What to Look for in a Grain Mill?

[HLSheppard]

BC has a lifetime guarantee. I got it on sale for the same as the Cereal Killer. Enough for me.

 

[HLSheppard]

Interesting. I vacillated between the Cereal Killer (which was cheaper) and the Barley Crusher. It was the significant number of negative reviews on the Cereal Killer that resulted in my Barley Crusher purchase.

I guess you could go find as many negative posts on anything if you search on a negative--try searching on people satisfied with it.

Maybe I'll change my mind, but as a seasoned consumer I really don't think I made a mistake. And when I see someone respond as extremely as you do, it makes me wonder if you have a dog in the fight, a dog nobody's aware of.

Agreed. You have a good pick in either of them. The "collection of negative reviews" was ridiculous.

 

[kevink]

I also came across and contactd these guys http://www.mashmaster.com, geared, heat treated... Smaller in diameter... Any thoughts?

Thank you.

I have one. I don't know of any other mill that has 4 sides made of 1/2" thick aluminum. The Mashmaster is pretty serious in that regard. Most just have a plate on the front and the back and rely on what you mount it to to prevent it from twisting/flexing. Some have flimsy aluminum sheet metal sides that don't do anything for strength. The gear drive is very robust with a slick little machined aluminum gear cover that prevents grain from going through the gears. My gap adjustment has yet to move without me doing it and I check it every time before I use it with a feeler gauge. The smaller diameter won't mean a thing since it's gear driven.

 

[mongoose33]

Agreed. You have a good pick in either of them. The "collection of negative reviews" was ridiculous.

You know what kicked me over into buying it? Yooper has one and was successful with it. I figured if she had success, I might as well.

 

[Dynachrome]

I have been using an ~ $25.00 Corona style "corn mill". (Xmas present) A minimum of setup. A couple of test runs and about 70 batches since. Consistent 68- 70% efficiency. Wheat or other tough grains get milled twice. I have not made any adjustments for over 3 years.

If I go to a roller mill it will be a Monster Mill 2. I don't see the higher models being enough better to warrant the price. Monster Mills just seem to be a little better than all the rest for a very little more $$.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=90849

 

[JosephN]

Great question; glad to see someone actually asking these questions.

There are certain scenarios where some of these things matter more:

• If you're going to be crushing a lot of grain, you wanted hardened rollers. If you plan to become an operating nano brewery- go with the hardened rollers, if you do large batch sizes or brew often, go with the hardened rollers.
• If you plan to wet mill or if your brewery is in a wet location, consider stainless rollers; you can get away with normal or hardened non-stainless rollers with 2% water malt conditioning, though.
• If you brew a lot of light beers or really hate husky, tanniny astringincy you want to lean towards technology that will shred the husks less: this means geared rollers (both rollers are powered and driven at the same speed, or slotted rollers, or stainless rollers so you can safely malt condition/ wet mill.)
• The bigger your brewery gets, the more important efficiency is; the standard easy gain here is 3 or 4 or even 6 roller mills for the giant guys. Fluted rollers help as does wet milling or malt conditioning. Note: Wet milling or malt conditioning helps gain efficiency because you can set the mill gap smaller without shreading the husks.

Personally the feature I'd really like to see in a mill is geared rollers; it's available in the Schmidling but they really don't have any turnkey options available. There's a mill that's becoming widely sold in the UK called the "Bulldog" -something like that that has geared rollers. I love the feature as it means that both rollers are powered and spin at the same time, which HUGELY reduces the torque/ tearing forces on the grain husk and results in more intact grain husks. -It does require a slightly more powerful motor, though.

You also need to remember that with the larger diameter, longer length mills and with 3 roller mills you will need a more powerful motor to turn them. -A battery powered drill won't power all mills.

I also think another important feature is the mechanism that locks and adjustable mill into place and ensures that it doesn't move when you don't want it to. (As Monster Mills learned from their early products.)

If you plan to brew a lot of beers with wheat, you'll want an adjustable mill, too; you really want both sides to be adjustable and again you want a design that will hold the gap you set well.


The fluted / slotted rollers are interesting, and more like professional rollers; as far as I know only the "Captain Crush" from Northern Brewer and the new MM-2Pro SL, which is a response to the Captain Crush offer the feature. They do help with shreding husks, but not as much as a gear that ensures that both rollers spin at the same speed. -See my frustration there? -The Captain Crush has some pretty terrible reviews and most of them seem to be with the non-powered roller not spinning. I just can't understand adding fluted rollers as a feature BEFORE geared rollers.

If you plan to ever power your mill with a motor; even if it's a POSSIBILITY pay the like $9 extra for a 1/2" drive shaft vs. 3/8"; so wish I would've done this.

