I’m shopping for a grain mill but not sure which to get. The larger hopper seems to be a bonus, but the mill itself looks like pretty straight foreword. Any advantage to buying the more costly ones?
What mill are you looking at? I have a Barley Crusher w/7 lb hopper. It’s served me well for over 100 batches.
The Monster Mill MM3 gets good reviews.
Jsp maltmill rocks, I wouldn’t own anything else.
I have the MM2 and am very happy. I believe the basic hopper holds about 10 lbs. You can also get an extension that will increase capacity.
I’ve heard great things about the JSP Maltmill as well. No doubt you’d be happy with a MM or JSP. When I was searching, I ruled out the Barley Crusher because I read several cases where guys reported one of the rollers eventually stopped working consistently.
IMO it’s worth paying a little extra for a very good mill that should give you many years (or decades) of service.
Good to know. Thanks for the replys.
I’ve had a Crankandstien mill for years. Can’t remember how I found it… Google v1.0 I guess. Anyway, it works great.
I have add my MM2 for almost 2 years and love it! The couple times have had issues (both do to things I did to the mill) and had to contact MM for help they were amazing about getting back to me to fix the issue. When I was shopping I talked to the owner about which mill to get, he didn’t at all try to sell me up and was really honest. Great produce and service. Good luck on your search!
I have had a Barley Crusher for about 7 years and it’s served me well, however it’s starting to do the slip thing and needs to be sent in for reknurling. I’ll probably sell it after it’s refurbed and get a 2 roller Monster Mill with the hardened rollers.
[quote=“bstein”]Jsp maltmill rocks, I wouldn’t own anything else.[/quote]Me too.
I love my BarleyCrusher with the 7 lb hopper. Works great, easy to adjust the gap if desired.
Ultimately I bet it doesn’t really much matter which mill you buy – they’re all good. Personally I just find it easier to get one with the hopper already installed versus having to make your own. Otherwise just go with whatever is cheapest wherever you shop – they’re all good.
[quote=“dmtaylo2”]I love my BarleyCrusher with the 7 lb hopper. Works great, easy to adjust the gap if desired.
Ultimately I bet it doesn’t really much matter which mill you buy – they’re all good. Personally I just find it easier to get one with the hopper already installed versus having to make your own. Otherwise just go with whatever is cheapest wherever you shop – they’re all good.[/quote]
+1 on the hopper, I made a half-baked hopper for my MM2 and after fighting it for a few months purchased the metal hopper and never looked back.
I do think theres some merit in buying the crusher with the largest surface area on the rollers, simply because with time the knurling will wear and smaller rollers mean less knurling to being with. But if you don’t brew that often you may never wear a crusher out.
I just use a Costco sized cereal box for a hopper for my BC. Fits perfectly inside the 7 lb hopper and lets me fill w/about 15 lbs.
Was about to get a 15lb Barley Crusher, but now I’m seriously considering a JSP Maltmill Model A adjustable instead. :shock:
Will the JSP allow me to get a fine BIAB-quality crush?
How big is the hopper?
+1. I also had a good conversation with the MM owner and he didn’t try to upsell me either. Was very honest about his product and made sure I got what I needed for my use case.
[quote=“pointyskull”]Was about to get a 15lb Barley Crusher, but now I’m seriously considering a JSP Maltmill Model A adjustable instead. :shock:
Will the JSP allow me to get a fine BIAB-quality crush?
How big is the hopper?[/quote]
I can crush extremely fine with my JSP. The hopper only holds about 3 lb though.
[quote=“El Capitan”][quote=“pointyskull”]Was about to get a 15lb Barley Crusher, but now I’m seriously considering a JSP Maltmill Model A adjustable instead. :shock:
Will the JSP allow me to get a fine BIAB-quality crush?
How big is the hopper?[/quote]
I can crush extremely fine with my JSP. The hopper only holds about 3 lb though.[/quote]I made a hopper for mine which holds 25 lbs.
After much back-and-forth I just ordered the Barley Crusher.
It was in my price range, especially through Beersmith.
[quote=“El Capitan”][quote=“pointyskull”]Was about to get a 15lb Barley Crusher, but now I’m seriously considering a JSP Maltmill Model A adjustable instead. :shock:
Will the JSP allow me to get a fine BIAB-quality crush?
How big is the hopper?[/quote]
I can crush extremely fine with my JSP. The hopper only holds about 3 lb though.[/quote]
I can get 15 pounds in it, when extended with a Costco cereal box.
[quote=“pointyskull”]After much back-and-forth I just ordered the Barley Crusher.
It was in my price range, especially through Beersmith.[/quote]You’ll be happy with it, I’ve probably milled around 1500# with mine. The rollers are starting to show some wear and it stalls out sometimes, I need to send it in for reconditioning.
[quote=“Glug Master”]The rollers are starting to show some wear and it stalls out sometimes, I need to send it in for reconditioning.[/quote]If you haven’t already done so, try flipping them around to bring the other edge of the knurl into play.
