getting in to all grain

i just made my mash tun yesterday and i wanted to get going some time this week but i just realize i only have my 4 gallon extract brewing pot. can i use it for all grain full boils? from what i been reading i am gonna need a bigger pot.
will this make a good brew pot
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?sku=17553453&rn=400&col=0&mesg=Items+were+added+to+your+cart%2E+%3Ca+href%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebedbathandbeyond%2Ecom%2FshowCart%2Easp%3Fretloc%3D1%26retarg%3DSKU%253D17553453%26%3EProceed+to+checkout%2E+%3Cimg+src%3D%2Fimg%2Fglobalicon%5Fcart%5Foff%2Egif+border%3D0%3E%3C%2Fa%3E&

Assuming your doing 5 gallon batches, 7.5 gallons would definitely work depending on the beer, you'll have to watch that boil. Do they have a ten gallon? Slightly more forgiveness! Have fun!
Cheers

IMO 7.5 gallons is not enough. I usually start with 7 gallons preboil and still have to be careful to avoid boilovers. It will work, but things will be a lot easier with a 40+ quart pot.

You can get a 10 gallon aluminum pot at a restaurant supply store/website for $30-40. The spigot makes things easier, but it's not needed and can be added in later.

yes i plan on doing mostly 5 gallon.

Starting with 6-8 gallons preboil is pretty standard for 5 gallon batches. It all depends on your boiloff rate.

You can do partial boils google up randy moshers lazy guide to mashing

With a 4 gallon pot you'd have to shoot for 2.5 final and add to get final

Not a good buy. For that price you could buy a 36 or 44 qt stainless steel Bayou Classic pot from Amazon or maybe one of the vendors here. Sam's club online has great prices on quality aluminum pots if you want to keep the price down and add a ball valve and weldless fitting yourself or just use a racking cane. By the way, I regularly boil 7.5 gallons in my 30 quart pot by adding a few drops of fermcap.

7.5 gallons is going to put you at the absolute minimum and even if you're pretty careful you'll most likely still have some boil overs. I use an 8 gallon and that is cutting it close at times.

shoreman said:

You can do partial boils google up randy moshers lazy guide to mashing

With a 4 gallon pot you'd have to shoot for 2.5 final and add to get final

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I do partial boil all-grain, and I'm happy with my beer. I'd be doing full boil if I could, but high rise apartment + poor strength electric stove means not a possibility. That said, if you can do full boils, definitely go with a bigger kettle than the gallon one you've got. If not, you can work with what you've got.

Qhrumphf said:

I do partial boil all-grain, and I'm happy with my beer. I'd be doing full boil if I could, but high rise apartment + poor strength electric stove means not a possibility. That said, if you can do full boils, definitely go with a bigger kettle than the gallon one you've got. If not, you can work with what you've got.

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I prefer partial boil all grain - I pretty much follow mosher's advice except do a batch sparge rather than no sparge. Freeze my spring water and chill down to about 100 in no time and blend. My brew day is 3 hours tops.

I rarely brew anything over 5% and it works great, super clean beers and I can do 10 gallon batches in my 9 gallon bayou classic if I want.

If I want to brew a big beer ill just do BIAB 3 gallon full boil.

For years I brewed like this in a $20 5 gallon stainless pot and made some really great beers.

Simplicity.

Qhrumphf said:

I do partial boil all-grain, and I'm happy with my beer. I'd be doing full boil if I could, but high rise apartment + poor strength electric stove means not a possibility. That said, if you can do full boils, definitely go with a bigger kettle than the gallon one you've got. If not, you can work with what you've got.

Click to expand...

Look into a heat stick!

ok ill say it....

Get a 15 gallon kettle or keggle.

if you plan on doing "mostly 5 gallon batches" that implies you want to do something other than a 5 gallon batch. if you want to do anything larger you need a bigger pot. 15 gallons will do a 11 or 12 gallon batch.

I was in your position a few years ago. i went from partial boil extract to full boil extract. i bought an 8 gallon pot. i did a few batches and realized id like to do 10gallons now and then so then went out and bought keggles (15gallon).

save yourself some money and headache and get a 15 gallon kettle. it does 5 gallon batches just fine, with less worry about boil over, will allow you to do 10 gallon batches and have better resale value if you decide to hang up your mash paddle.

zachattack said:

Look into a heat stick!

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Thought about that too, but I don't trust this building's wiring, and I'd never be able to get them to install a GFCI for me.

You can always get a plug-in GFCI.

This thread is making me wish I had gotten a slightly larger pot. If I want to do a 5-gallon heavy beer, I may be hard-pressed to fit it into my pot. I may have to resort to a smaller batch size. I've wanted to try the Dark Lord clone recipe I found, but I don't think I could do a normal batch using my pot. (32-quart)

EDIT: Just checked the mash calculator. I'd probably top out at a 3/4 batch, taking up nearly 7 gallons of space for mashing. I'll likely just halve the recipe so it fits in my 3-gallon carboy.

k47k said:

ok ill say it....

Get a 15 gallon kettle or keggle.

if you plan on doing "mostly 5 gallon batches" that implies you want to do something other than a 5 gallon batch. if you want to do anything larger you need a bigger pot. 15 gallons will do a 11 or 12 gallon batch.

I was in your position a few years ago. i went from partial boil extract to full boil extract. i bought an 8 gallon pot. i did a few batches and realized id like to do 10gallons now and then so then went out and bought keggles (15gallon).

save yourself some money and headache and get a 15 gallon kettle. it does 5 gallon batches just fine, with less worry about boil over, will allow you to do 10 gallon batches and have better resale value if you decide to hang up your mash paddle.

Click to expand...

I thought that that implied that he might want to do some 2 gallon experimental batches. Just because someone says that they mostly want to do 5 gallon batches does not necessarily mean they need a huge pot.

sibs said:

yes i plan on doing mostly 5 gallon.

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Those were my famous last words as well. I think I cranked out three or four 5-gallon batches before I realized that with very little more time/effort the the increase in raw materials was worth doubling my batch size. My 7.5 kettle became my hot liquor tank, and I secured a most awesome keg for a 15.5 gallon brew pot.

well i went ahead ani bought this its was 65 dollars on ebay i don't have any plans on doing anything bigger than five gallons my mash tun is only 10 gallons so i can make big 5 gallon beers

http://morebeer.com/view_product/11854/102211/Brewing_Kettle_-_9_Gallon

These are better quality than they would seem to be and plenty large for 5 gallon whole leaf hops batches. Not much more $ and with welded couplings.

You'll enjoy the 8 gallon space, have a good time!

By the way.... when you buy your 10 or 15 gallon pot in a year or two let us know. Lol JK
Cheers!!!!

Qhrumphf said:

Thought about that too, but I don't trust this building's wiring, and I'd never be able to get them to install a GFCI for me.

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Just shut the breaker off and instal a GFCI outlet. It's only 3 wires and they are not expensive.

Rick

sibs said:

well i went ahead ani bought this its was 65 dollars on ebay i don't have any plans on doing anything bigger than five gallons my mash tun is only 10 gallons so i can make big 5 gallon beers

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That's a fine pot and remember you can still do a 10 gallon partial boil with that pot.

wal mart currently has 32 qt aluminum tamale/steamer pots for 25$

For me there were two distinct phases of All Grain brewing; before I got a 10 gallon kettle and after I got a ten gallon kettle.

Having the extra room made all the difference in the world and removed a ton of stress on my brew day from boilovers and fear that I made a mis-calculation and made too much wort.

The ten is limiting in that I can't be doing ten or fifteen gallon batches, but I'm comfortable with that for now.