How should I upgrade?

First Post! here we go.. So my roommate and I recently discovered the joys of homebrewing, we have just put our 5th batch in the fermenter. We have only done partial boil extract brews so far, at room temp 68-72 i'd say but I don't know how consistent it is. Well we are looking to take our beer to the next level, we have a turkey fryer so we can go full boil now(haven't used yet). But we are now looking to either buy the equipment to move to all grain, or buy a chest freezer and set up a fermentation box to better set our temperature. My question is this, if you had to pick one or the other, which will improve our beer more?

Fermentation temperature control, hands down.

ssmith84 said:

First Post! here we go.. So my roommate and I recently discovered the joys of homebrewing, we have just put our 5th batch in the fermenter. We have only done partial boil extract brews so far, at room temp 68-72 i'd say but I don't know how consistent it is. Well we are looking to take our beer to the next level, we have a turkey fryer so we can go full boil now(haven't used yet). But we are now looking to either buy the equipment to move to all grain, or buy a chest freezer and set up a fermentation box to better set our temperature. My question is this, if you had to pick one or the other, which will improve our beer more?

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A fermentation box will help you in summer but in Nebraska the rest of the year?

edit: unless you are doing loggers then go for it.

Temperature control will do more to improve your beers than pretty much any other equipment you can buy.

Do both. Both will improve your beer.

You can control temperatures inexpensively with a "swamp cooler". I use a 66 qt Sterilite storage box that will hold 2 better bottles.

I made my mash tun from a 10 gallon Rubbermaid water cooler.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/

I opted to buy the valve assembly from Northern Brewer. I priced it out and the savings were not enough, for me, to cover for the hassle of finding all the parts and making them work.

+5 to fermentation temperature. Best thing you can do for your beer. Next work on making starters. You don't need anything other than a little foresight and some DME. Most people would say you need to have a stirplate, but you don't. No need to buy anything to start pitching the correct amount of healthy yeast.

That said: FERMENTATION TEMPERATURE

Invest in a good grain crusher,buying grain will be somewhat cheaper over time compared to extract. And bulk grains/hops.You can usually find a cheap means of controlling your temps,like used fridges or even cheaper a swamp cooler.You want some control over your ferm temps,i dont have to try to hard i can get mid-low 60's year round almost.

Not to take it too far off topic, but do you have a chiller? If not, that would be my next step. I went temp control (ferm chamber) before AG, but would say going AG made the biggest improvement in the quality of my beer. There are ways to manage temps without a controller (e.g. keg tubs, water, towels, ice).

Welcome to HBT!

dutchoven said:

Not to take it too far off topic, but do you have a chiller? If not, that would be my next step.

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+1

The chiller is not 100% essential but is very convenient for full boils. It isn't necessarily the most important part of making better beer, but it's a lot more convenient and cheaper than buying ice.

The temp control improves most peoples beer right away. You will use it for either all grain or extract brewing. I would go with this first.

That said, take a deep breath and plan your expansion so you will not have to purchase equipment twice.

If you think you will move to a ten gallon brewery, then purchase to meet its need. A counterflow chiller may be a better option than an emmersion. A larger brew kettle rather than a smaller one.

Welcome to HBT and this fascinating hobby.

Since you indicated that you had had a kettle big enough to do partial boils and you now have a turkey fryer to do full boils you should go all out and get a fermentation chamber set up to control temperatures and go all grain using the "brew in a bag" system. With the turkey fryer and a pair of paint strainer bags (I paid about $3.50 for the pair in a plastic bag) you can go all grain using grains that you could buy already crushed or you could add a cheap Corona style mill and grind your own grains. If you buy your base malt in bulk and do your own grinding (assuming reduced price for bulk and increased efficiency by doing your own grind) you can pay for the grain mill within 5 batches. If you want to go on to the traditional all grain with a mash tun and a roller mill you can do that later after you free up some funds for that.