[twocansam]

I have decided to buy a grain mill, I have decided it will be a Monster Mill with 2 inch rollers.  The question is should I go with the 2 roller version or the 3 roller version?

Also, does anybody have an opinion on the stainless or hardened rollers (are either of them worth the money)? 

I am looking at crushinig an average of 800 pounds of grain a year. 

Thanks for the info

[tschmidlin]

I'm also looking at the monster mills.  How did you decide between the 1.5 and 2 inch rollers?  I can't figure out if it's better to have 3 @ 1.5 inch rollers, or 2 @ 2 inch rollers.  Then there's the different metal choices . . . analysis paralysis.

[twocansam]

Almost everything we do as a brewery aims for bigger is better.  My decision for the larger rollers comes from mountain biking and the angle of attack of diffferent diameter wheels and obstacles.  Larger wheels have a lower approach angle and therefore roll over obstacles better, so I assumed the same applies to malt mills.  I might be wrong, I am not sure.

[tschmidlin]

Almost everything we do as a brewery aims for bigger is better.  My decision for the larger rollers comes from mountain biking and the angle of attack of diffferent diameter wheels and obstacles.  Larger wheels have a lower approach angle and therefore roll over obstacles better, so I assumed the same applies to malt mills.  I might be wrong, I am not sure.

No, I think you're right, I think a 2" roller would be less likely to jam than a 1.5" roller.  I'm just not sure how much the 1.5" roller would jam since the Barley Crusher is 1.25" and people really like those, and I don't know if adding a third roller improves the crush enough to give the 3x1.5 an overall advantage over the 2x2.  This is why I still haven't bought a mill . . . 

[Hokerer]

I love my Monster Mill but I had it easy.  I bought mine when they first came out and it was the only model available.  No analysis paralysis for me

[euge]

Makes sense.

Tom you don't have a mill?!

[tschmidlin]

Makes sense.

Tom you don't have a mill?!

Embarrassing, isn't it? 

I've got like 5 homebrew shops within a 30 minute drive of home or work and haven't had any major problems with their mills.  But I want to be able to order malt online and not feel guilty about using the LHBS mill for grains I didn't buy there (even though they don't really care).  The LHBS's typically have a really good selection, but they don't carry every malt I want to try.

[dak0415]

From what I've seen of the 3 roller mills, you can push them a little faster with less husk damage and less flour than 2 roller mills.  The 2" roller gives a longer "valley" for the grain to fall into, allowing more contact time and again a smoother crush.  The 3 roller mills also seem to separate more germ from the husk with smaller pieces, resulting in better efficiency.

I can't see any homebrewer grinding enough grain to justify the hardened rollers - now a homebrew shop yes.  The more grain you grind, the less you would need the stainless option too, unless you kept your mill outdoors near a body of salt water.

 I have a Crankandstein 2A and am very pleased with it.

My $.02

[1vertical]

There was a big discussion before the migration took place....
lots of information here.....
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=77732&hilit=mill

I settled on the Crankenstein 2 roller and I like it because of the detent lock down and
the ability to get the gap back if it wanders...customer service is pretty good also if you
need to talk to the mfg.

However, I am no where near any commercial quantities of usage.