How to choose a malt mill for your home brewery
A good malt mill can last a homebrewer a lifetime, and a recent BeerSmith post walks through what to look for. I found the first point the most useful: a malt mill is not a flour mill. Flour mills, whether stone, burr or impact, grind grain to a fine powder with no intact husks. Husks are the filter bed during sparging, so flour-fine malt tends to cause a stuck sparge and extra particles in the kettle.
The recommended design is a dual roller mill, usually with steel rollers. Crushing between two rollers pulverizes the inside of the barley kernel while keeping larger husk pieces whole, which also helps when you lift the grain bag in a BIAB or all-in-one system.
The author lists the features he considers important. Look for dual steel rollers, often with a knurled texture to pull grain through; his has a 12 tpi knurl. The gap should be fully adjustable, and he runs about 0.039 inch (1 mm) on his mill, adjusting for the malt. A hopper of 7 to 15 pounds lets you load most of a batch at once. A solid wood or metal base helps, with the mill typically resting on a standard 5-gallon bucket.
One practical tip stuck with me: mill well away from the brewing area, because crushing creates dust and malt carries natural bacteria you do not want near fermentation or cooling gear. Finally, a long metal arm or the option to connect a household drill makes the work easier, and some mills come with a motor. In a comment, a reader noted that three-roller mills also work but are mostly commercial.
Source: BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog
The recommended design is a dual roller mill, usually with steel rollers. Crushing between two rollers pulverizes the inside of the barley kernel while keeping larger husk pieces whole, which also helps when you lift the grain bag in a BIAB or all-in-one system.
The author lists the features he considers important. Look for dual steel rollers, often with a knurled texture to pull grain through; his has a 12 tpi knurl. The gap should be fully adjustable, and he runs about 0.039 inch (1 mm) on his mill, adjusting for the malt. A hopper of 7 to 15 pounds lets you load most of a batch at once. A solid wood or metal base helps, with the mill typically resting on a standard 5-gallon bucket.
One practical tip stuck with me: mill well away from the brewing area, because crushing creates dust and malt carries natural bacteria you do not want near fermentation or cooling gear. Finally, a long metal arm or the option to connect a household drill makes the work easier, and some mills come with a motor. In a comment, a reader noted that three-roller mills also work but are mostly commercial.
Source: BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog
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