Which kit to buy?

[byronyasgur]

I will say, this seems to be one of the most active forums I've joined, thats awesome!

We're all here because were not all there !!!

 

[seabrew8]

I'll be just a little misleading too then. It only took me one try to dial in my Corona mill.


That was because I was going BIAB and with that setup, the finer the crush the better. If you are planning on a conventional mash tun, then you need to adjust for the finest crush you can without plugging up the outlet.

I'm not entirely sure why new brewers would want to go with a traditional mash tun. They are more finicky about the crush, too coarse and efficiency is bad, too fine and you get a stuck sparge. I've seen several mentions of a 6 to 8 hour brew day. Great if you want to waste a day. With BIAB you get as fine a crush as you can, efficiency is high right away, it takes just one vessel that you mash in and boil in, and it can be quick. I expect to have the wort chilling and all my gear put away in less than 3 hours.

You never answered mine question. What do you think of the barley crusher compared to the corona mill?

 

[RM-MN]

You never answered mine question. What do you think of the barley crusher compared to the corona mill?

I guess I still won't be answering your question because I have never used a barley crusher so I have no way of comparing.

Part of the answer would depend on whether you are planning to use a conventional tun or BIAB. I suspect (but don't know) that the barley crusher might be easer to dial in for a conventional mash tun where the integrity of the barley hulls is more important and the easy of motorizing to make the milling go quicker. It's hard to beat the milling of the Corona for BIAB and since it is so cheap it wouldn't be a bad investment even for the conventional tun if you are willing to spend a little time learning to get the setting right. You can always get a different mill later and not consider the Corona to be much wasted money.

 

[seabrew8]

I guess I still won't be answering your question because I have never used a barley crusher so I have no way of comparing.

Part of the answer would depend on whether you are planning to use a conventional tun or BIAB. I suspect (but don't know) that the barley crusher might be easer to dial in for a conventional mash tun where the integrity of the barley hulls is more important and the easy of motorizing to make the milling go quicker. It's hard to beat the milling of the Corona for BIAB and since it is so cheap it wouldn't be a bad investment even for the conventional tun if you are willing to spend a little time learning to get the setting right. You can always get a different mill later and not consider the Corona to be much wasted money.

You got me there! haha