Grain Gorilla

[quixoticgeek]

Since moving to .NL I've discovered that all the brew shops sell the grain unmilled, and since Jan 1st, shipping form The Malt Miller in the UK is no longer financially viable. The time has come, I need to buy my own mill.

The one I've identified as most viable cost wise is this one:

https://www.brouwland.com/en/our-produc ... s-rollen-2

Has anyone tried one? Any experience with motorising it ? can I just plug the input shaft into my power drill?

J

[Trefoyl]

It looks identical to one recently featured on MoreBeer
https://www.morebeer.com/products/might ... grain.html
It looks like a very nice mill.

[MashBag]

Will it take a cordless drill - I always think the winding might become tedious once the newness wears off?

[Nashbrew]

The shaft is 10mm so any cordless should fit it.

[McMullan]

Will it take a cordless drill - I always think the winding might become tedious once the newness wears off?

Like waiting for a cordless drill battery to charge? I reckon you're better off getting a mill that's compatible with a corded drill, personally

[micmacmoc]

Thats the same as mine, its a great bit of kit. Careful not to milltoo fine, means a stuck mash. I think a good way to set the rollers is find a credit card/membership card thats the correct width and tape it to the mill so its always right when you set the rollers. yeah, I know its trial and error, be aware that these cards vary in width!

[MashBag]

Will it take a cordless drill - I always think the winding might become tedious once the newness wears off?

Like waiting for a cordless drill battery to charge? I reckon you're better off getting a mill that's compatible with a corded drill, personally

I used to have a drill like that

[Ringbolt]

Can I ask if you went ahead with purchase of the Grain Gorilla? If so how are you finding it? I find myself in a similar position in France. Unfortunately shipping and import costs from the UK mean it is simply not economical to use the Malt Millar any longer and I need to get my own mill.

[simmyb]

Will it take a cordless drill - I always think the winding might become tedious once the newness wears off?

Like waiting for a cordless drill battery to charge? I reckon you're better off getting a mill that's compatible with a corded drill, personally

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail....

[wilfh]

I’ve had one for a couple of months now. I would recommend it but don’t have any experience with other mills. It appears more robust than my mates Chinese version. Although with Covid I haven’t actually had a close look.
I would buy again…
Wilf


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cobnut]

Resurrecting this thread.

I bought one of these from member of my local HB club (he was upgrading to the Grainfather mill).

It has been mostly fine in the year or so I've had it (might be longer, but I can't remember exactly). Occasionally, the 2nd roller (which I think is not driven like the first roller) is reluctant to start, but a bit of assistance gets it going and all is fine (I drive it with a cordless drill on the slow speed setting).

I did find that the so-called locking screws didn't lock at first, but a bit of threadlock compound sorted that.

However, the reason for resurrecting the thread is that I came to mill the grains for my latest beer yesterday and the 2nd roller refused to start again and several times it stopped even after I'd "encouraged it" with my finger. I did - with persistent - manage to mill my grains, but I'm convinced there is an issue with the mill.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

My current thinking is that the bearings on the 2nd roller have got a bit clogged with malt flour and need cleaning and lubricating.

A search of the web has failed to find any threads which refer to this sort of issue and also no sign of a manual for this mill which might offer some troubleshooting guidance.

Suggestions welcome!

[Trefoyl]

My current thinking is that the bearings on the 2nd roller have got a bit clogged with malt flour and need cleaning and lubricating.

It should spin very freely so this is what I would check first. Hopefully it comes apart easily. The only mill I disassembled was the Schmidling because he put a rubber O-ring on the passive roller so that it would spin without grain, and it worked its way to the side and stopped the roller completely.
It was only there for demonstration but I didn’t know about it because there’s a built in funnel and a safety screen so the rollers are mostly obscured.

[IPA]

I have a Schmidling mill and it came with two O rings fitted to the passive roller. These perform the roll of motorising both rollers. My advice would be to fit these to your mill. If you are interested I can post a piccie of them in place. One of them broke after ten years use and I have not yet replaced it. But I will do shortly.
Schmidling ceased production a few years ago after a fire destroyed their workshop.
Read this and be amazed.

https://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm

We had a couple of visitors from Texas a while ago and the husband christened me "The Last Frontiers Man" because of our level of self sufficiency. I felt very humbled however when I read the above link and how much Jack Schmidling knew and did in his life.

Go to the HOME page on the above link and read all about him.

[Trefoyl]

The O ring is a #124 apparently. Pictures and Jack Schmidling’s response with O ring and bushing replacement are here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/wa ... ll.682419/
I never replaced the O ring because it isn’t needed.
My Maltmill is manual only now and seldom used. I bought a new Chinese mill with a motor. It also has a passive roller.

[Cobnut]

Update in this thread.

I cleaned the mill following the issue I’d had before and for several months it has performed without major issue, but the last couple of brews have seen the milling of 5Kg or so of grain taking 10s of minutes rather than minutes.

I’m sufficiently pissed off that I think I might replace the recalcitrant beast!

Unless I can find a decent engineering solution to the problem short of having to plan a maintenance clean every 6 months or so.

Where might I find the O rings IPA mentioned above?