Barley Crusher hopper size

Buying myself a Barley Crusher this month and trying to decide on hopper size. The extra $20 isn’t a lot, but refilling the hopper doesn’t seem like much of an inconvenience either. Who has one and what do you think?

I have one with the smaller hopper-It claims to hold seven pounds of malt, but mine does not seem to hold quite that much, but it is pretty east to add malt to the hopper as the level goes down. It might be more annoying if you brew 10 gallon or larger batches, but even for a really large 5 gallon malt bill, it only takes a few minutes to grind all the grain, even with the smaller hopper.

I have a BC with the 7lb hopper. I’ve used it for years with very few complaints. I did just (like 2 weeks ago) build a box to set on top to expand the hopper. It isn’t a huge deal to come back when the hopper is almost empty to add the remaining grain but I normally brew 2 batches each brew day. It gets a little tedious to refill teh mill several times while I have other things I could be doing.

If I bought it today, I’d spend the $20.

Paul

[quote=“SlowBrew”]I have a BC with the 7lb hopper. I’ve used it for years with very few complaints. I did just (like 2 weeks ago) build a box to set on top to expand the hopper. It isn’t a huge deal to come back when the hopper is almost empty to add the remaining grain but I normally brew 2 batches each brew day. It gets a little tedious to refill teh mill several times while I have other things I could be doing.

If I bought it today, I’d spend the $20.

Paul[/quote]
+1, I keep meaning to build a box, but I wish I’d gotten the bigger hopper.

[quote=“SlowBrew”]I have a BC with the 7lb hopper. I’ve used it for years with very few complaints. I did just (like 2 weeks ago) build a box to set on top to expand the hopper. It isn’t a huge deal to come back when the hopper is almost empty to add the remaining grain but I normally brew 2 batches each brew day. It gets a little tedious to refill teh mill several times while I have other things I could be doing.

If I bought it today, I’d spend the $20.

Paul[/quote]

+1. Agree. I have the 7 lb hopper. Not a huge deal but in retrospect probably worth the extra 20 bucks

I find the 7# hopper to be fine for what I brew, but I can see why it would be annoying for large batches or high gravity beers. Taking a pause to refill the hopper gives me a second to rest my arm, and 1 refill of the hopper every couple weeks seems a pretty minor annoyance.

Just bought a Barley Crusher not long ago. I went with the large hopper. I just crushed 12pounds of grain and it all fit in the hopper. Last two crushes I used a drill instead of hand cranking. I have a sears cordless drill that has or I should say had two speeds. The torque must have been too much for the drill because it broke. Now I use a drill with a cord that seems to work ok.

For a cheap and easy hopper extender, get a 5-gal water carboy and cut off the bottom then invert into the existing hopper.