Customer Reviews

Great right out of the box. Review by ZBco

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Provides perfect crush with no adjustments. Would suggest using 18v or 24v cordless drill instead of the handle. Makes a much quicker and more uniform crush with a constant speed. The handle is kind of hard to line up with the groove on the spindle and the intermittent speed creates uneven crushing. If I had to do it over I would buy the bigger hopper but one can be built easy enough. Overall a great investment and awesome improvement over my old Corona mill (aka flour mill). (Posted on 4/3/13)

Great Value Review by thebrewgeek

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I've used this crusher for over a year (about 25 batches) and absolutley love it. I only use it with a powered drill and have never had any problems. I kept the factory settings and my efficiency is a consistant 73% - 76%. The O ring snapped off after about 20 batches but it has no effect on the product. This product rocks and highly recomend purchasing it. (Posted on 2/11/13)

Very sturdy and fast Review by Thomas

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This mill does a great job crushing my grain. Usually does about 20 lbs of grain in about 2 minutes using my cordless Dewalt...doesn't even put a dent in my battery charge. (Posted on 9/10/12)

Great mill Review by sol

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I regularly achieve 85% eff batch sparge using the factory set gap. Thats using a 12V drill at max speed. Get a name brand cordless drill Makita, Dewalt, Hitachi, Milwaukee, etc... Cheap brands like Black and Decker dont have the power to get the job done and will leave you hand cranking the rest of your grain.

Only issue is that the hopper only holds about 8-9 lbs of grain and most of my recipes call for around 10-11. They sell one with a larger hopper, but it really isn't an problem just convenience. (Posted on 7/27/12)

Definitely use a drill Review by Jason

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I haven't even bothered to attach the handle, knowing beforehand that I was definitely using my drill with this thing. This is my first mill I've ever bought/seen/used/etc., but I've been impressed with it's performance. Only knock (which is more my fault) is that you need to check the mill spacing prior to your first use. Spacing must have been altered during shipping. I assumed that it would be set at what the "default" setting and I ended up crushing my grains too fine (equaling a stuck sparge). However, next batch, I adjusted the spacing appropriately, and we had success! (Posted on 5/23/12)

Ditch the handle and all is well Review by Mike F.

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I just purchased this from northern brewer and my first thought was this is garbage!!! I was using the handle that came with the mill after five minutes of fighting the thing I gave up and hooked up the Bosch drill and all was awesome! I get the same efficentcy I get from buying milled grain but now can mill what I want when I want without having to drive to pick up grain. definttly recomended! I just brewed a total of three batches without issue using the factory settings. (Posted on 3/25/12)

O-Rings Review by Beer in Utah?

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Awesome mill! Just FYI if you dont have a heart attack like i did. The BC comes with factory O-rings that are for Q&C testing and such. They will fall off and end up in your grain! I had 1 O-ring the first time i used it and 1 more the 2nd. It does not effect the function of the BC which i found out by searching online brew forms. Only 1 roller turns and the other one is passive with the grain. (Posted on 3/13/12)

Killer crusher Review by JB

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The first time I used the BC I used the hand crank like a sucker. It took me around 30 min. to crush the grain for a 5 gallon batch. The second time I hooked up my drill and went through 14 lbs. of grain in jus a few minutes. The BC is one of the best home brewery investments I have made. (Posted on 2/26/12)

POS Review by jason R

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Only for the average homebrewer!! I brew two or three times a month. I used mine for 1 year and the knurls have chipped off or flattened. Now the rollers don't even grab the grain and push it through the rollers. Total crap. I bought this because of the price, but as Dad always said buy the best you can afford and this POS is the perfect example of why his advice is gold. It might be a best seller, but that is because of the price not quality. This is the only product from NB that has disappointed me and I shop here several times a year! (Posted on 1/12/12)

Use a 5 gallon cooler Review by Daniel

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Love this crusher, my efficiency has jumped from the 50% to +70%. Works real good. When grinding it works great over a 5 gallon round cooler. If your using a drill, usually an 18 volt battery will only make it through about 6 lbs of grain. So have extra batteries or use the handle. I bought this directly from the maker, but the price is the same here. Real happy with northern brewer, so if I had to do it again, I'd buy it from them. (Posted on 11/26/11)

Much better design than the B3 Grain Gobbler Review by R.Gibson

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I used to have the B3 Grain Gobbler 4" grain mill, and it worked "OK," however, I was never really impressed with the build quality, and in fact had to return the first one they sent me because the bushings were all bored out and sloppy. The second one was only marginally better, but figured it was as good as I could afford, so I kept it. I sold it a few years ago when I got out of brewing for a while.

Recently I just got back into all-grain brewing, and bought one of the 4" barley Crushers from Northern Brewer. I just received the Barley Crusher, and was immediately impressed with the build quality. Everything is made out of metal, rather than being mostly plastic in construction, the bushings are nice and tight, and the overall build quality is excellent.

The hopper is also MUCH easier to use. Since it is wider at the top, you can easily pour your grain in from another bucket. With the B3 mill I had to put a large funnel on top of the makeshift LME jar with a hole cut in the bottom that it came with.....

