Thinking about up scaling

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BrewingRugger

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I have been brewing for about 2 years exact and AG all 5 gallons and now I am thinking about doing 10 gallon batches. I don't know what equipment I would need to make this move. What would I need to make a 10 gal AG batches?
 
I would start with a keggle and a big cooler MLT.
 
Well I guess that all depends on what you already have. What size is your kettle and mash tun?
What about your cooling device?
If you have been brewing for 2 years you should already know what you need in order to brew larger batches.
Are you sure you need you want to upsize? Are you going through your beer too quickly lately?
 
I've also been toying with the idea of upscaling for a while now. I recently moved from an area where I didn't know many people to one where I've got some thirsty friends, so 5 gals can go pretty quick. The biggest thing for me is that my current setup requires me to do some manual lifting to transfer liquids. I can see that being a backbreaker with 10 gal batches, so a pump is definitely in order. And at that point, you may as well build a HERMS or RIMS, right? So it's basically been my cheapness holding me back.

However, I think I might try "high gravity brewing" for my next batch. Basically, I'm going to tweak the recipe to collect enough wort to boil down to 7 gals, split between 2 fermenters, and top off with some pre-boiled water to get back up to 10. If that goes well, I may just stick with that system for my more popular brews for session drinking with the buds and keep doing 5 gal batches of higher grav beers for more "contemplative" evenings.
 
I am using a 7 1/2 gal pot and a 10 gal mash tun. I am working on a plan to make a counter flow chiller. I am trying to get SWMBO to get me a new bigger pot for xmas along with other brewing things.
 
I haven't gone the 10 gal batch yet, but one of our beer club buddies does it all the time with a keggle and a 10 gal round cooler. I bought a used keg for $40 and a club buddy diy'd the top and I did the drilling.
 
I am using a 7 1/2 gal pot and a 10 gal mash tun. I am working on a plan to make a counter flow chiller. I am trying to get SWMBO to get me a new bigger pot for xmas along with other brewing things.

The 10 gallon mash tun is fine for normal beers unless your normal is over 1.060 which mine usually is. I use a 5 gallon cooler for 3.5 gallon batches but if I need to do anything "imperial" I need to use the 10 gallon cooler for just a 3.5 gallon batch. Of course my efficiency is only 60% due to no-sparge brewing. Even before switching over to a countertop Brutus system I nearly filled my 10 gallon cooler on every 5 gal batch.
So here you can go 60qt coleman or 20 gallon pot for direct fire if you tend to always do bigger beers.


For your kettle, if you want to go cheap get a keg and convert it. If you want to go bling, I would get a 20 gallon pot. Everyone's opinion is different but I like to have twice as much kettle as my batch size so I don't have to be so "on the ball" watching out for boil overs.

Build that CFC first.

Ensure you have proper fementation temp control before spending money on anything else. It's better to have 5 gallons of great beer than 10 gallons of so-so beer.

Take all the above suggestions with this in mind. I "upgraded" my brewery by down sizing from 5 gallons to 3.5 gallons all electric so I may just not have a fricken clue as to what you need.
 
I use keggles for HLT and BK, and a 10 gallon cooler as a MLT. One pump for hot water, one for wort. Quick disconnects and silicone hoses, plus a 30 plate chiller, all electric with heatsticks and built in elements. It's still all manual, but I have it pretty much dialed in now so I hit all my numbers.

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:mug:
 
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