Cheapest way to get into all grain?

I want to get into all grain mostly because of the cost savings compared to using malt extract. So what more do I need than the basics for extract brewing? How do I go about building these items in a cost effective way? Will I need more than one portable stove(I use propane)? Now I want to do this most cost effective for me at the moment so please help me with suggestions! Thanks

BIAB--Brew in a Bag....all you need is a 10 gallon kettle, a large grain bag and a burner.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/biab-brewing-pics-233289/

I've been really impressed with my brews since switching over to BIAB.

My bro and I use a 10 gallon kettle and a Brinkmann turkey fryer propane burner. Combine that with BIAB, and it works great! We usually hit the numbers pretty well.

dennybrew

This is where I started and grew from there.

Washing and reusing yeast is a great way to add up cost savings, that and sewing your own bag (commercial examples I've found can be kinda expensive), and start buying your grain in bulk, as well as your hops in pounds....those are the major ingredients which when purchased as bulk add up fast...

I'll second the brew in a bag method. Cheap, and is a legitimate alternative to "traditional" all grain methods.

Keggle - $40 and half a day of my time to cut the top off and clean it up.

Voile Fabric (for Bag) - $15, got my brewing partners mum to sew it for free

Burner - $3 dollars at a yard sale.

And boom I'm brewing all grain. Just did a 10 gallon batch of dry stout too.

BigUgly said:

dennybrew

This is where I started and grew from there.

Click to expand...

I much prefer this method over biab... It seemed to allow me to repeat the process much easier. Both will make excellent beer but I am going with batch sparging. Also when boiling full volumes you will also need a wort chiller unless you want to chill 5 gallons of boiling wort in an ice bath.. Or to open a new can of worms, search for No Chill brewing.

duckmanco said:

Also when boiling full volumes you will also need a wort chiller unless you want to chill 5 gallons of boiling wort in an ice bath.. Or to open a new can of worms, search for No Chill brewing.

Click to expand...

Good catch, I almost forgot the $40 bucks for a chiller.

I will second the Dennybrew recommendation. It is super easy to use this method. I started brewing this time last year and have done numerous batches using the Denny Guidelines, with good success every time.

One of the most helpful tools I have found is the following spreadsheet. It is set up for batch sparge brewing, and will really help out in recipe formulation & brew day math.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f84/cps-brew-chart-3-0-a-224451/

The one thing I would recommend, if you are starting from scratch on the equipment, go ahead and set up your cooler for a 10 gallon system. If you already have a kettle for 5 gallons, it will be fine, just step up your cooler size to 60-70 qts to make sure that you have room if you go bigger. I am using a 70 qt igloo marine cooler that I had on the boat. It was starting to show some exterior wear, but works great for brewing. Also, I would go with a 50-70' chiller to make sure that you have enough chilling capacity if you do go bigger.