Come up with the most minimalist setup

I've always been tweaking with my gear throughout time in this hobby.

What would you list for the most minimal setup- 5 gallon, all grain, 1 corney keg for serving? Money isn't the driving force but minimal gear is.

I have my idea that I'll add further down the post.

A no-chill BIAB setup seems like it would get you pretty close.

NathPowe said:

A no-chill BIAB setup seems like it would get you pretty close.

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Ya that would be a simple setup. With the whole no-chill (and I know people have success with it) I'm still weary of adding really hot liquid to plastic - you just can't convince me that is a good idea health wise.

BIAB w/immersion chiller or ice bath?

I'm using two large stock pots and a big sieve - works for mashing and boiling. Plus a plastic bucket to ferment and a plastic keg to mature. I don't chill anything.

I'd like to do an experiment with minimal chilling. Chilling to around 90 or so, then transferring to airtight container and pitching yeast a week later. I can get to 90 degrees in 8 minutes with my immersion chiller, but it takes about 10-15 to get to pitching temp after that due to the small temp difference between the water and the wort. I know a prechiller would fix that, but it's worth considering. Maybe add a campden tablet to the wort after transferring, 2 days later that shouldn't matter anymore.

pricelessbrewing said:

I'd like to do an experiment with minimal chilling. Chilling to around 90 or so, then transferring to airtight container and pitching yeast a week later. I can get to 90 degrees in 8 minutes with my immersion chiller, but it takes about 10-15 to get to pitching temp after that due to the small temp difference between the water and the wort. I know a prechiller would fix that, but it's worth considering. Maybe add a campden tablet to the wort after transferring, 2 days later that shouldn't matter anymore.

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To save 8 minutes on brew day your are going to wait a full week before pitching?

A BK with a false bottom will work as mash tun and sparging pot as well. Two five gallon buckets: one fermenter, one bottling bucket. They will stack inside each other when not in use, and stand/stack inside the BK when not in use. The keg will stand inside the buckets when not in use. If you are looking at the smallest footprint space wise, I believe this is a viable option. I do not keg, so I really can't be of any help there. YMMV

The no-chill option is very big in Australia. I don't know if it is because the water resources are limited, or what seems to be most of the home brewing community are very Earth Conscious. I built myself a dual 22' x 5/8" Immersion Chiller, resembling a rib cage type, and now I want to be sure the exiting water gets recycled, and doesn't just go down the drain.

pricelessbrewing said:

I'd like to do an experiment with minimal chilling. Chilling to around 90 or so, then transferring to airtight container and pitching yeast a week later. I can get to 90 degrees in 8 minutes with my immersion chiller, but it takes about 10-15 to get to pitching temp after that due to the small temp difference between the water and the wort. I know a prechiller would fix that, but it's worth considering. Maybe add a campden tablet to the wort after transferring, 2 days later that shouldn't matter anymore.

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Just high gravity brew and put 2 gallons of boiled water in your freezer. I will take wort down to about 105-100 in no time with immersion chiller. Add wort to chilled water and it will go to about 70-75 and pitch.

I do this with session beers a lot - BIAB and your brew day is 3 hours tops.

shoreman said:

Just high gravity brew and put 2 gallons of boiled water in your freezer. I will take wort down to about 105-100 in no time with immersion chiller. Add wort to chilled water and it will go to about 70-75 and pitch.

I do this with session beers a lot - BIAB and your brew day is 3 hours tops.

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I prefer full volume boil to partial. But I can see the appeal. I'd rather not mess around with the hop utilization though.

pricelessbrewing said:

I prefer full volume boil to partial. But I can see the appeal. I'd rather not mess around with the hop utilization though.

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Ya I hear ya, I'm usually either brewing Belgian singles or session pale or IPAs this way so it's more about loading the hops at the end/ dry hopping or just upping the saaz by an oz.

I believe its been shown that hop utilization isn't nearly as sensitive to boil gravity as Tinseth says it is... but I don't have any links on hand.

I'll second the BIAB, no chill as being about as minimal as you can get. You could put the hot wort right into one of those SS Brewtech's SS fermenters. But it limits how you can use hops due to the prolonged isomerization. Shoreman's idea of small batch, high grav brewing and just mix it down with water is quite nice. Just need to do an extra little bit of thinking to target desired gravities.

