Grain mills

[Martin Bridges]

I'm in the market for a grain mill. I've looked back through the threads on here and there are a few recommendations but I thought I'd see if there was any up to date info. I've borrowed a Barley Crusher MaltMill before (thanks Barry!) and it has worked well. With the current exchange rate this is looking like NZ$315 including shipping.

The MillMaster from Craftbrewer in Aussie is about NZ$330 plus shipping (including the hopper and handle). I expect shipping will be fairly pricey given it is a heavy item. Is this mill worth the extra bucks?

Are there any other options? The mill that Hauraki Homebrew list on their site looks more like a coffee grinder!

Cheers,

Martin

[Barry]

No gearing on the Barley Crusher, in practical experience, has never made any difference whatsoever to how it performs for me.
I do like the look of that geared one though, I can see how that would increase sales.

[James P]

Prices from BeerSmith who are selling Barley Crushers for $109.95 USD + $67.50 USD freight = $333 NSD at todays exchange rate.

[Ged]

and from what I can see the exchange rate with the $US dollar aint gonna get much better for a long time..

Pants

[James P]

Probably not going to get one made locally either.... I took in some pictures and plans, and it would cost $800.... for a 2 inch X 5 inch rollers. Well f*** me, importing is still even cheaper with the exchange rate as it is.

[Fairlane]

Here's mine which me and a couple of friends made....cost me $45 ($20 for large pully, $20 for roller steel and $5 for v-belt) plus 2 doz homebrew for friends services...All other parts were scavenged from my workplace rubbish pile and the motor was kindly donated by my stepdad. Took about 6 months from go to whoah but worth it to keep the costs down...

As you can see here, mine doesn't have a driven idler but I find that it works fine without it....

[James P]

Fairlane, were the rollers knurled? If so what with / settings?

[Fairlane]

Yeah I did them on the lathe at work with a standard knurling tool. Cant remember the feed speed sorry, it was a few years ago....

[Mike Neilson]

What was the genral consensis? Im in Melbourne next week and am thinking im going to get a mill just which one? Grain and Grape or Craftbrewer? Saving is quite a bit in terms of shipping!!

[Nick T]

Did this discussion eventually end in a conclusion as to the 'best' mill? Was a bulk order placed?

[jt]

Dunno Nick, think there's been a couple of bulk buys. The first was a barleycrusher buy from memory - there was another monstermill or crankenstein buy ?

Best mill - probably a matter of opinion - which could be biased by whatever mill you use but I haven't heard anyone rubbish any of them

[denimglen]

Same, I've never heard anyone complain about their mill (unless it was a 'corona' style mill).

If I was to rebuy then I'd just be looking at whatever I can get cheapest and easiest.

[Reviled]

+1 after all theyre all pretty much the same with minor differences... I got a monster mill for $250 NZD which was reasonable, plus it has big 2" rollers which look nice and chunky! Not that it makes a difference to the beer of course, but it looks cool :o)