# Grain Mill Options



## ledgenko (24/7/10)

L&G, 
I am seeking advice on milling options. I have picked up 50kgs of malt grain from Shawn_H (thanks mate) but need to crack it. I have used a food processor with success however it requires longer mashing times I am told. I have an old mincer (hand powered) which I was thinking might work. But I am curious as to what other brewers use. 

I would appreciate any advice..


Matt


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## Peteoz77 (24/7/10)

A mill is a major investment.. but one that will serve you for the rest of your life. I opted to buy the nest one I could find... and I paid a LOT of money by the time I had bought pulleys, a motor, built a bench, built a hopper and paid to have the pulley fitted to the non standard shaft size of the mill.

However, I will never look back. It has the biggest rollers on the market, and should last for many tens of years..

http://mashmaster.com.au/p/563201/millmast...rain-mill-.html

Lots of people will tell you to take the cheaper options from USA, and while they all do the job (for now) non compare to this baby!

Oh yeah.. if you look around, you might be able to find the previous model that isn't stainless, it's over $200 cheaper, but you will need to get a pulley fitted, and make a shield to keep the grain out of the gears.


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## manticle (24/7/10)

Bit of discussion here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...showtopic=46075

Not sure grains cracked in a food processor will take longer to mash. It's likely they will take longer to crack and give you a crack that is some flour and some uncracked. Someone here once did it satisfactorily (according to them) after much stuffing around and thought that made them a bit spesh. Really exciting thread.

There is a possibility you may shred the husk with a food processor which, according to some, may run the risk of tannin extraction. Some people disagree.


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## brettprevans (24/7/10)

Type in 'mill options' into search engine. Pretty much all threads will outline the options


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## felten (25/7/10)

manticle said:


> Someone here once did it satisfactorily (according to them) after much stuffing around and thought that made them a bit spesh. Really exciting thread.



Its a trap!


if you've got 500 bucks to spare then the mashmaster mills look like great bling and could probably mill forever without breaking, but for something more economical I would get one of the lower price American versions from monstermill or crankandstein. If you could split the postage with someone and buy 2 mills I think it's even cheaper, as I seem to remember reading on here they can package 2 together in 1 box.


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## Batz (25/7/10)

http://tinyurl.com/2cfmq23

Cheapie


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## bjay (25/7/10)

I have the monster mill with a box section handle (homemade of course)
And this works great ,,Takes about 5 mins to crush 5 kg to easy
Would take longer to fire up the drill :blink: 

bjay


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## widdley (27/7/10)

Hi all,

I sussed out the US brands a few weeks back... and heres my 2c worth

Looking at USD $45 postage for up to 10 units, plus upto AUD $25 currency conversion fees

Hence there is about a AUD $75 overhead for importing the units, but if you get a few mates together its starts to look mighty attractive.

At least that appears to be the case if your happy with one of the cheeper units (from USD $75 for the bare bones poverty model). Once you start spec'ing it up to SS rollers 1/2in drive shaft, 3 roller option etc, the total price becomes more comparable to the Mill Master (only around $20-30 difference and a lot less farting about).

The next question is, how do the US poverty models compare with the Marga and others available here in that price range?.

After stuffing around for far too long, I came to the conclusion that you get what you pay for. Once I compared true like with like, I realised that for my efforts I'd probably only save $30-$50 bucks. Figured for that amount, I'd be better off supporting an Aussie company (or at least retailer), and then spending the time I saved brewing :icon_chickcheers: 

cheers


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## brettprevans (27/7/10)

Widely. To each their own but u don't need. To spec ot ur mill and u save more than that. ESP now Aussie $ us back over US0.90c. 

Monstermills are great.


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## QldKev (27/7/10)

Widdley said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I sussed out the US brands a few weeks back... and heres my 2c worth
> 
> ...



Mate you should become a politician, you actually said so much with out saying anything at all...




citymorgue2 said:


> Widely. To each their own but u don't need. To spec ot ur mill and u save more than that. ESP now Aussie $ us back over US0.90c.
> 
> Monstermills are great.




Agreed, I don't need some flash mill. I wanted a mill that was capable of doing the job 100% for a homebrewer. Monster mill is what I run. At postage $US45 for 2 units delivered into Aust is excellent value; that's <$AUD150 each if you get one with a mate; or I could pay $499 + delivery to do the same thing that you will use less than once a week.

