Easy Stovetop All-Grain Brewing (with pics)

Thanks for the thread.. I'd love to try this

lady_brewer said:

I am curious how long you are waiting to see if your water will boil?

I did 4 gallons of water on my stove the other day just as an experiment... at half an hour the pot was still cool to the touch. At 50 mins it had reached strike water temps, at 1hour it was boiling. It wasn't super fast, but it did get there.

Granted your stove may not do it... but mine is old and cheap, so I would be surprised if it is better than average.

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The last time, I spent about an hour on about two gallons. It boiled, but it was a PITA, and have been using my little cooker since. I think I was doing an extract, and I think I boiled the water pre-syrup and then post-syrup for actual brewing, and I just didn't have the patience for it anymore. I even tried putting the pot on two eyes, but I do not get good contact with one of them because of the shape of the bottom of my pot.

You get lulled to sleep with it taking forever, step away for a second, and then have a boilover.

My older stove was much faster than the newer one I have now. I think the new one must have a timer or something on the thermostat...not fun.

DeathBrewer said:

I would use your burner. I do this method all the time with one burner. You should never heat the pot when there are grains in it, anyway.

1. Heat mash water...mash in. Set mash pot aside and cover with blankets to keep warm. Do not set on concrete...it'll suck the heat right out of it.
2. Heat sparge water while you are mashing.
3. Sparge.
4. Mix pots together.
5. Heat and boil.

As for corrections...if you use the proper calculations, you shouldn't need any corrections. Use the green bay rackers site for good calculators.

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10-4, DeathBrewer....that is what I had in mind and glad to see I am on the same page as you.

I have this brew session all out of order. I posted a week or two ago that I saw an AG recipe I liked, so ordered the ingredients. Then, realized that although I had PM'd before, I had never AG'd and may not have the equipment. I started looking for help. Found your thread, lost your thread, then found it again and have been reading it over and over. I was feeling pretty good about my equipment....my two "large" pots, my monster sized grain bag that reminds me of what I used to put my football gear in, and my gas burner.

That is when I realized that I sold my IC on ebay. I built it for the experience of building it, never used it because I was only brewing 2 gals at the time, so thought I would try to sell it. The guy who bought it loves it and sends me an email from time to time. Now I need it back since I'm going to 5.5 gal volume. So just bought more copper! (I know I can put it in an ice bath, but I wanted to give it a 110% on this first attempt.)

Is that not backwards or what?! I was a little impulsive on this move to AG. It took me about 45 seconds to decide I was going to be an AGer. And I only have this weekend to get it brewed or I am going to have to wait a few more weeks.

Splitting the wort can help.

Can I make this work with a 4 and 5 gallon pot?

Absolutely. You'll probably maintain heat better.

Just check the "can i mash it calculator" here: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml and ensure you have at least 3/4 gallon headspace to work with (stirring and bag)

Split between the two pots for your boil and it should work fine.

You will not get great efficiency, however, and your grain is limited, so extract may be required if you're doing anything other than a very light beer.

By saying grain is limited do you mean in weight? I'll max out of room?

Yeah, you can't use enough water with a large amount of grain to get great efficiency. So you will either get low efficiency or not use enough grain to get you to a high gravity.

You need X amount of grain to get to a high gravity and you need Y amount of room to use X amount of grain. If either X or Y is limited, you're going to suffer efficiency.

Remember when sparging that the grain absorbs a lot of the liquid from the mash, so your sparge cannot be too full either.

Brewed up Biermunchers cream of 3 crops cream ale recipe the other day. Panicked a bit when i was too hot for my mash temp, added some cool water and got it down and managed to hold temp for a 90 min mash only loosing 3 degrees. I used the green bay rackers calculator for my water volumes and hit pre boil and post boil volume. And for my first AG attempt got 82% efficiency! Cooled to 60 degrees and pitched notty and was showing airlock activity in 3 hours!!!

Best part was that it really wasnt much more work than an extract batch, plus no boilover since I didnt have to add dme or lme.

Cant wait to brew again

I'm brand new to homebrew but would like to try this all grain approach. This may have been asked somewhere throughout this long thread but I'm going to ask. If I have a 7.5 gallon pot, can I just use this for everything (strike water, steep

You need a pot to mash in and a pot to sparge in. The only way you can use one pot for heating all water is if you have a cooler to use for the mash.

I just brewed this stove-top all-grain: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/lvbens-iipa-168194/

Instead of mashing with the grains in the bag, I mashed without the bag. I put all of the grains directly into the water:




Then I used the bag (a 5-gallon paint strainer bag from a hardware store) in my 7-gallon bottling bucket as a lauter tun:






I did a single-batch sparge. I used 15 pounds of grains and got ~77.5% efficiency!!!!!!! I am very happy with the results! IMO, this is way better than mashing in the bag!

