So I want to go AG... what do i need?

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bottlebomber

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I have a 10 gallon kettle fit with valve and temp. I have one KAB4 propane burner, and then all the other things you need to make extract beer. Oh, also among my assets is a 750 sq foot garage that cars aren't allowed in. What do I need, minimum, to go grain? Not so much oakie rigs and such, I want to do it up right, but am trying to look at a bottom line. Thanks for any input
 
You have a pot and burner, the only essential thing you're missing is the mash tun. A cooling coil would be next on the list. A sparging vessel can be improvised from your bottling bucket.
 
Awesome! Thanks. Everyone I know. Who does AG has these custom welded frame setups all tricked out and they are easily a grand into them if not two. This looks pretty do-able. I don't really fully understand the essentials of how all grain works other than the fact that you are taking your sugars starches and proteins from grains instead of dumping in processed syrup, but I am very intrigued, especially when I see people sharing recipes for beers they made etc. If there is a link or thread that someone could share that describes the process I would really appreciate it.
 
I have a 10 gallon kettle fit with valve and temp. I have one KAB4 propane burner, and then all the other things you need to make extract beer. Oh, also among my assets is a 750 sq foot garage that cars aren't allowed in. What do I need, minimum, to go grain? Not so much oakie rigs and such, I want to do it up right, but am trying to look at a bottom line. Thanks for any input

the minimum needed to go all grain with what you have is... a big grain bag.. do a search for BIAB. it's all grain brewing in a single pot. I use the BIAB method and my brew day is about 3.5 hours long that includes clean up. if you can sew, pick up a yard of Voile material from your local fabric store and you can make a grain bag. I think going from extract to all grain it cost me an additional $6 bucks.
 
I took pics of a BIAB I did once. It's not so practical for 20 lb grain bills.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f85/super-simple-mr-beer-all-grain-212639/

My system is fairly basic. I use a cooler for a MLT and a old turkey fryer pot for my HLT (but if I ran the first running into a bucket I could use my brew kettle for a HLT). I have to boil and heat the HLT on the same burner. Two burners would be nice. I made a 50 ft 3/8 copper tubing immersion chiller. I also have a barley crusher. It's not mandatory, you buy grain crushed, but crushing my own lets me buy bulk and I also get much higher and more consistent efficiency.

system.jpg


That's an old bar stool holding up the MLT. The 1 qt pot is to pump the hot liquor until it's easy to lift up. I also use it to vorlauf and scoop out decoctions.
 
Awesome! Thanks. Everyone I know. Who does AG has these custom welded frame setups all tricked out and they are easily a grand into them if not two. This looks pretty do-able. I don't really fully understand the essentials of how all grain works other than the fact that you are taking your sugars starches and proteins from grains instead of dumping in processed syrup, but I am very intrigued, especially when I see people sharing recipes for beers they made etc. If there is a link or thread that someone could share that describes the process I would really appreciate it.

It can get quite expensive. I probably have $5k into mine.

NB has a free CD that explains the process fairly well. So do many people on Youtube. Bobby's video's are good. He's a regular on homebrewtalk as well.

 
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+1 to BIAB. I had similar equipment, a 10 gallon kettle and a burner. I added a bag and have made 2 great AG batches. No stuck sparges, no lautering, I don't know if I'll ever go to a 3 vessel system.
 
Sacrafised 2 old fermenting buckets for mash tun use bottom of one to hold the ss steel net from a Colander, a sleeping pad for insulation and spigot at the bottom for making it complete
I think that, grain mill, burner and kettle was all i needed for a sensible setup

oh yes some sheet metal of some kind to work as heat shield can save you gas and time
 
Sacrafised 2 old fermenting buckets for mash tun use bottom of one to hold the ss steel net from a Colander, a sleeping pad for insulation and spigot at the bottom for making it complete
I think that, grain mill, burner and kettle was all i needed for a sensible setup

oh yes some sheet metal of some kind to work as heat shield can save you gas and time

Sounds similar to a zappap from Papazain's book. Here's mine.

The false bottom,
zp2.jpg


And together with a hose barb. (Just raise the hose up to stop run off.)
zp3.jpg


It cost like ten bucks.
 
BIAB is the way to go in my opinion.

I was extract brewing w/ specialty grains in a 10gal. kettle. Bought a bag, added another 30 mins to my steep and now it is called a mash.

Have brewed about 5 batches of what others have said is good, clear beer.

