Finally Got My New Mill!

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Gough

Maintain the Rage!
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Thanks for answering all my questions about grain mills over the past few weeks fellas. I decided I just couldn't afford to import one of the US models - even though they do look great - so it had come down to the two I thought I could source locally at the right price - The Marga and the Porkert.

I had real trouble finding a Marga Mill in stock anywhere for less than $125 plus postage, but I finally got one from Bake and Brew in Gawler SA for $79.95 plus $10 postage to Newcastle - gotta love Google :D I think there were some other guys trying to track them down, if so Bake and Brew might be worth a try - I'm not sure if they have any more in stock though.

It just arrived so time to set it all up now and test it out. For those of you experienced Marga users out there, am I right in thinking that the setting marked '2' is the best option for milling malt for brewing? I know some of you have drilled an extra hole for another setting - is this really essential? Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Shawn :chug:
 
Gough - congrats on buying your Marga - I'm very happy with mine :D

Here is a quote of a reply I sent to Ausdb who asked me about adjustment settings for the mill. Grumpy's adjusted my mill and I described the job as follows:

[snip]...I've done a couple of brews in the last 24 hours (an IPA and a Stout) and crushed heaps of grain. Heres the best description I can give of the gap setting...

Hold the mill side-on so you can see the adjustment knob in front of you. There should be a punch mark on the collar of the knob where they have the correct gap setting.
Imagine the knob as a clock! North is 12 o'clock, bottom is 6 o'clock etc etc...The correct setting is with the punch mark at 12 o'clock and the number "1" will be at about half past 2, the "3" will be at about 4pm and the number "2" is squarely at the bottom, ie, 6 o'clock position. This setting is ideal - I have good crush with intact husks and plenty of cracked grains with no whole grains escaping the three rollers - it works for me!

Hope that made sense mate.

Cheers,
TL

I have found that this gap is excellent and I've never had to move the dial for any of the malted grains - mind you, you might want to experiment a bit with gap settings for wheat etc...
Cheers,
TL
 
Thanks for the reply TL. Sorry I hadn't seen that post before. Thought I'd searched through/taken part in just about all the mill posts of late :unsure:

I'll give your suggestion a go hopefully tonight when I can buy some grain. I 'think' I understand it... By 'punch mark' I take it you mean the little bit of metal that sticks out immediately above the knob?

Thanks again,

Shawn.
 
Yep, that's the collar and when you pull it out from the side of the mill, you can see where they put in the extra punch hole - I haven't pulled the adjustment knob apart, but on a separate mill thread, there's a good explanation and photo from Andrew in his gallery here:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/gall...Name=album12&s=

Those photos originated in an earlier discussion on the Marga Mulino mill here:
Marga Mill thread

Cheers and enjoy the mill...
TL
 
Gough said:
Sorry I hadn't seen that post before. Thought I'd searched through/taken part in just about all the mill posts of late :unsure:
Sorry Shaun, you wouldn't have seen it...
It was a PM ;)
Cheers,
TL
 
Thanks TL - good to know I hadn't missed anything... I've had a look at AndrewQLD's photo gallery and will probably copy a fair bit of that. Mine is stock standard - Grumpy's didn't have any of their modified ones left :( but Anrew's mods look fairly straight forward. It's just a matter of whether to actually drill the hole or not... Guess I'll decide once I actually mill some grain ;)

Thanks again,

Shawn.
 
I can tell you now after crushing 3 batches that with the mill as standard and using the setting after the 2, I get an eff of 72%.
With the mill set on the extra setting the crush is a little slower but definately finer and my eff was 80%.

so it is a toss up as to whether you want a fast crush, or high efficiency.

Andrew
 
Shawn,

Are the rollers on your mill knurled?????(diamond pattern on the roller)
 
Yeah Linz, they are. They pull the grain through pretty well. Just gave it its first test run and it works fine.

I'm going to have to track down some sort of drill bit for it now. I think AndrewQLD uses a cut off flat screw-driver - might try and track down something similar. What other options have you other Marga users come up with? My drill screwdriver bits are all too small for the hole. Using the handle would take all day... The crush looks the goods though, a good mix of husks and 'flour'. Can't wait to brew with it now :D

Shawn.
 
Yep,
Just cannibalise an old flat head screwdriver and away you go!
TL
 

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