Too soon to move to all-grain?

OK...I have only 3 batches under my belt...still very novice, I know. But every batch I have done has been partial mash, and they have all turned out pretty darn good.

The process I feel I have a good grasp on, I just need to learn the patience aspect.

Sanitation, I've got that down. I was in restuarant management for quite some time...C'mon.

I am ready to play mad scientist and come up with some crazy good stuff...so all grain seems like the rational choice. Thoughts, comments, concerns?

go for it. if you can afford the equipment, go for it. I was so surprised how easy the step is.

If you do not have a way to keep your fermenter at a stable temp I would suggest building a fermentation chamber first. If I had it to do over again that would of been my first step. Second I would start kegging, so much better than bottling. Then I would go all grain.

I only did 2 extract batches before going all-grain. Go for it!

Plenty of people skipped the extract and PM steps and started out all grain. It can be done. I had 3 extract batches under my belt when I built my igloo mash tun and started my all grain adventure with the 999 barleywine. I say go for it! I will second the keeping temps under control, but no reason not to step up and do it.

Terje

If you don't want to invest in extra equipment now, you can probably try a half batch all-grain based on whatever you were doing for mini mash.

Went all grain my first batch in...double chocolate stout. Whenever I learn something new I just dive in...and why not...makes me feels like a kid riding by the seat of my pants. Fun fun fun. Worst thing that can happen is I screw it up. So what?

Go on youtube and look at the all grain videos. Between there and this site your going to be very well off. Once you go all grain, the possibilities you can brew go up and so does the equipment needed. Your gonna need space and money but if you have both- go for it.

enderwig said:

I only did 2 extract batches before going all-grain. Go for it!

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me too, i did one extract, one partial-mash, and then all-grain... it takes a bit of time and thought to get the equipment all set up, but it's well worth it.

edit: if you wanna try it before acquiring all the equipment, try out:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

Yea my first batch was All Grain. Be comfortable with the process and you will be fine.

Yeah go for it, I jumped right into all grain after doing a few hard cider recipes. It's definitely the way to go.

-Archroy

Just more time involved......and money............

jerrysfinger said:

Just more time involved......and money............

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The more money part is only an initial investment. Now that I have all my equipment, I participate in a bulk grain buy, and buy 9-10 sacks of grain to last a year and change. I also buy hops in bulk. My batches run me between 10-15 dollars each. I have been all grain for a year and a half, and I am way past recouping my money on the equipment investment.

One piece of advise when it comes to equipment, buy good gear 1 time, instead of mediocre gear 2 or 3 times. With all grain you are going to need to do full boils. Buy a good kettle up front, it costs more now, but you spend more in the long run buying the "cheap" one now, then buying the "good" one later.

Go for it. I started getting the All Grain itch after my 2nd batch of extract. A friend let me borrow his equipment, everything went well. The next thing I know I am stopping at every Home Depot I pass looking for 10 gallon coolers.

with the vast knowledge available on this site, its not difficult to make the leap to all-grain. I did it with about the same amount of experience as you have. I had to make do with the equipment I had but was easy other than the equipment.

bashe said:

If you do not have a way to keep your fermenter at a stable temp I would suggest building a fermentation chamber first. If I had it to do over again that would of been my first step. Second I would start kegging, so much better than bottling. Then I would go all grain.

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+1 on this. It makes it sooooo much easier.

I dove straight into all-grain for my first ever batch. The only piece of equipment I bought that was beyond that necessary for extract was a mash bag (I used DeathBrewer's stovetop method). Beer was fantastic.

Since then, I've done two extract batches (only because the kits were on sale), but I'm thinking of just doing all grain from now on.

You can start piecing together your equipment as you go along, but strictly speaking, you can start doing all-grain right now. I mean, you're already doing partials...

Do it I also started with all grain my first, second third batch have all been all grain. I only bought extract to make my starters. It's easier than you think.

AG is nice, but I second the suggestion that you should look into temperature management and then kegging before going AG. Temp management is key to all styles of beer, so you won't be able to do much until you're able to control the fermentation temps.

Kegging is actually the first step I did after beginning the hobby, because I wanted nothing to do with bottles. It's easy, cool to your friends, and makes you happier.

AG is great, but I still make extract batches as well, when I am pressed for time or just feeling lazy. You'll always want to keep some DME/LME around (probably DME, since LME goes bad).

Dive in! You'll encounter hiccups whichever method you subscribe to. I went all-grain recently and must say - my beer tastes better. It might just be the satisfaction of taking the process all the way through, but for me, it is more satisfying.

Hey, go for it! It really is pretty easy, and you probably won't need a ton of new equipment, especially if you already have a big enough kettle to do full boils. You don't really need to build a mash/lauter tun either; I still haven't built one and I've done five batches with my setup.

Here's how I do it:

1. Mash in a large (unconverted) Igloo cooler.
2. Scoop the mash into a 5 gallon bucket w/ a straining bag fit tightly around the top and a bottling spigot in the side (I use a 5 gallon pickle bucket because the bag has a habit of sliding off the lip of a 6.5 gallon ale pail when it's full of grain).
3. Collect the wort in the boil kettle while pouring sparge water through.
4. Boil away, cool, and ferment!

I know it's kind of a ghetto setup, but it makes damn good beer!

I got my mash cooler at wally world for about $18, the extra spigot was about $3, and I think the straining bag was like $2, and I got the pickle bucket from a friend for free. So that's $23 bucks to go AG. If you can't get a hold of a free 5 gal bucket, you can get one from Home Depot or something for fairly cheap, I think.

so, good luck! Oh, and definitely read around this site, there is SOOOOO much great info on here.

I jumped straight into AG, pretty much (did one extract batch many years ago). Watched a bunch of the videos on YouTube, read these forums, and borrowed the equipment from the local homebrew club. I'm really happy I did, I just don't have any interest in extract brewing... I'm in this for the DIY aspect, and I've got all the time in the world. The only thing I wish I'd done differently was chosen a better recipe for my first batch... I did a rather complicated holiday spice beer, and totally screwed up several parts of it. A Hefeweizen, in retrospect, would have been a much better choice... simple, fast, and exciting to brew after extract (with the light color and all). Good luck!

It's never to soon! Welcome to the show, Rook!!!!:rockin:

The methods behind AG are easy, anyone can do it. The only hindrances are cost. If you are certain you want to keep doing this then get the costs out of the way now.

The biggest cost is a grain mill. My Barley Crusher was worth all of the money I spent. I can't imagine being an all grain brewer and not having your own mill. You can follow more than a few posts here on how to make your own mill from an old treadmill or pasta grinder, whatever course you take, you need a mill.

The only other requirement is a big pot to do full boils an the energy to heat it.

If you're doing PM you might as well go AG. The time to PM is the same, price is much lower. My efficiency isn't that great but I'm still working on that.

OK, so assuming I move to AG (as I most certainly will)...and I start buying grain in bulk, how long will that grain keep? I try to brew every weekend, so I at least have something I am going to drink, something in bottle, secondary, and primary so as to never run out of brew. I am sure I can blow through that grain in enough time, but just for curiosity's sake I would like to know how long it will keep in it's bag.