Which mill to upgrade to?

[Loetz]

I'm getting tired of cranking this corona mill and I'm thinking about upgrading. I'd like one that's not too expensive, but can be connected to my drill so that I can speed up the process. Do any of you have a good suggestion for me? :hmm:

Is this a good one?
http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/public/det ... RE20285339

 

[bobsbeer]

PM Vossy1. I think he has one like that.

 

[brewtim]

I've been looking at how I can use an electric drill to crank the Corona, the handle attachment looks to be about 1/2" square, so there must be a drill bit attachment out there that will do the job !

Something like this:

http://www.toolbox.co.uk/teng-hex-bit-socket-12in-drive-16254-98496

 

[london_lhr]

Not too sure a hex bit would go into a square hole :grin:
Get a piece of round bar about 2 inches long, , file the square you need on the one end and you can then grip the round bar on the other end in the drill chuck.

 

[brewtim]

Not too sure a hex bit would go into a square hole :grin:
Get a piece of round bar about 2 inches long, , file the square you need on the one end and you can then grip the round bar on the other end in the drill chuck.

I was thinking of it being used the other way around. Its not a hole it needs to go into it's square bar it slots onto. So the hex bit is gripped by the drill and the 1/2" socket end slots onto the square bar.

 

[Aleman]

Crankenstein 3D

 

[london_lhr]

Sorry, misread/misunderstood the post

 

[Loetz]

Crankenstein 3D

This is tempting, but shipping is pretty expensive for me.

I could buy the Krankenstein 3d with the hopper for 204 € shipped.

OR

I could buy the Brewferm mill for 151,81 € shipped.

Is it really worth that extra 50 euros? What is the difference?

 

[Cosmo]

This one's a terrific geared mill with 1 1/2" SS Rollers available from Craftbrewer in Australia for about 156 quid, I don't know what the postage would be but you could pass this on to a loved one when you eventually cark it :lol:

Description:
MillMaster MiniMill. New Product Special $20 off R.R.P $249.95
The only fully adjustable geared roller mill on the market.
MillMaster MiniMill Specifications
•130mm (5"approx.) precision machined rollers
•38mm (1 1/2") diameter rollers
•304 Stainless Steel Rollers as Standard, no rusty rollers
•12.7mm (1/2") drive shaft keyed for easy motorization, drill drive or hand crank
•SAE841 Bronze Bushings
•Strong aluminum frame
•built in gear guard
•Arrives assembled
Roller Gap Adjustment
•12 set gap marks for ease of adjustment and repeatability
•0.1mm to 1.9mm infinitely adjustable gap setting for precision control and accuracy
•304 stainless steel the eccentric adjustor finished with light knurling for a positive grip
•Quick Adjustment side locking pins
Gear Driven Rollers •Gear rollers make it possible to do away with course husk ripping and tearing knurls found on other mills.
•Only geared roller mill on the market that is fully adjustable at both ends.
•The rollers have a fine diamond knurling with the tips machined off providing in a fine textured finished to reduced husk damage.
•The geared rollers ensure an easy and smooth feed of malt into the grain mill from start to finish.

You need only dial the eccentric adjustor for the desired gap, tighten the lock nut and your ready to mill. MillMaster has been designed for home brewers and professional micro breweries alike.

Cheers :

 

[Aleman]

It is a 3 roller mill, which means that the grain automatically gets 'crushed' twice. The first time at a fixed 0.070" gap and the second at whatever gap you have set. . . .the first cracking splits the husk the second releases the starch, BUT, the husks are not destroyed, so remain more or less whole to give yo a better lauter.

I have a BarleyCrusher (very similar to the Brewferm) if I had my time again I would buy the 3D without a doubt . . . and I really rate the barley crusher. The third roller really makes a lot of difference, I can get similar results by 'conditioning' the malt, and passing it through the mill twice at different gaps.

Having had my mill for a while though, I have it pretty much fettled and the gap set, so as long as the malt doesn't vary too much year to year it does a good/great job.

 

[Loetz]

Ok I'm ready to order the crankandstein today. Do I need to order any other special things to go with it if I want to attach an electric drill?

 

[Loetz]

I went ahead and ordered it last night. If there is anything else that you think I need to know, let me know! :)

Thanks for the advice! :

Oh, and I've been getting an efficiency of around 70% with my corona mill/thermopot mash tun combination. What do you suppose I should expect with this new mill?

 

[Aleman]

80-85%

Corona Mill crushes to fine, which allows pockets to build up that don't get sparged properly.

If you are going to drive it with a drill or the hand crank then you need nothing extra (apart from a hopper and base)

 

[Loetz]

Got my crankandstein 3d in the mail and I'm finding that setting it up isn't as easy as just putting all the screws in. I tested it out with the factory settings, and I think the gap must be a bit thin because it takes some power to get the thing started and then it throws milled grain everywhere out the sides once it starts going... looks like I have some work to do!

EDIT: On second thought... maybe my drill is just crappy.

 

[Loetz]

Ok, so I can't figure out what the hell is wrong with my set up. I'm using the base which came with the mill, so I don't have the walls too close to the rollers, but it takes a lot of power to get going and then it goes too fast and I get husk damage. The grain kind of shoots out the side too. I went out and bought a nicer drill and that didn't solve the problem. :/

 

[Aleman]

Start it first and then add the grain to the hopper

 

[Loetz]

Ok, so I was using CaraAmber to test out the mill because I had a huge a huge surplus of the stuff. I tried out maris otter after that it it milled a lot better. I suppose it was silly of me to expect nicely dehusked grains from such a highly modified malt.

I'm not quite sure I'm getting the suggested 200rpm, but I guess it worked out well enough. Maybe I can play with it a bit more and find a setting that works better for me. For now it is three clicks 'down' from the middle position.

I just finished collecting my runnings and it looks like I'm getting a bit over 80% efficiency. I planned for 80% which would have given a sg of 1.050 with 34 liters of preboil wort, but got 1.056! Now I have to remember how to calculate the real efficiency...

Oh, and starting the drill first didn't work for me. I saw people elsewhere mentioning that, but it just seized up right when the grain hit or it went way too fast.