I’m ready to go tonight, everything’s set and I’m under the gun to get a beer brewed for a party.
And then the Barley Crusher craps out on me.
I have no time to fix it or deal with it. Recommendations for a new one?
This thing has had less than 1000 lbs through it unless I’m underestimating myself. Won’t crush a damn thing right now and the brew night is scrapped.
Looks like I’ll buy a keg for confirmation…
Are the rollers even? If the rollers are not even all the way across you will have a hard time getting the rollers to grab the grain and begin crushing.
What happened to it? In what way did it crap out?
I have the Motorized Malt Muncher Pro from Morebeer. I really like it, but recently the axle that’s welded to the roller completely sheared off. No more rolling. I was pissed. Only three years old, but in these years I’ve used several bags of Bairds MO that, unbeknownst to me, had jagged, peanut-sized rocks in them (thanks, Bairds), which jammed the rollers and undoubtedly stressed the metal.
Fortunately, I have a backup mill (ironically, a Barley Crusher) from my earlier days of when I didn’t brew as often. Hate to suggest this, but a cheap second mill is good insurance.
Yup, rollers are even. The free roller seems to be binding and won’t spin.
Just making me angry…
I used my barley crusher for 6 years before it stopped crushing. I know several brewers also had the same issue. It was a good mill for 6 years. I cleaned it and adjusted the rollers without solving the problem. I replaced it with a 2 roller Monster Mill that works great. It is heavy duty compared to the Barley Crusher!
I feel your pain. My Monster Mill has bad days where it just won’t grab the grain. Nothing like being mentally ready to brew and then your mill won’t work. I get so ticked off. I’ve always been able to get it going but I have spent an hour working on it a few times.
I’ve had the same problem. When I enailed him about it he said make sure the rollers are even. When I did that fixed the problem mostly. Sometimes though I still have to reach under the mill and turn the stuck roller by hand to get the thing to work. I’ve found that the best thing to do is to add just a handfull first and make sure it “grabs”. Then fill the hopper. Much easier than having to fix a mill with a full hopper.
nothing to add, but that’s tough man.
one of my most hated feelings of all is getting all ready for a brewday and missing one factor.
i guess you could maybe run it over to a LHBS and explain what happened and ask them to mill it?
How is the knurling on those rollers?
I bought a BC in 2007 and had to replace the rollers in 2016. I didn’t realize how worn down and smoothed out the knurling was until I had new rollers in hand for comparison. It’s been running strong since then.
I think the kneeling is still pretty good. But if I had new rollers to compare it too I might realize I’m wrong.
I can’t remember when I got it, but it really doesn’t feel like it’s had that much use compared to some people who’ve run thousands of pounds through their mill.
I’ll find time to break it down and clean it but it’s just a pain in the neck and so frustrating. Especially when the hopper is full!
I tried using the hand crank and that was no good either. I’m thinking maybe there’s dust build up on the roller.
Looks like I’ll either be serving a different batch or buying a keg of La Fin du Monde for the party.
Is this just a BC thing? My JSP is built with uneven rollers and it’s one of the plusses it has. Supposedly simukates a 3 roller mill. Dunno if that’s true, but I get a great crush from it.
This was the advice I got from the Monster Mill guy. After I evened out the rollers it wasn’t a problem but it would not grab the grain before that. it is a 3 roller mill. I realize the BC is only 2 roller.
My BC lasted about 8 years before it started giving me issues where it wouldn’t grab the grain intermittently. I assume it’s the knurling on the rollers based on things I’ve read over the years, but I can’t be 100% certain. I figured I got my money’s worth out of it at that point and splurged on a new MM3 to treat myself. That sucker is built like a tank compared to the BC.
That’s British malt for ya, even the pricey stuff is way more prone to having undesirable stuff in it than most American malt. I used to think I just kept getting the one bad bag, but over time have heard a number of pro brewers make the same observation.
I was thinking the same thing when I read Keith’s comment. If I open to the widest setting on the JSP the gaps are even on both ends but as I close the setting the gap narrows only on one end because, while one end is adjustable, the other end is fixed.
Yeah, the only design I’ve ever seen like that. You can’t deny it’s effectiveness.
Might only be applicable to 3 roller mills, which makes sense since the malt would get jammed into the gap between the 3rd roller. It did fix my problem though!
[emoji106] Conservatively, ~1,500 lbs and counting…
I would guess mine has way more than that since for at least 15 years 2 of us were using it.
After crushing grain with the Monster Mill I use my air compressor to blow out all of the junk and dust that is left on the rollers. This helps it stay clean and grind better hopefully.