Grain Mill Options

[ledgenko]

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

 

[Peteoz77]

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.

 

[manticle]

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.

 

[brettprevans]

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

 

[felten]

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.

 

[Batz]

http://tinyurl.com/2cfmq23

Cheapie

 

[bjay]

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

 

[widdley]

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

 

[brettprevans]

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]

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

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

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

 

[QldKev]

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.

 

[Peteoz77]

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.

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

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.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

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

 

[QldKev]

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.

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

 

[manticle]

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?

 

[seemax]

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.

 

[np1962]

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?

 

[widdley]

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.

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

 

[QldKev]

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