Grain Mills - Your opinion?

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stpug said:
now I can have inventory on hand and come up with recipes based on what I have on hand and never leave the house
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Great point. I'm also liking the idea of less than half the cost for a pound of base malt. It looks like this purchase will pay for itself after about a dozen 5 gal. batches. Add to that the convenience that you mentioned and the decision to get a mill is starting to look like a no-brainer.
 
I got the non-adjustable one. Same model as in the HBS. I tried a brew milled with their mill first, and got my normal 85% efficiency, so I decided that was good enough.

-a.
 
I am using the MM2 and can't say anything bad about it. Some say the set screws to lock your gap can loosen on you but I haven't noticed it. I do check the gap at every crush. I thought about buying a hopper but saved money and built my own. The mill is under-mounted on particle shelf board with a slot cut in by a jig saw. The hopper is made out of left over underlayment from a house project. Drill a hole or slot in the bucket for the mill shaft and in business. I wasn't going for pretty but got it all done in an hour or so. 12 pounds of grain fits easily. Simple easy and essentially free since I had the materials. A formed steel hopper is nice but if I can save money to buy more malt to make more beer all the better. Oh the gap is not set for milling in the photos.

Photo05242243.jpg


Photo05242243_1.jpg
 
I have a Schmidling A (with hardened rollers) and it seems to work pretty good. It will work either powered by hand or with a drill. No issues to date and it is nice to be able to buy 55LB sacks of grain and mill them when needed. I have not used any other mills and so have no opinion of them; this one I like.
 
I have a barley crusher and would suggest you stay clear. It's an ok machine and works fine, but the customer service you receive is horrendous. And you Will need customer service because the rollers don't last long.

If I were to do it over, I'd get a Monster mill. I may end up getting one at some point and sell this barley crusher.
 
OleBrewing said:
I am using the MM2 and can't say anything bad about it.
I wasn't going for pretty but got it all done in an hour or so. 12 pounds of grain fits easily. Simple easy and essentially free since I had the materials. .
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Thanks for the comment. I like your hopper. Looks like something I might have built and I may just steal your idea!

Cheers!

:mug:
 
I have brewed countless gallons...(and even won a regional contest) with my lowly and inexpensive Corona Mill. My buddy hooked it to a discarded furnace motor, and I cut the bottom out of a 5 gallon water bottle for a HUGE hopper. I love it.



YMMV


Jon
 
So I was in the same boat you were in a month ago. I went with a Barley Crusher for two reasons. The first is I didn't have a lot of extra money floating around and the second is that every homebrew shop around me uses a Barley Crusher at their store to crush customer's grains. This is at 3 different independent shops. I asked them how it held up and non of them had any complaints. I figured that if a homebrew store is using them and probably crushing more grain than I ever will then it will probably work out.

That being said I normally buy the best you can in the hopes it will work the best.

My personal experience is that the barley crusher went through 12# with a dewalt cordless with no problems and fits perfectly on a bucket.
 
I have the MM3 and love it.....now.

The only problem I had as you may have read in previous reviews on this forum was it came with bits and pieces of SS all over the rollers. No problem, took it apart cleaned it off, put back together and had a horrible time with the gap. Turns out I had SS shavings inside the threads where gap is adjusted. Once again took it apart cleaned it out and all is well.

The newer version eliminated the thumb screws to adjust the gap and appears much easier to set as well. As luck would have it I was probably one of the last to get the older model shipped to me.

Hopefully they have also eliminated any issues with SS shavings as well.

Despite all this I have been extremely happy with it. Efficiency in the 80's as well.
 
choirjon said:
I have brewed countless gallons...(and even won a regional contest) with my lowly and inexpensive Corona Mill. My buddy hooked it to a discarded furnace motor, and I cut the bottom out of a 5 gallon water bottle for a HUGE hopper. I love it.
YMMV
Jon
Click to expand...

Another more than satisfied Corona Mill user here. If I thought an "upgrade", or a more expensive roller mill could save labor, grind better or faster, or make better beer I would have already bought one. I brew in a finished basement, and the Corona mill mounted inside a bucket makes zero mess, which is a priority for me.
 
I had a Barley Crusher for about 5 years, which finally gave up the ghost recently-ish (it had been sort of cranky for the past year/year and a half). So I bought myself a new MM2 2.0 which I'm absolutely loving! (I also just attached it to a motor, which was a fun project)
 
Best bang for the buck = generic Corona style mill. Especially if you ask for it as a gift. I have been using mine for 2 years without problems. I did get a stronger drill from Harbor Freight. It was $31. The smaller drills have a hard time not overheating with a big grainbill.