I think my favorite feature though is the fact that the piece of wood that the mill is mounted to fits perfectly over a plastic bucket, sealing the grain dust in during the milling process. Previously when using the B3 mill, I had to move outside to prevent contaminating everything in the garage with malt flour.

Also, the bottom of the mill board is fitted with little "feet" that prevent the board from sliding around on the top of the bucket...while still allowing the mill to be quickly and easily removed after milling...whereas the B3 mill is hard-mounted to the bucket, which makes removing the grain from the bucket more of a challenge.

...again, excellent attention to detail and build quality. Add to that it's actually less expensive than the competition. This is hands-down the best value in home-brew-sized grain mills! (Posted on 7/18/11)

Must have Review by Max

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Great price and it works great too. Lifetime warranty sold me 100%. I take my time when the drill is on it cause I'm in no hurry but it will go fast too. I got a $10 used drill and am glad I did because after 13lbs it gets pretty warm!!! You can find it a little cheaper elsewhere but if you buy ANYTHING else with it the $7.99 shipping pays the difference....so support Northern Brewer and order some grains at the same time!!! (Posted on 6/10/11)

Great buy! Review by Joseph

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Well I've had mine for two years now, and after talking with the makers to be sure that there were no issues motorizing it (constant one-sided pressure against a bearing is likely to cause wear, I figured) they told me that there were no issues, and that the bearings were guaranteed as long as I owned it, no questions asked.
I hooked mine up to a gear motor with chain drive. This thing would pass your mother in law if you so chose (most people don't use gear motors, and have a much faster turn rate -suggested is about 200-300 RPM, but mine is considerably slower. I'm in no hurry. Freshly crushed grain can't be beat. I mounted it and haven't looked back. I've had NO issues of any kind with it. I did try resetting the rollers a little tighter, but some stuck mashes convinced me that the original factory settings were just right. So they are back to original and will stay that way (grin). (Posted on 4/20/11)

Good once you know what you're doing. Review by AussieBrewerinColorado

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For new buyers, I recommend if you use with a drill, just go full force with your hopper full of grain. I tried to "test it out" with a little grain first and had a horrible experience, thought I got a dud or the rollers were too far apart. But once I just put it all in, all went well. The drill will give a bit of kickback so don't think something is wrong if it gets jerky, just put more speed.
My only issue is the hand cranks (I got 2, don't know if that is normal), are hard to get on, I don't know if the hole is too small, but even when I screwed it down it slipped. So for me, as long as i'm using the drill it works great. Can't comment on hand crank because it wouldn't work for me. Also, if you use a drill, use a plug-in one! First time I tried a friends mill, battery died halfway, too much hassle. (Posted on 4/10/11)

great crusher Review by swib

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I had three reasons for buying this mill: 10 gallon all grain batches require a lot of grain, i can be sure my grain is very freshly milled, and in the long run it will save money because unmilled grain is cheaper by the pound. If any of those apply to you, then get this mill, it's rock solid and works great even at the factory preset gap. (Posted on 3/22/11)

go all grain Review by Waszup

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The crusher fits on top of a 5 gallon pail to catch your grist. The rubber o-ring was spun off during its first use but the crusher still functioned. I won't replace it, the crusher doesn't seem to need it. If you're hand cranking it will become tiring. Combined with yeast washing and using grain I expect this to pay for itself in 7 uses plus better tasting beer. cheers. (Posted on 3/9/11)

Great Crusher Review by Lui in Idaho

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I purchased this item this spring when I moved to all grain brewing. I chose this particular brand and model because of the features it offered -- dual rollers and full adjustability. (To be honest, I have yet to adjust the setting.) I thought that the price was much less than the Schmidling Mill or the Monster Mill, and it wasn't that much more than a Corona Mill.

I do not use a cordless drill, but I do use a corded drill with a keyless chuck. This thing will run through 10 pounds of grain in no time. This is one great grain mill. Love it! (Posted on 1/22/11)

Warranty is worthless Review by Mike

My barley crusher came with a bent roller. I contacted BC products to either return the crusher or to get a new roller so that I could fix it. They offered to sell me a replacement roller for $50 - for my crusher that came defective.

Repeated calls and emails have been ignored. (Posted on 1/14/11)

Nice Review by Ed

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Great Grinder. I just left it at the factory settings. I am brewing almost every weekend. (Posted on 9/27/10)

Great little grinder Review by Bob

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I normaly do not give reviews but I ran across this looking at the online catalog and had to put my 2 cents in. This is a great little grinder, I have never adjusted the gap ,the factory setting is perfect. This is a great investment, (Posted on 8/17/10)

Great Mill Review by Jborder1369

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This mill is very durable and gobbles up grain quickly with a good crush. I like alot! (Posted on 7/2/10)

GREAT INVESTMENT VERY PLEASED !!! Review by Al

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Stepped up to all grain and needed a mill,chose The Barley Crusher 7 lb. and could not be happier,use w/cordless drill work well. (Posted on 6/7/10)