Considering All Grain, but is it realistic on a stovetop?

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chrispykid

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Hey guys,

I'm an extract/partial-mash brewer who is considering the jump to all-grain, but I'm not sure if it's realistic for me or not. I live in an apartment in Brooklyn without any outdoor space so the turkey fryer method is not a possibility. Given that the burner on my stove struggles to get partial mashes to a boil I'm not sure if I can get an all-grain up to a boil at all.

If I got a wide 7 1/2 gallon pot I could stretch it over two burners, do you think that would get a single all-grain batch up to boil?

Any informed advice is appreciated - thanks in advance.
 
My stove can't really handle full boils too well. In a pinch I split into two 3.5-4 gallon pots and put each one across two burners. It works but not particularly well.

I'd give the stovetop method a try, if you can get a solid boil going then stick with it, if not you're only out the cost of a grain bag and not an MLT. For what it's worth, in my experience with a crap stove, if I can't brew outside I either don't brew or do an extract batch.
 
Yep, you can do it. I've done around 27 AG batches in my kitchen. You just need a stove that can pump out enough juice to heat the volumes needed, or augment it with a heatstick in the boil.
 
Thanks for the feedback Kilgore, the two pot thing is what I really want to avoid - I feel like I typically have enough on my hands monitoring one boil at a time without juggling two. I don't think my stove is crap, as stoves go it seems to be pretty solid - I just think it's just well short of turkey-burner's btu's.

flyangler I'd actually seen Deathbrewers thread on stove-top brewing before, but was really just looking more for real world experience with one pot - two burner experiences. If I do this I plan on following Papazian's joy of homebrewing zapap lauter-tun method since I'm already doing that for partial mash brews and am familiar with the procedure.

Anyone else have experience with two burner-one pot boils on a gas stove?
 
Brewtopia has no issues brewing 5G all grain batches in his 400 sq ft condo using a split pot method. It can be done.

A decent gas stove running two burners will work wonders for bringing larger volumes to a boil. I heat my sparge water in the house all the time. Never tried a 7G boil on the house stove, but I have no doubts it would do it.
 
Hey guys,

I'm an extract/partial-mash brewer who is considering the jump to all-grain, but I'm not sure if it's realistic for me or not. I live in an apartment in Brooklyn without any outdoor space so the turkey fryer method is not a possibility. Given that the burner on my stove struggles to get partial mashes to a boil I'm not sure if I can get an all-grain up to a boil at all.

If I got a wide 7 1/2 gallon pot I could stretch it over two burners, do you think that would get a single all-grain batch up to boil?

Any informed advice is appreciated - thanks in advance.

If the pot fits completely over the two burners, it should work. It sticks out on mine and the surface area is about the same as my own big burner, so it doesn't really work.

It sounds like some 5 gallon coolers for mashing and sparging would really help you out if you can only use one pot at a time.
 
I don't have any experience with brewing with a gas stove, I'm all electric. I can't comment on gas, but if your stove has 8" 2kW+ electric burners or a high-power canning element you can most likely do it. Some folks use insulation on their brewpot, some use heatsticks, and if you're lucky the stove itself is good enough.

Best answer - put a pot on the stove with 7 gallons of water in it and see if you can get that sucker to boil, or at least see where it maxes out. There's nothing like trial and error to see what your gear is capable of, and it'll give you a concrete answer. At some point you'll be losing heat as rapidly as the stove can supply it, you just need to find that point so it's a known value.

If your stove just can't do it, consider making a heatstick to help it out. Just go for a low-watt-density element (basically longer is better, as long as it'll fit in the pot and stay under the surface of the liquid), or you can get scorching - personal experience here with a high-density element and the WORST BREWDAY EVAR. If you've never made one before, it's not hard, just be careful. You're dealing with electricity and water, so that thing needs to be sealed up nice and good with epoxy and on a GFCI circuit so you don't electrocute yourself.
 
Just to add to the discussion, remember it is not only the stove that determines your boiling capacity but the pot as well. For an electric stove you need to have a pot with a flat bottom made of highly conductive material to get a good boil. I am a big fan of aluminum pots (switching to one made all the difference in the world to me), but tri-clad SS pots are good too (just more expensive).

See my https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/improved-boiling-stovetop-53683/ thread for some more tips.
 
