Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Now that I have ordered four bags of malt, I imagine that I should acquire a grain mill.

Any recommendations?

The barley crusher has been really good to me so far!

Pretty much any mill except a Corona. I have a Barley Crusher that I have been happy with. Cereal Killer also looks like a good deal. A 1/2" drill also comes in handy.

If you want to give it a try, you're welcome to borrow my Barley Crusher.

I've been pretty happy with the JSP Maltmill. It's the same mill as Joe and Nikki use at BIY.

I think you really cannot do better short of buying a 3-roller mill.

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And if you want a dedicated drill I have really like the low speed, high torque one I got at Harbor Freight for less than $40. You can adjust the speed with the turn of a dial on the lockable trigger. Really loud though. I turn it on, shut the room and go do something else until I hear it speed up when it is done.

Yup. In the homebrew forums that drill is frequently praised. But, wear hearing protection.

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I decided to dive into the deep end.

Monster Mill - 3 Roller Mill with Base, Hopper, and Extension

I can attest to the drill. I have the same drill and it works like a champ,

wyzzyrdd wrote:I decided to dive into the deep end.

Monster Mill - 3 Roller Mill with Base, Hopper, and Extension

That is a nice one. I have an old 2 roller from them. Solid.

Solid choice, I was on the fence with that one and the 2 roller adjustable JSP Maltmill. It's not as well known so you have to dig to find them, but made in the USA and lifetime warranty.

I highly recommend motorizing it

I ended up getting a Monster Mill 2 used for the price of a BarleyCrusher. I found that my tiny 12v battery drill would (just barely) drive the Barely Crusher I was borrowing, but for the MonsterMill2, it would choke, so I picked up one of the the aforementioned harbor freight drills (note they don't call it "high-torque low-speed" as they used to): http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-i ... 93632.html

Heh.. I use a Corona. If you BIAB it's fine. That type of mill's downfall is that the particle size is inconsistent which leads to issues if you use the grain bed as a filter. As for "torn husks" and "milling too fine", etc.. it is an old wife's tale. It isn't completely untrue with BIAB. What the issue really is-- is that once you get to higher water to grist ratios with BIAB (if you do it as a no sparge) then you can have pH issues-- which are easily controlled (by acid or sparging)-- that extract tannins. Temperature issues can too.

But.. it's exactly like my Espresso habit.. since I use the coffee as the filter itself, I need a good expensive grinder, and have one. If I only did drip, I wouldn't. If I ever gave up my external filter bed I'd need to get a roller mill. I don't need one with BIAB. I like the external filter (nylon mesh) for many reasons so there are no plans of changing that.

Fred

andrewmaixner wrote:I ended up getting a Monster Mill 2 used for the price of a BarleyCrusher. I found that my tiny 12v battery drill would (just barely) drive the Barely Crusher I was borrowing, but for the MonsterMill2, it would choke, so I picked up one of the the aforementioned harbor freight drills (note they don't call it "high-torque low-speed" as they used to): http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-i ... 93632.html

I have a big 1/2 inch drill somewhere around the house. I just need to find it.

My issue with the Corona mill is the time that it took me to grind a batch. It made great beer I think there was a little bump in efficiency going to a roller style but wasn't too significant.
Different strokes for different folks. And it's all about how to allocate resources!