Which is a better deal? Corona mill or Cereal Killer?

[Hoochin'Fool]

Considering getting a grain mill, and leaning towards the Cereal Killer, $99 at AIH. Good value? I was originally considering a corona style mill, but reviews for the sub-$50 ones on amazon make it seem like not such a bargain.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

"Buy once, cry once".

IMO, skip the cheap corona style mills.

I bought a "Barley Crusher" (Bells General Store) back in 2017 "and never looked back".

 

[matt_m]

Neither. Spend the money and buy a Monster.

 

[Dland]

I think it would depend on what kind of crush you are trying to achieve. Corronas may work well for BIAB, where a finer less uniform crush is OK. Roller mills seem better at uniform crush needed for 3 Kettle rigs.

I still have the Corrona I bought in late '80's but don't use it for brewing any more. Went through a barley crusher that has soft knurls, now on 3 roller mill, which is working great.

If one were to want a Corrona, which is a good mill, it might be good to consider a real one. Anyone who thinks a "sub-$50" one is going to preform long term, or at all, ...well, I guess they might be optimistic.

 

[day_trippr]

Get a Cereal Killer, it has to be the best bargain in consumer grain mills...

Cheers!

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

I'd be doing brew-in-a-bag, and mostly 3 gallon batches (so maybe 5 to 7 lbs grain to grind up). Looks like an official 'hecho en Colombia' Corona mill can be had for $60 thru Walmart, and several Amazon resellers. One feature that I think looks appealing, is how easy the Corona would be to clean. But the Cereal Killer looks a lot sturdier.

 

[BrewSomeMore]

+1 on the cereal killer. I bought it 7 years ago, put over 1500lbs through it and still going strong.

 

[Sammy86]

+2 on the Cereal Killer. Mine is a beast doing 12 gallon batches the past year and no complaints!

 

[Bassman2003]

Cereal Killer. Can't beat it for the money.

 

[MikeCo]

I'm happy with my cereal killer.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I've been using a cereal killer for about a decade now, initially with a drill, motorized it this year.

 

[estricklin]

I’m a big fan of the cheap corona mills. They last forever. Check out the “Ugly Junk Corona Mill” thread for info on them.

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

 

[Carolina_Matt]

Use HOLIDAZE15 for 15% off at AIH. At $85, it's fantastic. Some people are perfectly fine with the Corona Mill but when I was buying a mill 4 years ago, I went with the Cereal Killer. I don't regret it

 

[marc1]

I used a Corona mill for years before upgrading to a cereal killer. I think the cereal killer is worth the extra money.

 

[wetmk]

I've been using a Corona with a drill for 20+ years. Works fine.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

I used SAVING20 to get 20% off (orders over $100) at AIH, got free shipping as well!

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

AIH shipped promptly, my Cereal Killer (and a few assorted odds and ends) arrived Wednesday afternoon, and we've had impossible driving conditions here in Minnesota for the last 2+ days -- hat tip to those maniacs at UPS!

The hopper was pretty annoying to assemble (tiny screws and nuts, and my big-assed hands and fat fingers made things difficult), but once that was done, everything else was simple to finish, and the whole unit feels very sturdy. Hopefully I can pick up some grain this weekend, and try it out!

 

[suprchunk]

Monster was good, the pettiness displayed by all of them (multiple mfgs at the time were whining) was less than stellar. They could have kept all of us out of it. But...the guy that left makes better mills (in my opinion) - Crankandstein.

I have two MM3s from when he was at monster. As soon as he left I bought his new stuff. All excellent.

Any of these knurled, geared, three roller mills will be close to the other. It just depends on who you want to send your money to.

 

[day_trippr]

Geared 3 roller mills may be swell but when someone is choosing between a sub-$50 mill and a $99 one they don't really fit the question...

Cheers!

 

[bracconiere]

am i wrong in thinking a corona mill is a FLOUR mill, that alows a wide gap? and malt mills are designed to crush grain for a mash & sparge?

 

[day_trippr]

You'd basically be right by association: it's typically used to make flour or meal and if set tight will reduce everyone everything fed into it close to dust, whereas all we want to do is crush without destroying the malt husks...

Cheers!

[edited before someone points it out ]

 

[estricklin]

You'd basically be right by association: it's typically used to make flour or meal and if set tight will reduced everyone fed into it close to dust, whereas all we want to do is crush without destroying the malt husks...

Cheers!

I would also add, (having made cornmeal in one) that you won't do it in one pass, or even 2.

 

[mashpaddled]

Started with a corona mill and moved on to a cereal killer. I think the cereal killer is absolutely worth the price.

Big problem I had with my corona mill was shredding the husks. It uses two grinding plates to rip apart grain which means tearing up husks along the way. I had problems with stuck mashes and sparges sometimes, esepcially with a lot of huskless grain in the mix. I also didn't feel like I got great uniformity in the crush. These are issues you can overcome (milling twice, BIAB or rice hulls) but I felt like my brewdays got easier and my beers clearer with the cereal killer.

Today my corona mill joins the small pile of homebrewing equipment I've moved past. I want to try using it in the kitchen but haven't made it that far yet.

 

[bracconiere]

this thread may make the choice easier for you...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/selling-all-my-homebrew-equipment.724151/
@Hoochin'Hank $62 for what looks like a proper mill, pretty good.....

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

@Hoochin'Hank $62 for what looks like a proper mill, pretty good.....

My mill arrived 2 days ago, but thanks for thinking of me!

 

[bracconiere]

My mill arrived 2 days ago, but thanks for thinking of me!

didn't catch that....sorry... hope you get many years out of it like my upgrade from a phil mill, to a JSP Malt Mill back in ~2007....still going strong!

next thing you need to do is motorize it!

 

[Immocles]

AIH shipped promptly, my Cereal Killer (and a few assorted odds and ends) arrived Wednesday afternoon, and we've had impossible driving conditions here in Minnesota for the last 2+ days -- hat tip to those maniacs at UPS!

The hopper was pretty annoying to assemble (tiny screws and nuts, and my big-assed hands and fat fingers made things difficult), but once that was done, everything else was simple to finish, and the whole unit feels very sturdy. Hopefully I can pick up some grain this weekend, and try it out!

I saw this thread the other week and decided I would upgrade from a corona to a cereal killer with some spare Christmas funds. I'd been putting it off for ages because the corona worked well enough, but I was starting to hand crank 10-12lbs too regularly and screw that. Only used the CK for one batch so far, and it was such a breeze that I'm upset with myself for waiting as long as I did.

Also, yes, those tiny bolts and nuts about sent me into a rage. My wife actually came down to check on me due to the amount of cursing and yelling.

 

[augiedoggy]

I own a small brew pub. We brew about 40 times a year Iive used the same kegco 3 roller mill I motorized since dec 2018 and it shows no sign of wear yet when grinding all this grain for 3bbl brew sessions. we have literally pushed thousands of lbs of grain through it at this point.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Still working my way thru the 30 lbs of DME I bought last fall, but I finally used my new Cereal Killer last night. Only 23oz of grain (steeping grains), but even cranking away by hand, it went faster than doing 3 oz at a time in the coffee grinder, and I actually got a nice grind, not just powder and micro bits of husk. I can see where doing 10+ lbs of grain by hand would get pretty tedious. Have doubts about my cheapo corded drill being up to the task, tho.

 

[Christoff]

I was doing some research on the Cereal Killer and I found two links for it, but it just sends me to the Hullwrecker. Is this the same grain mill?