Going all-grain on a budget.

Well, I came up with a ten gallon aluminum kettle for $30. And dropped about $25 on the mash tun. Hit up the home brew shop over the weekend and picked up the ingredients for a wheat ipa. Brew day next Sunday. Thanks for all your help.

Awesome! As long as your brewing budget is less than the wife's hair and nails budget, you are golden!

OrdinaryAvgGuy said:

In order to give you the best possible answer, we must know your age.

@ 30 years old I purchased a plain ole SS kettle without all the bells or whistles. Another 10 years and a drain valve would be a necessity.

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I just started feeling REALLY old for some reason. Guess I should start thinking about making my setup ADA approved...........

If you want to brew on a budget get a alum pot, I got a 8 gal for $29 shipped, amazon, still have the link if you want. Plus a cooler 10gal with a mesh braid for $60 topps.. thats it... thats what I have, I fly sparge with a strainer and a pitcher and I get about 78% efficiency. Im happy....

Brew day tomorrow. Can't wait. Thanks for all the help.

Nice. I just finished my brew day. Finally knotched my stirring spoon at 1 gallon increments this time. Made things go alot smoother. Now the next step in the budget all grain setup for me is a ball valve on the kettle and a refractometer so i can tell if i need to boil off extra wort or add dme. Still pretty new at this. Good luck tomorrow and most importantly. Enjoy the process

Finally mashed in. I'm worried about not holding temp. I've got the cooler sealed up and covered in blankets. Should I rdwhahb, or open it up and check temp in a bit?

Mutt98 said:

Finally mashed in. I'm worried about not holding temp. I've got the cooler sealed up and covered in blankets. Should I rdwhahb, or open it up and check temp in a bit?

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If you open it the temperature will fall, guaranteed.

I resisted and lost less than a degree. Finish my sparge now. Forgot my flaked wheat then threw it in before the sparge. Currently winging it

Mutt98 said:

I resisted and lost less than a degree. Finish my sparge now. Forgot my flaked wheat then threw it in before the sparge. Currently winging it

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Good job on temps. Last weekend I forgot my whirlfloc and yeast nutrient, and forgot to take final grav...fixed the last by opening up and getting a sample after pitching.

Today I got early start and brewed 2 batches, yeast pitched and into the chamber before cracking a homebrew.... Thinking RDWHAHB is for after the brew day when you are thinking back on what you might have done better...not for when you imagine everything is going swell during the brew day...

Well, it's in the fermentor. Og was almost perfect. So that's good. I think I lost 3/4 of a gallon while trying to get wort into carboy. I think a kettle valve would be a good investment. That recipe had about 5 oz of hops in it. Do you typically strain all those hops?

When I use the carboy, I either dump most of the hops in or pour through a big SS strainer. It usually clogs up the strainer pretty fast though so it takes a while. Depends on my mood and how many extra hands I have around.

Sounds about like what I had happening.

Instead of putting the hops directly into the kettle, you can use a 5gal paint strainer. They only cost a couple bucks at Home Depot or Lowes, and seemingly last forever if you don't mind cleaning them out afterwards. I use a metal spring clamp to hold it to the side of the kettle and a handful of Dollar General glass marbles to keep it weighted down. Before transferring, simply lift the whole bag out.... Plenty of high tech ways of doing the same (look up hop spider), but I've never seen a reason to go any other way. Simple, cheap, and it works. I also rack through a second strainer (they come 2 to a pack ) into bucket or carboy to pick up remaining debris, and it also helps to begin adding oxygen as well.

Mutt98 said:

Well, it's in the fermentor. Og was almost perfect. So that's good. I think I lost 3/4 of a gallon while trying to get wort into carboy. I think a kettle valve would be a good investment. That recipe had about 5 oz of hops in it. Do you typically strain all those hops?

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I strain with this.
10 inch conical fine mesh strainer. Pulls out hop pellet residue and most of the trub. Aerates the wort. I do have a valve on my kettle that makes it easy unless I use whole hops. Then I have to siphon.

Here is what my strainer looked like with 5 oz hops, 2 oz was whole hops.

Thats crazy. I just throw all that garbage right in the carboy.

I definitely need a different funnel. But in a good note, the dog loved it.

501irishred said:

I just started feeling REALLY old for some reason. Guess I should start thinking about making my setup ADA approved...........

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I don't have a valve on my kettle (yet) but will soon install one. Even my soon-t-be 31 year old back is screaming at me the morning after brewing a batch.

Thanks dad for the genetic predisposition....

I found a used restaurant supply store that was selling items on consignment. I got a 40qt aluminum stock pot that is very thick walled for $25. I agree that a Corona mill, if dialed in right, does a fine job crushing grains.