Barley Crusher v.s. Crankenstein

[el_loco]

I am about to buy a grain mill (Can't wait, actually! Very excited to start seeing my efficiency go up and stay there)

The consensus on the benefits of milling your own grain is apparent. What is NOT apparent is whether:

a) A two roller or three roller is most appropriate for the occasional brewer who is willing to spend a bit more to get a better product (brewing between 15 and 30 times a year)

b) Whether the Crankenstein or the Barley Crusher is a preferred choice.

Seems the two manufacturers set the price point of their systems about the same so we are assuming the cost will be between $100 and $200. I'd love this thread to get attention from owners of each kind specifying exactly which unit they own, the cost when purchased, how they like it, how long they've owned it and how frequently they use it. Any tips or notes on how you've set it up (drill powered or motorized) would be great.

I want this thread to be referenced by anyone who searches for Crankenstein and/or Barley Crusher. I will cast my consumer vote according to the wisdom I glean from the replies so be as honest as you'd want your advisors to be!

Thanks

 

[usfmikeb]

My consumer vote went to Monster Mills...

 

[bob1852]

Barley Crusher with the 15lb hopper. Bought from AHS about a year ago for ~125 shipped.

Crushed ~250 lbs at factory settings; mostly by hand as my drill sucks and the chuck won't properly grip.

I am happy with the purchase. The only "complaint" is that the hopper is a little bit loose (probably because I pick it up and carry it around by the hopper) and I can't figure out where to tighten it. But, it hasn't affected performance.

You sound like the type of person who will use it a lot, and would be willing to pay a little more upfront and not have to worry about an upgrade later, or performance issues for high use. If that's the case, I'd look to a 3-roller monster mill.

 

[TomRep]

And mine to Schmidling. The gear set is what got me. However, i brew quite a bit more then the op. In your case, id go with the Barley Crusher only cause i have no personal experience with the other.
Tom

 

[P-J]

Monster Mill < (click it) 2 roller SS. $157. Excellent product. Also has hopper available. The guy that owns it used to be THE main guy at Crankenstein.

Power it with this motor from Surplus Center 177 RPM 120V gear motor. No pulleys and belts needed.

IMHO: A 3 roller mill is over kill and not needed. (Plus it can be a real PITA getting the end blocks aligned so that the rollers dont bind on you.) Just saying.

 

[Face Eater]

I bought the schmidling malt mill with the gear drive for I think just under 200 bux. I have not used any others but it is a decent mill. If I were to buy between your 2 options, the crankenstein looks like a better purchase but again I have never used either of those.

 

[Strongbad52]

I got the C & S 3 roller and love it. I like that you can change the gap on the rollers by increments of .05 without any tools or gauges to figure out where you are at.

[/IMG]

 

[acefaser]

Monster Mill < (click it) 2 roller SS. $157. Excellent product. Also has hopper available. The guy that owns it used to be THE main guy at Crankenstein.

Power it with this motor from Surplus Center 177 RPM 120V gear motor. No pulleys and belts needed.

IMHO: A 3 roller mill is over kill and not needed. (Plus it can be a real PITA getting the end blocks aligned so that the rollers dont bind on you.) Just saying.

Do you need the 1/2" drive on the MM to hook directly up to this motor?

 

[P-J]

Do you need the 1/2" drive on the MM to hook directly up to this motor?

No. The coupling pieces are sized for the motor shaft and the mill shaft.

Take a look at this thread Finished my motorized mill and you will see the setup in the first post.

The motor to mill coupling is:

http://www.mcmaster.com
3/8" hub no keyway P/N 6408k133
1/2" hub with keyway P/N 6408k713
Buna Spider 6408k74

BTW: If you decide to use the motor I suggested, I can give you the wiring diagram for it. Also that motor is designed to run in the CCW direction (viewed from the motor end). That is the direction that has the most torque on this particular design. Reverse (CW) has a lot less torque. Not a problem. I can also walk you through that if you want.

Wishing you the best.
P-J

 

[P-J]

I dug up my wiring diagram for the motor so that you have it available:

CCW rotation is the design norm for this motor and is set with the SPDT switch as illustrated.

 

[el_loco]

P-J:

Thanks, tons of helpful info I know I'll be using. 1 question: With the MM2, how do you know where your adjustment is? I like the idea with the Crankandstein that it adjusts .005 increments so you can mentally track where you're at. I don't like being married to .005 increments (even though that is plenty small an adjustment to fine tune your grind) and I don't like the fact that you only have .025 to .065 as a usable gap (even though the low .030's sound like the standard working gap for most grainbills) So is there an easy way to identify what gap you are using with the MM2?

 

[Face Eater]

Feeler gauge probably. Never used the mm2 but I use feeler gauges on my schmidling while adjusting.

 

[el_loco]

Good point. Easy enough.