Just ran through this whole thread for the second time. Thanks so much for keeping up with it, DeathBrewer.

My first AG ingredients (for a DogFishHead 60m IPA clone) arrive tomorrow, and I found today that my nice new slick-top stove will bring 8 gallons of water (in a SS 8.75gal pot) to a rolling, serious boil in about 30 minutes, so I'm freakin' stoked to do this thing.

I heart all-grain.

DeathBrewer, if you ever make it to the hilltowns of Western MA, you drink for free.

My kitchen smells glorious.

I mashed 13.5lbs of grain, sparged it by pouring over the grain bag, teabagging it, and soaking for ten minutes, threw it all together in the fantastic 9g SS pot courtesy of eBay.. Now I have the almost seven gallons of goodness that I scavenged boiling away like mad on the "fancy" stove that my wife insisted we get (God bless her.. I wanted the cheap one!) and it's a good night.

Deathbrewer, thanks for such an awesome tutorial. I have 2 questions if you don't mind. In your example did you use 3.25 gal of strike water and then 3 for sparge? I am just confused by this part of your post:

"i started with 3 gallons and i lose a gallon to absorption, so i want my sparge water to total 3 gallons...this will give me 5 to start"

Also, was this a 5 gallon batch recipe? Would I use a five gallon all grain recipe with your method? Thank you!

If anyone else knows the answers to these feel free to chime in, I'm pretty psyched to try this since I don't have the time/money right now for a tradition all grain setup.

The grain absorbs some of the liquid (although a full gallon with this method is doubtful, so I should change that post) so if you mash with 3 gallons, you won't end up with 3 gallons in the end. That's all that post means.

I mashed with 3 gallons of strike water. I then transfer the bag to 3 gallons of sparge water and then let it drain...this gives me 5+ gallons to start my boil.

You can use a much larger sparge volume if your pot can hold it and your burner can handle it.

This was a 5 gallon batch, but if you start your boil with 5 gallons at the beginning of your boil, you will need to top off at the end.

Hope that helps. It's a little early for me.

DeathBrewer, thanks for getting back to me. So, with this method it would be OK to use a recipe that is made for a 5 gallon batch? Also, while I am at asking a dumb question... how do you measure efficiency?

Yep, you should use about 1.25-1.50qt/lb of grain. Use this calculator to determine your strike water (water heated before grains are added) temperature.

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Those calculators will also tell you how big a vessel you need to mash however many pounds you want. I generally want at least 0.75 gal of headspace for stirring and room for the bag, et cetera.

DeathBrewer, one more final question if you don't mind. Which of the below bags would you recommend for steeping the grains in with your stovetop method?

Thanks again!

Extra Fine Nylon Bag (Drawstring)
Extra Large Muslin Bag
Jumbo Coarse Nylon Bag
Large Coarse Nylon Bag
Large Muslin Bag

I am looking at this page: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178_33_403

Efficiency is measured by taking an hydrometer reading and comparing it to your extract potential (the amount your grain can possibly extract vs what you did extract.)

You will need to take a sample, cool it, and take an hydrometer reading. You will need to know what volume you are at to determine your efficiency.

Software like promash or beersmith can help with the calculations.

earwig said:

DeathBrewer, one more final question if you don't mind. Which of the below bags would you recommend for steeping the grains in with your stovetop method?

Thanks again!

Extra Fine Nylon Bag (Drawstring)
Extra Large Muslin Bag
Jumbo Coarse Nylon Bag
Large Coarse Nylon Bag
Large Muslin Bag

I am looking at this page: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178_33_403

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Either the Jumbo Coarse Nylon Bag (18 x 32) or the Large Coarse Nylon Bag (20 x 22)

The 18" MIGHT be too small...you can't cram grain in there...it has to be loose and free-flowing. The bag is there for the sole purpose of getting the grain seperated from the wort.

I use the 24 x 24 bags like this one:

http://morebeer.com/view_product/15689//Grain_Bag_-_24_x_24_Medium

It looks like morebeer is out of stock, but my LHBS has them.

Awesome, thanks again. I can't believe this thread isn't a sticky.

thats probably because i didn't type the initital posts with proper punctuation



Nah, the partial mash thread is stickied...and they kinda link to each other through my posts.

Worth noting that this is the output I get from the Brewheads.com efficiency calculator...

100% Efficiency 1.084
Your Efficiency 83.1
SRM Color 4.0

Just started a brew using this method. It seems to be going swimmingly.:rockin:

I am using 16lbs of grain so I am glad I have been hitting the gym because I am going to need it to drain the grain. I'll post my efficiencies once I determine them.

