Question on grain mill

[Odin]

Hi guys,

I hope some of the AG masters can give some feedback on this:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/elektrische-Getr ... 23268eb229" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

It is a German made grain mill. With grain cracking settings between 8 mm and 2.5 mm, an electrical motor of 550 wats, etc.

My question is: would this be suitable to crack corn, barley, wheat, rye for AG brewing & fermenting? And is the smallest "crack" of 2.5 mm small enough?

Regards, Odin.

[heartcut]

My "Barley Crusher" mill is adjustable from 0.015" (0.38mm) to 0.070" (1.78mm) and is supposed to feed at 6 lb/minute, though I've never timed it. It's been in the middle of it's adjustment for the last decade or so.

[Odin]

That would mean 2.5 mm is too big, right?

Odin.

[heartcut]

It's out of the range that I've been using. It might work, don't know. The brew shops that grind for you have all been about 0.04" and that's where I keep mine. I know a guy who grinds to coarse flour size and gets a bit more from his grain than I, but we're talking 5% or so.

[likkerluvver]

... My question is: would this be suitable to crack corn, barley, wheat, rye for AG brewing & fermenting? And is the smallest "crack" of 2.5 mm small enough?

Not sure your meaning of "corn" here My guess is that you were referring to cereal grains in general.

If the smallest crack is 2.5mm, it is NOT small enough for brewing grains. This WOULD be suitable for what we call "corn" - i.e. "maize". It would NOT be suitable for what Europeans call "corn" i.e. a common name for ALL cereal grains.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

My Barley Crusher adjusts from 0.015" (0.38mm) to 0.70" (1.78mm) with the marked default setting at 0.039" (0.76mm). This is perfect for home, and perhaps small-scale micro-brewery use. They also produce a mill suitable for micro-brewery use.

http://www.barleycrusher.com/barleycrusher.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I would NEVER put corn through my BC. (Too large/hard.) This is what I use to crack corn (maize):

http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Cast-Iron ... =corn+mill" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Odin]

Yes guys, I meant grain, not corn. I guess the rig has too big an opening for that.

Regards, Odin.

[aj2456]

dont know if i would use it for beer anyway, looks like it slices- ideally want to keep the husks whole to decrease asringency and aid in sparging- or if not worried about that why not just get a cheap hand crank grain mill and stick a drill on it- worked plenty good 20 years ago till these new crusher mills came in

[Bushman]

Has anyone seen any reviews (side by side) testing of different grain mills? In the brew forums everyone has an opinion and most like what they have. In the states the ones I see the most on the internet are:
Barley Crusher
Monster mill
Rebel Brewer
Crankenstein
Schmidling Maltmill

They also vary in price from $114 - $300.
Also motorized vs handcrank.

I know there are some good ones also produced in Europe. I am looking into purchasing one and my wife wants me to get the attachment kitchenaid mill that will go with her kitchenaid so she can make breads and so forth. I am not sure that's beefy enough and also might be a bit dusty when doing larger quantities.

[aj2456]

far as i researched most come with a handcrank - but doing more than 4-6kg will be a PITA, and u can add a beefy drill to mechanise them

i never found any decent ones in europe(but i didnt look), but i reckon any that use rollers and are adjustable will be a much of a muchness, even just a basic handcrank cheapo one is pretty decent when u tweak it and wet the grain before crushing(alot to this appertently) etc

[Jimbo]

Odin,

Here's a comment I found from guy at ADI..


"Very few distillers use a hammer mill for barley
as it make a very fine crack.

Most artisan distillers use a roller mill at 32/1000 of inch.

bill owens ADI "

[Odin]

Thanks Jim! I just reset my mill from 0.05 to a bit under 0.04. Should help!

Bushman, here's the one I have:

http://schrootmolen.nl/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Wouldn't be surprized if it were a sorta Crankenthing, only imported to Europe.

No expert on grain mils, but he/she seems to be doing a good job.

Great to have a 16 year old son without shoulder problems who can actually run it for like 30 minutes.



Odin.

[midwest shinner]

For corn milling, Corona makes a cast iron mill that can be had for around $20 plus shipping on Amazon or other places. I found one at my local homebrew shop for that price so i avoided shipping fees. They are made to handle corn so they're pretty solid and do a decent job imho. You can easily hook em up to a drill as well.

[GuyIncognito]

Hammermill works better if you are using a slurry method (cooking the grain under pressure with water like bourbon) rather than a beer/lautered method (soaking the cracked grain in hot water and drawing off only liquid like scotch). Most craft distilleries aren't setup to do slurrying, hammermills also seem to be a lot more expensive? Barley Crusher works well enough for home sized batches, but definitely doesn't handle corn.

Bushman, the person I know with the kitchenaid mill attachment hates it. Does a pretty bad job and can supposedly prematurely wear out the mixers motor.

[Jimbo]

For corn milling, Corona makes a cast iron mill that can be had for around $20 plus shipping on Amazon or other places. I found one at my local homebrew shop for that price so i avoided shipping fees. They are made to handle corn so they're pretty solid and do a decent job imho. You can easily hook em up to a drill as well.

Yes drill works on a corona mill, but I had my 1/2 inch drill smoking as I worked through a bag of corn. Had to give it breaks to cool down. 3/8 drill works a charm on barley roller mill. Doesnt even get warm.

[Michaeln416]

I bought a Monster Mill and have nothing but praise for it. Using my cordless drill I run through 20 kg of barley in about 10 - 15 minutes (I've never timed it, but it seems about that quick).

The brew shop that sold it to me warned me to keep it indoors or to take precautions to protect it from condensation when the weather changes. Therefore I keep it double packed in garbage bags in the garage between batches. So far so good.

As a matter of fact the rollers had a bit of rust on them when I bought it, and therefore I was able to negotiate a discount. Running a half kilo of rice through it cleaned it right up; shiny as new.

Odin, measure the size of the grain(s) that you use. You'll want to have a gap between the rollers somewhere between 1/4 - 3/4 the size of the thinnest dimension of the grain depending on how fine a grind you want to make.

[Bushman]

Michealn416, I've heard great things about that mill. Did you do any comparison between the MM2 and the MM3?

[Michaeln416]

Michealn416, I've heard great things about that mill. Did you do any comparison between the MM2 and the MM3?

Yes I did Bushman. I actually spoke with someone from Monster Mills on the phone. I called to ask about that specifically and he spent almost 30 minutes discussing it with me. Basically for the size of my average batch and my preferred grain (barley) it really didn't benefit me much in going up to the MM3 - that if I ever wanted a fine grind of something particularly large and/or hard I could easily do it with two passes through the MM2. Since my interests lay primarily with barley; the MM3 would have been overkill. Those of you that use a lot of corn and want it finely ground, may want to consider the MM3 provided that you also have a heavy-duty drill that can power it. That was the other deciding factor for me; I didn't want to spend money on a high end power tool that was only going to be used for one purpose.
I have never used any mill other than this one, and only with barley; but if I had to make the purchase all over again I wouldn't hesitate to buy this exact same one.