Done about 19lbs of grain by hand no problem (1.080)
 
Yep Malticulous pretty close
I started drilling holes, got bored and made it more like spokes(kinda wide ones)
and cut the inner bucket down to about 2" to get it deeper lessening deadspace

Might be a problem getting a hold on for removal on the drilled version tho
 
Awesome guys, im loving all the response. To be honest perhaps when I am in my 40s I will own a big gleaming AG set up, but currently I am 31 with three boys, a brand new wife and a brand new mortgage so I am trying to streamline expenses. Some of these idea sound great... im intrigued by the bucket idea but I want to start with the BIAB concept. I just saw some 5 gallon nylon bags for jelly making that look like they will work nicely for that. Im not much for small beers so I might be pushing is a little... I knew I was wise to get the 10 gallon kettle :)
 
Just hit your local fabric store and buy 1 yard of voile curtain material. Fold it over like a pillow case and sew it a few times for strength. Or some just bunch the material up.

I know a lot of people use the 5 gallon paint strainer bags, but they seem to small to me.

There is a sticky thread in the all grain forum on BIAB.
 
+1 BIAB. Doing my first today. Done two or three AG with a MT made form the homedepot cooler. Bad efficiency, not sure what my problem was. Bad thermometer, bad technique, who knows? I was all set to go get the swiss voile and sew up a bag until I wandered into the homebrew store and started asking questions and the owner said, "Sure! We have sparge bags!" Then he pulled out a very large white swiss voile bag. Less running around but if you don't have to, swiss voile from a fabric store and a seamstress will work too! You actually might like it better because they can sew in a elastic band.
 
Awesome guys, im loving all the response. To be honest perhaps when I am in my 40s I will own a big gleaming AG set up, but currently I am 31 with three boys, a brand new wife and a brand new mortgage so I am trying to streamline expenses. Some of these idea sound great... im intrigued by the bucket idea but I want to start with the BIAB concept. I just saw some 5 gallon nylon bags for jelly making that look like they will work nicely for that. Im not much for small beers so I might be pushing is a little... I knew I was wise to get the 10 gallon kettle :)

A fancy big $$$ brewing rig is nice but certainly not necessary.

I used the zappap for my first two AG batches. Worked well but I had a hard time keeping the temps steady even wrapped in an old sleeping bag.

I've never tried the BIAB method so I can't comment.

Check Craigslist for stuff. I picked up a couple of used 10 gal. Rubbermaid round coolers for $10 each for my HLT and MLT.
 
I have never done BIAB, but the concept is very similar to partial mashing.
I rescued an Igloo 36 quart cooler that someone was tossing because they lost the drain plug, which was perfect because I didn't have to throw that away. I spent maybe $15 on parts to put a valve and braided SS hose in it, and have never looked back. You will save SO much money buying grain instead of extract, plus you have SO much more control of your malt, plus you have spent grain you can compost or feed to birds or deer.
It sounds a little like you were curious about the conversion process. In a nutshell, enzymes in the malt are triggered by the heat to convert starch to sugar, which dissolves in the water and is converted to CO2 and alcohol by yeast. Strangely enough, the alcohol is converted back to sugar in the human body, which is why technically, beer is food.
I'd say your next big purchase would be a Crankenstein or a Barley Crusher, unless you don't mind accepting whatever your LHBS sets their rollers to. I wanted a Crank, but couldn't get one, and the Barley Crusher gets me in the mid to high 80s in effeciency right out of the box. I recommend one.
 
upgrading to all grain was so easy I really wish I would have done it much sooner.

I had been brewing on a 30qt turkey fryer and already had an immersion chiller so all I needed to do was convert a 10 gal chest freezer that my future father-in-law gave me into a mash tun for around $20.

I also picked up a Corona style mill from amazon for under $40 and can now grind my own grain and am getting around 75% efficiency :rockin:

the most important thing is that my beer has never beer better!
 
+1 BIAB

Very easy to try, and extremely cheap. Depending on your kettle, you can try it easily by picking up a 5 gallon paint strainer bag from home depot, but a voile bag is better (finer mesh). Also crush the he'll out of the grain, double milling helps - you can pulverize it down to such a degree that there is a significant amount of flour in the crush. I also sparge once to improve efficiency, getting mid 80's to 90's. Because of how easy and efficient it is, I haven't bothered going to a mash tun which I was originally planning on doing.
 
Awesome! Thanks. Everyone I know. Who does AG has these custom welded frame setups all tricked out and they are easily a grand into them if not two. This looks pretty do-able. I don't really fully understand the essentials of how all grain works other than the fact that you are taking your sugars starches and proteins from grains instead of dumping in processed syrup, but I am very intrigued, especially when I see people sharing recipes for beers they made etc. If there is a link or thread that someone could share that describes the process I would really appreciate it.

I salvaged two coolers out of my folks garage. Made one for hot liquor.. the other for mashing.. used cpvc to make a manifold.. some refrigerator to make a cooling coil... maybe $100 in for everything. Hit 80% efficiency on my first all grain brew day. If you have to buy the coolers maybe add 40 or 50$ If you want pics of what I did, send me a message... I basically looked at northern brewers set up and then pieced mine together as best I could with what I got at my local hardware store.
 
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