 

[P-J]

You are more than welcome. In my opinion, the easiest way to be sure of your mill gap setting is to buy a feeler gauge set from your local auto parts store. Use it to measure and set the mill gap on both ends. Once you set it up, you are good to go. Keep in mind that most mills at the LHBS are set a little wider than necessary. (They sell more grain? No stuck sparges? Customers have fewer issues??) When you set it, there is another benefit, you can nail a balance with your sparge and maximize your efficiency.

Hope this helps.

Edit: I type too slow. See answer above.

 

[iaefebs]

I use a crankandstein. I have never used anything else so I can't judge other mills. I have seen the crush from the two local lhbs and they look good. I have also seen the crush that you get when ordering grain pre crushed from a distributer, again it looks fine. I actually have only seen 1 bad crush from a member here wondering about his lhbs... it was horrible.
I have tried many gap settings on my mill and did not see much difference in efficiency by doing so. I've come to the conclusion that mill gap is a myth to improve efficiency. I have my mill set at .039 but .045 works and .030 works.
In a pinch you can use a credit card to check gap, the card will be around .030 to .035 thickness and the embossed area will be .040 to .045. If you can slide the card between the rollers without the rollers moving but the rollers drag enough on the embossed area to move the rollers you should be fine.

 

[KC10Chief]

I love my Barley Crusher. It fits snugly right on top of a standard 5 gallon bucket. I have the one with the 7lb hopper. I do not see the need for the 15lb hopper. It has never been a problem for me to fill the hopper a couple of times when I'm grinding. I have a Makita drill that makes quick work of it. I've used this thing a lot as I am usually brewing at least once a week. I have just left it at the factory settings and it does an excellent job. Get the Barley Crusher and be done with it!

 

[rico567]

Do any of the brands mentioned (BC, MM, Schmidling) have hardened rollers?

 

[el_loco]

And mine to Schmidling. The gear set is what got me. However, i brew quite a bit more then the op. In your case, id go with the Barley Crusher only cause i have no personal experience with the other.
Tom

Tom,

Could you elaborate a bit, please? What about the gearset made the shmidling your choice?

 

[Demon]

I am happy with the purchase. The only "complaint" is that the hopper is a little bit loose (probably because I pick it up and carry it around by the hopper) and I can't figure out where to tighten it. But, it hasn't affected performance.

On the sides of the mill there are two recessed Phillips head bolts going through the mill attaching to the hopper with two nuts inside. Tighten them up and you should be good.

 

[gnef]

I personally have a C&S 2 roller mill, I bought it when Fred was the sales arm, but now that he has created MM, if I were to buy one today, it would be a Monster Mill.

I bought a 2 roller because I was in college and on a tight budget, but if I were to buy one now, I would most likely go with a 3 roller.

I motorized my mill from the get go using spider couplings because gears/chains, and pulley/belts scare me, so I wanted something that would be very difficult for me to hurt myself with. I am glad I did, I never had to hand crank or use a drill to mill my grains.

Also, I believe that the metal roller of the barley crusher is an inferior alloy to the one used on the Monster mill. If I remember correctly, there have been reports of the knurling wearing down and not gripping the grain for the barley crusher. This really only matters if you are putting a lot of grain through your mill though.

Monster Mills also offers hardened and stainless rollers if that matters to you, as well as larger diameter rollers.

As a side note - I was here through the debacle between the current builder of crankandstein, and the creator of monster mills, and from that, I would recommend Monster Mills (even though I have a CrankandStein from before the debacle). Do your own research though and make a decision based off what best suits you!

As another side note - You will notice that most people vote for what they have. This is because just about any mill will be able to suit your needs, so there is little reason to try different mills. I am sure whatever you choose, you will be happy with!

 

[TomRep]

el_loco- The problem I had with my Barley Crusher is the infamous secondary roller hanging up. Schmidling makes a gear set so the primary roller runs the secondary roller as well as the friction from the grain. To me this was a "must have" item for my long term mill. I still haven't gotten the roller set yet, but I did get the Schmidling single adjust mill with case hardened rollers and love it so far.
Tom

 

[el_loco]

Thanks for that, Tom.

I hadn't heard about the roller hang-up thing on a Barley Crusher. I've read dozens of reviews and they are all good. I ended up buying one so I'll be sure to post after it's had some use with my feedback.

Thanks everyone for the great input! I felt adequately informed to make a decision, and know for future reference that I could spend my hard earned cash on a CrankAndStein, Monster Mill, or Schmidling and be very well equipped.

 

[Yambor44]

Came upon this thread by doing a search for Barley Crusher snags. Since it's only a couple of months old, thought I'd throw my hat in here.

I have recent;y began having "free spinning" problems with my grain mill. Simply put, the last two batches I brewed took me longer to grind the grain (with a cordless drill) then it did for the strike water to heat up.

The best I can tell from my records, I have run about 1170 pounds of grain thru it in the last 3 years of all grain brewing. I brush it out after every use. It has also been disassembled and cleaned as well.

I am assuming my rollers are too worn now? Anyone else have any similar challenges and a fix?

The Schmidling gear set looks like a good idea. I am going to research that as well.

Thanks.