Let's Talk About Mills

[barls]

been using a mashmaster mk1 for about 3 years now. cant fault it. hand cranked it till last year now motorised. goes through 9kg in about 5 minutes.
cheers barls

[mordantly]

Monster functions without any band you speak of.. the grain turns the non-driven roller as it get crammed through.

[codewritinfool]

Barley crusher here. Works fine.

[brewinhard]

Barley crusher here. Works fine.

+1.

[PseudoChef]

I know the genesis of this thread is old, but I'll go against the grain (heh) on the Barley Crusher comments.

I've had mine for almost 6 years now and it won't crush unless I stick my hand underneath to manually engage the slave roller. It'll then stop engaging at random parts during milling.

The advice received is to clean the assembly frequently, which I do. However, this only caused the malleable screws that the mill is built with to become stripped over time. One became completely stripped, and the screw head even broke off.

I did get a replacement side housing and screws when I consulted BC, so their customer service is good.

I've read this problem from multiple people (slave roller not engaging) including online forums and multiple people in my club. I also see many people state they have had no issues, but I feel this latter population should be more in the majority and I shouldn't see so many people disappointed with the product.

It may seem like a nice, affordable option, but I would spend the extra money to avoid headaches down the road.

[Beer_Baron]

I know the genesis of this thread is old, but I'll go against the grain (heh) on the Barley Crusher comments.

I've had mine for almost 6 years now and it won't crush unless I stick my hand underneath to manually engage the slave roller. It'll then stop engaging at random parts during milling.

The advice received is to clean the assembly frequently, which I do. However, this only caused the malleable screws that the mill is built with to become stripped over time. One became completely stripped, and the screw head even broke off.

I did get a replacement side housing and screws when I consulted BC, so their customer service is good.

I've read this problem from multiple people (slave roller not engaging) including online forums and multiple people in my club. I also see many people state they have had no issues, but I feel this latter population should be more in the majority and I shouldn't see so many people disappointed with the product.

It may seem like a nice, affordable option, but I would spend the extra money to avoid headaches down the road.

I have been using the "pro-series" mill at the SoCal B3 store and it had the same problem, the slave roller would not engage. I believe that the folks there modified it by putting a knob on the side of the roller. You twirl the knob to start the slave roller spinning before you start putting the grain in and then it doesn't get stuck.

[herbaljoe]

I know the genesis of this thread is old, but I'll go against the grain (heh) on the Barley Crusher comments.

I've had mine for almost 6 years now and it won't crush unless I stick my hand underneath to manually engage the slave roller. It'll then stop engaging at random parts during milling.

The advice received is to clean the assembly frequently, which I do. However, this only caused the malleable screws that the mill is built with to become stripped over time. One became completely stripped, and the screw head even broke off.

I did get a replacement side housing and screws when I consulted BC, so their customer service is good.

I've read this problem from multiple people (slave roller not engaging) including online forums and multiple people in my club. I also see many people state they have had no issues, but I feel this latter population should be more in the majority and I shouldn't see so many people disappointed with the product.

It may seem like a nice, affordable option, but I would spend the extra money to avoid headaches down the road.

I had exactly the same problem with the Barley Crusher. Spent many frustrating brew days dealing with it and finally bought a Monster. Haven't had a problem with it yet...

[NervousDad]

My barley crusher lasted for about 8 batches of beer, then one roller started sticking and I ended up shredding all of my grain. I tried taking it apart and cleaning with a little oil... No luck. I ordered a Monster Mill 3 and I hope I'll be happy with it.