First all grain, some questions

My roommates and I are going to try one all grain batch before August when we have to move to new places away from each other. I've been reading a lot about it, and I think we're going to go for it soon. I do have a lot of questions though. I've read about people brewing on stovetop, where they split the wort up into separate smaller pots, but is that smart, or should I just get a bigger pot and wait a lot longer to reach temps? Kaptain Karma, I'll probably want to use your five gal. pot and your gas stove if that's ok, since you're usually around when I brew anyway, and you're all of a mile away. The other question is about the lauter tun. I hear that you can just drill holes in the bottom of a bucket, and that'll work fine, but won't some grain get through those holes? Should I strain it again through a strainer? Any other info you think I'm obviously uninformed of would be helpful as well.

rewster451 said:

I hear that you can just drill holes in the bottom of a bucket, and that'll work fine, but won't some grain get through those holes?

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They shouldn't. And even if they do, you will recycle the first cloudy runnings of the lauter until it runs fairly clean. This will establish the filter bed and no more grains would be falling though the holes (give that the holes are reasonably small).

And yes, get a bigger pot. And try full wort boils for extract brews before you try AG. This will teach you how to handle the larger volume and how to chill it.

Kai

rewster451 said:

I've read about people brewing on stovetop, where they split the wort up into separate smaller pots, but is that smart, or should I just get a bigger pot and wait a lot longer to reach temps? .

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It's best to get a large pot then you'll only have one volume to contend with. Volume does matter ..hop utilization, OG of wort. It's just much easier to do one calculation per variable in "ALL-GRAIN" brewing. Since it's your first all-grain I recommend at least a 10 gallon pot. Good Luck.