know how it works vs my current All American with a Crankenstein 328G 3 roller...lol

Hopefully they release it soon.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Thats just it though... It wont improve the beer in any way vs a regular grainmill..
There has never been any evidence to show that the grain cares how its crushed and how it effects the beer... Theres lots of hypotheticals about shredded husks causing tannins and 3 roller mils vs 2 roller for this but I have never seen a single piece of data showing any real world discerrnible difference in the beer vs any other grain mill. Until SS shows this evidence I see no justification personally just more marketing hype. Its fancy and quite expensive but at the end of the day its job is still just to crush grain.. This kinda reminds me of the wipers on a Mercedes headlight...

True, but the same could be said of buying a BMW vs a Honda. Both are fine, both will get you to work and around town. Basically they both do the exact same thing, but lots of people are willing to pay a lot more for the few extra bells and whistles plus sleek styling of the BMW over a Honda. There is no difference in fundamental function and it is just marketing hype.

 

[augiedoggy]

True, but the same could be said of buying a BMW vs a Honda. Both are fine, both will get you to work and around town. Basically they both do the exact same thing, but lots of people are willing to pay a lot more for the few extra bells and whistles plus sleek styling of the BMW over a Honda. There is no difference in fundamental function and it is just marketing hype.

I dont disagree but this is far from a purchase such as an automobile... This is more like the difference between a designer toaster vs a toastmaster. I think if we are willing to pay an extra $700 for sleek styling on a home brewing grain mill, well either we have a lot of extra money we are just looking to spend on ourselves.. or we buy into the marketing and think its going to do something to improve our beer.. This was the point behind my comment. Still to each his own.

For $800 a person could buy 2 motorized mills and have an entire back up set at a different gap or if something went wrong.

 

[kevink]

I don't get why so many homebrewers are so cheap and jump on someone when they spend 3 extra dollars on something if it "makes the same beer". Is it because many homebrewers do it to save money? Who knows. If someone wants a sick mill that looks and feels like quality, comes with pride of ownership, most likely works better and is more pleasurable to operate, offers quick gap adjustment, and comes in a compact package, who cares? Or maybe they don't want a Rube Goldberg looking mill "station" with a Harbor Freight drill with a zip tied trigger... Or maybe they don't have the mechanical ability to to put a mill station together out of the main components and want a turn-key solution... I can understand all of that.

I guarantee that every single person complaining about the price of this mill owns something that someone else would consider extravagant, unnecessary, or not worth the money. Think about your hobbies. You know there's something. If you're trying to justify why you think this mill is a waste of money you are most like being hypocritical. End rant

 

[augiedoggy]

Ok fair point but "3 extra dollars" and 600 extra dollars is two totally different ends of the spectrum for what it is...
I look at the components and how its engineered and built using an inexpensive gear reduction motor and I dont see any reason it should cost $800 thats my opinion. I backed it up with the fact that at the end of the day its just a mill whos simple function it to crush grain. I'm sorry if my opinion differs from yours but at the end of the day I just dont see the value in it for what it is and what it does. Its the rolex of grain mills I get it to each his own. Most people who own those do so simply to impress others and prove thier social status.
My point in the first post was a timex keeps just as good time for most of us who have to look at things from a little more practical standpoint but yeah that also different for everyone. I guess if people are willing to pay it then its worth the price regardless of what goes into making it and what it is right? We shouldnt question such things but should just shutup and buy it like a $20 four pack of fruit beer (The brewery makes $17 off of while laughing)..

 

[duelerx]

Well said, this is exactly what happens on every rant about AIO homebrew systems as the Picobrews.

I see this mill as really well engineered and with motor included. As an owner of SS Brewtech kettles I can vouch this mill would be well design and top quality as well.

I don't get why so many homebrewers are so cheap and jump on someone when they spend 3 extra dollars on something if it "makes the same beer". Is it because many homebrewers do it to save money? Who knows. If someone wants a sick mill that looks and feels like quality, comes with pride of ownership, most likely works better and is more pleasurable to operate, offers quick gap adjustment, and comes in a compact package, who cares? Or maybe they don't want a Rube Goldberg looking mill "station" with a Harbor Freight drill with a zip tied trigger... Or maybe they don't have the mechanical ability to to put a mill station together out of the main components and want a turn-key solution... I can understand all of that.

I guarantee that every single person complaining about the price of this mill owns something that someone else would consider extravagant, unnecessary, or not worth the money. Think about you hobbies. You know there's something. If you're trying to justify why you think this mill is a waste of money you are most like being hypocritical. End rant

 

[Vale71]

Most people who own those do so simply to impress others and prove thier social status.

You're absolutely right. I can't even recall how many times showing off my cool stainless unitank has gotten me laid...

 

[mongoose33]

Everybody here has different values, standards, needs and desires. At best, all one can do is say that the price/value/functionality relationship is this or that for me.

Otherwise, perhaps the cheapest solution would be the best one. Maybe a corona mill turned by hand (no drills!).

For me--for me--that's not a good solution, but that doesn't mean it's not for others.

Once we start down the road of "it's too expensive for what it does" we're imposing our values on others. Not a problem using those values for our own purchases, but to expect someone else to see them as equivalent....not unless everything else in their lives is the same.

I changed from a barley crusher run by a drill to a Monster Mill 3 turned by an All American Aleworks motor. For me--for me--it's worth it, as it crushes at a slower RPM, yet I can do 12 pounds in about 2 minutes. It allows me to crush just before dough-in, which is part of the process I use.

If you don't want or need that functionality, then it's a foolishly extravagant expense. If time and other considerations are important, then it's not. The SSBt mill would be too expensive for me. But maybe not for others.

 

[Vale71]

There has never been any evidence to show that the grain cares how its crushed and how it effects the beer...

Respectfully disagree. Otherwise why did I spend almost two months studying milling technology alone and its effects on beer? Granted, much of the issues are process related and not directly related to beer quality (although in the end process always has an effect on overall quality) but still to make such a blanket statement is a bit over the top IMHO.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Respectfully disagree. Otherwise why did I spend almost two months studying milling technology alone and its effects on beer? Granted, much of the issues are process related and not directly related to beer quality (although in the end process always has an effect on overall quality) but still to make such a blanket statement is a bit over the top IMHO.

Did you come up with anything concrete after the 2 months of research? As long as your mill mills to the correct gap setting for your systems requirements I can't see how this will make better beer than a cheap barley crusher powered by hand. Maybe easier. Cheers