Brewery Mills

Brewery mill choice comes down to roller size, roller quantity, and quality. Quality is determined by reliability, dust egress, and construction quality, which translates to grind consistency.

Roller Length

Regardless of roller quantity, initial surface area determines throughput. As you can see from the table below, this is determined by length. Width contributes to longevity and consistency. The greater the consistency of the grind, the more consistent the end product. And the more tightly you can control the grind, the less particulates you have. And since particulates reduce yield, less of them means you can have better yield.

Roller Width & Weight

The heavier and wider the rollers of a mill, the more consistent your grinds. Greater consistency in your grain allows you to turn out a more consistent beer or spirit. It also lets you avoid particulates, also known as fines.

Roller Quantity

More rollers means more control, and more control means better yields. By pre-crushing large grains with an initial pair of rollers, a more uniform mix can be delivered to your second pair. This allows your second pair to mill more grain to the optimal size for extraction without extra particulates. This means you get better yields from your grain, less particulates in your mash, and less dust in your brewery.

Build Quality

Facets of build quality other than roller weight and size include the control mechanism of the rollers itself, how dust-tight the connections are, and the quality of components including the motor. A higher-quality mill will require less service, will be easier to repair when it's needed, and will create a lot less noise and dust. Less dust means cleaner air, cleaner floors, and fewer pests. This is particularly important because once insects and rodents have been attracted, they are extremely difficult to get rid of. The RMS and ABM roller mills are the highest quality brewery mills that make sense (Buhler makes much nicer roller mills if you want to spend >80k). The ABM mill provides the features brewers wanted that aren't available in RMS, but the only size available now is the 9x9.