Hello, I am a returning brewer after a lay off of a few years. I am actually deployed with the US military overseas for a year and I've been brewing here with great results via Midwest Supplies extract kits. I would like to return to all-grain brewing when I get home, but I would like to find a better way to do it.
I went with the 10gal Gott cooler and single infusion mashing before. I found that hitting my mash temperature was hard to get right--easy to miss on either side. My efficiency was relatively low, but some of that may have been the local brew shop's miller being set too wide. The beer wasn't appreciably better than extract, but I never made a 'bad' all-grain batch.
I was thinking that something that allowed me to recirculate and add heat directly may be the way to go. I have considered a Northern Brewer Megapot and a 3500W induction plate for step mashing, but still a little leery of using the induction plate. I could just get my Gott going again with a milling machine of my own and add ice watch/boiling water as needed to hit temps. I just thought step mashing may be a good option. I have also thought of turning my HLT into a manual RIMS setup with the Gott cooler as the mash tun, and a recirculating pump in between. BIAB is also a possibility, but I know little about it other than the basics. The High Gravity electric BIAB system looks very close to what I am after, but not at $1100!
Question is: what is a best 'bang for your buck' time wise, all-grain mashing method that is reliable in terms of results and such? Any and all advice welcome, and thank you ahead of time for your suggestions.
I went with the 10gal Gott cooler and single infusion mashing before. I found that hitting my mash temperature was hard to get right--easy to miss on either side. My efficiency was relatively low, but some of that may have been the local brew shop's miller being set too wide. The beer wasn't appreciably better than extract, but I never made a 'bad' all-grain batch.
I was thinking that something that allowed me to recirculate and add heat directly may be the way to go. I have considered a Northern Brewer Megapot and a 3500W induction plate for step mashing, but still a little leery of using the induction plate. I could just get my Gott going again with a milling machine of my own and add ice watch/boiling water as needed to hit temps. I just thought step mashing may be a good option. I have also thought of turning my HLT into a manual RIMS setup with the Gott cooler as the mash tun, and a recirculating pump in between. BIAB is also a possibility, but I know little about it other than the basics. The High Gravity electric BIAB system looks very close to what I am after, but not at $1100!
Question is: what is a best 'bang for your buck' time wise, all-grain mashing method that is reliable in terms of results and such? Any and all advice welcome, and thank you ahead of time for your suggestions.