Grain Mill

[kloorob]

Hi, I am looking for a Grain Mill and the MM 3 Roller version look good. Therefore has anyone a recommendation on which Mill I should go for?

Thanks.

[guypettigrew]

Why do you want a grain mill?

Malt Miller crushes grain perfectly IMHO. Saves a whole lot of time, trouble and mess!

Guy

[Jocky]

I like crushing my own grain for freshness, so a grain mill was bought not long after I went to all grain.

While the 3 roller is useful, the benefit isn't that great over the 2 rollers, and can be fiddly to adjust.

Also for 2 roller mills you only need one drive roller. Every home brew mill with linked rollers I've seen also tends to break after a while.

Anyway I have something similar to the Malt Miller 2 roller mill. I've crushed a few hundred kilos through it so far without any problems. Buy a cordless drill you can run at a low speed to power it - crushing grain by hand is a long process, but good exercise...

[kloorob]

Hi, Thanks for your replies. Thought I still plan to purchase my base malts in 25kg pre-crushed bags (I tend to go through 25k every 6 weeks or so). However, my main purpose for a Grain Mill is for the smaller quantities of special malts (Crystal etc.) which I tend to experiment with various varieties on different brew. Therefore to keep them fresh, I view that a mill would be a benefit?

[MarkF_2703]

I bought the MM 2 roller in January, pre crushed is too fine for my Grainfather, I use a cordless drill and have milled very slowly, works perfectly, I knocked up a base from some MDF to sit on a 30 litre bucket and cut a hole for the crushed grain to drop, use it on all my grain. The MM mill is the Maltmuncher from King keg.

[Jocky]

Hi, Thanks for your replies. Thought I still plan to purchase my base malts in 25kg pre-crushed bags (I tend to go through 25k every 6 weeks or so). However, my main purpose for a Grain Mill is for the smaller quantities of special malts (Crystal etc.) which I tend to experiment with various varieties on different brew. Therefore to keep them fresh, I view that a mill would be a benefit?

I think so, yes.

[guypettigrew]

Hi, Thanks for your replies. Thought I still plan to purchase my base malts in 25kg pre-crushed bags (I tend to go through 25k every 6 weeks or so). However, my main purpose for a Grain Mill is for the smaller quantities of special malts (Crystal etc.) which I tend to experiment with various varieties on different brew. Therefore to keep them fresh, I view that a mill would be a benefit?

Sounds like a wonderful idea. Never thought of crushing the special malts myself just before brewing. The idea of crushing 5+ kilos of pale malt has never appealed, but just doing a kilo or so of crystal/chocolate, amber or whatever would be much more manageable.

Would it really give the finished beer a much different taste to using pre crushed though? Anyone ever tried it?

Guy

[dbambrick996]

Some of the reasons I crush my own malt.

1. Freshness, it does make a difference imo.
2. Uncrushed grain will store longer than crushed
3. Consistency., I had different results from different home brew stores. Efficiency and numbers can be dialed in better when mill your own.
4. Mill grain to suite your own system, prevent stuck sparge etc.

I have more control over the end product and hitting my figures.

If u ever bought a bag of uncrushed you will see that there is a lot finer grain and more flour concentrated at the end of the bag.

It takes 5 minutes to weigh out and crush 5 kg of grain

The bad side to milling your own is storing the various grains.

[Jocky]

Crystal malts do tend to have a shorter shelf life once crushed. Regular grain isn't too bad, but something about crystal tends to make it stale faster than other malts. Smoked grain supposedly loses its smoke quite quickly after crushing too.

If you're buying from someone that crushes to order then it shouldn't really be a problem unless you're keeping the grain for months before using.

Mainly I just enjoy doing the crushing.