Time to Upgrade...

So I've been thinking for awhile I'd like to take the plunge and step up to some all grain brewing. I've got some experience with extract + specialty grains and a couple small partial mash batches. Maybe a total of 20 batches or so under my belt. Some may say this is too soon to make the transition and I should perfect by PM/extract beers, but I like to do things "the right way" and to me, extract seems unnatural. I feel like AG is the way beer was meant to be brewed.

My extract brews have been good, some VERY good, but they have yet to compete with the delicious craft beers I love to drink!
So that aside, I've got some extra $$ from working all sorts of overtime the past month and want to upgrade my brewing equipment. As of now, I've been doing partial boils w/ a < 5 gallon pot, cool in the sink w/ ice, ferment, keg. I'd like to upgrade to be able to brew 5g finished batches for sure, maybe 10g if price permits! So I have a couple questions:

I know I need to buy a chiller...CF or immersion?

Obviously a new kettle... How big should I get if I wanted to do 5gallon finished batches AG? 10gallon batches?

Mash tun...I'm all for DIY, but I'd like to buy if I can find something nice and reasonable as my time is limited. What size (again for both 5g or 10g batches)?

What else do you recommend, what am I missing?

My first batch was an extract kit and my second batch I went all grain and I have never looked back. I did my homework and jumped right in. I personally recommend getting a 60 quart boil kettle and a 10 gallon Gott water cooler for a mash tun. This way you can do ten gallon batches if you want. I use an immersion chiller and have no problems with it and have not ever had the feeling of upgrading to a CF. I have seen the 10 gallon coolers for sale with false bottom and spigot at morebeer.com heres a link below

All Grain Brewing | MoreBeer

Thanks, exactly the type of response I'm looking for! Do I need a grain mill? Is LHBS crushed grain sufficient enough?

LHBS is "sufficient enough" if you are close enough to go get your grains when you want to brew. When crushed they have a limited lifespan.

Those seem to be premium prices. If you are up for the DIY, you will save quite a bit on your mash tun.

I do 5 gal AG in a 36qt. pot. It works well. I would not recommend a smaller pot. If you want to do 10 gal batches, you can either do two batches, or in my opinion build or buy a keg converted into a brew pot. Search.

Luck to you. I would consider 5 gal AG before 10.

I also recommend starting with 5 gallon batches but a 60 quart brewpot will also give you the option to do 10 gallon batches. It will be more money upfront but it would probably be the last brewpot you would ever need. Why shell out the cash on a smaller kettle if your only gonna be upgrading to a bigger pot and spending a lot more money later on a bigger kettle.

Actually that's not to bad of a price for a prebuilt mash tun at morebeer.com. The same 10 gallon cooler I saw last week at a restaurant supply store for $60, a false bottom is gonna run you another $25 or $30 and the spigot will probably be another $20 or $25. I think it also has free shipping. Or you could build one and save $30 or $40 bucks?

I have an ic and I'm super happy with it. I also recommend going with a larger brew pot. I use a converted keg, hell buy a keg to drink and swallow the core charge and keep the keg. 15.5 gallon capacity is awesome.

as for the crusher, thats a non essential but nice to have. When I used my LHBS for crushing, I was getting about 60% brew house eff. I bought a cheap corona style mill off ebay, and I now get 86%, Plus I can buy my 2 row in 50lb bags online now too and save lots of money...

Head to Walmart, buy a turkey fryer and a 5 gallon cooler. Online buy a huge grain bag, and then do Brew-In-A-Bag like the Aussies (and me) on the cheap.

magnj said:

Head to Walmart, buy a turkey fryer and a 5 gallon cooler. Online buy a huge grain bag, and then do Brew-In-A-Bag like the Aussies (and me) on the cheap.

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I do BiaB too (2 batches AG now). I mash in a 60 quart cooler that cost $25 with a grain bad the SWMBO sewed up in about 5 minutes out of $4 worth of fabric. If I were buying a new kettle, 40 qt would be the minimum for a 5 gallon batch I would even consider although I'm making do with my 32 qt pot for now. It works, but save yourself the trouble and go bigger.

The IC/CFC is not necessary either as you can "No-Chill' your beer. (This is controversial for some, but I have yet to hear of someone who is unhappy after they have actually tried it)

Whatever system you decide to use for AG, just do it. It is not as hard as it looks. RDWHAHB

Both an IC and a CFC are useful, but there are upsides and downsides to both.

The IC is cheaper and easier to build than the CFC, but generally does not cool as much as fast. However, many consider it easier to clean and with a CFC there is a potential to plug it with hops and stuff if you are not careful.

With a CFC you will siphon your boiled wort directly into the coils, which have water running around them, and it comes out into the fermenter at, or close to pitching temp (Depends on the cooling water temp), which for me takes about 10 minutes.

An IC the water runs through it, and it is submerged into the kettle. The cooling generally takes longer, but one thing it has for it in this regard is the fact that you are chilling the entire volume of wort at once, so there is no wort left sitting hot in the kettle.

Does it matter? I doubt it. I think that both chill quick enough. Some say the CFC is a bit more fiddly than the IC, and at an added cost (unless you opt for an icewater pump option) not as preferable.

I made a CFC before even trying an IC and am very happy with the performance of mine. I have not had it plugged yet, even brewing IPA, but have to be careful.

MMW said:

I do BiaB too (2 batches AG now). I mash in a 60 quart cooler that cost $25 with a grain bad the SWMBO sewed up in about 5 minutes out of $4 worth of fabric. If I were buying a new kettle, 40 qt would be the minimum for a 5 gallon batch I would even consider although I'm making do with my 32 qt pot for now. It works, but save yourself the trouble and go bigger.

The IC/CFC is not necessary either as you can "No-Chill' your beer. (This is controversial for some, but I have yet to hear of someone who is unhappy after they have actually tried it)

Whatever system you decide to use for AG, just do it. It is not as hard as it looks. RDWHAHB

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Agreed, you would probably need a bigger pot for 5 gallon batches, mine works well for 3 gallon batches which are small enough for me to brew 3 times a month and not have a huge pile of beer in the basement.

+1 on 10-gallon mash tun and a bigger-than-you-think-you-need brewpot. I use a 10-gallon round Rubbermaid (Home Depot, $37) with a steel false bottom and a 9-gallon kettle. The 10-gallon cooler works fine for 5-gallon batches and it lets you either mash thin or brew larger batches eventually. My only regret is not buying a bigger kettle.

I started AG brewing with a burner, 60 quart enamelware stockpot, and a converted 5 gallon cooler that I bought for $16 at Walmart at the end of the season. I bought some copper tubing at Home Depot and fabricated a chiller.

That setup worked great for 5 gallon batches up to about 1.060 in gravity.

Eventually, wanting to brew ten gallon batches sometimes, I switched to converted kegs for boiling (if you have small breweries nearby, you may be able to score some decommissioned kegs for cheap. I got mine from new Belgium for $15 each), and converted a 60 quart cooler for mashing for large (high gravity or ten gallon) batches.

I still use the same chiller, although I recently started recirculating ice water to speed chilling.