[LeeH]

What mills are we using? I don’t need anything really large but I only want to buy this once. 

A lot of old posts suggest the barley crusher but I’ve read problems with a failing o ring?

Thanks. 


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[mainebrewer]

I had a Barley Crusher for several years. The failure of the"O" ring is nothing to be concerned about. It usually dies during the first or second use. It doesn't affect the performance of the mill. I got about a 1000 pounds of grain through the mill before it had to be re-built and about 700 pounds before it needed to be re-built the second time. At that point (about a year ago), I bought a Monster 2 roller mill. I've put about 350 pounds of grain through it. So far, so good.

The manuf of the Barley Crusher offers a lifetime warranty and will re-build the mill at no charge. Of course, you do have to pay for the shipping both ways.

[KellerBrauer]

I had a Barley Crusher for several years. The failure of the"O" ring is nothing to be concerned about. It usually dies during the first or second use. It doesn't affect the performance of the mill. I got about a 1000 pounds of grain through the mill before it had to be re-built and about 700 pounds before it needed to be re-built the second time. At that point (about a year ago), I bought a Monster 2 roller mill. I've put about 350 pounds of grain through it. So far, so good.

The manuf of the Barley Crusher offers a lifetime warranty and will re-build the mill at no charge. Of course, you do have to pay for the shipping both ways.

Greetings brewers - I have been using a Barley Crusher for about 18 months now and I love it!  And, yes, the “O” ring is not required for operation.  I think it may be there as a shipping component.

Guestion for Mainebrewer - I’m curious why you chose to buy another mill if you had such good luck with the Barley Crusher? 1,700 pounds is a lot of grain to put through that machine.  I’m surprised you went in a different direction.

[LeeH]

The postage back to the US would be too expensive unfortunately. 

I’ll have a look at the monster mills.  Thanks. 


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[dls5492]

I have used the Barley Crusher for 8 years with no issues.

[mainebrewer]

I had a Barley Crusher for several years. The failure of the"O" ring is nothing to be concerned about. It usually dies during the first or second use. It doesn't affect the performance of the mill. I got about a 1000 pounds of grain through the mill before it had to be re-built and about 700 pounds before it needed to be re-built the second time. At that point (about a year ago), I bought a Monster 2 roller mill. I've put about 350 pounds of grain through it. So far, so good.

The manuf of the Barley Crusher offers a lifetime warranty and will re-build the mill at no charge. Of course, you do have to pay for the shipping both ways.

Greetings brewers - I have been using a Barley Crusher for about 18 months now and I love it!  And, yes, the “O” ring is not required for operation.  I think it may be there as a shipping component.

Guestion for Mainebrewer - I’m curious why you chose to buy another mill if you had such good luck with the Barley Crusher? 1,700 pounds is a lot of grain to put through that machine.  I’m surprised you went in a different direction.

The knurling on the rollers wears down and then the rollers will no longer grab the grain and pull it through the mill. This doesn't happen all at once and for the last six months or so before sending it to be re-built each time, I would have to mess with the mill to get it to feed grain every time I brewed until it just wouldn't feed grain no matter what I did. Since I got ~1,000 pounds the first time and ~700 the second, I wondered if the next time would be 500. I believe that the rebuild involves re-cutting the knurling on the rollers. I'm assuming that the first recut probably was deeper than the hardened surface on the rollers. As a result, the knurling wore out sooner the second time.
I've also heard/read of others getting much more use out of their Barley Crusher than I did. Maybe the rollers in mine were softer than others, no idea.

[denny]

I've been using an adjustable JSP for nearly 20 years.  It's still works perfectly after milling thousands of lb. of grain.  I don't think I'll ever need to buy another mill, but if I did, I'd buy the same thing again....https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Brew-Schmidling-Adjustable-Maltmill/dp/B0064OEVHE

[jeffy]

I've been using an adjustable JSP for nearly 20 years.  It's still works perfectly after milling thousands of lb. of grain.  I don't think I'll ever need to buy another mill, but if I did, I'd buy the same thing again....https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Brew-Schmidling-Adjustable-Maltmill/dp/B0064OEVHE

Me, too.  I tried to look up when I got this mill, but couldn’t find the date.  I know it was in the late 90’s. 

[LeeH]

Do they work with a cordless drill?


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[Robert]

I've been using an adjustable JSP for nearly 20 years.  It's still works perfectly after milling thousands of lb. of grain.  I don't think I'll ever need to buy another mill, but if I did, I'd buy the same thing again....https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Brew-Schmidling-Adjustable-Maltmill/dp/B0064OEVHE

That's my LHBS listed as selling that, not sure the Amazon listing is current.  LHBS hasn't been able to order anything from Schmidling for a couple of years (don't remember exactly,) since Jack decided to retire.  They haven't had any JSP mills or parts in the store a long time, they've been selling Barley Crushers instead.  My understanding is that whatever parts you've got in your home brewery are the last you're going to get, and all of us who've loved our JSP mills will have to find something else going forward if we need to replace.  I'm very sad, and wish I'd ordered the case-hardened rollers when I bought mine, they're starting to show their age. 

Do they work with a cordless drill?


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If you can get one, yep.  The shaft has a flat for a crank with a set screw, but you can still chuck it in easily enough, just might need to try twice to get it where it doesn't wobble.

[denny]

Do they work with a cordless drill?


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Yep...just fine.

[Slowbrew]

Like the others, my BC worked great.  Right up to when it didn't anymore.  I sent it in to be rebuilt and was back in business.  The first round lasted ~7 years and the rebuild hung in around 2 years.  I really liked that little mill but the trend line didn't look good on the rebuilds.  (and the o-ring serves no purpose except to make you worry you did something wrong  )

I replaced it with a MM3 Monster Mill.  The reasons for the MM3 were more like "this one goes to 11" than any real technical specs.    I point that out because a 3 roller mill is more finicky than 2 roller.  It took me months of tinkering to get it working right.  You may have better luck but a 2 roller mill is easier to setup and just use.  I have a milling table with a dedicated motor to drive it.  I admit I don't have the strength to crank it by hand anymore.

Paul

[mainebrewer]

About a year ago, when I was looking around for another mill, I considered JSP and Monster. But, from reading the JSP website it was apparent he was retiring and pretty much going out of business. I also just didn't want to do any fabrication to supplement the small hopper that was available. So, putting it down to personal preference and general laziness, I chose to go with a Monster mill.

I motorized my Barley Crusher several years ago when I decided I had better things to do than spend 15-20 mins cranking the mill. I was able to use the same motor set-up on the 2 roller Monster.

[RC]

I've been using this for a while now (~2 yrs) and haven't been disappointed. And I homebrew a LOT.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/motorized-maltmuncher-pro.html

[ynotbrusum]

I use a JSP mill turned by an American Ale Works low speed motor.  I built a hopper using a large funnel placed in a 6.5 gallon brew bucket.  This motor rocks:

 https://allamericanaleworks.com/information/