I've seriously up'd my game this summer, going all-grain, getting in on the local grain buys (shout out to CidahMastah on that one!), and moving to kegs. The increased quality and quantity of my beer caught the eye of my family who now plan on consuming as much of my homebrew as possible -- my father even rigged up a nice tap system at our family cottage.
It's a great problem to have. Brewing is a lot about enjoying it with family and friends for me... BUT... I'm not looking at ways I can stay on top of my pipeline better and the best bet seems to be going to 10 gallon batches and getting 2 kegs filled at a pop with roughly the same effort.
I've currently got a 7 gallon or so (not sure exactly) kettle which I've always done full boils in, and a 48qt Ice Cube Cooler MLT which I've been very happy with.
What I'm debating is whether I should do 2 side by side 5 gallon batches -- I'd just need another relatively inexpensive kettle and another Bayou Classic burner. I have another Ice Cube cooler I could convert to an MLT with very little cost. The benefit of staying at 5 gallons is I wouldn't need get into pumping. Right now I'm ok lifting and pouring 5 gallon batches into the MLT and carboy at the end and I chill the pots in a big bucket of circulating hose water.
The alternative I see is getting a big kettle for doing a full 10g batch boil, and I'm not sure how I'd tackle the mash or if I'd get something fancy to do it all in place. I assume I'd need a valve and a pump for this setup and I haven't actually looked at it but would my Bayou Classic burner be hefty enough to get that thing boiling at some reasonable speed. Cooling might be an issue as well as my current mechanism again involves lifting the pot and placing it into a plastic tub -- I'm trying to find an alternate cooling method that I could use in the winter though because I can't run hose water down my driveway in Syracuse December-March unless I want to create a skating rink.
Apologies for the long post, but what do you think!? :rockin:
It's a great problem to have. Brewing is a lot about enjoying it with family and friends for me... BUT... I'm not looking at ways I can stay on top of my pipeline better and the best bet seems to be going to 10 gallon batches and getting 2 kegs filled at a pop with roughly the same effort.
I've currently got a 7 gallon or so (not sure exactly) kettle which I've always done full boils in, and a 48qt Ice Cube Cooler MLT which I've been very happy with.
What I'm debating is whether I should do 2 side by side 5 gallon batches -- I'd just need another relatively inexpensive kettle and another Bayou Classic burner. I have another Ice Cube cooler I could convert to an MLT with very little cost. The benefit of staying at 5 gallons is I wouldn't need get into pumping. Right now I'm ok lifting and pouring 5 gallon batches into the MLT and carboy at the end and I chill the pots in a big bucket of circulating hose water.
The alternative I see is getting a big kettle for doing a full 10g batch boil, and I'm not sure how I'd tackle the mash or if I'd get something fancy to do it all in place. I assume I'd need a valve and a pump for this setup and I haven't actually looked at it but would my Bayou Classic burner be hefty enough to get that thing boiling at some reasonable speed. Cooling might be an issue as well as my current mechanism again involves lifting the pot and placing it into a plastic tub -- I'm trying to find an alternate cooling method that I could use in the winter though because I can't run hose water down my driveway in Syracuse December-March unless I want to create a skating rink.
Apologies for the long post, but what do you think!? :rockin:
Find out how much the family is willing to contribute to the project and that will give you your budget. 
