Malt Mills

[GalBrew]

There has been a lot going around about mills at the moment, motors, crush etc. and I was wondering what specific mills do people use as I am intending to mill my own stuff soon. I am going to discount the cheap 'corona' mill, but what is the best mill out there? I see there is the Mashmaster one and a similarish one that Keg King and a few others sell that is a tad cheaper, but comes with a hopper attached. How do they both go?

Comments please (it's beer time soon) :beer:

 

[sponge]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/63876-grain-mill-not-all-rollers-are-the-same/

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/61584-mill-what-to-buy-and-why-and-where/

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/59539-which-mill-to-buy/

 

[GalBrew]

Thanks Sponge :beer:

 

[komodo]

As I've said in the past I think a geared mill is the way to go if you can afford it.
This said I have a Monster Mill MM3-2.0-SS and its a weapon of mass crushing.
My advice is what ever mill you get spend the time getting the frame as square as possible. Once the go out of square the rollers bite into the frame and dont spin freely and you'll have a world of drama getting it to roll properly again.

I ended up spending about $140 on getting some aluminium laser cut to square up the frame and its run like a dream since. I run a 1400 RPM 1HP (750watt) motor with around 10:1 reduction (actually from memory the reduction is a little less I think my final drive is around 176RPM) using a pair of pulleys and a type A belt. I'll get through 6kg of malt in under 3 minutes my biggest hinderance being that I can't load the hopper with the whole batch in one go.

I'm actually discussing with a small engineering shop that cuts the thread into my rod bracing about getting him to make me a couple of mills with 165mm diameter rollers as I think the biggest issue with a lot of the home brew mills is the roller diameter is too small. But this is some time off and more just a bit of playing around and experimenting for another project I want to have a crack at (big roller diameter fruit crusher)

 

[pat_00]

I plan to modify my KK malt mill in a similar way. 2 sides of the frame are a decent thickness, but the 2 long sides are way too flimsy.

Shouldn't be too hard to cut and drill some thicker aluminium stock using the originals as templates.

 

[komodo]

Yeah I'll admit I went overboard with mine I had a top and bottom plate as well as a front and back plate. I think I also had a plate for ontop of the board to sandwich the board in place. Definate over kill and I never ended up using half the plates. But it cost me the minimum charge to have the cut.

 

[Crusty]

There has been a lot going around about mills at the moment, motors, crush etc. and I was wondering what specific mills do people use as I am intending to mill my own stuff soon. I am going to discount the cheap 'corona' mill, but what is the best mill out there? I see there is the Mashmaster one and a similarish one that Keg King and a few others sell that is a tad cheaper, but comes with a hopper attached. How do they both go?

Comments please (it's beer time soon) :beer:

The Minimill is an excellent mill.
Geared rollers as well.

 

[lukiferj]

I recently got one of the KK style mills through a bulk buy. Was cheap and came with the hopper. I have never used a mill so have nothing to compare it to but seems solid enough. Took about 10 mins to cut a whole in some mdf and bolt it on. I have it sitting on top of a bucket. Have milled 2 x lots of 5 kgs with it by hand. Takes around 5 mins. Will look at adding a drill to it at some point but if I'm brewing single batches once a fortnight, I reckon the exercise isn't going to kill me I'm getting slightly better efficiency (76%) that I was getting with store milled grain.

 

[Bribie G]

I'm onto my second Marga, easily modded and you can get bits from Bunnings to make a hopper.

Reason I got a new one was because the original, which I bought second hand in 2010, had been badly altered with a dynabolt to run it off a drill, and the drive shaft eventually failed. A mechanically minded brewer (Aydos) I gave it to got it resurrected and it's reportedly still going strong. If you get a new Marga it's simple to straighten the supplied handle, cut it off and use it as a "drill bit" in a slow-speed electric drill.

I've heard reports that the knurled rollers tend to get "blunt" after a while. Obviously posted by somebody who has never actually owned one. My first Marga must have done several hundred crushes in its life and was still fine in that regard. Chews through a malt bill in about 5 minutes - does me fine.

 

[warra48]

I have one of the original MillMaster mills.
It's a great mill, and I've had it since it was first released.
Does a fantastic job, and because the rollers are geared, it never slips, and it does 5 kg grain milled in about 2 minutes, driven by a drill.

I believe the MiniMill, as linked by Crusty, does a great job as well.
I know of two AHB members who have one, and who are more than satisfied with theirs.

Maybe it will cost you a little more than an import from the USA etc, but you won't be able to argue with the quality of the MiniMill. Definitely worth the investment.

 

[Crusty]

I have one of the original MillMaster mills.
It's a great mill, and I've had it since it was first released.
Does a fantastic job, and because the rollers are geared, it never slips, and it does 5 kg grain milled in about 2 minutes, driven by a drill.

I believe the MiniMill, as linked by Crusty, does a great job as well.
I know of two AHB members who have one, and who are more than satisfied with theirs.

Maybe it will cost you a little more than an import from the USA etc, but you won't be able to argue with the quality of the MiniMill. Definitely worth the investment.

Make that three members that you know of.
It's a fantastic mill & a lot better than my Barley crusher ( IMO )

 

[GalBrew]

Might have to be the minimill then :beer:

 

[Edak]

I just finished my mill set up; I used a KK Malt Muncher, Ozito mixer drill, 18mm Plywood...

It fits a standard bucket in each end, and has a H-design underneath so the bucket is positioned perfectly below the gap. The drill is bolted down with M10 bolt.

I hope that it will do me proud, hasn't had much work before I decided to go motorised.

Pics Attached.

 

[kahlerisms]

I just finished my mill set up; I used a KK Malt Muncher, Ozito mixer drill, 18mm Plywood...

Niiiice

 

[MastersBrewery]

Looks nice Edak
My6 only problem with most powered mills is the drive shaft is exposed, my mill is sitting on the keg fridge with the motor yet to be assembled, as my brew assistant is only 2 I worry about those little fingers getting caught up, the furry brew assistant is still very young beagal....long floppy ears every where. So when I eventually get round to putting it together I'm going to put a gaurd over the shaft. I'm just so suprised I haven't seen a mill on here with one.