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Author Topic: Grain mills  (Read 4031 times)

Offline bengelbrau

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #15 on: May 25, 2016, 07:00:47 pm »
I am really happy with my Millar's Mill. Hardened rollers, the same length as the MM, and a lot cheaper.

Offline svejk

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #16 on: May 26, 2016, 09:31:16 am »
   Thanks, all interesting and useful contributions. I've spent more than a day on the infernalweb searching for mills but was unaware of the Cereal Killer & JSP until now, at the moment I'm leaning towards the adjustable JSP. As a former Tin Knocker, fabbing a larger hopper should be gravy. Any of the JSP owners opt for the gear drive or hardened rollers? I'm hoping this is the last mill I have to buy, and am an admitted tool junkie, so spending extra for truly useful stuff isn't a problem.

I went with both the gear drive and hardened rollers on my adjustable maltmill because I'm a sucker for the upsell.  I have no idea if they were worth it or not, but I'm over a decade in with countless bags of grain and I still consider my JSP mill as my best homebrew investment to date.  I will say that my gear drive was on backorder when I first got my mill and I had a couple of experiences where only the driven roller spun, but that was probably operator error.  In any case, I was glad when the gears arrived because I never had to think about that situation again.

Offline Philbrew

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #17 on: May 26, 2016, 10:32:44 am »
I have a cereal killer 2 roller and have had no issues with it. It is the first mill I have owned and I like that it is adjustable. My LHBS has a MM3 and I always got good crush from that as well, but had no control over gap settings. Having an adjustable mill allowed me to get what I wanted, and I really have not adjusted in the last almost 2 years. I seriously looked at the JSP after hearing so much good about it on here, but found a deal on the cereal killer for $99 shipped: tough to pass up as a first time mill buyer. Only wish would be for a bigger hopper, but whenever I get around to it, I can work something up for it. The 7 pound hopper is working great for the 3.5 gallon batches I have made so far this year down from years past when I always made 5-6 gallon batches
+1 on the $99 Cereal Killer.  I've only done six 6 gal. brews with it, but so far so good.  Adjusted for fine crush. I power it with a Milwaukee 1/2" cordless drill.  Plenty of power.
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Offline Scbrews

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #18 on: May 26, 2016, 08:33:48 pm »
I have a cereal killer 2 roller and have had no issues with it. It is the first mill I have owned and I like that it is adjustable. d a deal on the cereal killer for $99 shipped: tough to pass up as a first time mill buyer.

Same here, took a couple pounds of pale malt to get it dialed in , and clear sailin from then on.
I motorized mine using an old cordless drill, and now I love it even more
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Offline narcout

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #19 on: May 27, 2016, 12:44:29 pm »
Had to send it back a year ago to have the rollers refurbished.
Works better now than when it was new.

After 9 years of use, I'm in the same boat with my Barley Crusher.  I was considering replacing it with a Monster Mill, but I'll probably just replace the rollers. 

If I can get another 9 years of out of it for $50, great.
Sometimes you just can't get enough - JAMC

Online mainebrewer

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #20 on: May 28, 2016, 07:22:26 am »
Had to send it back a year ago to have the rollers refurbished.
Works better now than when it was new.

After 9 years of use, I'm in the same boat with my Barley Crusher.  I was considering replacing it with a Monster Mill, but I'll probably just replace the rollers. 

If I can get another 9 years of out of it for $50, great.

It was certainly worth the $35. shipping to me.
"It's not that people are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that just isn't true." Ronald Reagan

Offline jeffy

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #21 on: May 28, 2016, 11:47:01 am »
JSP adjustable in my brewery, also.
According to my notes, I have used it since January, 1993 on batch #22.  I am now on batch #359.
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
Homebrewing since 1990
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BJCP judge since 1995

Offline Indy574

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #22 on: May 30, 2016, 07:48:10 pm »
I have a MM3 and enjoy it. I was on the fence with it and the JSP and talked myself into thinking I needed a 3 roller mill. Can't go wrong either way.

Offline tommymorris

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Grain mills
« Reply #23 on: May 30, 2016, 08:55:33 pm »
I have a MM2 v1. Works great. Hopper is more than enough for 3G batches. When I used to brew 6 gallon batches, I sometimes had to fill the hopper more than once.

My rollers have some rust spots from leaving it outside in a shed for 2-3 months in a Mississippi summer while we sold a house. My wife made me hide the homebrew gear. I tried to clean the rusts spots off by running rice through the mill. That helped but you can still see dark spots.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2016, 09:18:13 pm by alestateyall »

Offline Saccharomyces

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #24 on: May 31, 2016, 05:12:19 pm »
I own a non-adjustable MaltMill (my second) and an MM3.  If I had to get rid of one mill, it would be the MM3.  The MM3 pretty much collects dust.  It was an impulse purchase.  I put several thousand pounds of malt through my original MaltMill before selling during a hiatus from the hobby, and it still worked like new.  The MaltMill may not be as sexy as the newer mills, but it has proven long-term track record.   Now, dealing with Jack can be an interesting experience.

Offline denny

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #25 on: June 01, 2016, 08:42:00 am »
I own a non-adjustable MaltMill (my second) and an MM3.  If I had to get rid of one mill, it would be the MM3.  The MM3 pretty much collects dust.  It was an impulse purchase.  I put several thousand pounds of malt through my original MaltMill before selling during a hiatus from the hobby, and it still worked like new.  The MaltMill may not be as sexy as the newer mills, but it has proven long-term track record.   Now, dealing with Jack can be an interesting experience.

That was one of the reasons I bought mine!
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline yso191

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #26 on: June 01, 2016, 09:46:55 am »
I went with the gear driven JSP because two of the other mills I have had would periodically just sit there and spin the driven roller while the passive roller did nothing.  I'd bang on them, stick stuff down into the hopper to try to force some grain into the teeth of the rollers, etc.  Very frustrating.  And yes I tried various gap settings.

Like I said in a previous post, the JSP just chews through the grain.  I turn it on, load the hopper and come back when it is done.

Here is how I have it set up:
Steve
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Offline 69franx

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Re: Grain mills
« Reply #27 on: June 01, 2016, 12:43:04 pm »
Steve, that is a gorgeous set up. I need to do something like that with my mill. Its loose, so is my drill. they both get put away after every session so its always a project to mill. Not a huge issue, but yours looks so much more convenient
Frank L.
Fermenting: Nothing (ugh!)
Conditioning: Nothing (UGH!)
In keg: Nothing (Double UGH!)
In the works:  House IPA, Dark Mild, Ballantine Ale clone(still trying to work this one into the schedule)