Grain Mills - What's Your Experience?

[MickDundee]

I have one of these, Bulldog Malt Mill pretty sure it was around the £50 mark it works well but does take a fair amount of time with the drill attachment, should hate to have to do a batch using the handle.

Edit just seen the current price £100+

It bought I was going mad when I googled and saw it’s currently £100 - thought I’d paid about £47 or something 2 years ago.

 

[foxy]

May be worth asking Brew 2 you about getting a few of the geared mills in.
https://www.keg-king.com.au/maltmuncher-grain-mill-3-roller.html.html

 

[MickDundee]

May be worth asking Brew 2 you about getting a few of the geared mills in.
https://www.keg-king.com.au/maltmuncher-grain-mill-3-roller.html.html

I was asking the KK CEO about this on his thread the other week (think you answered some of my questions too). I think this is most likely going to be my next grain mill once I’ve wrecked the bulldog (I can’t help myself being too heavy handed on the drill and I’ve expanded the hole in the trim around the crank which means my gap isn’t as accurate as I’d like) but I have so many things in my wish list it’ll probably be a while.

 

[Wynne]

Really the only way to know if your grain is fresh is tasting them, buying as a bulk purchase 25 kg and the date will be on the bag.
A purpose built roller mill will give a better crush, keeping the grain husk intact and small pieces of kibble.
But commercial brewers use a hammer mill and simply smash the lot into powder, husks and all, must be their process down the line which knocks out any polyphenols, not sure how or why it is so different to home brewers crush size.

In commercial brewing, hammer mills are used with mash filters, roller mills with mash tuns or lauter tuns where the grain husk forms a filter bed. Polyphenol extraction from husk material is related to pH which rises (becomes mor alkaline) during sparging. As long as you don’t over-sparge, it shouldn’t be an issue - stop sparging when the wort running off falls to SG 1009 and you should be fine.

 

[terrym]

Interesting to see that prices for these items have inflated considerably since the Covid thingy took off. If it's UK stock perhaps it hasn't been replenished yet (from China?!) and sellers can ask a higher price due to scarcity. It will be interesting to see if prices come down, and whether this is a pattern affecting other items too (and not necessariiy related to homebrewing).

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I use this puppy, which I got from Amazon but I’m a bit shocked to see it now priced at £135 - when did that happen!

The hopper holds about 2.5Kg of grain and I drive it with an electric drill, it would take forever to mill by hand.


View attachment 31655

Actually I’ve seen this at much lower prices, even on Amazon - I think it must be a particular seller that’s hiked their price. Also on Ebay and other sites for as little as £45 or thereabouts.

I’ve been using mine pretty much weekly for a couple of years and it’s still doing a good job despite being at the lower end of the price scale.

 

[Smileyr8]

I’ve got that one. Build quality is a bit rubbish

Mines alright, it doesn't get lots of use every 3-4 weeks maybe, had it a good few years possibly 5 or 6, had to reset the gap last time out that the only issue I've had.

 

[Furry Shark Brewery]

I am thinking of buying a small grain mill and have noted that some members use them. So I thought a thread about grain mills might be useful so folks could share their knowledge.

First off I notice some say whole grain keeps fresher longer than pre-crushed (how do you know?), and BH efficiency rises when you mill your own grain. What are the other benefits?

I was thinking of buying something like the one below. They are currently about £20 on ebay.
View attachment 31630
I have seen some members have them, so ....
- how good are they at doing the job
- how adjustable is the output size and how do you know when you have got it right
- how long does it take to mill grain say a kilo
- are they durable or do they fall apart after the first use
- are they worth £20!

Otherwise what do folks use, apart from the one I have mentioned above?

Has anyone bought a mill and then gone back to pre-crushed grain?

And of course, is it worth buying and using a grain mill vs. the convenience of having grain that has been pre-crushed for you

I invested in a 3 roller mill a few months ago. Happy enough with pre-crushed but the idea of milling it fresh, buying in relative bulk and being able to have a selection of speciality whole grain to mill fresh appealed. I went totally overboard and motorised the thing.

I enjoyed the process of sourcing and building. Totally OTT for my actual needs but I do get a kick out of flicking that switch and seeing the mill get through the grain in no time at all. Into the strike water minutes later.

I would recommend a decent mill and possibly stick on a dedicated chaeapo drill, so you are good to go whenever. Got mine from the Malt Miller and the hopper easily accommodates 5+kg of grain.

 

[GerritT]

I have seen some members have them, so ....
- how good are they at doing the job
- how adjustable is the output size and how do you know when you have got it right
- how long does it take to mill grain say a kilo
- are they durable or do they fall apart after the first use
- are they worth £20!

Otherwise what do folks use, apart from the one I have mentioned above?

Has anyone bought a mill and then gone back to pre-crushed grain?

And of course, is it worth buying and using a grain mill vs. the convenience of having grain that has been pre-crushed for you

It works. Setup in 3 minutes, needs little space re storage, easy to clean.
Good adjustable, you have it right when the grains break up in 3 or 4 pieces, without much dust. It's not a subtle crusher, but results are good. I add some extra handfuls of grain to compensate for potential loss of efficiency because of mediocre crushing. And for good luck of course.
By hand it takes 10 minutes per kilo? I crush the day before so on brewday itself it's less work.
I don't think I can break it the way I use it. It will survice a 20 feet drop on concrete, I guess.
I paid £40-ish. Worth it for me. I might buy pre-crushed if available but somehow the dutch suppliers don't offer that option.