If you don't mind small batch brewing, it offers a lot of flexibility due to the scale. Recently I've been doing minimashes with extract as a base grain (quick beers) since my home brewery isn't done and everything is in disarray. I mash a pound or a little more of grains (base grains and specialties/adjuncts for a true mash) in a paint strainer bag in a double walled/vacuum SS growler (hydroflask) quite nicely. Boil on the stove with a modest pot. Get it below isomerization temp by top-off water. Let it cool over night in the bar fridge fermenter. Pitch in the morning.

shoreman said:

I've always been tweaking with my gear throughout time in this hobby.

What would you list for the most minimal setup- 5 gallon, all grain, 1 corney keg for serving? Money isn't the driving force but minimal gear is.

I have my idea that I'll add further down the post.

Click to expand...

Stainless boil kettle, bag for BIAB, ferment in that same kettle with the to on. Siphon and a 1 keg setup

Weezy - I've actually done quite a bit of experimenting with the partial boil and BIAB for session beers. I originally got the idea from a Randy Mosher article called "Lazy Mashing" he does no sparge, high gravity brews with extra hops and malts - I'll dig up the article.

I think as homebrewers we tend to be a little heavy handed with hops and I find that I'm getting more balanced beer, the only downside so far is when you don't hit your efficiency - if it is low it can really impact a low gravity beer.

brettwasbtd said:

Stainless boil kettle, bag for BIAB, ferment in that same kettle with the to on. Siphon and a 1 keg setup

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I wonder if the cold break would have any impact on the flavors but this is worth exploring - wonder if you could build a semi airtight lid with an airlock like the new brew kettle fermentor conical thing.

brettwasbtd said:

Stainless boil kettle, bag for BIAB, ferment in that same kettle with the to on. Siphon and a 1 keg setup

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If I were gonna do the no-chill thing I would probably try something like this. I know there's a cat on HBT (I forget the username) that ferments in his kettle with no issues. Pretty cool idea.

Cheers.

I'd have zero qualms over fermenting in a SS pot, but the same pot you just boiled in? there's so much crap in a kettle post boil that I'd sure expect it to affect beer flavor.

Shoreman - send me a link or something. More and more I appreciate what the old school fellas are saying. You know I'm a low grav brewer too and you're right, hitting your gravity is critical especially 1.035 and less... keep the DME on hand. I've always been a conservative hopper as well. I did a little spreadsheet comparison of some popular clone and homebrew IPA/DIPA recipes, and they're at ~21 g/gal for flameout hops.

We need to share recipes one of these days.

Here is the article http://allaboutbeer.com/article/the-lazy-brewers-guide-to-mashing

I've done 10 gallon batches like he's talking about with great success especially my saison. That was with a 9 gal pot - it's versatile

Oh ya and recipes check my blog in my signature - I list all ingredients, I'm trying to catch up on all my old brews but it's taking some time.

Also working on a post about these quick session beers.

Get a large stainless pot- Do BIAB in it, then clamp a lid on it and do no-chill- then slap an airlock on the top, and ferment in it, then replace the airlock with a dip tube, open another bung and put in a ball lock post, then carb and serve- just make sure the dip tube is above the trub-

1 container

Falcon - I agree, have you seen this video?

http://youtu.be/YXKw6l0J0Sc

I wonder if you could build a similar lid, no chill, drain straight to a keg. Might get trub caught in the drain though.

shoreman said:

I wonder if the cold break would have any impact on the flavors but this is worth exploring - wonder if you could build a semi airtight lid with an airlock like the new brew kettle fermentor conical thing.

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Weezy said:

I'd have zero qualms over fermenting in a SS pot, but the same pot you just boiled in? there's so much crap in a kettle post boil that I'd sure expect it to affect beer flavor.

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Y'all need to check out this recent experiment. Apparently the trub doesn't make too much of a flavor difference: http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

brettwasbtd said:

Y'all need to check out this recent experiment. Apparently the trub doesn't make too much of a flavor difference: http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

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That is a great read. So this fall I'll do some BIAB no-chill in kettle, pitch yeast in kettle to see if this is a viable minimalist setup.