I currently do All grain indoors on the stove. I have a 32qt stainless steel brewpot that is wide enough to straddle 2 burners and i have no problem bringing 7 gallons of wort up to a boil. It probably takes a little longer then on a propane burner, but its definitely doable.
 
Just to add to the discussion, remember it is not only the stove that determines your boiling capacity but the pot as well. For an electric stove you need to have a pot with a flat bottom made of highly conductive material to get a good boil. I am a big fan of aluminum pots (switching to one made all the difference in the world to me), but tri-clad SS pots are good too (just more expensive).

See my https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/improved-boiling-stovetop-53683/ thread for some more tips.

what is this "improved boiling stovetop" nonsense?? :D :p
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I think a bigger brewpot might be in my future, maybe I can borrow one from someone to see if I can get the 7 gallons up to boil before I plunk down the cash. I'll probably be getting a few more batches of extract/partial mash under my belt before making the swith though.
 
Thanks for the feedback Kilgore, the two pot thing is what I really want to avoid - I feel like I typically have enough on my hands monitoring one boil at a time without juggling two. I don't think my stove is crap, as stoves go it seems to be pretty solid - I just think it's just well short of turkey-burner's btu's.

flyangler I'd actually seen Deathbrewers thread on stove-top brewing before, but was really just looking more for real world experience with one pot - two burner experiences. If I do this I plan on following Papazian's joy of homebrewing zapap lauter-tun method since I'm already doing that for partial mash brews and am familiar with the procedure.

Anyone else have experience with two burner-one pot boils on a gas stove?

I brew 5 gallon all-grain batches in my kitchen on the stove, and I'm in Brooklyn too!

I have a 32 quart pot that I can fit over two gas burners. It takes a good hour to get it to boil sometimes, but I can get 7 gallons to a good rolling boil eventually.
 
My stove can't really handle full boils too well. In a pinch I split into two 3.5-4 gallon pots and put each one across two burners. It works but not particularly well.

I'd give the stovetop method a try, if you can get a solid boil going then stick with it, if not you're only out the cost of a grain bag and not an MLT. For what it's worth, in my experience with a crap stove, if I can't brew outside I either don't brew or do an extract batch.

I love the name, Kilgore. I'm a huge fan of your book, 'The Gutless Wonder.'
 
I do brew with three step mashing on the stovetop, but I have a large commercial gas stove with very stout cast iron to hold the pots. I would be cautious with electric eyes as most that I have seen are not really made to hold the weight of a large metal brew pot full of water. I could just imagine the catastrophe of the eye collapsing with a huge pot of hot water, the pot being made of metal, and, as mentioned the combination of a substantial amount of water hitting the stovetop and floor..a perfect conductor to you.
 
I have been brewing all my twenty something all grain batches on an electric stovetop. The element that I put the kettle on is 2000W.

I make 21 liter (5.5 gallon) batches.
My kettle (which I also use for heating strike and sparge water) is a 32 liter (8.4 gallons) aluminum one.

For the first few batches, heating the wort to boiling took a long time, and the boil wasn't impressive.
The first fix was to insulate the kettle sides with some .5" engine-room insulation that has adhesive on one side and aluminum foil on the outside. Secured it with duct-tape.. It's been working great; reduced boilup time and improved the boil to quite good.

My last improvement came when I scored a 2000 Watt dip-heating element originally designed to heat milk for calves. I put this into the kettle on the 2000W element on the stove and the combined 4000 watts is plenty of heat. Now I can heat strike and sparge water in no time, and the first runnings are boiling before I add the second to the kettle. Get a huge rolling boil and no worries!

I could do without the last element, but not the insulation.
 
I have been brewing all my twenty something all grain batches on an electric stovetop. The element that I put the kettle on is 2000W.

I make 21 liter (5.5 gallon) batches.
My kettle (which I also use for heating strike and sparge water) is a 32 liter (8.4 gallons) aluminum one.

For the first few batches, heating the wort to boiling took a long time, and the boil wasn't impressive.
The first fix was to insulate the kettle sides with some .5" engine-room insulation that has adhesive on one side and aluminum foil on the outside. Secured it with duct-tape.. It's been working great; reduced boilup time and improved the boil to quite good.

My last improvement came when I scored a 2000 Watt dip-heating element originally designed to heat milk for calves. I put this into the kettle on the 2000W element on the stove and the combined 4000 watts is plenty of heat. Now I can heat strike and sparge water in no time, and the first runnings are boiling before I add the second to the kettle. Get a huge rolling boil and no worries!