QldKev


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## QldKev (27/7/10)

Peteoz77 said:


> A mill is a major investment.. but one that will serve you for the rest of your life. I opted to buy the nest one I could find... and I paid a LOT of money by the time I had bought pulleys, a motor, built a bench, built a hopper and paid to have the pulley fitted to the non standard shaft size of the mill.
> 
> However, I will never look back. It has the biggest rollers on the market, and should last for many tens of years..
> 
> ...


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## Peteoz77 (27/7/10)

Sorry Kev, didn't mean to ruffle your feathers.

Twice the grain in the same time is good. My husks are fine and my beer is excellent.

That's fantastic that the best experienced brewers that you know have US mills. I suppose their beer quality would be degraded if they stooped to using a paltry AUS Mill? The Brew Shop that I work in has worn out 5 mills in 15 years. They were all US mills. While it's true that we crush a LOT more grain that most home brewers ever will, I still see them burned out in fairly short order. I am happy to buy one mill to last me for a LONG LONG time, but you guys feel free to purchase whatever mill you like. My comments were meant to answer the OP's questions.. which I did. Feel free to add your input as well!




_A mill is a major investment.. but one that will serve you for the rest of your life. I opted to buy the nest one I could find... and I paid a LOT of money by the time I had bought pulleys, a motor, built a bench, built a hopper and paid to have the pulley fitted to the non standard shaft size of the mill.

However, I will never look back. It has the biggest rollers on the market, and should last for many tens of years..

So what do you expect to gain by having the biggest rollers on the HOME market? (cause it doesn't compare to anything commercial) besides bling? Being able to mill twice the gain in the same time; or just having to slow the mill speed down more to get a clean crush without tearing husks?



http://mashmaster.com.au/p/563201/millmast...rain-mill-.html

Lots of people will tell you to take the cheaper options from USA, and while they all do the job (for now) non compare to this baby!

Although the best experienced brewers I know mostly have a US mill; and have been running them for many years without dramas? Please explain why the US mill will only be ok for now, and don't compare?

Oh yeah.. if you look around, you might be able to find the previous model that isn't stainless, it's over $200 cheaper, but you will need to get a pulley fitted, and make a shield to keep the grain out of the gears._


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## JonnyAnchovy (27/7/10)

I was happy with the quality of the crush from my old Marga, until I saw the crush from my mashmaster.

It is one of the most exorbitant things I've ever bought, but somehow I've not had a single pang of consumer remorse.


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## Ducatiboy stu (27/7/10)

if you are prepared to do some homework talk to people, why not build your own... the hardest bit is the rollers, but any machine shop can make them for you..and you dont have to go stainless.. steel rollers will be ok... rust wont hurt, and if you pass a bit of grain thru first ( cheap chook food) it will clean the rollers


or buy one


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## QldKev (27/7/10)

Peteoz77 said:


> Sorry Kev, didn't mean to ruffle your feathers.
> 
> Twice the grain in the same time is good. My husks are fine and my beer is excellent.
> 
> ...



No feathers ruffled, and I meant no harm in my reply. I was just after some more facts why you don't like the US mills; at the same time we seem to be putting all of the US mills into one category. There seems to be a lot of opinionated responses on here with no facts to back it up. Also if you felt in some way I was knocking your beers, I was not; from what I have read you have had some good beers.

With your experience working in the shop for what I gather 15 years and getting through 5 mills in this 15 years. It would be good to know which mills and also how much grain Vs the home brewer gets crushed. ie. Average 3 years each but pushing 100 times the grain load (5 kg X 100 batches worth per week) would be ok for me, I don't need a mill for 300 years.

Also I agree (from industrial experience with mills running rollers over 2m in diameter) the larger mill roller gives a better approach/entry angles, allowing a faster crush, but in the home environment I wonder how much translates into quality of the final beer.

QldKev


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## manticle (27/7/10)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> if you are prepared to do some homework talk to people, why not build your own... the hardest bit is the rollers, but any machine shop can make them for you..and you dont have to go stainless.. steel rollers will be ok... rust wont hurt, and if you pass a bit of grain thru first ( cheap chook food) it will clean the rollers
> 
> 
> or buy one




Didn't Gregs have a great pic by pic thread about a mill he got made?

Looked the goods. Anyone remember and could dig it up?


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## seemax (27/7/10)

Unless you can get mates rates, you will be very lucky to get a once off 2 roller mill made to print for under $150.


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## np1962 (27/7/10)

manticle said:


> Didn't Gregs have a great pic by pic thread about a mill he got made?
> 
> Looked the goods. Anyone remember and could dig it up?


THIS ONE?


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## widdley (27/7/10)

citymorgue2 said:


> Widely. To each their own but u don't need. To spec ot ur mill and u save more than that. ESP now Aussie $ us back over US0.90c.
> Monstermills are great.