And crushing is part of the show. It just feels better.

 

[MickDundee]

Interesting to see that prices for these items have inflated considerably since the Covid thingy took off. If it's UK stock perhaps it hasn't been replenished yet (from China?!) and sellers can ask a higher price due to scarcity. It will be interesting to see if prices come down, and whether this is a pattern affecting other items too (and not necessariiy related to homebrewing).

Prices on all sorts of things have definitely increased because of COVID. My daughter and I have been playing a lot of Mario Kart Wii so when my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday I was going to say a Nintendo Switch but had a look online and the price was about £100 higher than it was before Christmas last year!

It worked out for the best though because I eventually asked for a kegerator conversion kit.

 

[Brewed_Force]

I bought a mill like that in the OP. Got mine on eBay for a snip at less than 12 quid including postage back in Feb 2020.

Well worth a go if you don't want to spend much.

The mill is adjustable.
It's fairly indestructible.
Casting tolerances are woeful, though the design allows for both simple manufacture and use. Don't expect a precision piece of kit.
However, it is adjustable and if enough simple care is given to making the grinding faces parallel, once adjusted it holds the milling gap about right.

I made three simple modifications that make it perfect fit my needs. And these are simple to do:

1. Create a tall hopper by nesting two 5l water bottles.
2. Create a cowl for the grinding faces out of a takeaway tub, which stops dust and directs the grain downwards.
3. A couple of bolts one with the head filed down and back to back, so as to drive the mill with a drill.

I'll find photos if I can...
View attachment 31657
View attachment 31658
Hopper holds 4.5kg of grain.

Using the tub to divert the output downwards is a great idea. I used to use a Corona mill and had to grind outside because the dust went everywhere.

 

[Spratt]

I also have used one of the Corona type mills when I bought a 25 kg bag of Maris Otter and by mistake ordered whole grain rather than crushed. It was dusty, messy, and moderately hard work, but made no noticeable difference to the efficiency of my brews. A bit of a pain to clean if you keep it in a dampish shed which I have to as you need to be meticulous about cleaning and the engineering is more "agricultural" than Rolls Royce. I don't suppose the idea or the quality of build has changed much since the early 1800s.

I wasn't persuaded enough, by the end result to bother with investigating getting a "proper" mill and indeed was a bit reassured by this Brulosophy experiment

http://brulosophy.com/2018/10/29/the-impact-of-age-on-crushed-malt-exbeeriment-results/
which although not addressing the fineness of the grind and efficiency issues, does suggest that one needn't worry too much about storing crushed grain for 6 months.

 

[Kinneuchar]

Ive got the bulldog mill paid around the £50 mark a year or so ago. It's OK, needs adjusting every crush but if it now retails at the £100 mark I'd give it a MISS!

 

[trueblue]

I wasn't persuaded enough, by the end result to bother with investigating getting a "proper" mill and indeed was a bit reassured by this Brulosophy experiment

I would not pay to much attention to any Brulosophy offering. Any decent experiment needs to be repeated multiple time to have any credence. I have mentioned before my late father in law was a leading, probably the leading in his day, scientist working in the grain industry and amongst the conversations I had with him he emphasized the importance of fresh grains he did blind me with the science but this was over 20 years ago. In the past I have used specialist malts 2 years past the sell by date with with no problem but with crushed base malts stored in bulk I always used up within 3 months. Since buying a mill my efficiencies have gone up by at least 5%. I bought the bulldog and when assembling I thought this is really poor quality but have been using it every other weak for 4-5 years with no problems.

 

[paul3944]

I've got one of these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Homebrew...ss-3-Roller-Malt-Mill-Grain-Mill/362648099437
Very sturdy and heavy. I think its made in the Czech Republic but its an almost replica of the Bulldog mills

 

[Norfolk79]

Paid £74.50 for the bulldog one a few years back from The Homebrew Hop Shop.

They’ve got it at £94.95 at the moment so things have gone up in price!

 

[foxbat]

he emphasized the importance of fresh grains

It's a shame that none of the suppliers that we buy from will tell you whether they're selling you the current harvest or left-overs from a previous year. I think it's best to buy grain from one of the big suppliers that shifts a lot of it, buy popular strains then keep it in air-tight containers or bags because malt is hygroscopic.

 

[Crappyfish]

I'm looking at getting one any experience in one would help me choose 2 or 3 roller versions

 

[peebee]

I've got one of these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Homebrew...ss-3-Roller-Malt-Mill-Grain-Mill/362648099437
Very sturdy and heavy. I think its made in the Czech Republic but its an almost replica of the Bulldog mills

It might look like a replica of a Bulldog mill, with one very important difference. You've got a 3 roller mill! They are supposedly better.

I'm looking at getting one any experience in one would help me choose 2 or 3 roller versions

A 3 roller mill is supposedly less "aggressive" and wont shred the grain husks so much? You might be able to get a finer crush and better efficiency with 3 rollers (without descending into "stuck mashes"). They will be more complicated, heavier, and more expensive.

But I've a 2 roller mill which I'm not about to swap for a 3 roller. Does mean my remarks about 3 roller mills are hear-say.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have tidied the thread up so it stays on topic.