Question about All Grain

I'd do just a little reading before taking the plunge, as there are a lot of ways to do all grain. I got started with a single 8.25 gallon canning pot and an easymasher-type screen. To this day I still usually use a single cooler, one 15 gallon Al pot and one 15 gallon SS pot. No pumps and one burner.

In the end, all-grain is pretty simple. Essentially you're just making a giant batch of hot cereal, draining the liquid, boiling the liquid, and cooling it. The only complicating factor, really, is that you're boiling and cooling a fairly large volume.

Check here, for the basics -- I think what you find will help a lot with your decision:

Personally, I find that buying complete systems is pretty pricey if you're just doing 5-gallon batches.

The difference is overkill. A system with 3 pots, 3 burners and a pump might be easier to use than a simpler system, but maybe not. There's a lot more complexity. Both will make the same quality beer.

I can't imagine why a 5 gallon system would require two coolers. Can you elaborate on where you read about this?

My system consists of two kegs. I heat the mash water in the tun and add the grain directly to it. Then I transfer (via gravity) to the boil kettle. Since I have to place the burner stand on the floor, this procedure involves two heavy lifts -- one lift to get the mash tun above the boil kettle, and another lift after the boil, to get the kettle above the fermenters to fill them.

Some people solve this problem with a pump. Some solve it by buying/ building a stand to keep the vessels in a tiered configuration so gravity does all the work. If you build a tiered system remember that you still have to empty the grain out of the mash tun at the end -- nothing saves you from having to do that.

Scott

Basically, YOU make the beer, not the equipment. Equipment choices should be based on how you want to brew and your budget. Take a look at my "Cheap 'n' Easy" system....

----------->Denny

-- Life begins at 60...1.060, that is.

Hi Walter,

The best advice I can offer about all grain brewing is to keep it simple. For years I considered going AG but hesitated because I thought I needed a lot more equipment, gadgets, ph strips, etc. Then, after reading about how easy batch sparging can be, I took the leap and haven't regretted it.

I use a converted keg boil kettle, a propane burner with two LP tanks (walmart $30 special), a 54 quart cooler with a slotter copper manifold that I built myself, a glass thermometer, and three 5 gallon buckets to brew. I use the buckets to move hot water from the boiler (HLT) to the mash tun cooler, and also to collect the sweet wort from the mash tun while the boiler (HLT) is still being used to heat sparge water.

And one doensn't have to have a large boil kettle and mash tun, either. I use these larger vessels as I prefer to brew 10 gallon batches so I don't need to brew so often.

Sometimes I don't even bother checking the specific gravity of my worts and beers. Since I batch sparge, I've never bothered to check the ph of the wort during the sparge. I also buy my grain in bulk, and have my local homebrew shop grind it (BrewCon in Boise will mill your malt for free if you buy it from them...I appreciate this service).

Anway. You don't need three kettles. You definitely don't need expensive pumps. One doesn't need to have professional quality tools to brew decent beer.

Cheers!

Scott P. Brewing in Boise, Idaho

P.S. I do recommend that you get two LP tanks for all grain brewing. Let's just say it's really inconvenient to run out of gas at ten at night after swilling homebrew for four hours...

The 2 cooler system I was referring to are sold by companies like Northern Brewery

I was pretty confused about all of the possibilities when I started as well and although I'm still a newbie I feel comfortable with my limited setup. I'm doing 3 gallon recipes using a SS pot that fits in my oven. After pouring in the strike water I mash in the oven by setting the oven temperature by thermometer.

After the mash I use a simple home made batch sparge system and then boil on the stove where the recipe size isn't an issue. I cool down in the sink with plenty of ice and then ferment in a 5 gal carboy primary before switching to a 3 gal secondary for clearing. I had the carboys from making wine so I didn't have to buy those.

I think the setup is about as simple as you can get which was what I wanted in order to test out doing all grain. Being very simple I've worked on my technique until I'm comfortable with what is going on and could get more complicated from here on in but I'm comfortable enough that I may even stay at 3 gal recipes for some time. Less to throw out on a bad batch and depending on how much you drink you may not want

You even don't really need the batch sparge system but could use a colander with a cheese cloth filter in it and pour the sparge water over the grain. You'd need to think about ensuring the grain is filtered out and hot side aeration with that technique.

It's a bit of a crude setup but cheap and easy. I grind my grain in the store where I buy it although I've even heard of people using cheap corona mills or even blenders. A candy thermometer, the SS kettle, my home made sparge setup, some long plastic spoons... that's pretty much it.

Don

You can make all grain beer with very cheap ($100) equipment or you can go out and spend several thousand on a fancy SS automated tiered system. In the end you get the same beer. There's nothing about the expensive systems that will make your beer any better than what somebody can make with cheap coolers/buckets.

What it really comes down to, is how much do you have to spend and what type of system do you want. If you like playing around with gadgets and high tech stuff, then maybe a fancy system would be more "fun". But the beer will end up being just as good no matter which type of system you get.

Regarding pot size, I like to recommend a boil pot (kettle) that is 1.5X your batch size. So for a 5 gallon batch you'd want a 7.5 gallon kettle. This gives you plenty of room to do a full boil, plus the amount you will boil off, plus some extra space so that you don't need to worry about boil overs. For the mash tun, it depends on how strong you want your beers to be. You can use a 5 gallon mash tun for 5 gallon beers, but you'll be limited on the amount of grain you can get into it and won't be able to make really high OG beers. If barleywines or other "big beer" styles appeal to you, then a larger mash tun would be a good idea. If you usually only make regular strength beers, then a 5 gallon mash tun would probably be fine.

John.

One cooler to hold your mash .... the other cooler to hold the temp of your sparging water.

I only use one cooler, 2 pots and 1 burner. No problem....see

--------->Denny

-- Life begins at 60...1.060, that is.