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CAlexander

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Hey guys,

I've got a dozen extract + specialty grain brews under my belt and I'm looking to make the switch to partial mash and all grain. I'm starting to read up, but before I dedicate too much time I figured I'd ask a couple quick questions here :)

First, it sounds like the only extra equipment I'm going to need is a mash tub, a larger pot (8 gallons?) and a wort chiller. Are there any other big things I'll need?

Second, I live in an apartment and I've got an electric stove. Is there any way I'm going to be able to bring 5 gallons of water to a full boil with that? What have you guys found works best?
 
I do AG in my apartment as well and my stove can BARELY boil 12L (~3 gallons). I'm fortunate enough to live on the ground floor so I use a propane burner on the grass outside my patio.

As for equipment, you might want to get a 10G pot instead of an 8 because you will get A LOT more hot break with AG than you ever experienced with extract. Also in AG you will not be boiling 5G, you will be boiling DOWN to 5G. Figure on starting with 6.5 to 7 depending on your recipe.
 
Probably the easiest thing to do is use two pots and split the wort. Put half of your bittering hops in each. The flavor and aroma hops can go in either or both.
 
You can and will get a boilover in an 8 gallon pot doing AG. I know, it's happened to me more than once.
 
Sounds good, this is why I'm coming here first! I'll look for a 10G stainless pot. Any good websites for that?

I've got a garage and a large porch, so I can always bring a propane burner there to do some boils. I have no problem boiling 3 gallons but I would imagine 5 (or more, it sounds like) would be really tough. Where could I find a good one, and what should I look for?

What is a good starter recipe?
 
Regarding 5 gal boils, another approach is to split your batch and boil in two pots. I have done this and it isn't that bad, particularly if you batch sparge and get two roughly equal runnings anyways. My stove can comfortably boil about 3 - 3.5 gals on a single burner, but that's it. I prefer to use my propane burner and big pot, but if it is nasty outside I can use this method indoors.

Aside from the gear you mentioned, you are also going to need a hot liquor tank. You will need to pre-heat your sparge water if you plan to use that pot to collect the runnings from the mash. I use a second cooler (5 gal is generally big enough for 5 gal batches of beer). You can also use an old bucket, particularly if you insulate it. Otherwise, you can use an extra pot (works well if you are already splitting your boil with two pots like I mentioned above).

Two minor things you will also need:
- a GOOD thermometer (it doesn't have to be expensive, just accurate) to monitor the temperature of your water and mash
- a paddle or really big spoon to stir the mash

Down the road, you are also going to want to get a grain mill so that you can buy your grain in bulk and save a lot of $$$.
 
I'll weigh in on this one. You have a choice to make. If you really want to stay brewing inside, I'd go with two pots of at least 4-5 gallons each. You'll probably have to split the boil in half with electric elements.

Now, if you're ready to get a propane or large natural gas burner, you can do your full boils in one big pot (10 gallons minimum for comfort). If you go this route, my first suggestion is to get the burner, pot, and a wort chiller and make a familiar extract batch on it at least once.

Once that's out of the way, get to thinking if you want to fly or batch sparge. That will weigh heavily on the MLT design. Fly sparging required your filtration mechanism allow for a more even drainage through the grain bed (false bottom) whereas batch sparging works fine with a simple stainless braid or pipe manifold (I know some fly with manifolds too).

You don't necessarily need a liquor tank. One reason I don't use one is that I'm not at the point where I can integrate a second burner and I don't like the idea of a cooler because you can't be sure it will hold the temp you want. I use a bucket to hold (and measure) my wort runnings while my kettle is busy heating sparge water. The only dissadvantage is that you can't start heating the first running wort while you're sparging. For batch sparging, this just means a brew day lengthening of about 20 minutes or less.
 
CAlexander said:
...I've got a garage and a large porch, so I can always bring a propane burner there to do some boils. ...
If you can to that, then do it! I'd think you'd get tired of doing two separate batches on the stovetop.

I came to this group when I went AG. I had a lot of the same questions in this thread. I still use the same basic set up to this day. It's several pages, but I hope it helps.
 
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