All Grain brew question

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Azharen

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I'm still very new to brewing. From the economical aspect, I want to go all grain. My question is if I have simply have a 30qt stockpot and a good propane burner; can I just to boil my whole brew in one pot and not have to sparge or use any of the other fancy equipment? :confused:
 
how new are you? don't be in a hurry to jump to all grain. if you don't have your brewing process down cold your just asking for trouble.
 
If you're looking to not get much more equipment, you might want to check out Brew-in-a-Bag. Seems to work well for lots of people.

But I'd agree with TipsyDragon above: it's a lot easier to start with extract brewing to get your process down. AG is great, but if you don't have a sense of what the process is, it's a lot easier to screw up.
 
how new are you? don't be in a hurry to jump to all grain. if you don't have your brewing process down cold your just asking for trouble.

VERY new. About to brew my second batch soon. I don't mind doing the Extract Brewing. I just haven't found a cheap source of DME/LME. I guess I'll get a few more brews under my belt first then. Guess I should be asking where is a good source for cheap DME/LME.
 
... just as a quick note... I really struggle with the idea that brewing beer, period, is dramatically more "economical" than just buying good beer.

IMHO, if someone is brewing to save money, they're 1) in it for the wrong reason and 2) are going to be disappointed.

And don't get me wrong Azharen, I'm not accusing you of anything.

My only point is that for a pretty large majority of folks that brew, the hobby turns into an obsession.... and as soon as that happens, the "economics" fly out the window very quickly.

I can brew a batch of... say... a Belgian Quad for a LOT less than what it would cost me to buy the same volume at the liquor store... BUT... what has it cost me to build my AG rig? and then all of the other bells/whistles that go along with it?

LOL... hell, I'm due to break even sometime in the year 2056.

Sure, you can absolutely brew with a sharp eye on costs and ultimately save some money... but... like I was saying, I just think putting those kind of handcuffs on yourself takes a lot of the fun out of the hobby itself.

This thread is a perfect example... you're a new brewer but already looking to go AG... that means new equipment... and once you have one peice of new equipment, there will alllllllllllllways be the "well... if I just get this" or "if I just get that".... and then it's downhill from there.
 
Don't move to all grain for economy's sake. Do it when mashing becomes something you really want to pursue. There's a lot going on during the mash and sparge process and a couple of steps have little room for error. It can be really frustrating if you make a mistake. That frustration will be compounded when you're just doing it to save money.
 
... just as a quick note... I really struggle with the idea that brewing beer, period, is dramatically more "economical" than just buying good beer.

IMHO, if someone is brewing to save money, they're 1) in it for the wrong reason and 2) are going to be disappointed.

And don't get me wrong Azharen, I'm not accusing you of anything.

My only point is that for a pretty large majority of folks that brew, the hobby turns into an obsession.... and as soon as that happens, the "economics" fly out the window very quickly.

I can brew a batch of... say... a Belgian Quad for a LOT less than what it would cost me to buy the same volume at the liquor store... BUT... what has it cost me to build my AG rig? and then all of the other bells/whistles that go along with it?

LOL... hell, I'm due to break even sometime in the year 2056.

Sure, you can absolutely brew with a sharp eye on costs and ultimately save some money... but... like I was saying, I just think putting those kind of handcuffs on yourself takes a lot of the fun out of the hobby itself.

This thread is a perfect example... you're a new brewer but already looking to go AG... that means new equipment... and once you have one peice of new equipment, there will alllllllllllllways be the "well... if I just get this" or "if I just get that".... and then it's downhill from there.

I wasn't referring to brewing vs buying. DME/LME is very pricey for me compared to what I can get Grain for online. I haven't found a good source of DME/LME that's bulk cheaper than what I can get at my LHBS. I could be spending half as much per batch brewing all grain than brewing with extract with what I can find currently. I asked about equipment because I know AG is a huge investment if you go hard core. I was just looking to see if there was a way for a newbie to do AG without building some monolithic rig? I don't mind having a shrine to beer, I just can't afford a full AG rig ATM.
 
