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Affordable Malt Roller Mills + Bottle Holders/Carriers?

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  • Affordable Malt Roller Mills + Bottle Holders/Carriers?

    I took up brewing after my interest was piqued by a fascinating discussion about the beer brewing process with a mate of a mate. Blue eyed and bushy tailed I wanted a 'taste' of this whole experience for myself without too much capital outlay.
    With the above mentioned blue-eyed-and-bushy-tailedness, I was horrified at the costs of some of the equipment. My first little all-grain batch, I kid you not, was done using a slightly modified tiny manual coffee grinder. 1kg of grain took me no less than 2 hours to mill.


    With what seemed the insane cost of malt mills, and my product development background I endevoured to make my own mill, with simpler and more cost effective manufacturing methods. [Cos hey, everyone wants a proper malt roller] Initially it was just for myself, but I did get a lot of interest shown from others, and the typical "...if only I had/ could afford a proper mill..." comments. So the approach changed a bit to repeat manufacture rather than once off.


    I began the process and since came across many forum discussions, both local and global, around the same venture. Typically these ventures/ discussions all came to a sudden halt or sudden silence. From my experiences, I suspect it is typically when the technicalities are encountered, such as nip angle; knurling, adjustability, concentricity, and machining costs.


    Around the same time I was also playing around/ experimenting with practical bottle management/ bottle carrier systems which seemed non existant. These, together with the (WIP) mill development has evolved into a bit of a hobby/ sideline business.


    The carriers have been moving, but the mill has reached the point of having cost quite a chunk of money, and still not finalised (because I am taking a fresh approach, a lot of experimenting has been required). So my eventual question from all this:


    Do you guys think there is or would be a need/ demand for such mills, and it is worth carrying on with? I am expecting the cost would be somewhere between typical corona mills and typical existing roller mill costs, hopefully closer to corona mill costs. I will probably have a traditional dual roller version and also a roller-plate version.


    And in the same vein, would the typical bottler likely be interested in 4-pack; 6-pack etc bottle holders/ carriers?


    I would appreciate any feedback from you guys who currently mill your own malt (or plan/ want to) and guys who keep bottles.
    Cheers,
    Lang
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

  • #2
    I would definitely be interested in the mill if the price is right (its all about the money when it comes to brewing equipment)

    No pictures yet ?
    The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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    • #3
      Ditto for the mill if price is right

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      • #4
        Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
        I would definitely be interested in the mill if the price is right (its all about the money when it comes to brewing equipment)

        No pictures yet ?
        Well the mills are still a bit of a work in progress...

        -The entry level roller-plate mill (this is one of the prototypes and things are still changing slightly from images):



        GINORMITYPLATEROLLERMILL1.jpg

        GINORMITYPLATEROLLERMILL2.jpg


        -The twin roller mill (this is one of the prototypes and things are still changing from images):



        GINORMITYTWINROLLERMILL1.jpg



        The bottle carriers are pretty much finalised, just more variants in the pipeline:





        Attached Files
        Cheers,
        Lang
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

        Comment


        • #5
          What would your price-point be on an adjustable double roller mill?

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          • #6
            It would be price dependant. I have a Corona mill and very happy with it. Not prepared to spend thousands on a roller mill.
            Everyone must beleive in something, I beleive I'll have another beer

            Comment


            • #7
              Capture.PNG

              Because I am still experimenting a bit I don't know firm costs. I am basically trying for "a roller mill that doesn't cost what a roller mill typically costs, and something 'better' than a corona that is not that much more than a corona" There is that very prevalent product gap noted in the image above, that I think is what we are all looking for (screenshot from Beerlab's available mills)

              The roller costs are the killer, but if I had to hazard a guess...

              Adjustable Roller-Plate Mill: ~R1400-1600
              Adjustable Twin Roller Mill: ~R1800-R2000
              Cheers,
              Lang
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

              Comment


              • #8
                I can source a twin roller with a hopper overseas for around $130, so with import duties and shipping, it will be around R2.5k.

                So throw in a hopper and I think you'll have a market.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Langchop View Post
                  [ATTACH=CONFIG]1692[/ATTACH]

                  Because I am still experimenting a bit I don't know firm costs. I am basically trying for "a roller mill that doesn't cost what a roller mill typically costs, and something 'better' than a corona that is not that much more than a corona" There is that very prevalent product gap noted in the image above, that I think is what we are all looking for (screenshot from Beerlab's available mills)

                  The roller costs are the killer, but if I had to hazard a guess...

                  Adjustable Roller-Plate Mill: ~R1400-1600
                  Adjustable Twin Roller Mill: ~R1800-R2000
                  That sounds great ....

                  I'm sure once you have this finalized and do some demo's at beer festivals, it will sell
                  The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I reckon so too

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      My dad has an antique like this on display ....

                      Could it work, or will the grind be too fine since it was originally made for coffee beans?

                      Screenshot_8.jpg
                      The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
                        My dad has an antique like this on display ....

                        Could it work, or will the grind be too fine since it was originally made for coffee beans?

                        [ATTACH=CONFIG]1693[/ATTACH]
                        Seems to be the similiar principal as Corona, two plated grinding the grain. Do not see anyting you can adjust for grain fineness, so that might be an issue, unless doing BIAB then to fine grain not an issue.
                        Everyone must beleive in something, I beleive I'll have another beer

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
                          My dad has an antique like this on display ....

                          Could it work, or will the grind be too fine since it was originally made for coffee beans?

                          [ATTACH=CONFIG]1693[/ATTACH]
                          I reckon...

                          grind.PNG

                          My first mill was something like this.... and it 'worked'
                          Cheers,
                          Lang
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                          "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Thanks for all the feedback all. Very helpful
                            Cheers,
                            Lang
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                            "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I want some more of those sweet carriers of yours. I'm using that one I got from you the other day quite a bit - and I'm looking after it like gold. Nobody's taking it from me!

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