Grain Mills

[bvanlathum]

Hi all, i am new to forum so please be gentle. I have been fence sitting for quite some time though. I have been a K&K brewer for 4 years and i am slowly gearing up to AG. I have read everything i can on the subject and am really keen to start but there are few things that i need to get going. I would like to know how and where i can get a decent grain mill that isn't going to cost the earth. I live on the gold coast and not one of the local home brew stores cater to AG. The nearest place to get cracked grain is in brisbane and as fresh is best that means at least a 2 hour round trip every time i want to do a brew. So if anyone can help with info i would greatly appreciate it. Thanks. :unsure:

 

[Kai]

mashmaster.com.au

 

[BoilerBoy]

Bridgee,

Have a talk with with Mashmaster and Ross from Craftbrewer.

To avoid the long trip you will need to buy grain in bulk and that means the purchase of a mill or talk to other Gold coast brewers, advice from others who have already spent money and done all this is extremely valuable

The cheap option being a marga mill which many will affirm is more than adequate.

These are the same issues every AGer faces when starting out, the cost of equipment is initially overwhelming, however,I cant speak for every brewer but most who have invested in a good mill seldom regret it.

Cheers
BB

 

[mika]

Check out the craftbrewer site as well, they do a mill (forget which brand). Think they may also crush grain and post it to you. Not too far from your lo-cal, so postage couldn't be that bad.
Otherwise into the search thingo try 'Barley Crusher' and 'Marga Mill', should come back with a few hits on those
If the search engine don't work too well, try the google search, ie Marga Mill site:aussiehombrewer.com
Type that into the search line at Google and it will look for those words in just this site.

And after all of that you'll probably look at the Mashmaster version and ed up buying it

Edit: BoilerBoy types faster than me.

 

[Zizzle]

I have a barley crusher that you are welcome to come and run some grain through, but I recommend you go visit Ross with a few recipes (or ask Ross for some recipes). He can make them up and crush them for you. But the real value is drinking at Ross's bar

Longer term I think it is about $8 delivery for up to 20kg from Ross's down to the goldy.

Lastly quite a few people seem to be upgrading to the new mashmaster mill so maybe they will be some second-hand marga mills about.

 

[BoilerBoy]

I have a BC, and on the whole its great to have the convenience to be able to crush your own grain and experiment with roller gaps, but it does have that very annoying habit of the idle roller and spinning without the grain grabbing consequently it requires (for mine anyway) 2 runs with the first run at a wider setting.

I can live with that, but if I was in the market for a new mill I'd be going for the mashmaster or the with the Aussie dollar being as high as i tcurrently is the new monstar mill.

Cheers
BB

 

[haysie]

Longer term I think it is about $8 delivery for up to 20kg from Ross's down to the goldy.



Thats fair value on the postage side, just as i have been doing here in Melbourne since making the transition too AG, i order 2 recipes at a time $6.95 postage, i use one within 2-3 days, the other sits in the fridge/freezer and i use 7 days later. No probs thus far. I think Craftbrewer vacuum seal as well so you may get longer storage time??

 

[bvanlathum]

Longer term I think it is about $8 delivery for up to 20kg from Ross's down to the goldy.



Thats fair value on the postage side, just as i have been doing here in Melbourne since making the transition too AG, i order 2 recipes at a time $6.95 postage, i use one within 2-3 days, the other sits in the fridge/freezer and i use 7 days later. No probs thus far. I think Craftbrewer vacuum seal as well so you may get longer storage time??

Thanks for all the info, this forum is the ducks nuts :lol: . Had a look at the mashmaster site, nice looking mill, a lot of dough though. Will have to keep saving as we just brought a baby girl into the world ten weeks ago. I think i may have to get grain posted in the near future when i get my setup finished.Thanks again.

 

[mika]

If $$ is your concern then check out the Barley Crusher and Marga Mill, they do the job.

 

[Tony]

My bit of advice is to get the equipment you need first time round cause if you go half way and cheap up ffont you will have to upgrade at a higher cost later on.

I did that and i wished i went with what i needed up fornt, not what what was cheap to save $50

a grain mill should be a one off purchase so i will advise to spend the extra bit to get a "good" mill. the irst 3 brews you make will pay or it and its something you wont regret.

cheers

 

[ant]

Thanks for all the info, this forum is the ducks nuts :lol: . Had a look at the mashmaster site, nice looking mill, a lot of dough though. Will have to keep saving as we just brought a baby girl into the world ten weeks ago. I think i may have to get grain posted in the near future when i get my setup finished.Thanks again.

Congrats on the bub! But it does lead me to one thought... baby bonus?

I second Tony - buy what you ultimately want first time round, it will take some time to get your setup, but you'll be happier with it in the long run.

 

[pint of lager]

I agree with Tony, if you can afford it, get the mill you want first up.

Otherwise, as the others have said, your grain supplier will organise crushing for you. The minor problem with this, is the crush will not be as fine as you can organise yourself. Different mashtuns need different crush sizes to avoid a stuck sparge. So grain retailers will err on a larger gap size to accomodate all mashtuns. Crush is directly related to efficiency. The standard practice for mill owners is to crush so fine that they have a stuck sparge, then enlarge the gap slightly. Freshly crushed is best to brew with. Buying your grain in bulk also works out alot cheaper.

Zizzle has pointed out that with the Millmaster coming on the market in December, there will be plenty of people upgrading and some cheap second hand mills on the market. In another thread a week or two ago, Brissiebrew said he had presold 36 mills.

A few years ago, I bought a barley crusher in from the US. Including freight and the exchange rate at the time, it cost about AUS $250, so Brissiebrew's mill at $199 plus local freight is excellent value.

Congratulations on the new baby. Considering the purse strings will be tight, I suggest waiting to see what second hand mills come on the market.

 

[warrenlw63]

From a price point of view. I got a Monster Mill delivered to my door from America in a week. At the current exchange rate it was only $147 including shipping. Excellent value for such a robust mill. Obviously you'll have to fabricate your own base and hopper.
Fred Francis was fantasic to deal with too. Couldn't recommend him more highly.

Warren -