Help me graduate to AG.

I am taking the plung after reading as much as I can about the process. I am starting small with 1/2 batches until I get my keggle and burner so what I have so far is:

5 gal brew pot
2 gal pot for HLT
5 gall Igloo cooler (buying today)
All items I need to convert to MLT
Sparge Jug 1/2 gal
Mash paddle

And I have all the equip to brew extract and ferment.

Am I missing anything?

Would it be better to use a bag in the mlt or a single SS braid?

Should I just shell out for PH5 for no worry mashing?

Good reecipe to start with?

For the most part I know what I am doing but want to make sure I don't overlook anything.

Thanks for any help or pointers!

I have a 7 gallon igloo cooler and sometimes wish it was bigger so I would reccomend getting a larger cooler if you ever plan to graduate from half batches...If not that cooler will work great!

I would either use a braid or a manifold for your mash tun. If you plan to batch sparge the braid will work great, but if you plan to fly sparge I would look into building a manifold!

I would recommend trying it out with just the things you already have. Just pull off one little mash to get your feet wet... it doesn't even have to come out good.
The only thing you may need is something to sparge in, but this could be a pasta strainer if you size the batch right.
I would suggest a 1 to 3 gal batch. Once you pull this off, you'll never want to spend that much time to make so little beer, but you'll know more about how to do things, and how you would like to do things. This is how I started (and I haven't improved much... but I now have big plans).
Oh, a tip for mashing; pre-heat your oven to a low temp (close to your mash hold temp, but + or - 20 degrees will work fine). Heat the mash on the stove top slowly, while heavily stirring, once you hit your temp; put a lid on and put it in the oven. Pull it every 20 min or so to mix it up and check the temp. This isn't the best way to mash, and may take some time for full conversion, but it works, and will only cost you for a few lbs of grain.

My plan is that eventually I'll step up to a 10 gal MLT and use the 5 gal for a HLT. This way I can get a feel for it with the 5 and still get use out of it after the upgrade.

Good idea, Bad idea?

I'd recommend checking out Deathbrewer or DRoyLenz's Stovetop AG methods. It's what I tried when going extract to AG. I already had all the equipment, so there was no initial investment to start doing 1/2 batch AG brews. The threads even have a recipe in it so you know what to try and what the #s should come out to be. It's a good spring board into the world of AG.

I've done only one 10 gal. batch. I've got a 15.5 keggle BK, 10 gal. Rubbermaid Bev cooler and a 30 qt HLT. I found that between the Cooler,the HLT and the grain bill (26.5 lbs) I barely had enough room for water. My MLT was topped right off, ditto my HLT and I drained it all drip dry. I figure that I'll need more HLT capacity unless I switch to batch sparge and heat Sparge water twice. I guess that would be normal.

My point is that 5 gal. may be on the small side for an HLT.

Wait, don't put your igloo in the oven.

For your MLT, I'd recommend a stainless braid and batch sparging. It's simpler to construct and if you stir and vorlauf you'll get great efficiency.

The manifold is great but if it's not designed properly you'll get channeling and your extraction will suffer.

Anubis said:

My plan is that eventually I'll step up to a 10 gal MLT and use the 5 gal for a HLT. This way I can get a feel for it with the 5 and still get use out of it after the upgrade.

Good idea, Bad idea?

Click to expand...

I'd suggest getting the 10 gallon cooler to start with. When you're ready to upgrade that 5 gallon cooler later on, you'll find that you also will want a HLT bigger than 5 gallons.

Building AG gear is fun, and you should go into it with an open mind to try different methods. Get a setup to get you started, then when you have time and $$ experiment with other methods/tools. I've used stainless braid, copper manifolds, batch sparge, fly sparge....I landed on copper manifold and fly sparge because I personally like it and it gives me great results. You should try it all at some point and figure out what works for you.

Id go bigger on the MLT. That's one of those purchases you`ll beat yourself up over when you want to do a bigger batch. I had a 5 gallon, then figured with all the work I'm doing I may as well make bigger batches, and the 5 gallon couldn't cut it. So I went with a 52 qt coleman extreme. Now I'm able to do 15 gallons or more...but I also went bigger with a 60 qt BK.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I think I will still stick with the 5 gal MLT just to get a feel for it and when I upgrade I'll give it to a friend or put it on craigslist etc. Mainly because I don't know when I'll get the rest of the gear together for 10galbatches and I am moving to Portland next summer and may be stuck in a apartment so the 5gal MLT might be a good idea.

I'll take pics of the build and first brew w/ all my notes and see how it goes. Thanks again, without this forum and your knowledge I'd be still in extract with no hope of even a partial mash.

Wait, don't put your igloo in the oven.
==========
It did cross my mind ..

If you really want to go all grain with a minimum investment you could try BIAB. Also I wouldn't use ph 5.2 I'd actually get my water tested through ward labs and read the water chemistry primer on here. I'd also recommend having some DME on hand in case your efficiency is low your first few times until you get the process dialed in.

Anubis said:

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I think I will still stick with the 5 gal MLT just to get a feel for it and when I upgrade I'll give it to a friend or put it on craigslist etc. Mainly because I don't know when I'll get the rest of the gear together for 10galbatches and I am moving to Portland next summer and may be stuck in a apartment so the 5gal MLT might be a good idea.

I'll take pics of the build and first brew w/ all my notes and see how it goes. Thanks again, without this forum and your knowledge I'd be still in extract with no hope of even a partial mash.

Click to expand...

If your in Portland and you need a place to brew or share beer(s) and or brewing knowledge drop me a line, I've got a backyard and a 10x10 canopy for those "few" rainy days we have here in the sunny Pacific North West:cross:

Well I put it together and got about 80% eff. And had no big problems except my vorlauf (spelling?) never cleared as much as I hoped. I think I had too much water and wasn't getting the grain bed to settle. But hey I did it! I am building a copper manifold at work during down time and hopefully it will be more consistant than a ss braid.

And Kevin, I will totally take you up on that!

CPVC manifold for the MLT. It's cheap, easy, and it works. I have my slits cut every 1/4 inch or so and small enough not to let a lot grains through. I connected my CPVC manifold to a brass ball valve with a tapered nipple to hook up to my plastic tubing. examples found on my profile videos.

Isn't this feller's brew kettle way too small? 5 gallons? I'd think he should improve the size of that first before getting a bigger HLT or mash tun... you're going to need probably at least 6 gallons space in your brew kettle(so effectively like 6.5-7 to prevent boilover) to boil down to a 5 gal batch.

He/she's doing half batches.

Unless you're going to move to 5/10 gallon batches in the near future, I'd stick with your idea of the 5 gallon MLT. I have a 10 gal and am doing half batches and its a bit harder to hold temps with the big amount of headspace in there. Also, upgrading later isn't all that expensive (relative to all the other brewing equipment).

No graduation necessary. All you have to do is soak the grain in water of a certain temp for a sufficient amount of time and then separate the used grain out of the solution. Everything else is just a hunt for better efficiency. I'd second using a bag method your first time or two out. That will eliminate some potential headaches like stuck sparges or leaky equipment that are a pain to deal with until you're comfortable with the mash process. I'd also suggest having some extract on hand in case you get terrible efficiency at first.