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Milling Malt
This may be directed more towards all-grain brewers :
What do you use to crush your grain?
If you use a mill, which one?
What are some effective methods of crushing grain without a mill?
I use a Barley Crusher. It is a roller mill set up with good quality and a price that is pretty competitive. I know several people who use corona mills, but I hear these can be a bit difficult to adjust. A lot of people do like the carona mills, though, and they can be bought for less than $50.
The only other options I have heard to get around having a mill of some sort is using a rolling pin, which I think is pretty difficult for a full all grain batch or having your grain milled by where ever you buy it. My LBHS will usually do it for free for a batch, but usually there is a slight charge for this say $0.10 per pound. This also keeps you from buying bulk grains, which is where you see the savings in $.
I was crushing all mine at the homebrew shop. No drill, all by hand. God I hated that.
I honestly can't remember the name of the grain mill he used without googling it. He had about 3 types. It is definitely cheaper to even crush your own. He charged $1/lb for domestic 2 row pale, but sold a 50# bag for $35. So the mill can pay for itself fairly quickly.
I have been thinking about getting a mill, but the one he had that I cannot remember the name was going for around $150. Way out of my price range.
what is the Barley Crusher that you use? is there a brand/make/model? i was thinking about buying a corona, but have decided to hold out and buy something better when i can afford it.
this is a big issue for me too. i do not want to crush my grain at the store, because i buy in large quantities, and want it crushed fresh when i am ready to use it. so i definitely need a mill. right now i am using a coffee grinder, and it produces too much flour that ends up in the wort throughout the process. even if i barely touch the grain with the grinder, it still pulverizes some of it.
Barley Crusher is actually the name of the mill. Go to http://www.barleycrusher.com/ to check it out. I looked around quite a bit, as I couldn't afford to spend too much. This one comes with the mill and hopper all assembled at the base price, so you don't have to buy the mill then add an extra $30 or so for a hopper, then an extra amount for a drill adapter. This is all included in the $110 (plus S&H) price. They have a version with a bigger hopper, but I don't mind just adding more grain to the hopper when I need to. I honestly couldn't find any other roller mills in this price range, and I am pretty impressed with the quality.
Allot of guys I know, including smaller pros, use the Crankandstein: http://www.crankandstein.com/. They're a pretty good product for the price point.
Wow. Both the Barley Crusher and the Crankandstein look ideal.
Either one would definitely fit my needs right now.
Thanks!
My homebrew store has the original prototype for the Barley Crusher. He used it to crush an estimated 5,000,000 pounds of grain. I still works fine. Klink stands behind the BC so you shouldn't have a problem there.
I purchased one and have no issues with it.
Fred
Honestly, I don't owned a mill. I prefer to use Barley Crusher. It's solid, fast, and cheaper. And most of all it takes an excellent crush. My neighbor owned a mill so I can borrow her anytime. What do you think is better barley crusher or crankenstein? Any idea?
the Barley Crusher is a mill is it not?
i like the looks of it. sounds sturdy. some notable brewers on this forum vouch for it. i think i may have to get one.
i would like to know how it compares to the crankenstein. i am leaning closer to the BC right now though.
I currently own and use the JSP MaltMill. I've seen others, and this one seems to be pretty good. It isnt' difficult to do 10 pounds or so for a 5 gallon batch, but I would want to hook it up to a motor/drill if I was doing any more than that. The nice part is it has 2 rollers about 1 ft. long, so it crushes the grain pretty fast. I didn't get the adjustable one, because most will say that once they get it adjusted properly, they never change it.
When I do wheat, I'll mix it with another grain to make it a little easier to crank.
The Barley Crusher is a mill as well. It is a two roller mill, and works well, in my opinion. There are several choices in mills out there, and to be honest I have never heard anyone complain about any of them. The BC just seemed to be the most complete package for the price, which is why I went with it. It is adjustable, but so far, the factory adjustment seems to be about perfect, and I haven't changed it.
fantastic! thank you! i will be ordering a Barley Crusher as soon as possible! less flour on the bottom of the kettle! more consistent grain texture! more efficient mashes!
i'd be a miller's wife! :)
I'm with norcalnewb, any of these mills work just fine, I've never heard anyone say anything bad about any of them. I have a JSP MaltMill (the adjustable one) with a motor, and I love it.
I have the Phil MIll 2:
http://www.listermann.com/Store/Details.asp?ID=589
It was the mill my local brew store had that they let you use for free. You can rig a power drill to it for faster milling.
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