Wanted: Grain mill buying tips

[Pilamman]

I'm finally sick of inconsistent brews using the LHBS crushed grains (yeah, I'm blaming them) and looking to get my own grain mill. What do y'all recommend, where's a good buy, and what do I need to know to use it well? If adjustable, tell me about the settings. TIA.

 

[GunnyB]

I have a Barley Crusher and couldn't be happier. Stock setting gives me 75-78%. I run it with an 18v DeWalt cordless

 

[brewinginnc]

There are a bunch of different mills you can purchase. I researched them a lot before buying mine. The two roller monster mill was what i kept going back to but couldnt pull the trigger on b/c of the price(130$). I also was looking at the corona type mill for 30-40 but many comments online about astringency had me concerned. In the end i got the corona and am very happy with it(no astringency). You can do the same research and make your pick for what is in your budget. I am sticking with my corona. Now bring it on roller mill users.

 

[TNTgill]

My wonderful SWMBO got me a cereal killer mill from adventures in homebrewing for my birthday in April. I love it. Works great. Runs ~100 bucks shipped

 

[thatjonguy]

My Barley Crusher is coming tomorrow.

It will work until Rebel gets theirs made again...

 

[ksut1547]

These threads come up quite a bit. I searched many of them before I bought my mill and a pattern emerged. Most responses are "this is the mill I have and I love it." I think it's all about how much you want to spend. If you have an LHBS near you that carries some mills, check them out. See if they are the quality you were expecting.

 

[TheZymurgist]

I've started using a corona mill, and one 55lb bag of grains more than paid for the mill. It can be a pain to get set up, but you save a lot of money. If you don't mind spending the money, look around for the barley crusher. That seems to be the best deal on a roller mill. Also, see this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/

 

[beaksnbeer]

I bought a used JSP Maltmill. If I ever needed to replace it I would get another I have run almost 3000# through it now and still crushes great 83%-85% on mixed grain batches SMaSH batches I get even better.

 

[mblanks2]

Crankenstein and running 82% - 84% @ .039" setting. Just bought a 50lb. sack of 2 row and pilsner malt and the savings alone will pay for the mill. I use a 18 volt Dewalt to drive the mill on it's lowest setting.

 

[LuiInIdaho]

I'm finally sick of inconsistent brews using the LHBS crushed grains (yeah, I'm blaming them) and looking to get my own grain mill. What do y'all recommend, where's a good buy, and what do I need to know to use it well? If adjustable, tell me about the settings. TIA.

When I purchased my mill, I had a few priorities. First, I wanted at least two rollers. Second, I wanted a mill that was fully adjustable on both rollers. Third I wanted a decent sized grain hopper. It didn't need to be real big but I did not want a small hopper. Finally I was willing to spend some money but I did not want to spend several hundred dollars.

Given my priorities, I bought a barley crusher with the small grain bin because, in my mind, it gave me the most bang for the buck. If I were buying today, my priorities would probably be the same, but I might end up with a different mill because there are more choices available.

Having a mill to crush my grains myself has saved me a lot of money because I buy all my base grains in bulk.

I hope this helps.

Mark

 

[Indian_villager]

I have a corona mill and I couldn't be happier. The threads here "ugly junk" were extremely helpful and I have been getting great efficiencies.