Grain Mill Question

[pimpsqueak]

I bought the cheapest Crankandstein 2-roller mill a while ago (for USD76+post) and am very happy. It has shorter rollers than many, making it easier to turn and therefore motorise - I'm currently using my Ozito 14.4V Li drill, but my old Ozito 18V drill will happily turn it on 12V. I don't think I will need to use the chain/sprocket set I bought to increase the applied torque.

Lesson: The longer the rollers, the more grunt you will need to turn it. The larger the diameter of the rollers, the more grunt you will need to turn it.

I do like the look/price of the crankandstein. Current conversion rate means I would pay 116.38 AUD delivered for the basic unit. Pretty sure I can cobble together a hopper and mount from the numerous designs on this site.

 

[chiller]

Did you get the barebones and build the rest yourself?
I see there are pre-adjusted, adjustable one end and adjustable at both ends options. Any real reason to spend the extra $$$ over the pre-adjusted one?

I got the adjustable, geared barebones. I mounted mine on a bench with a hole for the milled grain to go through and attached a flat piece of pine with a hole for a large funnel. Worked very well. I drive mine with a 240v drill. Great mill.

I occasionally use the adjustment [mine is one end only] but it is handy if you want to crush "very fine". I have set mine at about .030" and if I want to crush finer I run it through again. I tried wet conditioning the other day and that is fantastic.

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

Recently got a MM3 from the States - love it. Grain has never been so scared ....
Cheers
BBB

 

[stephenkentucky]

Here is an idea for a simple cost effective hopper I recently made from parts available at the big green shed, the hopper itself is a plastic planter pot the chute is a part from a path drain, all in all very happy with the way it performs, and a very cheap robust option, I hope this helps.

 

[Golani51]

Slightly off topic, but a mate of mine is a CNC/Lathe guru. He said he would make me one, and I intend it to last a lifetime. It will be powered. It is only for home brew (for now anyway!), and up to 10kg/brew.

If you could choose your dream mill, please answer the following questions:

1. What diameter rollers would you choose?
2. What length rollers?
3. what is max gap requirement for rollers? Ie for the first pair, and the third one below? If the first pair is set, what would be the ideal gap?
4. What material?
5. Anything else I am forgetting?

Thanks,

Reuven

 

[colonel]

Sorry for the stupid question, but is there any reason I can't use a meat mincer, or kitchen wizz, or coffee grinder, for crushing small amounts of grain?
I'm toying with the idea of playing around a bit before taking the big leap into AG.
I'm assuming the answer is that I don't want flour (too fine), just rolled/broken grains?

Cheers

 

[manticle]

Slightly off topic, but a mate of mine is a CNC/Lathe guru. He said he would make me one, and I intend it to last a lifetime. It will be powered. It is only for home brew (for now anyway!), and up to 10kg/brew.

If you could choose your dream mill, please answer the following questions:

1. What diameter rollers would you choose?
2. What length rollers?
3. what is max gap requirement for rollers? Ie for the first pair, and the third one below? If the first pair is set, what would be the ideal gap?
4. What material?
5. Anything else I am forgetting?

Thanks,

Reuven

Have a look here for some ideas: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...=42604&st=0

 

[felten]

Sorry for the stupid question, but is there any reason I can't use a meat mincer, or kitchen wizz, or coffee grinder, for crushing small amounts of grain?
I'm toying with the idea of playing around a bit before taking the big leap into AG.
I'm assuming the answer is that I don't want flour (too fine), just rolled/broken grains?

Cheers

A coffee grinder/blender is fine for small amounts, say under a kilo, but its a major PITA when you're trying to crush your whole grist. They also take ages compared to a proper mill and tend to leave some grains uncracked, unless you reduce the entire amount to a powder.

 

[Rotgut]

Hi Folks,

In an effort to reduce my AG brewing costs I'd like to start buying my base malt in larger quantities (as it's about half the price from G&G). ATM, I order on a per recipe basis but obviously if I bought a 20 kg bag of JWM ale malt things would work out cheaper.

To do this I need to get a grain mill. Just wondering what people's thoughts are on these:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CORONA-Grain-Mill-H...=item3a640b383f

I'm only doing 20 litre batches so I'm usually looking at 4-5 kg of base malt per batch.

Cheers,

Chris

I've been using something very similar for the last couple of years with nothing bad to report. I was a bit conservative with the grind early on resulting in fairly poor effencies, but now have the grind adjusted to give me 75% + every brew. As for a hopper, I have a very enthusiastic 4 year old daughter feeding the 4 cup hopper as fast as I can turn than crank! Unless you're brewing 100 plus litres at a time, don't bother motorising or automating, just enjoy the process as I do!

 

[thesunsettree]

[quote - Unless you're brewing 100 plus litres at a time, don't bother motorising or automating

Ah, yeah... I think i'll stick to using my drill to power my mm2 for my 20lt batches. I had a corona, while a suitably efficient mill, i've no illusions that a drill powered roller mill is a friggin shitload easier, and for a small outlay of the equivalent of a couple of craftbrewed slabs... well, money definately well spent.

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

[quote - Unless you're brewing 100 plus litres at a time, don't bother motorising or automating

Ah, yeah... I think i'll stick to using my drill to power my mm2 for my 20lt batches. I had a corona, while a suitably efficient mill, i've no illusions that a drill powered roller mill is a friggin shitload easier, and for a small outlay of the equivalent of a couple of craftbrewed slabs... well, money definately well spent.

big + 1 there

 

[thedragon]

Is there any reason why I couldn't use one of these for grain? Would use it for about 5kg a time.

http://www.aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_20944.htm

On sale at Aldi for $15.



Edit: clarifying that use is for grain.

 

[QldKev]

Is there any reason why I couldn't use one of these for grain? Would use it for about 5kg a time.

http://www.aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_20944.htm

On sale at Aldi for $15.



Edit: clarifying that use is for grain.

It's no good

 

[thedragon]

It's no good

Thanks. You've saved my $15 which I will spend on 5kg of grain instead.

 

[DU99]

Did you see the coffee grinder and the filter housing

 

[bum]

Or the $1.49kg bananas? Someone's going to get a bargain!

 

[spog]

Or the $1.49kg bananas? Someone's going to get a bargain!

:lol: :lol: ........cheers....spog.......