DIY all grain setup.

Greetings all. I just started working on starting my all grain system. I have been doing partial mash to date.

I just bought the 9 gallon 2 weld brew pot from homebrewing.org as well as their 220,000 BTU burner. We currently live in a rental apartment and don't have tons of space for sculptures, and 15 gallon keggles so I let my wife talk me down from the 15 gallon brew pot that I was looking at to the one mentioned above (hopefully not something I will regret in a few years). I was thinking I would start doing BIAB with this pot and then move towards getting a mash tun. I am currently doing 5 gallon batches and my question is, is there any other equipment that is a must to go from partial mash to all grain?

My other question is really more about kegs/kegerators. I have access to some pretty cheap corny kegs but have been holding off on getting them because i don't have any means to chill them. Do you guys think its worth it to get a kegging system, or should I wait til I have more space for a keggerator?

Get the kegs NOW! They probably won't be around when you have a fridge for them. You can always store them somewhere until you are ready for them.

SaevaVeritas said:

Greetings all. I just started working on starting my all grain system. I have been doing partial mash to date.

I just bought the 9 gallon 2 weld brew pot from homebrewing.org as well as their 220,000 BTU burner. We currently live in a rental apartment and don't have tons of space for sculptures, and 15 gallon keggles so I let my wife talk me down from the 15 gallon brew pot that I was looking at to the one mentioned above (hopefully not something I will regret in a few years). I was thinking I would start doing BIAB with this pot and then move towards getting a mash tun. I am currently doing 5 gallon batches and my question is, is there any other equipment that is a must to go from partial mash to all grain?

My other question is really more about kegs/kegerators. I have access to some pretty cheap corny kegs but have been holding off on getting them because i don't have any means to chill them. Do you guys think its worth it to get a kegging system, or should I wait til I have more space for a keggerator?

Click to expand...

I am building a keezer ( chest freezer turned into a draft bar) for my apartment. It will double as serving space for food so the double usage helps save space.

It all depends on exactly how much space you have. Mine will take up about as much space as a desk

I have that exact same brewpot. You will read threads all the time that anyone that doesn't have a 15 gallon keggle/pot is ignorant and losing out on all the good things in life. What I have is what works for me, I live in the city and don't have a ton of space. I also enjoy brewing a lot. So the idea of brewing 10 gallons so I don't have to brew as much doesn't really appeal to me. I also went with a 5 gallon Home Depot round cooler as a mash tun. For $50-60 bucks you can have a working cooler mash tun with manifold and valve.

But I don't think you are missing any critical equipment if you are doing partial grain. I did that years ago, got away from brewing for quite a while, and when I came back the only equipment that I added was the cooler and some new tubing (old stuff was yellow).

I also now have a kegging setup, it is pretty sweet. Do you have a back porch? It's pretty cold out now and that will chill your beer down. I'm not kidding, I made a box out of pink foam that can hold 4 kegs. I got a $30 thermostat control off ebay and hooked it up to a light bulb which kicks in if it gets too cold. I store kegs that way using the great outdoors for refridgeration. Won't work in summer though. I may have to upgrade... :cross:

Thanks for all the replies guys! I actually just called an audible at the last minute...

A local HBT friend was selling a mint keg that already had the top cut off. So I canceled the 9 gallon brew pot and picked that up. I just bought all the necessities to have a BIAB keggle (3 part valve with hose barb, silicon tubing, and side pickup, as well as a combo sight well and thermometer kit). While I think that the 9 gallon would have been fine, if I ever want to do a 10 gallon batch I was nervous that I would regret the purchase.

Hopefully the BIAB technique will be the perfect combo of space saving and quality all grain brews.

As for the kegs...with all of my recent expenses I need to recover before I go down that road.

Anyone have experience with BIAB in a keggle? There are tons of threads out there and lots of advice. Any thing that is a must (other than a pulley )?

Hey SaevaVeritas,
FWIW... If you can get a better deal if you grab some more cornies, I would be up to getting a few from your source as well... I'd be looking for 4 or 5 and am in the Philly area too (Willow Grove).

PM me if you think this would be a possibility...

You will need a way to chill your full volume wort.

An Immersion Chiller is probably the cheapest way to go, and works well.

You can store it in the keggle when done, so no real storage issues there.

Thanks goybar,

I have a 25' that I used in my stove top system I am worried that it is going to be too small for the keggle. I guess we will see on brew day. I should be getting my parts for the keg conversion this week as well as the burner from AIHB (I am pretty psyched to see what 220,000 BTU looks like, in my brain I am picturing that black and white footage of the Hindenburg ) I will post my progress as I build my keggle...