How much do you brew in total?

I am considering (a while down the road, like 12 months) leaving my little cake mixes behind (ie pre-hopped extract kits) and getting down and dirty with the grains. I figure if I am going to get into it it is better to go big or go home, so I am thinking of just skipping extract brewing.

Anyway, before I start getting long-term in my planning and having the hubby get out the welder and renovate one of our sheds I am wondering what I am getting into.

Right now hubby and I have about 25-35 gallons in whatever stage of brew (primary or secondary), we are putting on about 10-20 gallons every two weeks. If I do go AG am I basically writing off all my free time? Say I am brewing at the high end of 40gallons/ month, what can I expect?

Hubby thinks that we will always have some kits going, in particular he mentions that he wants to keep playing with the stout kits. I beg to differ and think that once we go AG we wont want to back up on that. I mean if he wants to play with a stout he wants to be able to control grains and hops and the like.

And one more question while I have the thread going... am I going to want to plan to be brewing outside? Or if I am inside am I renovating to include vents and the like? I just don't see hubby wanting to carry wort 75ft every brewday...

Thanks

basically going AG requires a longer time(5-6hrs) on brewday but then everything else is the same. your going to find the trade-off though is in money per batch ingredient wise. i have a group of friends who brew exclusively with extract at 35-40 american per batch. i can do the exact same beer (but lighter srm) for about half that.


you will find that your writing recipes in your spare time though, or maybe thats just me


editops, i can use my gas stove indoors for doing ag in winter and the vent does a good job of ducting the extra moisture out without a problem.

Go all grain! You won't regret it. If you plan 40 gallons of 8 different recipes your looking at a lot of work, it takes me around 5 hours to do a batch, regardless if it's 5 or 15 gallons.

Go for it as well, you will love all grain. Takes me about 6-7 hrs for brew day but I do a few things different, my chosen.

I brewed extract in 5 gal batches and it took about 2 hours start to finish.

I now brew AG, but in 10 gal batches. It takes me about 4 to 5 hours start to finish, so the time per gallon is close to extract, but the cost is at least half.

My AG brewday takes about 6 hours including setup and breakdown, which is pretty complete since I do not have a dedicated space, so can't just walk away from it. Most people don't go back to extract once they go AG, if they have a choice. You will find the cost savings and control over your product irresistable. In my opinion, extract brewing is just a way to hook people into the hobby who otherwise wouldn't dive in ($$$). Extract brewing isn't really there to make beer, it is there to make homebrewers.

I really think much of the time in AG is managed by planning. The brewday can be well planned and broken down into prep the night before and brewday (my way with a 2 yr old!) or even doing overnight mashes)

I think the cost of ingredients is one great factor in going AG. Especially if you can arrange to buy in bulk. Your husband can still play around with stouts... you use the same base grains and vary the roasted grains. If anything, he will be able to play more. Cheaper.

It is a commitment in time, space, and equipment... but if you are really enjoying the hobby.... I do not think you will regret it!

As of right now a kit is probably costing me about $25-$30 to put off... trick with AG is that there is only one LHBS that sells any of the grains here... since I don't know what I am doing yet I asked neighbour HBTer what I could make and he suggested that I could do a good IPA or APA from what the place sells. I would want some more options, which means ordering online and paying shipping. Haven't yet looked into that...

Either way it won't be an issue until hubby finishes school, since we can do up the equipment until then.

I think I would be okay with 10gal or even 15 gal batches, rather than 5gal ones. And am I correct in saying that the pretty 3 pot set-ups make it easier to do 2 batched in one day? I read through Yuri's build thread, and another video of a brew day and that what it seems to me... correct me if I am wrong.

I'm doing the same thing. I did a kit awhile back and while the results were drinkable I wasn't pleased and found the process of brewing from kits to be boring. I helped out on an all grain day with a friend of mine and found the process much more enjoyable.

This Christmas I am building myself an all grain setup and am just waiting for the last few pieces to arrive before I can get down into brewing.

In my not so humble opinion - Definitely go big or go home, and do it right the first time.

The large appeal of all grain brewing to me is the science of the process, planning the brew day and all the intricate details which can make or break a beer; yet despite all of the steps involved it can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it.

Besides, what sounds more interesting; emptying the contents of a plastic bag into a pail or spending 5 hours converting raw grains into fermentable wort?

I know what I've picked.

when doing a full blown AG(not deathbrewers brewin a bag method,look into it ) the 3 pots are almost required for a hot liquor(water) tank, mash/lauter tun, and boil kettle. when starting out the first 2 can be coolers to hold temps and mash over the hr time frame for the mashes. just remember that at a bare min. you need 50% more booil pot size than batch size eg 5g batch needs a 7.5g pot and that mash tun size should at least match batch size.

lady_brewer said:

And am I correct in saying that the pretty 3 pot set-ups make it easier to do 2 batched in one day?

Click to expand...

Not necessarily, you can just as easily do 2 batches with a cooler mash tun and two pots, two burners would be a little faster. Prettier isn't faster.

So far I have been okay with kits, in that I make stuff that I like drinking more than my old favorite domestic (which I no longer buy when there is no beer at home). So far hubby and I have been trying a bunch of different things, mostly to learn a bit of what we like and don't like. I figure it is a good step before getting heavy into the whole process.

Some of the things that have been a problem include the fact that hubby tries the beers and finds them all a little "wine-like" or fruity, or whatever. Methinks he is not a fan of the ales, and really that is mostly what you are getting from a kit. He is cool with the Coopers' Stout, and we have a red and a brown on now that may fit his tastes.

