Kick Ass Hopper Design For A Mashmaster Minimill

[Oakers]

Hey all,

Well I thought i'd share my quick and dirty attempt at a hopper, mill and grain bucket set-up. Yeah, you've seen this design before, or at least variants of it....I had the MDF lying around, so all it cost me was $20 for the two buckets, and a few hours labour. I'll admit it's not perfect, but as a temporary measure it gets the mill into action and lets me figure out what sort of mill stand, motorised set-up i'd like to build in the future. You'll notice the sophisticated use of a pair of multi grip pliers as a crank handle! By the time i finished grinding my first kilo I had the arms of Thor. I reckon i'll go and get a new drill this weekend to power it.....One nice feature i discovered using this set up is that I can very easily run the grain through for a couple of passes. I simply grind into one bucket then take the lid and mill and put it straight on the other bucket and pour the partially ground grain back into the hopper.

I BIAB so i gather I can go for a pretty fine grind. I did find that on the gap setting that gives a nice grind it was pretty tough going on the first pass. So i reckon if i go for a 2 pass approach I can set a fairly wide gap for the first pass and then a narrower gap for the second.

Cheers,
Oakers.

 

[Amber Fluid]

Nice. Those mills kick arse..... I don't see why you don't just set the gap to suit the final crush and mill it once. This saves stuffing around adjusting it 2 times every time you want to use it. I run it through once at a suitable width to crush to what I want to finish with the same mill but then again I am also using a motor and not the ol' multi grips.

 

[Oakers]

Yeah, I think it's the short leverage of the multigrips causing me grief . Still, it's a good bit of exercise till i motorise.

 

[vortex]

Or just put the end in the chuck of a drill.

 

[MartsHomeBrew]

Or just put the end in the chuck of a drill.

I am also in the market for a grain mill preparing to get my first batch of grain. Aside from Crankandstein & Minimill / Monstermill, does anyone own / has anyone used the grain mills being sold by Ubrewit in Albury / Woodonga? It comes with hopper, can see here:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRAND-NEW-ALUMI...=item3a7c86bdec

I assume it's Made in Australia but unsure. I did not see it mentioned in this thread. Aside from that, could someone tell me where the US models mentioned above be purchased in Australia (Melbourne)? And how about the Barley Crusher Grain Mill as sold in Grain & Grape in Melbourne? Anyone have one of these? (Comes with hopper)

http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product_in...roducts_id=6992

 

[Beerisyummy]

I am also in the market for a grain mill preparing to get my first batch of grain. Aside from Crankandstein & Minimill / Monstermill, does anyone own / has anyone used the grain mills being sold by Ubrewit in Albury / Woodonga? It comes with hopper, can see here:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRAND-NEW-ALUMI...=item3a7c86bdec

I assume it's Made in Australia but unsure. I did not see it mentioned in this thread. Aside from that, could someone tell me where the US models mentioned above be purchased in Australia (Melbourne)? And how about the Barley Crusher Grain Mill as sold in Grain & Grape in Melbourne? Anyone have one of these? (Comes with hopper)

http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product_in...roducts_id=6992

Hi Marts,

I can't say I've used the ubrewit mill but I just recieved a minimill in the mail and can spot a few major differences straight away from the pictures in the ads.
Q's to ask:

Is it geared so both rollers turn?

How long is the thin sheet of alluminium across the front and back going to hold up to torsion over time and is the hopper component needed to compensate?

How long are the tiny screws used to hold the frame together going to last and what are they made of?

The rollers are what type of steel and how long before they rust?

Not to put the product down, but from someone who has spent hundreds of thousands of dosh on tools and equipment over the years, a mill is the kind of tool that should be solid and will retain a fair bit of value if you do decide to sell it later on. Better to save your pennies when it comes to things like the drill(electric not cordless) to power it when you get bored turning the handle.

 

[Clevo]

.

 

[TheAussieBrewer]

My little weighing and milling area. Wish I made the hopper bigger when I first made it but it has the right proportions for a nice clean look. I do 60L batches too and just top it up 2 or 3 times to mill the ~12kg

 

[dkril]

While I concede the looks would suffer, have you considered buying/making an extension for the hopper?

According to monster mill (who make the extensions shown above) theirs can hold 39lb (18.8kg) of malt.