Grain Mills

[beer slayer]

Hi All

Im new to the site and have enjoyed all the good info that you guys have. I need some advice on a good grain mill to get. Also wanted the best place to purchase one. Either in Aus or OS. Ive got a mate travelling to the US so he might be able to get one there!
Any help appreciated.


Cheers
beer slayer :beer:

 

[Snow]

Do a search, mate. Plenty of info on the site already.

- Snow

 

[nonicman]

Hi beer slayer,
If you do a search of the forum with these names of mills, you'll find a wealth of tips and experiences with the various mills,

Marga (available in Australia)
Barleycrusher
Crank and Stein or Crankandstein
Valley Mill
or Sosman's (knowledgable forum member) homemade Jarra mill

I have a 2D Crank and Stein.

Edit: Dicko is spot on, I love my Crank and Stein, 5-7 minutes to crush 5 - 5.5kgs of grain by hand, one pass perfect crush IMHO. My mill took 5 days for delivery and Fred is excellent to deal with.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[dicko]

BS,

Try here,

http://www.crankandstein.com/productsnew.htm

He is a good bloke to deal with - very good service

Cheers

 

[Jazman]

the barley crusher and they are good to deal with u can get just the body to make a bottom plate and hoper your self and it be easier for your mate to brink back from usa like i did and it aint too big and i had it delieveid to the last port of call and all was well

 

[Andrew]

Ditto, I'm with Dicko and Nonicman. There are some good mills to be had, but I'm glad I selected the Crankandstein.
Cheers

 

[Bigfella]

Hey I am about to order a mill I was going to get a Marga but from what I have read I will be better of getting a crankandstein. My dilemma is which one. CGM-2D,,, CGM-2A,,,, CGM-2S,

I don't know if the bigger roller will make that much difference has any one got an opinion out there. Not that there are many opinions to be had @ AHB

 

[Borret]

Hey Nonicman, you failed to mention some of the other homemade mills on the site. So I couldn't miss the opportunity - The Borret Mill!
Borret's mill
Also some other good examples by Tony, Pumpy and Stagger that I have noted on here too. I'm sure there's a few others I have missed. I think I say on behalf of all that we are proud of our efforts and the satisfaction of milling with your own work is worth it if you are handy enough.

Borret

 

[roach]

... I will be better of getting a crankandstein. My dilemma is which one. CGM-2D,,, CGM-2A,,,, CGM-2S,

[post="55139"][/post]​

Hey Bigfella,
I went for the cheapest option, the CGM-2s and it works fine. Would have been nice to have one that adjusts more easily but having said that I haven;t needed to adjust it. I got the 2s because it was the most i could afford at the time)ie the cheapest).

IMHO go for the best one that you can afford. The mill will last you a lifetime of brewing.

Also if you intend motorising it one day you might want to consider a 1/2 inch shaft. Although I didn;t bother and operate the 2s with a variable speed drill at the lowest speed.

Cheers
Roach

 

[sosman]

I don't know if the bigger roller will make that much difference has any one got an opinion out there. Not that there are many opinions to be had @ AHB

[post="55139"][/post]​

By all accounts, bigger is better - it is to do with the way grain is pulled through apparently. From my own experience @ 63mm in diameter it still requires drive to the second roller. I have heard of people going with 6 inch rollers (short though).

 

[Jazman]

Two words BARLEY CRUSHER

 

[nonicman]

Hey Nonicman, you failed to mention some of the other homemade mills on the site. So I couldn't miss the opportunity - The Borret Mill!
Borret's mill

Stagger's mill
Tony's mill
Pumpy's mill

I'm sure there are more.

 

[dicko]

Bigfella,
If you can afford the bit extra go for the CGM 3D with the 1/2" drive shaft, from Crankandstein.
It comes with plans to build the hopper written in plain english and the bloke is fair dinkum to deal with. Mine was here in about 10 days from ordering, and that was at xmas time.
The 1/2" drive shaft makes it very easy to motorise if you wish and if not you can still drive it with a drill of the correct size.

There is very little "tearing" of the grain husks with a three roller mill as the first set just crack the grain and the second set of rollers perform the final crush.
The roller gap is easily adjustable with a detent controlled knob on each end of the lower roller with increments of about .004 thousands of an inch.
You could not get any better for the money! (unless of course you made one)

Generally the Crankandstein range of mills seems good value for money at the moment.

No Affiliation blah! blah!





Cheers

 

[jayse]

Can't help but put in a word for marga.
Honestly I get as good a crush with it in pretty much the same time as most mills and its a cheap option. I have cracked at a rough estimate around just over half a tonne with it and never even thought of upgrading simply because it does the job very well.
It might not look like some of the fantastic mills built buy some brewers but its my beast.

Jayse

 

[dicko]

Hi Jayse,
Yes I fully agree, the Marga for the price is probably the best option.

When it was first realised that Margas could be used for barley crushing for beer the cost of those units was very cheap (around $50.00)
Now, unfortunately they are around $100.00 and for that money the two roller Crankandstein becomes an option that has to be considered.

My Marga has served me well with no problems, but when your family asks you what piece of brewing equipment you want for xmas and they are all putting in for it then the temptation of the CGM 3D was hard to pass up.

The Marga is difficult to adapt a motor for driving it, due to the lack of an input shaft extending from the primary roller. Although not impossible to do, the easier option is to drive it with a drill.

I had the geared motor just sitting under the bench, waiting for a grain mill with an extended input shaft to come my way, and with all things taken into consideration in my situation, then I felt that the Crankandstein was the way to go.

The above statements in no way are to the suggest that any one mill is better than another as
"beauty is in the eye of the mill owner" :lol:

Cheers

 

[sosman]

Can't help but put in a word for marga.
Honestly I get as good a crush with it in pretty much the same time as most mills and its a cheap option. I have cracked at a rough estimate around just over half a tonne with it

[post="55201"][/post]​

You have only had it a couple of months then Jayse?

 

[Asher]

I bought an ESB Made model (Its similar to a phill mill 1) I've had it for a few years now and it works a treat...
The brass bushes are getting a bit shagged now. but it still chews through a 10kg grain bill in minutes....



I'll be investing in a crankandstein when this one dies.... (unless I can find replacement bushes...then it will never die!!)

Asher for now

 

[davidk]

HI, we just bought two Valley Mills from Canada for our shops and they seem to be pretty effective. They can send them out stripped down to just the rollers and casing, and a large hopper that packs pretty flat. 2 of them cost us about $576, including freight. Service from Valley Mills was pretty good and all was done by email. The store managers seem pretty happy with them. We had previously bought a Marga Mill which is in one store, but I thought it was a little small for commercial use. No doubt perfectly good for home use. I had similar problems choosing a mill (including useing this forum) and finally went for the one with a pre-built, large hopper to hold the amount of grain we need to do for an order. Cheers

 

[Borret]

Keep the photo's coming guys. I love seeing photo's of people setups. Give's you so much of a better idea of how to improve your own. Much easier to interpret than a lengthy description if you've got the means. And great for getting feedback on questions you forgot to ask or didn't think of but someone else noticed.
Everyday a new idea of a gadget to build or improve. My list is growing. I'm lovin this hobby.

Borret

 

[Stagger]

This is one i made myself it has 2 x S/S rolers both are driven.

Stagger