All grain equipment question

Hey, I'm gettin ready to make the jump to all grain, and I am lookin at this equipment kit

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=5420

and what I want to know from you guys, is if I get that kit, can I use my Hot liquor tank as a boil kettle, assuming I have something else to collect my wort in? I would think that I could, but I wanna know if I'm overlooking some concern. I appreciate your help.

Very nice system. You can probably set up something with Kegs or with coolers cheaper. You could mash in a cooler and still spend the money on the big boil kettle with all the fixins.

Back to the system. If I was going to spend the money, I would get a larger system. I wish I had spent the little extra to go to a 10 gallon system. It would be nice to get 2 kegs from each batch and also be able to compare different yeast strains on 5 gallon batches. You plan sounds good.

There are all kinds of ways to brew and here is a list from MoreBeer I made up. I would go with a >60,00 btu propane burner and a 15 gallon pot. You can buy a ready made cooler or you can make one from a 10 gallon Rubbermaid round cooler or a larger rectangular one. For smaller batches a round cooler with a false bottom works great. You can buy a spoon but buy stainless so it will last. You need a hydrometer and a thermometer too.
A friend just made a nice mash tun from the Ice Cube cooler and he bought a bulkhead from True Value hardware for $6.00 and a ball valve for $5.00. What I am suggesting here is do not let high prices stop you from getting you what you need. Look around and search on the internet.

Equipment list, major items

Boiler http://morebeer.com/view_product/8423/103458
Mash tun http://morebeer.com/view_product/15627/
Burner http://morebeer.com/view_product/15766/102213
Chiller http://morebeer.com/view_product/19525/102206 or http://morebeer.com/view_product/19521/102204
Spoon http://morebeer.com/view_product/15772/
Thermometer http://morebeer.com/view_product/18682/
Hydrometer and jar http://morebeer.com/view_product/18646/
Buckets with lid http://morebeer.com/view_product/16590/ and http://morebeer.com/view_product/16596/
Carboys- fermenter http://morebeer.com/view_product/6531/102270

what I want to know from you guys, is if I get that kit, can I use my Hot liquor tank as a boil kettle, assuming I have something else to collect my wort in? I would think that I could, but I wanna know if I'm overlooking some concern. I appreciate your help.

Click to expand...

Yes you can. You might want to go for the 14 gallon kettles for $25 more, especially if you want to double the HLT as a brew kettle you'll be glad you did.

+1 on mashing in a cooler system... economical, works great, cleans up well... I purchased my system from www.brewd00d.com and I highly recommend this man. I purchased his biggest system, the 60 quart, purchased a mash and lauter tun, and paid around $185 INCLUDING shipping to Maine. Then found a beer keg, cut the top off, and now I have a 15.5 gallon brewpot. The brewd00d system can accomodate alot of grain... I now brew beer in 10 gallon batches, sometimes up to 30# of grain.

Just some food for thought....

If you want to use your HLT as a boil kettle, then just get some buckets for your wort. As soon as you are done sparging, pour your wort into your HLT and let it rock.

I describe the single burner/single kettle method here: www.suebob.com/brew/allgrain.htm