QldKev said:


> Mate you should become a politician, you actually said so much with out saying anything at all...



Sorry guys,
I've had very little sleep the last few days - sick kid, then the computer crashed before I even read what I typed  

What I was trying to say to the OP was that if you are happy with the units priced around USD $100 you can get *10* for your $45 postage fee. If that suits your purpose then great... When I checked, it was going to cost me about AUS $170 delivered to get a Crankandstein from the US, or $200 for the identical product from an Australian retailer. So not a huge saving for the extra hassle... But I guess buying from a local retailer is not currently an option for the Monstermills?

W


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## QldKev (27/7/10)

seemax said:


> Unless you can get mates rates, you will be very lucky to get a once off 2 roller mill made to print for under $150.



If you have a friend, 

At todays rates you can get 2 monster mills (mm-2) delivered to your door step for $AUD290 ($US263, conversion to AUD done at this point of time) .... from their website, no special rates applied.




QldKev


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## seemax (27/7/10)

Yes I know I have a MM2 !!

I meant finding a local fitter and turner to make a once off mill to your specs...


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## manticle (27/7/10)

NigeP62 said:


> THIS ONE?




That's the one.


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## QldKev (27/7/10)

seemax said:


> Yes I know I have a MM2 !!
> 
> I meant finding a local fitter and turner to make a once off mill to your specs...



Yep, we are on the same page. To get the same quality of the mill including the knurling is very hard locally.

QldKev


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## QldKev (27/7/10)

NigeP62 said:


> THIS ONE?



Yep, haven't got my finger cough in it yet 

QldKev


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## rude (27/7/10)

I got inspired at the start to build my own on a tight arse budget

With the help from others here to inspire me it worked out real well it just takes time to sus out things

I think it was Brown Dog he told me to nickle plate my rollers which cost me $65 everything else was scavanged up at work

There are quite a few on here who have made their own & mine is a bit rough but it works


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## Banshee (27/7/10)

A rolling pin.


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## rude (27/7/10)

Yep that would work but after 2 brews I went for the truck windscreen wiper motor to drive my rolling pins


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## QldKev (28/7/10)

rude said:


> Yep that would work but after 2 brews I went for the truck windscreen wiper motor to drive my rolling pins



I've been trying to get a mill motor setup for a while;

How many brews worth have you pushed through using the windscreen wiper motor?
Are you running 12v or 24v?
How many amps is the power supply?
How many RPM does it run at?
IS it up to the job, or now from experience would have gone for something more powerful?

QldKev


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## Frag_Dog (28/7/10)

I have a 3 roller MM and so far the hardest part has been building a hopper and figuring out how to motorize it (drill vs pulley arangment). I havn't got it running yet so I can't comment on how well it works but if you are not very handy with tools (like me) you might need to factor in either getting a mate, or paying a fabrication shop, to knock up a hopper and motorize it for you. I almost went the marga mill due to the ease you could make a hopper for it.

I am trying to build my own hopper with MDF and its turing into a bit of a shitfight. I guess thats all part of the fun...


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## kevin_smevin (28/7/10)

Frag_Dog said:


> I have a 3 roller MM and so far the hardest part has been building a hopper and figuring out how to motorize it (drill vs pulley arangment). I havn't got it running yet so I can't comment on how well it works but if you are not very handy with tools (like me) you might need to factor in either getting a mate, or paying a fabrication shop, to knock up a hopper and motorize it for you. I almost went the marga mill due to the ease you could make a hopper for it.
> 
> I am trying to build my own hopper with MDF and its turing into a bit of a shitfight. I guess thats all part of the fun...



This website will help you calculate the dimensions of your hopper. It can be a PITA to try and figure out all the angles etc for a pyramidal hopper. This one even tell you the volume it will give you. http://www.ajax.co.uk/PyramidHopper.htm


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## Frag_Dog (28/7/10)

yum yum yum said:


> This website will help you calculate the dimensions of your hopper. It can be a PITA to try and figure out all the angles etc for a pyramidal hopper. This one even tell you the volume it will give you. http://www.ajax.co.uk/PyramidHopper.htm




information that would have been handy before I started.... Guess i should do a bit more googling before starting these projects. Oh well...

I just ended up guestimating which has probibly made it harder then it should have been.


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## kevin_smevin (28/7/10)

Frag_Dog said:


> information that would have been handy before I started.... Guess i should do a bit more googling before starting these projects. Oh well...
> 
> I just ended up guestimating which has probibly made it harder then it should have been.