If I did make a change I would probably go big and get a Monster Mill.
 
Since you asked...
I've owned the non-adjustable, fixed-roller model of the Schmidling MaltMill since 1997 which is stock except that I've added a bigger hopper (picture in imageshack album linked in sig). I'd guess it has crushed close to a ton of grain over its lifetime for me and never given me any reason to regret my purchase in the 17 years I've owned it.

I owned a Corona for a few years before I bought the MaltMill but wasn't satisfied with its crush or its ease of use so I sold it.
 
I've used 3 mill since I stated brewing:

JSP Maltmill model P - My first mill 10 years ago. Fixed 11" inch rollers, milled grain nicely but has a small cheaply designed hopper. I used it for almost a decade, rollers and drive shaft developed some rust. All and all it was a great mill for a beginner.

Barley Crusher - The gent I do about half of my brews with went with the barley crusher w/ 15# hopper. Again great mill, does it job, adjustable, nice big hopper. After using the fixed roller mill for so long I almost wished that the barley crusher wasn't adjustable, we found ourselves making several small adjustments before each brew.

Monster Mill MM2 2.0 - My personal current mill, hugely satisfied. I chose this specific mill because of the following features; Largest factory hopper available, 39#. Optional Stainless Steel roller, never need to worry about rust. Great adjustment knobs, with two bolts that lock your adjustment in place, its much more secure then other mills I've used and seen.

What ever mill you choose I strongly recommend a spider coupling set if you plan on powering it with a drill, it will greatly increase the longevity of your mill.
 
KTRyan said:
I've used 3 mill since I stated brewing:

What ever mill you choose I strongly recommend a spider coupling set if you plan on powering it with a drill, it will greatly increase the longevity of your mill.
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Great post and thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
 
I ordered a MM2-2.0 with hardened rollers, hopper, base and lube. I hope I like it! I will report back in a few weeks after I use it. I need to finish building the rest of my new setup before I can brew again.
 
sandyeggoxj said:
I ordered a MM2-2.0 with hardened rollers, hopper, base and lube. I hope I like it! I will report back in a few weeks after I use it. I need to finish building the rest of my new setup before I can brew again.
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That's what I have, a good mill. Good riddance BC you made my brew day much more irritating for far too long, hello MM2 easy, reliable and .. um easy and reliable.

Cheers!
 
I don't see that anyone has mentioned it, but I bought the DIY maltmill from Austin Homebrew Supply last year. The main complaints I saw on the reviews was the rapidly changing price. One person got one that wasn't milled properly. I've only milled about 100 pounds so far, so it's too soon to tell for longevity, but set at .032 I have been very happy with the crush. I had to build the hopper, and it was a little tough to mount due to the bolt arrangement, but for $80 I am thrilled.
 
I've put probably 400lbs of grain through my Barley Crusher and it still runs like a champ. Is it the best mill out there? No. the best I've seen, and my next mill, is the slotted mill at Northern Brewer. Better and more consistent than the knurled rollers on almost every other mill.
 
I have the barley crusher with the 15# hopper. Pretty happy with it ... have left it covered outdoors for a while and had it at the lowest setting crushing grain so it's a little grumpy (read: slips every now and again). If you have a bunch of money to blow and want something you can automate long term, go with a monster mill or something similar. If you're doing 5 gallon batches and either hand crank or use a drill, you should be good for a few years with the BC.

Mine's mounted to a board on the top of a cabinet as well, so no issues with twisting the frame and such - can't weigh in there.
 
beernutz said:
Since you asked...
I've owned the non-adjustable, fixed-roller model of the Schmidling MaltMill since 1997 which is stock except that I've added a bigger hopper (picture in imageshack album linked in sig). I'd guess it has crushed close to a ton of grain over its lifetime for me and never given me any reason to regret my purchase in the 17 years I've owned it.
Click to expand...

I spent quite a while poking around the JSP website and I like this guy. I run a small business too and enjoy his no nonsense way of saying what he's about. At this point I've about decided to go with his unit. Since I have never owned a mill and so many manufacturers make a big deal about adjustability, I must assume that in your opinion it isn't really all that important?
 