Per Monster, hardened rollers can survive up to 10x as long as unhardened so it's not an insignificant difference...


Adam

Have you looked at crankenstein mill? It's not truly geared but has them on it.

 

[augiedoggy]

BC has a lifetime guarantee. I got it on sale for the same as the Cereal Killer. Enough for me.

Agreed. You have a good pick in either of them. The "collection of negative reviews" was ridiculous.

You know what kicked me over into buying it? Yooper has one and was successful with it. I figured if she had success, I might as well.

You guys see what your doing here right? At least you recognized it in you first post HLShepperd....

While I went through the same process (torment?) myself last month; what I found is that it's human nature for people to DEFEND THEIR PURCHASE CHOICES. I do it, too! However, based on a lot of the reading that I did - my opinion is as follows (worth exactly what you paid):

As I already explained I posted all those responses in response to the comments that mongoose made about researching his choice and not seeing as complaints on the barley crusher... it wasnt just negative reviews I was blindly posting about the barley crusher... It was many many people who all had the same specific problem with thier barley crusher and a note form the owner of barley crusher himself testifying that it was a common and well known problem with that mill... But instead of taking this info for what its worth you bash it as ridiculous?

You know what I find ridiculous? Making an argumentative statement and then getting upset when someone shows you the blinding evidence to the contrary...
And for the record the cereal killer is far from the best mill out there so dont mistake my comments for me suggesting its the best choice for everyone.. I just felt it was pertinent to point out it was a better choice than the most popularly marketed barley crusher because of the rollers and bearings. Its strange that even though a part of you wonders if you still made the right choice right now, You still dont hesitate to bring other into the same sinking ship when they ask for advice..... Again that the "defending ones own choices" thing... Yeah I do it too I wont say im better than that because half the time I dont realize im doing it till its too late. At least the OP and others reading this can learn from the info in this thread.

 

[wilserbrewer]

You know what kicked me over into buying it? Yooper has one and was successful with it. I figured if she had success, I might as well.

I think her success with the Barley Crusher was limited...November 2013 below

It does have a lifetime warranty.

Apparently, my lifetime was expected to be quite short.

I still have mine, but it's been a pain since shortly after getting it. It's been sent back twice, and many emails and phone calls have been attempted on my part (they rarely reply). It's probably my worse brewing purchase, ever, and I don't recommend them.

Food for thought: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/barley-crusher-customer-service-297352/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=5660507&postcount=5

 

[kombat]

Another vote against the Barley Crusher here. It was a great starter mill for me and worked fine for the first 100 batches or so, then the knurling became too worn and the rollers would no longer "grab" the grain.

I sent it back to the manufacturer for repair/replacement/refund. Never heard anything back from them. So I bought a Monster Mill. It's been working great so far, but admittedly I've only brewed 15 or so batches with it so far.

 

[LandoLincoln]

You know what kicked me over into buying it? Yooper has one and was successful with it. I figured if she had success, I might as well.

You're going to take advice from a Packers fan? What freaking ever.

 

[Yooper]

You're going to take advice from a Packers fan? What freaking ever.

We are better den dose bears, doncha know?

Yes, the barley crusher gets only an "ok" from me, although they did fix it twice and send it back. The issues started long before I put much grain through it, and with the last fix it seems better. there is a new kind of knurl on the rollers. It still isn't very dependable and still won't always pull grain through, but I can mess around with it and it works ok.

 

[govner1]

Came across a good deal on some bulk grain and now I am looking to get a grain mill. I have been searching for the forum and found a lot of posts about "which mill is better ? Mill A or Mill B?", but I cannot find anything that really answers the following questions:



1) Is it worth investing in 2" rollers and if so, why?

2) Does a 3-roller mill provide much improvement over a 2-roller mill?

3) Is getting a stainless steel mill worth the extra money?

4) Does helical or knurled matter?



Trying to figure out what really matters when it comes to buying a mill and what is more of a gimmick.



Any insight would be appreciated.

I have a 3 roller Monster Mill that I motorized & I've been very happy with it over the last 2 1/2 years.
I did just notice that MM has introduced a mill w/ helical slotted rollers. These should be very durable. I'm investigating an upgrade.

 

[FredTheNuke]

If you have a motorized MM3-2.0 with hardened rollers you are set for life. No need to ever upgrade.

 

[govner1]

If you have a motorized MM3-2.0 with hardened rollers you are set for life. No need to ever upgrade.

Certainly has been a great mill. Very reliable crush. I almost always mill my grain while my strike water is heating which doesn't take long since I start at 120°F & the milling goes quickly & reasonably quiet, too.