So my first all grain. Can anyone walk me though this a little further. I have 2 pots 1 22qt (5.5 gallon pot), 1 16qt (4 gallon pot). I am making an alt. Going to mash at 148 degrees. There is 10lb 4oz of grain.
I know the pots could be a bit bigger but which should I being using for mash and sparge. So which should I be using for which. When mashing so low how long should I go for?

Deathbrewer, your all grain stovetop method is a great post that gives people with limited space hope.

I have a question, what do you think about the idea of using 2 stove burners and "Splitting" their grain mashing into 2 pots. so 1/2 done on 1 burner and the other 1/2 done on the other. It would take 2 grain bags, but would be more effective IMO for people limited in space. Also, it is really easy to find 2 x 5 gallon stainless Stock pots.

Also it is easier/faster to boil 2 gallons of water than it is to boil higher amouts on your stove top, Especially in stainless pots.

Go to the Green Bay Rackers calculators: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Check out the "Can I Mash It?" section:
With 10.25 lbs of grain at 1.25qt/lb, you are going to use 4 gallons of space, so you cannot use your 4 gallon pot (you need room for the bag and to stir.)

I would suggest using the larger pot for your mash and mashing for about 60 minutes. Then, pour over some of your sparge (pour over the grain and into the mash pot) before moving to the sparge pot. This will ensure you are not going to spill over in the sparge pot and will also increase your efficiency.

Wrap your mash pot in some blankets or something to try and maintain that 148°F temp, but don't worry too much if it drops down over the hour.

Use the Strike Temperature Calculator to determine your strike water temp to get yourself at 148°F. Good luck on the alt...they can be fantastic beers.

Instead of pouring some of my sprage water over the graints iinto the wort, should I just have more water in my strike pot to start. Instead of using 3 shold I bump it up to 3.75. That way I will only need 2.25 gal in the sprage pot. Am I thinking correctly here?

DeathBrewer said:

This was a 5 gallon batch, but if you start your boil with 5 gallons at the beginning of your boil, you will need to top off at the end.

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Yea, my limitation is a 5.5 gallon (24qt) kettle, and when I get my numbers down, I can sparge so I am right at the top of the kettle, and slowly bring to a boil to get a little space for the hot break. Doing it this way only yields me with 4.5 gallons at the most, and often less.

To combat this, and often when I get lazy (and don't crunch the numbers), I will sparge with more, top off my kettle, and save the left over sparge water for adding back into the kettle once a good amount has boiled off. Of course, if you plan on gaining gravity points from boiling, this won't help, but it gets me to my 5 gallon mark.

petergriffen said:

Instead of pouring some of my sprage water over the graints iinto the wort, should I just have more water in my strike pot to start. Instead of using 3 shold I bump it up to 3.75. That way I will only need 2.25 gal in the sprage pot. Am I thinking correctly here?

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Yes and No. What you are thinking can be done, and you are correct in needing less in the sparge, but the amount of water you mash in with is very important to how the beer will come out (More so than temp, if I am not mistaken). Some beer styles require less or more strike water. The sparge doesn't really matter, as with this method it is just to make up volume, so that can vary as you need it. However, strike amount is very important to the fermentability of the beer.

Google 'Mash Thickness', and you should come across plenty of info.

petergriffen said:

Instead of pouring some of my sprage water over the graints iinto the wort, should I just have more water in my strike pot to start. Instead of using 3 shold I bump it up to 3.75. That way I will only need 2.25 gal in the sprage pot. Am I thinking correctly here?

Click to expand...

No. You are pouring over your grains after they are out of the wort. (A colander would come in handy here.) You do not have enough space to add more water. You need room for the bag to move around and room to stir. I always leave about a gallon headspace no matter what.

Doing a small pour-over will help with efficiency anyway.

agenthucky said:

Yes and No. What you are thinking can be done, and you are correct in needing less in the sparge, but the amount of water you mash in with is very important to how the beer will come out (More so than temp, if I am not mistaken). Some beer styles require less or more strike water. The sparge doesn't really matter, as with this method it is just to make up volume, so that can vary as you need it. However, strike amount is very important to the fermentability of the beer.

Google 'Mash Thickness', and you should come across plenty of info.

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The ratio wouldn't be too out of range for what he's trying, but it's just not a big enough pot. I mash anywhere from 1.25qt-1.60qt per pound...throughout that range will work fine, although it may change the beer profile slightly.

I would say temp is more important AS LONG AS you stay within that range.

scorchingice said:

Deathbrewer, your all grain stovetop method is a great post that gives people with limited space hope.

