Want To Buy A Grain Mill...

[tallie]

I have a barley crusher & would warn anyone considering doing large volumes of milling to look elsewhere. Over time the free roller loses its ability to grip the grain leading to frustration.

+1 it can really sour your brewday when it starts taking 20-30 minutes just to crush your grain. I'm in the upgrade market at the moment for this very reason.

Cheers,
tallie

 

[Hatchy]

+1 it can really sour your brewday when it starts taking 20-30 minutes just to crush your grain. I'm in the upgrade market at the moment for this very reason.

Cheers,
tallie

Do you know what you'll be upgrading to?

 

[felten]

Hand cranked mills are actually very easy. I was at Winkle's brew day and he just has a hand cranked Marga. I had a go and imagined it would be a world of pain like some medieval treadmill. Actually the action was surprisingly light. I was going to convert my Marga back to hand crank to avoid buying a drill but couldn't dismantle it however.

Oh yeah it's not too hard to hand crank at all, but it can get a bit tedious if you're crushing 7.5kg of malt, or some of the tougher non-malt grains. I tried hooking up an old hammer drill to my mill and it worked well, super fast, but I preferred the crush with a hand crank. That would be due to the drill being too fast though.

 

[tallie]

Do you know what you'll be upgrading to?

No, not yet.

Something I've wondered is whether or not any of the higher-end mills are designed so that both rollers will turn when you turn the handle (without grain in it), 'cause I think current mill would still work fine if it was geared that way. Or is it just wear and tear combined with the smaller diameter rollers.

Cheers,
tallie

 

[Sprungmonkey]

are all the moster mills geared?

 

[Ross]

are all the moster mills geared?

Monsters & Cranks are not geared, they all suffer from slipping after time, though some seem to have had much better longevity than others.

Cheers Ross

 

[Florian]

Something I've wondered is whether or not any of the higher-end mills are designed so that both rollers will turn when you turn the handle (without grain in it)

Hey Kris,
The millmaster is exactly designed that way, the biggest reason why I chose it after looking at the american mills. Have a look at one when you get a chance, there is no way this mill will fail the way it is geared. Not sure if there are any other mills designed that way.
IMO if you can somehow afford one now it's definately worth the money in the long run.

As I said before, something your kids will inherit and still use for decades.

 

[bconnery]

Hey Kris,
The millmaster is exactly designed that way, the biggest reason why I chose it after looking at the american mills. Have a look at one when you get a chance, there is no way this mill will fail the way it is geared. Not sure if there are any other mills designed that way.
IMO if you can somehow afford one now it's definately worth the money in the long run.

As I said before, something your kids will inherit and still use for decades.

Kris.
You are welcome to have a sticky beak at mine if you want. Combine a look at the mill with picking up your CPBF perhaps?
PM or drop me an email or give me a call...

 

[QldKev]

I have a barley crusher & would warn anyone considering doing large volumes of milling to look elsewhere. Over time the free roller loses its ability to grip the grain leading to frustration.

Cheers

Paul

I wonder what causes this, was it just poor heat treatment of the rollers and they did not end up hard enough? I would try and use a o-ring around one of the rollers, this would help turn the second roller and may be enough to make it good again. Only cost less than $1 to try.

QldKev

 

[mckenry]

My barley crusher is precisely the reason I'm reading this thread.

I was looking at the MM site yesterday & wondering if there's any point in getting the 3 roller or the 2" roller upgrade. I was probably leaning towards the 3 roller 1.5" but I'm willing to save some money if there's no value in the 3rd roller. I'll be ordering mine on Thursday once I get my bonus pay.

Here we go again Hatchy :lol:
I am the public defender of the Barley Crusher!
Mine works like new, after hundreds of kgs. Hatchy has done tons too, but its wearing out.
Maybe I am just lucky with this one as not many people give it a wrap.

 

[Hogan]

Here we go again Hatchy :lol:
I am the public defender of the Barley Crusher!
Mine works like new, after hundreds of kgs. Hatchy has done tons too, but its wearing out.
Maybe I am just lucky with this one as not many people give it a wrap.

I'll give the BC a big thumbs up mckenry. Had mine for five years and its still going strong. Hand cranking gives me just the right crush.


Cheers, Hoges.