Sorry i couldn't have helped earlier. It might help someone in the future, who knows?


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## vic45 (28/7/10)

I built my own mill with 65mm rollers and gear drive. I used a $12 stainless mixing bowl for the hopper. It holds 6kg of grain and you can cut out whatever shape hole you need in the bottom with an angle grinder, pop rivet it onto your mill and off you go.


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## Banshee (28/7/10)

I have a Crankstein CGM-2A which I mabe up a hopper on my table saw. The crank shaft has a female hex socket in the end and I use my Shinano 800rpm driver to turn it with my regulator as a speed controller. I burnt out my brothers 1/2" Bosch drill trying to mill as it did not have the torque.
This pnematic setup does it with no effort at all.


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## JestersDarts (28/7/10)

rude said:


> Yep that would work but after 2 brews I went for the truck windscreen wiper motor to drive my rolling pins



You can throw away the megaphone now - no need to blast it at the kids to turn that crank!


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## rude (28/7/10)

Hey JD you need a mega phone around here to get them to do anything

Kev Ive done about 15 brews now no probs 10amp power supply 12v

RPM = 120xfrequency
number of poles

not sure what type of motor universal series anyway I'll get back to you on that one

Mate it has worked real well took a while to sus my gap settings 1.4mm at 80% for easy lautering

Its not a fast crush but about 5 mins worth

In the end it cost me $65 but its not a mill master but it does the job & I can brew so Im happy


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## rude (28/7/10)

heres a pic of the power supply


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## QldKev (28/7/10)

rude said:


> Hey JD you need a mega phone around here to get them to do anything
> 
> Kev Ive done about 15 brews now no probs 10amp power supply 12v
> 
> ...



Sounds good, I'm not worried about a fast crush. I can hit the switch on the mill and do other things, and a slow crush is a clean crush. If you can find ot what motor that would be great, thanks

QldKev


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## Banshee (28/7/10)

I have read in one of my brew books that it recommends the mill to do no more than 100rpm from memory. But then again you get rollers of varrying diameters.


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## rude (29/7/10)

mine are 50mm rollers the only problem I have is the idle roller sometimes stops so I just give it a spin & away I go

But I am still doing other stuff just hear the noise now & again at least once a crush especially with wheat malt with just ale & crystal malt usually no probs


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## Mitternacht Brauer (29/7/10)

rude said:


> mine are 50mm rollers the only problem I have is the idle roller sometimes stops so I just give it a spin & away I go
> 
> But I am still doing other stuff just hear the noise now & again at least once a crush especially with wheat malt with just ale & crystal malt usually no probs



I built my mill and only drive 1 roller. I put 2 small channels in the second roller and run "O"rings in them.It still allows for adjustment of the gap and keeps both rollers going.


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## matt white (29/7/10)

The option I went for was a 2 roller monster mill and hand crank. Motorising seemed unnecessary as I can crush 5 kgs of grain in about 2-3 minutes by hand.

I got a local handyperson to mount it on a base and build a hopper. Pretty awesome bling if you ask me. Total cost $400, so not cheap but has crushed about 750kgs of grain with no problems at all.


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## dcx3 (29/7/10)

For $80 more you could try this!!!!

http://www.wapoultryequipment.net.au/produ...-cracked-grains


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## potof4x (29/7/10)

Hey,

I have just ordered the Monster Mill 3 roller with Hopper and Base. After tossing up 
1. a 2 roller 
2. going stainless 
3. getting 2 mills sent and splitting the postage with some one close by (which would exclude the base and hopper)

I decided

1. I was not going to die wondering if a three roller really _could have_ been better. Currently BIAB'ing (fine crush) and love wheat beers (hard to crush)
2. decided it wasn't worth it, for the price of this upgrade it was approaching a 2" roller, which possibly was worth the extra.
3. this way, with base and hopper, the mill is ready to go, just add drill. For the extra cost of postage for one mill, without finding a friend, it made more sense (to me) to get the base and hopper sent, before the dollar dropped again.

All told the price was $280 dollars delivered.

Pretty pricey for a mill, but if the quality is there, I am happy.

Cheers

Rob


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## Simon66 (29/7/10)

potof4x said:


> Hey,
> 
> I have just ordered the Monster Mill 3 roller with Hopper and Base. After tossing up
> 1. a 2 roller
> ...



I got the same very recently (also the handle) and I am very happy with it. It is ready to go without worrying about manufacturing a hopper and base. Paid about the same a few months ago. Great value.

Simon


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## sama (29/7/10)

i wnt for the monster mill customised by "binford"


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