I could do without the last element, but not the insulation.

That insulation sounds like the exact thing I have been looking for to replace the Reflectix insulation on my pot. Where did you get that??
 
This might help.

I fly sparge and aim for 7 gallons of run-off. So, when I get the first 3.5 I collect the rest in a bottling bucket and boil the first 3.5. I pretty much forget about the runnings, they take care of themselves at this point.

Once I have boiled the first, I end up with 2.5 gallons. This is pretty easy to chill with an immersion chiller. I can get it down to 60 in less than 5. After I put this I primary, I go ahead and pitch it.

I repeat the steps with the rest and add it right on top. I have done this twice now and it works great. I do this for the same reasons. I don't care abouth the extra effort, because it gives me something to do. This is suppose to be fun right?
 
Until today I've always used the two element stove top method on my 6.5-7 gallon brews. Today I used one element and a heat stick (made for me by Gonefishing from this forum) and I had a very very rigorous boil. He made the cord 6 feet long so I was able to have the heat stick in my pot as I was collecting. I was at full boil 5 minutes after done sparging.
 
That insulation sounds like the exact thing I have been looking for to replace the Reflectix insulation on my pot. Where did you get that??

In a department store in Norway..
I found it in the marine department, it's intended for boat engine rooms. Maybee you could check out some marine supply stores?

Also, to cut some time and make away with one kettle for indoor brewing I batch sparge and collect my first runnings in a fermentation bucket while heating the sparge water for the second batch sparge. When the first runnings are done I make a note of the amount and add enough sparge water to the cooler to reach my intended full boil volume. Toss away any excess water from the kettle, pour in the first runnings and start to heat. By the time the second batch sparge is done the wort in the kettle are boiling. Now I add the rest of the wort to the kettle and start heating again. This is the stage where the insulation and the heat stick really comes in handy. Bringing the full volume to a boil used to take forever before.

Also, when boiling off all this water inside your appartment, make sure your ventilator is up for the job of taking away the steam! ..or just brew when SWMBO is away:)
 
I found it in the marine department, it's intended for boat engine rooms. Maybe you could check out some marine supply stores?
Darn -- I am pretty landlocked here (1000 km to the coast), so marine supplies aren't exactly in demand. I'll keep my eyes open though. Thanks.
 
on my crappy apartment stove, I have to start with two pots then put them together. I start with three gallons in one pot and the rest in my 8 gallon brew pot. Once they both hit 205 I add the smaller pot to my brewpot and finish it in one pot.

B
 
Darn -- I am pretty landlocked here (1000 km to the coast), so marine supplies aren't exactly in demand. I'll keep my eyes open though. Thanks.

I've also seen similar kind of inslation wrapped around large ventilation pipes in buildings with central heating/air conditioning systems. Maybee bussinesses that build and maintain these kinds of systems can be a source of some pieces of insulating material?
 
I can do an full boil of 6 gallons on my electric stove, one burner. It'll just depend on the stove you have.
 
Of course, I defer to the awesomeness of your more recent post... :D
And the even greater awesomeness of the Unibroue collection in pic #1!
;)

Hey, I have done 16 AG batches using Flyguys setup and it enabled me to make the move to AG. Thanks Fly.
The only change I made as to cover the top and bottom with folded tin-foil, and some folded up tin-foil "bars" running from the top to the bottom to keep the reflectix from contacting the pot, and on the sides, top or bottom and keeping yet another layer of air/insulation.
So far, I'm still using the first set up after 16 batches, and have enough left from the first roll to remake the setup at least one time.
Hey, it works for me. Once again thanks Fly... :rockin:
 
Hey, I have done 16 AG batches using Flyguys setup and it enabled me to make the move to AG. Thanks Fly.
The only change I made as to cover the top and bottom with folded tin-foil, and some folded up tin-foil "bars" running from the top to the bottom to keep the reflectix from contacting the pot, and on the sides, top or bottom and keeping yet another layer of air/insulation.
So far, I'm still using the first set up after 16 batches, and have enough left from the first roll to remake the setup at least one time.
Hey, it works for me. Once again thanks Fly... :rockin:

Cool -- glad you have done so well. And those sound like good mods. I may try that -- thanks!
:mug:
 
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