My New Monster Brewing Hardware Grain Mill

Here is my new Monster Mill MM-2 Standard 2-Roller Grain Mill. I might have gone for the 2-inch rollers version but I don't have a 1/2" drill. You have to draw the line somewhere, I guess.

Per the recommendations in the instructions, I set the shaft towards the center of the base. That way, the mill will counterbalance the weight of the drill and balance on the grain container. You can also mount the mill under the base.

I don't usually read instructions, but I really recommend reading them in this case before you touch anything. I messed with the thumb screw and changed the preset gap on at least one side without realizing it. I guessed which side I had changed and set the other side by eye. I confirmed this with a spark plug gapper to .045". The instructions recommend marking this pre-set setting with a Sharpie magic marker, or a center punch for a more permanent mark. More on this below.

Here is my new mill all assembled.

The bird's eye view.

I did my first grind yesterday, brew day. Perhaps I had the gap all wrong. Nothing was going through. I know this isn't very scientific, but I just kept opening the gap a little bit at a time until the grain started going through. Above is the resulting crush. I had to stop milling about four times because the drill started smoking. But it only took five to ten minutes or so to crush 14 lbs of grain. I got about 77% efficiency from my mash.

Conclusions

This is a REALLY nice grain mill. There is nothing cheap or make-shift about it. The hopper is a heavy gauge steel. This is perfectly adequate for my needs and should last at least as long as I do. About the only thing I hoped for that wasn't included was a sticker or decal with their cool Monster Brewing Hardware logo. Now that I have a grain mill, I can buy uncrushed grain in bulk, save some money, and crush it only when needed resulting (hopefully) in fresher tasting beer.

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