I'll also do a full boil and high gravity brewing (partial boil) with the method above. I'll update this post and blog about it.

So potentially you could go with:

8 gal stainless pot
Outdoor burner
BIAB bag
Hydrometer
Thermometer
Single keg w/ mini fridge

Optional - in New England you could skip the fridge in fall/winter as my basement is perfect serving temps, I turn my Keezer off

Am I missing anything?

Very cool. I never saw that blog before. I like the way he thinks

He did a kettle fermenter test as well, for the very reason Shoreman is asking about...
http://brulosophy.com/2014/07/31/ultimate-single-vessel-brewing-ditch-the-carboy/

Anyone the ferments in stainless pots have ideas about clamping down the lid and adding an airlock via drilling a hole? I'm not worried about the first 2-3 days but after that I'd like to help seal it off.

I don't think adding an ale pail to the biab setup above is really adding much in the way of gear. It'll store inside the brew pot when not in use, and it gives you a) something to measure and carry your water in, b) a bucket to put the wet bag of grains in when you lift it out, c) a reasonably sealed fermenter and d) a handy bucket. Also, you can then stand the ale pail fermenter inside the 8 gal kettle (assuming it's a wide one) and use it as a swamp cooler.

Minimalism is good, but it can be taken to far. I'd regard some kind of temperature control of fermentation as essential - my MA basement needs it in summer and winter as it's too hot for ales with the heat on. In spring and fall it's often too cold for ales. Saisons always need extra heat though. And to me it's just not worth making beer with free running fermentation temperatures, as the beer isn't good enough.

I hear ya, but fermenting in stainless is very attractive, especially right in boil pot. I currently use buckets and it's one extra possible contamination spot plus you have replace it fairly often.

As for fermentation temps, I think it gets played way to much in the homebrew community - I recently bought an aquarium heater for Belgian beers but that's only because I'm done with brewing in the summer - it's not enjoyable. I do prefer brewing with the seasons and I know my basement really well temperature wise. If you don't know your fermentation environment than ya you need some sort if control over it.

Now lagers that's another story and I don't brew them .

Busch lite 30 packs are $13. That's about as minimalist as you can get.

FourSeasonAngler said:

Busch lite 30 packs are $13. That's about as minimalist as you can get.

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That's called a disgusting waste of money.

You really should keep an eye on Craigslist for cheap bar fridges.... or full size fridges which can be had for nothing, if you have the garage space.

After reading this post, the idea of fermenting in one of my pots intrigued me. to that end I took my silicone lid gasket for my stout tank, and tried to fit it over the lid flange on my smaller 10 gallon SSPot ....guess what, it fits. Since I'm also a wood worker, one thing I have lots of is clamps. So I put some small spring clamps on the edges, to hold the lid to the (now gasketed ) flange. I poured three gallons of water in and flipped it over, to see if it holds water. It does. Now I don't believe that it would hold the full volume obviously but thats tight enough for fermenting, perhaps with an airlock hole drilled in the lid.

Perhaps if you could find nesting pots, you could have two, and when in storage take up a minimum amount of space.

Also the suggestion of finding a small chest freezer, is an excellent one. Get control of your temps, get control of your beer.

I think you could put a couple weights (dumbells) on the top of the kettle. I don't think you have to worry about "bugs" crawling in, unless there's a draft.
I recently fermented a hefe in the brew kettle that turned out pretty good. First 3 days in the kettle, stirred once or twice, then transferred to a secondary keg with airlock (gas post blowoff hose). It was at 1.017 when I transferred, and finished at 1.011. I liked the process. I'd like to be able to do that for all beers, but I do brew lagers and I don't think it'd be a good idea to ferment in a kettle for a lager...but perhaps I'll try it sometime just for kicks, maybe just give it a little longer in primary.

Interesting, I have some spring clamps and will tryout.

No reason to be so ocd about sealing the lid. The intent is to keep floaties in the air from drifting into the beer and bringing wild yeast and bacteria with it. It's not that you shouldn't button up a lid but just keep in mind the true purpose.