New Grain Mill

[T.D.]

it's always fun commissioning a new mill, considering the weather here in Newcastle today I got time to play around with the new shop mill, just checking the roller gaps and adjusting the magnets on the nut catcher and giving the inside a quick clean, thought I would take a couple of happy snaps while I had the top unbolted.

View attachment 31747View attachment 31748

Bit of a step up from the old Phil Mill II, unfortunately it's reached the end of its useful life. Can't complain it's given sterling service but I don't think it was designed to chew through -1 ton of malt a month.



MHB

Faark, very nice Mark!!

 

[chappo1970]

Faark, very nice Mark!!

+1

Sorry Mark didn't intentially try to hijack but that sure as hell is one sexy beasty especially with the 3 belts! I REALLY want one!

Chappo

 

[QldKev]

+1

Sorry Mark didn't intentially try to hijack but that sure as hell is one sexy beasty especially with the 3 belts! I REALLY want one!

Chappo

lol - Chappo can't count

QldKev

 

[QldKev]

Chappo - I have a 2nd hand 3 roller S/S Crankenstein if you are interested.
Personally I don't think they can hold a candle to a Millmaster.

Cheers Ross

Does the millmaster off center rollers help??? wobble wobble

PS. I have never actually owned a Millmaster, but have seen a couple in action.
No offense to Ross, but maybe it was just a bad batch?

 

[MHB]

It's a fairly serious mill! To tell the truth it's really too big for a HBS (well let's say it exceeds my present requirements -not hinting that I want to sell it or anything, but it should be great when I finally get my finger out and finish the brewhouse I'm supposed to be building)

I got it from Bluetongue, when they up-sized their brewery about 3 or 4 years ago, this is the mill that came with the new brewhouse. Bluetongue decided it wasn't fast enough, only 44 bags an hour (1.1 Ton) and got themselves a nice little 4 roll Woolf mill. This one kicked around on a pallet for a couple of years, finally they offered it to me at a price I couldn't say no to.
The mill it's called a Robix and it's made in Hungary, Shawn at Murrays has the same make, so there are probably a few of them around.

Vital Stats
Robix, Robbi-1100
Rolls 195mm Long, 185mm in Diameter
The Mill weighs 169 Kg
The Motor is a 3 phase 5.5 Kw Delta run Siemens' and another 64 Kg.
It actually cost nearly as much to upgrade the power in the building as to buy the mill.
Runs at about 350 RPM
Throughput 1.1 ton/hour (18.3 Kg/Minute)

Sorry don't mean to gush, but I think I'm in love.

Just one more bit of gratuitous brewing porn



MHB

 

[chappo1970]

LOL :lol:

hmfff... Make that 4 <_<

 

[chappo1970]

Excuse me MHB but are you available? :wub:


That's some serious brew porn!

 

[QldKev]

Excuse me MHB but are you available? :wub:

I am and I have the Vaseline - soz

QldKev

 

[chappo1970]

I am and I have the Vaseline - soz

QldKev

:huh: :lol:

 

[T.D.]

The Mill weighs 169 Kg

:super:

 

[Ross]

Does the millmaster off center rollers help??? wobble wobble

PS. I have never actually owned a Millmaster, but have seen a couple in action.
No offense to Ross, but maybe it was just a bad batch?

No offense taken, I'm only a happy user & reseller - We had an issue with a few mills where the the knurling was not quite uniform, resulting in the gap varying slightly during a complete revolution. No off center rollers & no wobbles that I'm aware of. These mills have either been discounted or replaced free of charge.