I'm with ya... all i'm saying is, in the long run, I think it is very rare that anyone saves money along any step of homebrewing.

DME/LME is more expensive than bulk grains but you need more equipment ($$) for AG.

55 lb sacks of grain are a TON cheaper than buying a few lbs at a time at the LHBS... but now you're looking at large AG batches with bulk grain... more $$$.

Sure, there are ways that you can get into AG without building a shrine or spending a ton of money... like Palefire said, the boil-in-a-bad method seems to work pretty well for folks. My only point is that it is very rare that a homebrewer stops at that step and over the long haul, I'm skeptical homebrewing makes purely economical sense.
 
Check out North Country Malt, or Mid Country Malt (Google is your friend) for a cheap price on the 55lb bags of DME. I got it for $2.40/lb delivered to my door. Partial Mashes also make it cheaper on the wallet!
 
Here are a couple of really good threads...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/all-grain-brewing-extract-brewing-equipment-pics-142648/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

I will say that partial mash brewing (which is what I do) is a better step towards AG than just going straight to AG and slightly cheaper than just extract. Also you can add as much grain and take away from the extract as your equipment can handle. Here is an awesome thread for partial mashing as well.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/?highlight=Easy+Partial+Mash
 
... just as a quick note... I really struggle with the idea that brewing beer, period, is dramatically more "economical" than just buying good beer.

IMHO, if someone is brewing to save money, they're 1) in it for the wrong reason and 2) are going to be disappointed.

And don't get me wrong Azharen, I'm not accusing you of anything.

My only point is that for a pretty large majority of folks that brew, the hobby turns into an obsession.... and as soon as that happens, the "economics" fly out the window very quickly.

I can brew a batch of... say... a Belgian Quad for a LOT less than what it would cost me to buy the same volume at the liquor store... BUT... what has it cost me to build my AG rig? and then all of the other bells/whistles that go along with it?

LOL... hell, I'm due to break even sometime in the year 2056.

Sure, you can absolutely brew with a sharp eye on costs and ultimately save some money... but... like I was saying, I just think putting those kind of handcuffs on yourself takes a lot of the fun out of the hobby itself.

This thread is a perfect example... you're a new brewer but already looking to go AG... that means new equipment... and once you have one peice of new equipment, there will alllllllllllllways be the "well... if I just get this" or "if I just get that".... and then it's downhill from there.

I agree with what Cape is saying here. However, I understand the desire to save money, and if you have the desire to make good beer too, then I think you ought to consider going AG as soon as you re comfortable with the rest of the brewing process.

AG is not THAT much different than extract for the most part. Yes there is more to think about, and more to screw up, but if you take your time and read a bit, you should be able to successfully brew AG batches just like your extract batches.

It WILL save you money, if that is what you want. But you have to be aware that once you start going down that road, it's very easy to start spending money on "that one next thing".

You are almost ready for AG. As has been mentioned, you need a Mash Tun. I used a cheap cooler and made up a copper manifold and a spigot. You could spend less and do a "brew-in-a-bag" system, but I think they are slightly less efficient.

If you really want to save money, go AG, but buy grain in bulk. For that you will NEED a crusher of some sort. Add that to the cooler, and the price to get there goes up. You could order grain online pre-crushed, but you won't be getting the huge savings that buying bulk would give you.

In summary, yes you can save money doing AG, but there is an initial cost to consider, and of course, the additional costs as you "upgrade" your system down the road. I'm not saying that it's inevitable that you will keep spending money on the hobby, but, ok, it's inevitable. ;)

I'd set up a cooler first, or try the BIAB thingy, and buy pre-crushed grain and try AG. If you like it (and you will), then focus on getting a crusher when you can and going bulk once you can crush for yourself.
 
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