 

[QldKev]

The way I see the MM2 (or any equiv American mill) Vs Millmaster is; if I crushed large volumes of grain I would have gotten the Millmaster. I average about 5kg of grain per week, and after crushing about 500kg of grain when I put the motor on it and it still looked in perfect condition. I expect the MM2 to last out my brewing time, even if it dies in 20 years time I wont complain. Could even be a good time to try the 3 roller version. Should you get a decent hard rock/metal in the grain I think it could as easily stuff either mill. I know I've had a couple of rocks pass through mine (without damage to it, touch wood). Also if either should get wet somehow and stored I think both will have issues. If you want a Merc get a Millmaster, if your happy with a Commodore the MM2 looks great.

QldKev

 

[amarks5]

Anyone know where to buy a Millmaster these days? Craftbrewer's site shows out of stock and it's no longer on the Mashmaster website at all.

Cheers,

Tony

 

[Malted]

I have a three roller monstermill and the first roller really does pull the husk off and leave it fairly intact whilst the second roller pass crushes the grain guts. I am rather happy with this.

I reckon the 3 roller crankandstein mill would be just as good at pulling the husks off.

However, if you use wheat, rye and barley it probably would be good to have a system that you can EASILY adjust the roller gap - the Mashmaster mill is about the only geared roller (both rollers spin) that you can easily adjust the gap by one or two clicks as you go along.

Even though some Monster Mills and Crankandsteins can be adjusted relatively easily you will need a feeler guage to set the gap. Mashmaster has a big knob and you can click it around a couple of positions.

But then again plenty of people get 80+ effeciency from grain crushed with the bottom of the line budget models. I suppose it depends on how much bling you want and what features you THINK you need...

 

[Paul H]

I wonder what causes this, was it just poor heat treatment of the rollers and they did not end up hard enough? I would try and use a o-ring around one of the rollers, this would help turn the second roller and may be enough to make it good again. Only cost less than $1 to try.

QldKev

I emailed the manufacturer who offered to send some orings (as the size needed is not readily available) if I provided SSAE with postage. Manufacturer has not sent said orings, nor replied to follow-up emails. I hope he enjoyed the $9 in postage vouchers I sent.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Paul H]

I am currently making use of a mashmaster mill that has been left idle by a fellow brewer & can't complain at all.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Ross]

Anyone know where to buy a Millmaster these days? Craftbrewer's site shows out of stock and it's no longer on the Mashmaster website at all.

Cheers,

Tony

Current Millmaster is discontinued, as the demand for what was basically a commercial mill was not great enough against the current crop of cheap imports.
On the good news front, a new mill is on its way. Basically the same size rollers as the Monsters etc, but fully geared. I don't have news on the pricing yet, but i'm assured it will compete
very favourably with the current imports. I'm hoping less than a month away, but will confirm & announce formally when I have something definate.
I would recommend anyone wanting a new mill to hold fire & weigh this one up against the USA imports before making a decision.

Cheers Ross

 

[Paul H]

Current Millmaster is discontinued, as the demand for what was basically a commercial mill was not great enough against the current crop of cheap imports.
On the good news front, a new mill is on its way. Basically the same size rollers as the Monsters etc, but fully geared. I don't have news on the pricing yet, but i'm assured it will compete
very favourably with the current imports. I'm hoping less than a month away, but will confirm & announce formally when I have something definate.
I would recommend anyone wanting a new mill to hold fire & weigh this one up against the USA imports before making a decision.

Cheers Ross

Consider fire held & scales purchased

Cheers

Paul

 

[Batz]

I wonder what causes this, was it just poor heat treatment of the rollers and they did not end up hard enough? I would try and use a o-ring around one of the rollers, this would help turn the second roller and may be enough to make it good again. Only cost less than $1 to try.

QldKev

Must be something along those lines Kev, I own the now discontinued Valley Mill and have had it for around 8-10 years. During this time I must have crushed a shit load of grain, and I've never had a problem with rollers slipping or not pulling grain through. The knurling is still nice and sharp like when it was new, it's a two roller non-geared mill.
I don't think I've heard brewers complain about the Monster Mill having slipping issues?

 

[tavas]

I emailed the manufacturer who offered to send some orings (as the size needed is not readily available) if I provided SSAE with postage. Manufacturer has not sent said orings, nor replied to follow-up emails. I hope he enjoyed the $9 in postage vouchers I sent.

Cheers

Paul

Clark Rubber has a selection of rings which will suit. If not, you can get an o ring kit and make your own, though I would be very surprised if off the shelf o rings are not available.

Other places to try would be Enzed, Pirtek or any hydraulic shop.