1st AG Brew

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Omegagodly

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
47
Reaction score
0
Location
Phoenix
This is more a question rather than a statement, and this felt like the appropriate section of the forum to do such.
First of I would like to extend a thank you to anybody who replies to this as this forum is a plethora of knowledge, and has a wealth of experienced brewers. :mug:
Okay so here it is. I have never brewed before, and i was wondering how hard it is to start off with all grain. I understand that there is a variety of things that could go wrong with an all grain brew session, especially with someone who has no prior experience. I have spent an abundance of time searching through these forums, read The Complete Joy of Homebrewing cover to cover, and watched a few dozen homebrew videos exhibiting various takes of peoples' techniques of homebrewing AG. I have what seems to be a decent but varying degree of the knowledge of what a brew day consists of, what the goal of the parts of the process of brewing is, and all the necessary tools to complete a brew; either Extract or AG.
I have two turkey fryers available to me, in which i believe the pots to be in 5 and 8 gallon capacities, a Coleman cooler that I would be converting into a mash tun(I will be obtaining the supplies to do so at a local hardware store, with direction from this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/), I will most likely be purchasing this equipment set from my LHBS:
http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/4,9465.html
and anyone of these AG ingredients kits depending on the style I decide I will be in the mood for(I am also splitting the finished brew with both my father, and father in-law, although this adventure is purely for fun as well):
http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/2,1351.html
and a seemingly simple AG brewing method to reference:

of course, this is not my only reference, I have as previously stated searched this forum for much advice on techniques, and pointers by many of you very accomplished brewers. :)
So in your experienced opinion, should I start off with AG rather than extract right off the bat?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've heard plenty of people say that they started off AG and had success. I think the best answer to that questions is "it depends". If you are always very good at following processes to the T, and don't ever miss on instructions, then you're probably fine, It sounds like you've done a lot of research. If you tend to "wing it" often, then maybe not, maybe its best to start out extract and learn some of the other common parts of brewing from that, and then go to ag a few batches later, but, if you try and fail, its about 30-40$ out the pocket. Thats usually what the AG ingredients cost me depending on the batch for 5 gals. If your financial state is such that losing that much money on a batch is not a big deal, I say go for it! ;)
 
thats true, but the ingredient kits i've looked at are around 20 bucks for AG kit so it wouldnt be a bad idea then if i just follow the instructions prefectly fine and try to pay attention to the things that would indicate a problem, i should be okay i believe.
 
Don't let people scare you. All grain is just a longer steep and a bigger boil.

Its no more difficult assuming you have equipment.

Stay away from wheat based all grain first out and throw in rice hauls in case.

You'll end up with great beer if you even remotely hit 150* for a temp. if in doubt mash longer.

Remember grain WANTS to be beer. All you need to do is allow it happen.

Do keep track of volumes and gravity accurately. Worry about numbers later.

Have some dme on hand in case.

You'll do fine.

Brewsmith trial will print out a very nice brewsheet with directions.
 
I have also been trying to figure out the best way to approach this. I know that I will end up going AG, and have been collecting equipment on the cheap or free. I by no means have all the gear I need.

Now I have the chance to get a kit. I'm debating getting a starter kit just to start going. Then again I could use the money that I would on a kit and put it towards some more AG gear.

The possibilities......
 
thanks alot. i downloaded the trial for brewsmith a long time ago before i have the knowledge i have now, and had no idea what i was supposed to use it for lol. now that i have an idea of how everything works, and all the components of brewing AG, i can finally put it to use!
 
just mainly because extract is very expensive to brew compared to some of the all grain kits ive been looking at. i have a strong feeling ill move to all grain eventually anyways, and this way i can just get what i picture ill be using for the long haul rather than buy extract and all grain stuff. mainly its a monetary concern at the moment. i understand that an extract kit can produce an excellent beer as well as all grain kits can produce bad beer(it might just be the brewer as well? lol) but besides the fact, i think it would be an economical choice to consider AG first.
 
just mainly because extract is very expensive to brew compared to some of the all grain kits ive been looking at. i have a strong feeling ill move to all grain eventually anyways, and this way i can just get what i picture ill be using for the long haul rather than buy extract and all grain stuff. mainly its a monetary concern at the moment. i understand that an extract kit can produce an excellent beer as well as all grain kits can produce bad beer(it might just be the brewer as well? lol) but besides the fact, i think it would be an economical choice to consider AG first.

Well, maybe, but I wouldn't limit myself. I am getting ready to start an AG batch right now, but I think after I am done I am going to place an order for 1 AG, and 1 Extract kit. If you are set up for AG, you have everything you need for extract too. it can just be a timesaver sometimes, and in reality, there are a couple extract ingredient kits that I really like.
 
thats true. i know that if i do start with AG, and hopefully i do, i won't just limit myself to AG. i may try extract and or extract with partial mash. just trying to find an economical way to start this fascinating hobby, and when money and time comes to it i would love to expand. its amazing how much money can be spent on this hobby!
 
I also have been tetering on making the switch to AG from extract brewing on certain styles. It sounds with the variety of different grains available you can get more variation in your batches.
 
starter kit tools? assuming your talking about the fermenter buckets etc, than just as much depending on the kit you get because the fermentation process is about the same depending on how your ferment (e.g. using a secondary and what not)
 
Go fot it. It will be a number of years before I go all-grain due to time. I don't think it is that difficult.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top