I have a question, what do you think about the idea of using 2 stove burners and "Splitting" their grain mashing into 2 pots. so 1/2 done on 1 burner and the other 1/2 done on the other. It would take 2 grain bags, but would be more effective IMO for people limited in space. Also, it is really easy to find 2 x 5 gallon stainless Stock pots.

Also it is easier/faster to boil 2 gallons of water than it is to boil higher amouts on your stove top, Especially in stainless pots.

Click to expand...

You could do that, but how are you going to sparge? Are you going to use 4 pots? If so, that will work great.

I have often split the boil in the past, but never the mash. Splitting the boil (and splitting the hops accordingly) has worked great, tho.

DeathBrewer said:

The ratio wouldn't be too out of range for what he's trying, but it's just not a big enough pot. I mash anywhere from 1.25qt-1.60qt per pound...throughout that range will work fine, although it may change the beer profile slightly.

I would say temp is more important AS LONG AS you stay within that range.

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I thought I read somewhere that thickness plays more of a role in the fermentables and body than temp does, but it's from memory, so it might be backwards.

From my understanding mash thickness plays much more of a role on the mash pH than most other factors, pH being an important aspect of mashing. So indirectly affecting the beer, mash thickness affects the pH more than the temp.

And found this in BYO:
"...thinning out the mash makes the enzymes less concentrated and hence more susceptible to temperature denaturation"
meaning thicker mashes are not as affected by temp fluctuations (specifically high temps I believe)

I know I read somewhere that one was more important than the other, but until I find it, I can't really say for sure.

All I know, is that if you control both, you are better off!

pH is always a concern and something I have never addressed in these threads....I should really add it. Checking your mash pH and correcting it will definitely help ensure a tasty, to-style beer. High temps are indeed the concern and I would never advise mashing out at more than 165°F...I've had a few bad batches when I was hitting my 168°F mash-out temp and was not correcting my pH...it caused some astringency.

I think the only argument is what is defined as "thick" or "thin"...many people will tell you that anywhere from 1.0-2.0qt/lb is fine, but is there really a huge difference between 1.25 & 1.60qt/lb? I used to use whatever ratio was convenient for the amount of water I wanted to use, but these days I'm trying to always hit close to 1.50qt/lb.

DeathBrewer said:

pH is always a concern and something I have never addressed in these threads....I should really add it. Checking your mash pH and correcting it will definitely help ensure a tasty, to-style beer. High temps are indeed the concern and I would never advise mashing out at more than 165°F...I've had a few bad batches when I was hitting my 168°F mash-out temp and was not correcting my pH...it caused some astringency.

I think the only argument is what is defined as "thick" or "thin"...many people will tell you that anywhere from 1.0-2.0qt/lb is fine, but is there really a huge difference between 1.25 & 1.60qt/lb? I used to use whatever ratio was convenient for the amount of water I wanted to use, but these days I'm trying to always hit close to 1.50qt/lb.

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Yea, I started with your suggestion of 1.25, but have increased it since. I like 1.5, but a lot of people even think that is too thin. I think the definition of thick is less than 2:1.

My earlier comments aren't very helpful, but cause I might have got it backwards, but I do rememner one is more important than the other.

As far as pH, get some 5.2 stabilizer, and worry less. Unless you want a beer to be as close to the style as you can get, adjusting the pH isn't as important as keeping it within a certain range. 5.2 will put you there no matter what your setup tends to, low or high. If you mash high and thick, you can always add some during the mash to correct it. I usually add .5 tbsp in my strike water, and .5 tbsp in my mash after dough in (Directions call for 1 tbsp in strike I believe). If I have a lot of base malts, pilners and such, I sometimes add a dash halfway through the rest.

Now that I've started checking my water, I've found the pH to be pretty close to what I need. The water is a little over 6, so I wait until I'm mashed, check again and then add lactic acid to adjust if necessary.

I think the 5.2 works pretty well, but I've been liking the idea of adjusting with more traditional methods, using lactic acid and/or acid malt. I think the 1 TBSP they recommend is probably overkill...it's original intention was not for brewing and the malts themselves will add some acidity to your mash.

My friend has the whole pH setup...I'm still using the strips.

DeathBrewer said:

I think the 1 TBSP they recommend is probably overkill

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Yea, they say you can't overuse it, but we all know there is a point that adding more will not help. They do market it for brewing use though, even if it's not what it was invented for.

DeathBrewer said:

I think the 5.2 works pretty well, but I've been liking the idea of adjusting with more traditional methods, using lactic acid and/or acid malt.

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Oh man, I got to chew on some acid malt this weekend. Harsh stuff. Very little must be needed, it has a large vinegar taste to it. How does that not come out in the beer?