Unfortunately, the two that we like the best came from the Coopers' Brewmaster series, which no longer is being carried by the LHBS suppliers, meaning that we would have to order it from makebeer.net, and I would rather pay to ship grains.

As of right now I am spending way more time cleaning bottles and bottling than I am doing the actual beermaking, and that isn't how I want it to be.

Thanks for all the feedback. If you want to know what I do have access to, it is whatever they sell at http://www.clickabrew.com/ - maybe you can reassure me that I am not going to be stuck making only 2 types of beer, or ordering stuff in...

unfortunately that is a pretty lame grain selection. however even that limited selection will allow you to brew more than just 2 kinds of beer. it will just take some different techniques than what most brewers use to get the residual sugar from the higher lovibond crystal malts. this would mean being familar with decotion mashing.

styles that i could brew from that selection (recipes on hbt anyway)
edworts haus pale
" hefewiezen
biermunchers centenial blonde
big kahuna's reindeer fuel stout(with some subs)
there are others in here but these i have done and enjoy. try the biermuncher blonde as an extract. your hubby will like it methinks.



edit: also you may be able to get them to order in a specific grain for you when they place their normal order.

Thanks for the help I am not sure how long I can hold back on the going big... I started brewing in August, and am getting pretty itchy... gonna look into the blonde, expect me back (in the right section) with questions

edit: hold for help - drinking and typing

Don't rule out ordering from http://homebrew-supplies.ca/ either. I just placed a large order with them for some equipment and misc things I can't get locally. Granted I haven't received my order yet but so far everything has gone smoothly.

First, spend a bit of cash and get into kegging. Free up all that bottling time.

Next, Do DeathBrewer's Stove top All grain for a batch or two. See if the whole AG process is something you want to get into. Like everyone said here, AG adds about 3 hours to my brew day. Some days I have the extra time, some days I pull out the bag of DME and brew extract.

One of the big benefits of going AG is the price. If you can't get grain cheaper than an extract batch, there might be no sense in it. Or, you could buy some bulk DME and a few pounds of specialty grains. I didn't see if you're doing full boils now, but it would be a great step for you. Stepping up to full boils, extract with grains, and a kegerator will keep you busy for a while.

B

bol said:

Don't rule out ordering from http://homebrew-supplies.ca/ either. I just placed a large order with them for some equipment and misc things I can't get locally. Granted I haven't received my order yet but so far everything has gone smoothly.

Click to expand...

I sent another in my area a pm on this place, but I was wondering what shipping might look like? Forgive me, as I am now going to go poke at this site and see what comes up there.

lady_brewer said:

I sent another in my area a pm on this place, but I was wondering what shipping might look like? Forgive me, as I am now going to go poke at this site and see what comes up there.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't want to deter you with what shipping cost me, because my order contains 70lbs of large equipment (10gal brew kettle, burner, accessories, etc etc.) Certainly not your normal grain order (which I believe they have a cheap flat rate on.)

bol said:

I wouldn't want to deter you with what shipping cost me, because my order contains 70lbs of large equipment (10gal brew kettle, burner, accessories, etc etc.) Certainly not your normal grain order (which I believe they have a cheap flat rate on.)

Click to expand...

Actually, I got my reply, so I know the flat rate for grain. Most of the other equipment we may hobble together an make. Afterall I did get hubby a welder, so he can make me stuff as well as his bike stuff.

I have seen Darth's sticky, and I may try that next... atm we are working with an electric stovetop, but there is a flamehood on it... I am thinking with the right pot we could step things up to the next level without too much additional equipment.

(Starting to think I am pulling this one to the wayside, but it is my thread...)

I started out AG on an electric stove... it is possible... just not ideal. Unless that is all you have. Then it is ideal! :fro:

You should contact the north country malt group. I think they have a supply warehouse distributor out of Quebec Canada. The bulk grain shipping would be from there to you if that's the case!

You can make a bunch of different styles with the malts you can get already. Your oven can make a few more flavored malts out of what selections you have.

You are limited in yeast selections but with the safale, safbrew, saflager dry yeasts, you could probably get those shipped pretty reasonably.

The thing with going big is you don't brew as many different styles as you would doing smaller batches, but you do not need to brew as often, so the time is less when brewing larger volumes. Litre bottles would help speed up bottling. Couple pints isn't much for one person.

I usually hit my 200 gal limit...

I do 5 gallons (AG) every weekend if I can. I'd estimate I spend about 10 hours a week on brewing-related activities. If I had a second pair of hands for cleaning and bottling, it'd nearly cut that time in half.

I have a 5 gallon rubbermaid mash tun and I double batch sparge. It takes me about 4.5 hours for everything on brewday. I actually felt a lot more confident doing all grain brews as opposed to doing extracts. It is definitely more fun and not really that difficult.

Thanks for the info and the boost of confidence! Hubby suggested that the kit we picked up yesterday might be the last of its type, so I have the green light there...

Now all I have to do is pick a starting point for the next step, find a recipe and analyze it to death so that I can freak out when I mess up eight things on brew day

I am sure I don't have to tell you that I will keep you posted, and take pics (since I bet it will be more interesting than just pouring extract, adding sugar and water and pitching yeast )

-Bad Coffee - I haven't done any full boils, since I have been using pre-hopped extract kits, not exactly challenging beer making... not that it stops the product from going down smooth!

+1 on not being that difficult. Also, don't let some of the brewtimes scare you. AG session usually takes me 4 hrs including cleanup. Can be as little as 3.5 if you're right on top of it or 5 hrs if you relax or do a longer boil/mash. The extra hands of your husband can also help to shorten up that time.