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WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 10:45 am
by Thirsty
It seems like the next logical step is a grain mill so that we can take advantage of full bag sales and bulk buys. We brew 10-15G batches every couple of weeks. Does anyone have something suitable they would like to part with?

If not, I'll likely buy new and would appreciate advice or personal reviews.

Currently considering the following:
http://www.everwoodavebrewshop.com/prod ... bh-mm2.htm
https://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/The_Bar ... er-7lb.htm

Thanks!

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 10:50 am
by Jimmy
I'd go with the Monster Mill over the Barley Crusher.

I started with a Barley Crusher, and it worked fine. I switched to the Monster Mills MM2-Pro a year or two ago and love it. So much faster, and much higher quality than the Barley Crusher.

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 2:25 pm
by Thirsty
Not what I was hoping to hear but thanks for the feedback. :) The fact that you owned and used both is valuable feedback. I seem to find myself in this situation a lot. Do you buy the one of lesser quality now or none at all because the good one is too damn expensive.

The "pro" is more than double the barley crusher (currently on sale) without hopper.
http://www.everwoodavebrewshop.com/prod ... mm2pro.htm

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 3:39 pm
by Jimmy
You can definitely get by with the Barley Crusher - it's not a bad mill. If the cost of the Monster Mill is prohibitive at this point, I'd get the Barley Crusher and upgrade down the road..there will always be someone looking for a mill, so you can easily sell it without losing much money on it.

I do know of a few people personally that had the barley crusher wear out on them, and fail to reliably "grab" the malt to pull it through. Technically the Barley Crusher has a lifetime warranty, but I seem to recall it not being easy to file a claim.

The Monster Mill would be a "lifetime" mill, that likely wouldn't require replacement down the road.

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 6:32 pm
by Bowserm
My first mill was the monster mill 2 MM non pro version with the hoper. I bought that 2 or 3 years ago (I can’t remember exactly when Dave brought them in) I can crush 14 lbs of grain in less than 1 minute attached to a drill.

I feel like once you buy the standard barley crusher you will want to switch to a monster mill, so save the extra 100 and go for the monster mill. You won’t regret it.

*edit*

I forgot I actually had a corona mill before I got the monster mill.. regardless, the monster mill (with hopper) was the best 300 I’ve sent in a long time

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:10 pm
by Celiacbrew
I have a cheap no-name mill. Looks similar to the barley crusher. Works great. I condition my malt by spritzing with with some water and it comes out with perfectly intact husks that look like that haven’t been touched. My malt bed is super porous. I would highly recommend the cheapo mill.

I don’t mill as fast as the guys with a monster mill but it only takes about 10mins total. Not a big deal.

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 9:12 am
by LeafMan66_67
I have the Barley Crusher and have used it successfully for 100+ batches (5G and 10G) over the past 6+ years with no issue. I use it on a cordless drill at reduced speed, somewhere in the 125 to 250 rpm range.

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 9:49 am
by mckay75
Woody has the barley crusher and experienced the symptoms of it not grabbing the grain. The rollers are of different quality compared to the MM and just wore out (definitely no shame in it considering the amount of grain the he puts through that thing). We took it apart and reversed one of the rollers and it's working great now.

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 2:34 pm
by Woody
I have to give Mark all the credit as he fixed my mill. I got it at OBK maybe 5 years ago so I think it's a generic Barley Crusher. I'd like to keep using it until it dies but having borrowed Mark's MM2 I can say it's a beast. When people say minutes to blow through 25-30 lbs of grain they aren't joking. My mill was to a point where it wouldn't work unless primed until it stopped catching grain all together. It's working like new now since Mark reversed the rollers. When Dave has the MM2 in stock again (he told me weeks ago he was ordered some) I'm going to give some serious thought to an upgrade. If your brewing 10-15 gallon batches and can swing it I'd go with MM2. It's an unchained beast and a pleasure to us.

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 2:37 pm
by Woody
:cheers2:

Re: WTB Grain Mill (or advice on buying new)

Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 2:40 pm
by Thirsty
Thanks everyone.