Puddlethumper said:
I spent quite a while poking around the JSP website and I like this guy. I run a small business too and enjoy his no nonsense way of saying what he's about. At this point I've about decided to go with his unit. Since I have never owned a mill and so many manufacturers make a big deal about adjustability, I must assume that in your opinion it isn't really all that important?
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My efficiency is in the low 80's and while that is not solely the result of the mill's crush it is a factor. Perhaps there is some big advantage to adjustability but in over 20 years of brewing I haven't found it, but since I'm happy with the maltmill's crush I haven't looked too hard either.

I know that my longtime LHBS where I shopped for over a decade when I first started brewing used a maltmill in the the store. I know that the very nice LHBS where I shop now which has been in business since 2000 uses a maltmill in the store. To me, those are the best kinds of recommendations.
 
KTRyan said:
What ever mill you choose I strongly recommend a spider coupling set if you plan on powering it with a drill, it will greatly increase the longevity of your mill.
Click to expand...

What is a spider coupling? I want my mill to last! :)

I have a JSP Maltmill, and have run several hundred pounds of grain through it, no problems. It's adjustable, but I find that the default setting works just fine. If I slightly tweak it I do get better efficiency but it gets close to a stuck mash. I really like having it gear driven, that just makes sense to me as opposed to depending on a grain to make the passive roller turn. Of the 4 homebrew shops near me one always gave us the best efficiency and they all have different mills, same grains.

We had a lot of debate, was it the grain age, storage, etc. and after enough research we felt that it must be the mill. The best store used the JSP Mill, and had been for many many years.
 
I want to second the notion that adjustability is over rated. My Monster Mill (which I love) came factory set at the same gap as the JSP fixed roller mill, and the first thing I did when I got it was tighten down the adjustment lock bolts to keep the factory setting. JSP fixed roller is a great mill, the only thing its lacking is a good hopper. 5 gallon water cooler jug makes a great hopper btw. Good luck with your mill.

For the above poster, the attached picture is of my mill and spider coupling. There really cheap on Mcmaster, feel free to message me if you have any questions about them.

MM2spider.jpg
 
Here's another vote for the JSP maltmill, I have one with the hardened, adjustable rollers and the belt drive kit and am quite happy with it. I picked it up used off of craigslist with mess of gear, and if I ever need to replace it (highly doubtful) it will be with another maltmill.
 
sniperd said:
What is a spider coupling? I want my mill to last! :)
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Thanks for your comment on the MaltMill. Just pulled the trigger and ordered one from him direct. Will be looking forward to getting it next week and putting it to work on a batch of Porter.

We use spider couplings a lot in my business. it's a link between the drive motor and the driven unit with a rubber-like bushing to absorb vibration, torque and mis-alignment. Sometimes referred to as a jaw coupling, here's a link to an image that helps illustrate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaw_coupling

Cheers!
:mug:
 
I use the Harbor Freight 1/2" Heavy Duty Low Speed drill as well. With a 25% off coupon and the store nearby, it was an easy option.
 
3 Roller Monster Mill, love it, will never look back.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Home Brew mobile app
 
sniperd said:
What is a spider coupling?
Click to expand...

Spider coupling is also known as a lovejoy coupling. I just pain $15.70 for all 3 parts (black and orange thing in the middle of the pic) from amazon, prime eligible, so free shipping, and no tax.

 
My Monster Mill has a 1/2" drive shaft, the stock one is 3/8". My 18v Dewalt drill is able to crush 30+ lbs of grain on one battery. Make sure your drill has a 1/2" shank, I've taken my mill to friends houses only to find out their drills only support up to 3/8".

Sent from my VS980 4G using Home Brew mobile app
 
Black Island Brewer said:
I don't see that anyone has mentioned it, but I bought the DIY maltmill from Austin Homebrew Supply last year. The main complaints I saw on the reviews was the rapidly changing price. One person got one that wasn't milled properly. I've only milled about 100 pounds so far, so it's too soon to tell for longevity, but set at .032 I have been very happy with the crush. I had to build the hopper, and it was a little tough to mount due to the bolt arrangement, but for $80 I am thrilled.
Click to expand...

$80 Wow, it's $129.99 now
 
I love my monster mill mm2. I use a milwaukee 1/2" hammer/drill, but will probably get the hf low speed drill. I'm in the process of making it automatic, but even with the drill, crushing takes 5 minutes from start to finish. Consistent and reliable.
 

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