Corona Mills - Are They A World Of Pain?

[HoppingMad]

Hi guys,

Nearing the close of getting my AG set-up together and turned my attention to an item I have in the corner of the shed but have never used - A Corona Mill.

Looks like this, but mine has light signs of rust:

I bought it when I thought I was going to crush small amounts to add to kits, but never got around to it.

Questions are these:

- If I'm wanting to crush up to 5kg at a time, am I setting myself up for a world of pain?
- Can I use a Corona Mill to get an OK crush? I have never used it. Would love to hear from anyone who has experienced using one or similar type. Good or bad.
- Should I stick it on ebay and trade up to a Marga, Monster or better, or will I be able to more than make do with this mill till I can afford a good grain mill in a couple of months?
- Also with light rusting will this affect my grain in any way or am I being stoopid?

Would like to start AG'ing in the coming months, but am worried I won't be able to with a Corona. Or are my worries unfounded?

Many thanks,

Hopper.

 

[newguy]

My first mill was a corona and they work quite well. The hard part is getting the gap set just right - not too many uncrushed kernels while not too much flour. Once you have the gap set, though, it works very well. Don't worry about it too much, though. That kind of mill works just fine even if the gap isn't quite right.

The rust shouldn't affect the beer at all, but if you're worried about it just disassemble the thing and wash it in warm soapy water. Use a steel wool scrubby pad to clean the surface rust off, then rinse well and towel dry immediately. That should take care of most of the rust.

 

[~MikE]

i did a couple of AG brews with one of these. yes it's a world of pain, i had to do it by hand as i couldn't hook it up to a drill.

 

[ozpowell]

Used to use one of these myself. Be prepared for the better part of an hour to mill your grain....

Now I ask my HB supplier to mill the grain for me and then cryovac it in a plastic bag. I've stored it in a cool dark place for up to a month or more before.

 

[Rustyc30]

Still have one of these mills and works quite well as has been said fiddle with the gap setting till you get it right and find a bolt that screws into the hole where the handle lock goes and cut the head off and you can use a drill on it. Then it only takes about 5min to crush 5kg easy as! 75% + eff and one stuck sparge in 2 years. I do one day plan to upgrade one day but cant see the point at the moment. One word of warning if you crush by hand get really for a sore arm at the end of it

 

[HoppingMad]

Thanks heaps guys,

This is good news that I will be able to use this thing (at least in the short term), and spend my dough on some other things that I need for my AG unit. Have a couple of things that might be more pressing till I can upgrade.

Will take the tip Newguy and give it a rinse and good clean. Like a few of the guys have said it sounds like there is some effort involved. Milling at the HBS might be an option if my arms feel like they're going to fall off!

Am tempted to try RustyC's tip attaching a drill, but might give it a go without drill first and see how much of a workout I get. Hmmm... muscular arms from grinding grain... but still with a beer gut - I might wind up looking like quite a sight :lol:.

Cheers fellas!

Hopper.

 

[JasonY]

I used one for a few years until getting a Crankenstein and it went great. I did the same as Runsty mentioned and put a bolt in place of the handle and powered it by drill. Also got a length of tire tube on the outlet to funnel the grain into the mash tun / bucket which made things cleaner.

If your going to buy a new mill wait until you can go beyond the basic ones like a marga and get a purpose made one, this will do fine for now however.

 

[HoppingMad]

I used one for a few years until getting a Crankenstein and it went great. I did the same as Runsty mentioned and put a bolt in place of the handle and powered it by drill. Also got a length of tire tube on the outlet to funnel the grain into the mash tun / bucket which made things cleaner.

If your going to buy a new mill wait until you can go beyond the basic ones like a marga and get a purpose made one, this will do fine for now however.

Good tips. Thanks!