+++

Mark, that mill of yours is indeed a thing of beauty. Overkill in the best possible way B)

Cheers Ross

Edit: spelling

 

[browndog]

Chappo, listen to Ross mate, I built up both the crankentstein and the MM for him, I can vouch that the MM is way better. The runout on the roller saga is not an issue. A quality crush every time is. The only way you will get a better mill than the MM is to get one of those things MHB has, or build one yourself.

cheers

Browndog

 

[Ragmans Coat]

i've been reading up on mills because i would love to do grain brewing soon i will probably order the monster... With the high aussie doller it would be a cheaper option for me. One of my chums in the UK has one and is chuffed with it

 

[MHB]

Mark, that mill of yours is indeed a thing of beauty. Overkill in the best possible way B)

Absobloodylutely, couldn't agree more and thankyou

This is the 4th mill I've worked with and the two things I would say to look for in a mill are 1/both rollers being driven and 2/bigger wheels

Driven roller give better feeding of the grain with less smearing of the husks, if you think about it, an idle roller is being driven by the malt, so the force to turn the roller is transferred through the grain which increases sheer forces that tend to pull the husk to pieces.

Bigger diameter rollers, it's a bit more complex but it's called "Nip Angle Theory" if you want to investigate further, but basically the bigger the wheels the gentler the crushing action, carried to en extreme - infinitely large rollers would be like squeezing the grain between flat plates - minute rollers are more like a hammer blow that shatters the grain.



Value for money it's hard to go past the Mash Master Mill, a good balance with decent sized powered rollers.



MHB

Ps I don't sell mills, so this is an "unbiased" opinion.

M

 

[///]

44bph??? Will loan you a 12 - 14 bph which whilst still 3 phase is less overkill for your current requirements???

Let me guess though, comes with complementary undersized bucket??

Scotty

 

[ausdb]

Absobloodylutely, couldn't agree more and thankyou
This is the 4th mill I've worked with and the two things I would say to look for in a mill are 1/both rollers being driven and 2/bigger wheels

Driven roller give better feeding of the grain with less smearing of the husks, if you think about it, an idle roller is being driven by the malt, so the force to turn the roller is transferred through the grain which increases sheer forces that tend to pull the husk to pieces.

Bigger diameter rollers, it's a bit more complex but it's called "Nip Angle Theory" if you want to investigate further, but basically the bigger the wheels the gentler the crushing action, carried to en extreme - infinitely large rollers would be like squeezing the grain between flat plates - minute rollers are more like a hammer blow that shatters the grain.

Hi MHB
What diameter are the rollers themselves?
Kunze has lots of good info on "Nip angle theory" the flattened knurls at opposite angles also help to grab the grain.

 

[MHB]

Sorry Scotty
Only a 70L grist case, the base is built to lift off the stand with the fork lift, eventually I hope to be able to lift the mill fitted with hungry boards and 250-300 Kg of malt up over the mash tun, so the grist is thrown straight in. Going to be fun trying to balance up the throw speed and the pumping rate from the HLT, luckily there is already an adjustable grain gate so it shouldn't be imposable.

ausab
The rolls are 185mm , and yes the section in Kunze on milling theory is great (and almost everything else to do with lager brewing) one of my favourite books, the flutes are milled rather than knurled. Your right about the way the flutes grab the grain, definitely a big improvement in the size of the husk fragments even at very fine (0.15mm) crushes, just have to hope after all this we see an improvement in efficiency will for sure be an improvement in crushing speed, that was becoming quite bottle neck in the shop.

MHB

 

[QldKev]

No offense taken, I'm only a happy user & reseller - We had an issue with a few mills where the the knurling was not quite uniform, resulting in the gap varying slightly during a complete revolution. No off center rollers & no wobbles that I'm aware of. These mills have either been discounted or replaced free of charge.

+++

Mark, that mill of yours is indeed a thing of beauty. Overkill in the best possible way B)

Cheers Ross

Edit: spelling

Hey Ross, apologies for my post about the MM last night, it was a bit out of line. As you said you have rectified it with the customers and you dont really deserve these comments digging up the 1 off situation.

I own a MonsterMill and am happy with it; bit will admit a larger sized roller of the MillMaster will give a better crush. I do have a background in programming PLCs for mills with rollers that are over 6 foot diameter, and 12 foot wide; although not in the same industry many of the theories interrelate.


QldKev

 

[beerDingo]

Throughput 1.1 ton/hour (18.3 Kg/Minute)

18.3 Kg/Minute! Now that would be nice!

 

[QldKev]

The mills I worked on could put through about 6tonnes per minute at their nominal speed

Now to mod them for malted grain...

QldKev