AG equipment on a budget

Hey all,
I am really wanting to start AG, but I am not completely sure on all of the equipment I need. I was going to make my mash/lauter tun out of a big cooler like I've seen many other people do. Other than that, what do I need to get this stuff going?

You don't say, but I'll assume you've been brewing extract batches and you have all the basic gear (hydrometers, airlocks, carboys or fermenting pails, thermometer, tubing, sanitizers, etc.). If not, you should buy a basic or deluxe type brewing gear kit.

For AG, you'll need at least one more kettle and a wort chiller and a way to boil large volumes of liquid to cover the basics. A propane burner like a turkey fryer is recommended since you're going to want to do full boils, and most indoor ranges won't boil very large volumes of liquid. They just don't get hot enough.

You can use a single kettle as both a hot liquor tank and a boil kettle. I did that for a long time. You need something that you can boil 7 gallons in for a 5 gallon brew, which means you need about 8.5 to 9 gallon capacity to avoid messy boilovers. Best bet is to use a converted 15.5 gallon keg so you can do 10 or 11 gallon batches (boiling down from 12 or 13 gallons of wort).

You need a big heavy stirrer or paddle for stirring the mash. It doesn't need to be fancy but it does need to be strong, as ten to twenty pounds of grain in your mash is quite thick.

The wiki probably has more info.

One other thing. Define your long term goals and buy/build/acquire gear to match. If you know you are going to do 10 gallon batches some day, don't spend money on gear that is only suitable for five gallon batches.

1. cooler for mash tun 5 gal min 10 gal better
2. turkey fryer set-up w/pot(look at gander moun tain if you can they sell one with spigot drain for the oil
3.long handled SS spoon (lhbs or restaurant supply)
4.wort chiller (can be built for the same or less as new)
5. parts for cooler tun (false bottom or SS braid, ball valve, nipples, washers and nuts
patience for getting your effficiency up to reasonable

Check this out, In the past I have done it this way several times
http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/page1.php

eriktlupus said:

1. cooler for mash tun 5 gal min 10 gal better
2. turkey fryer set-up w/pot(look at gander moun tain if you can they sell one with spigot drain for the oil
3.long handled SS spoon (lhbs or restaurant supply)
4.wort chiller (can be built for the same or less as new)
5. parts for cooler tun (false bottom or SS braid, ball valve, nipples, washers and nuts
patience for getting your effficiency up to reasonable

Click to expand...

that's a pretty good list. I would only add a few specifics.

2. you really want 8 gallons or larger for the boil pot. 7 gallons will be barely scraping by. depending on your old brewpot size, it might be big enough for your hot liquid tank. If you plan to batch sparge (and I'd recommend it) you shouldn't need to heat more than 4 gallons at a time.

4. wort chiller is a must have. cold water baths just aren't very efficient on full boils. 25' is the smallest immersion chiller you'd want to buy or build.

5. there's an awesome write up on the 5 or 10 gallon Rubbermaid brand cooler - to - mashtun right here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com//showthread.php?t=23008

I find Lowe's is the easiest place to get every part, including the Watts pieces by part number. Home Depot often carries the 5 and 10 gallon coolers, near the building supplies/lumber.

Hi Ryan,

I recently converted to AG and it really didn't take much from my previous extract setup. I got an 8-gallon aluminum pot ($20) and a 10-gallon cooler ($25) from Walmart. Other than that, I only needed a metal mesh plumbing thread and some fixtures to adapt it to the cooler, as well as do the runoff hose. All in all, it was around $60 for me to convert to AG.

Then again, I still don't have a chiller so I've been leaving my batches overnight in an ale pail and then pitching yeast and putting into my big carboy in the morning. I'll be making a chiller soon, but this method has worked for me in the meantime.

I've done two batches with it and am going to do the third today, which means that it'll have paid for itself in only a few weeks since I was spending about $20/batch on malt extract. I've been doing batch sparging and hit 80% efficiency on my first batch and 86% on my second.

Anyway, good luck finding the supplies and making the jump!

explosivebeer said:

Hi Ryan,

I recently converted to AG and it really didn't take much from my previous extract setup. I got an 8-gallon aluminum pot ($20) and a 10-gallon cooler ($25) from Walmart. Other than that, I only needed a metal mesh plumbing thread and some fixtures to adapt it to the cooler, as well as do the runoff hose. All in all, it was around $60 for me to convert to AG.

Then again, I still don't have a chiller so I've been leaving my batches overnight in an ale pail and then pitching yeast and putting into my big carboy in the morning. I'll be making a chiller soon, but this method has worked for me in the meantime.

I've done two batches with it and am going to do the third today, which means that it'll have paid for itself in only a few weeks since I was spending about $20/batch on malt extract. I've been doing batch sparging and hit 80% efficiency on my first batch and 86% on my second.

Anyway, good luck finding the supplies and making the jump!

Click to expand...

How are you sparging? Did you build/buy something?

ryan_boc said:

How are you sparging? Did you build/buy something?

Click to expand...

I'm using that 10-gallon cooler (actually it may be slightly larger but who's keeping track?) for sparging. It's touted as being able to keep food cold for five days, but also does a great job at keeping my mash at the exact same temperature for an hour or two.

I preheat it with a gallon of hot water for 10-15 minutes before I start the mash. It's a small waste of water, but it serves as a final cleansing of the tun before putting in the grain and mash water.

I just had to build a system to attach the metal mesh and the runoff hose. It's a little ghetto, but it works like a charm. In retrospect, I probably should have just followed the directions on the link pointed out by Dark_Ale, as that is a fairly simple and foolproof setup.

Anyway, good luck!

Turkey Fryer from big box store ($50.00)
A coil of felixable copper and some vynil tubing $45.00)
Some scrap copper and a few extra pieces ($20.00)
A good digital thermometer ($19.00)

Brewing craft beer from whole grains...(priceless).