shawshank24
Member
i've never done an extract batch. i'm 20-something batches deep in all-grain.
How long did you extract brew before going to All Grain?
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knotquiteawake
Well-Known Member
I've been brewing off and on for about 4 years. I brewed about 12 batches. All but the first two were mini mash. Saturday I brewed my first all grain.
Really the only thing holding me back from all grain has been space limitations on the stove because I was living in apartments. We just moved into our first house so it was time to move into all grain (space for the equipment and space to get a propane burner going).
Really the only thing holding me back from all grain has been space limitations on the stove because I was living in apartments. We just moved into our first house so it was time to move into all grain (space for the equipment and space to get a propane burner going).
adamjackson
Well-Known Member
Having been around local breweries and having home brewing friends, I feel like an idiot for using LME and yeah. I love to cook all home meals from scratch so to pour soup into my kettle feels cheap and lazy. I'd go all grain once I get the equipment. For now, it's alright.
I've done extract for a year and a half (15 batches), and just started doing partial mash. We have been planning to move, and I haven't wanted to get the gear for AG and then move it. Once we done with the move it's definitely happening.
Honestly, once you have the process down for extract, you really only have the extra step of the mash ahead of time to learn. I did BIAB for my one and only AG batch, so far, and it wasn't that difficult. I'd do BIAB first, since you only need a grain bag and large enough pot to do it. (Or do a partial mash BIAB if you have a smaller pot.) No mash tun or sparging equipment needed. Just squeeze the liquid out of the grains after the mash. You can sparge a bit with part of your boil water to help get better efficiency, but many BIAB brewers don't seem to sparge and do just fine. I'd say, for your first foray into AG, try BIAB. It's the least expensive way to try it, before you decide to really invest in all of the traditional equipment. You may even skip traditional mashing/sparging and decide to just keep doing BIAB brewing and save the cash to brew more beer.
Cromwell
Well-Known Member
Two half-batches. (I bought a cream ale kit and did half of it, then did the second half with some steeping grains I added.)
AG is dead easy, and I see a lot of people saying they'll do it as soon as they get the equipment, but if you don't have a mash tun, do BIAB. It's all-grain, it works great and it costs all of a couple of dollars for a bag. BIAB even lets you do a step mash if you like. Look at Deathbrewer's awesome how-to and you'll never look back.
AG is dead easy, and I see a lot of people saying they'll do it as soon as they get the equipment, but if you don't have a mash tun, do BIAB. It's all-grain, it works great and it costs all of a couple of dollars for a bag. BIAB even lets you do a step mash if you like. Look at Deathbrewer's awesome how-to and you'll never look back.
Eshorebrewer
Well-Known Member
3 Extract then had everything together to start AG.
mind pointing me in the way of Deathbrewers howto? be fun to learn
Cromwell
Well-Known Member
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/
It's just partial mash, but it's a good tutorial. The only real difference between this and full AG is the size of the pot, to allow more grains instead of DME.
thanks, I found the full AG BIAB tutorial he did too by googling it (why I didn't think of that before I asked I'll never know). only thing that's keeping me from doing it now (I'm a cheapa$$ so making batches for cheaper due to no DME appeals to me) is that I only have one 5 gallon pot and a second one would cost me about $80 or so fora 7.5 - 10 gallon pot to do full boils.
2-3 extract batches. The bug bit me too strong to resist, plus I wanted to do 10 gallon batches so since I had to upgrade to a keggle and burner I figured why not if the mash tun was 1/3rd the price of the rest of the upgrade
ljacobs
Member
I started 5 weeks ago. I have done 2 extract batches (one is bottled other is being bottled tomorrow) and I was fortunate enough to meet a club on a brew day at the local shop and they were nice enough to welcome me in and observe and advise on the first all grains batch that I did last Saturday. I would see if you could find some experienced brewers in your area who are, much like everyone on this site, very helpful, supportive and informative on the process.
KevinW
Well-Known Member
2 extract batches then all grain.
I will not comment on the validity of extract or all grain brewing however, I can brew a typical 5 gallon batch of beer for about $23.00 (including hops and vial/pack of yeast) with all grain. The same beer (ingredients) would cost me about $37.00 if I did extract.
For me, the extra cost of equipment I spent setting-up for all grain has more than paid for itself as I have pretty close to 20 all grain batches.
Brewing options are really based on an individuals circumstance or preference so however one wants to brew then more power to them!
I will not comment on the validity of extract or all grain brewing however, I can brew a typical 5 gallon batch of beer for about $23.00 (including hops and vial/pack of yeast) with all grain. The same beer (ingredients) would cost me about $37.00 if I did extract.
For me, the extra cost of equipment I spent setting-up for all grain has more than paid for itself as I have pretty close to 20 all grain batches.
Brewing options are really based on an individuals circumstance or preference so however one wants to brew then more power to them!
My first two were extract/with steeping grains.2nd was actually steeped wheat malt- so maybe that counts as a partial mash.Third a partial mash pumpkin.Then i started doing lots of partial mashes,then a few all grain,then bought a bulk sack of base grain/grain mill.It was just cheaper for me to make 18 small batches out of a 50#bag of base malt than make 18 extract batches.
I did this ^
3 extract kits, one extract recipe I put together myself, and AG from then on out. I'm not saying any "this is better then that stuff" here, but I'll relate my experience:
Every extract brew I did stuck at 1.020 or 1.018.
I replicated every extract brew in an AG format, and every one of the AG brews came out better, and fermented out completely (to style, dependent on yeast of course).
I feel like if you believe you have your brew proces dialed in enough to replicate the same extract recipe at will, you're ready for the next step. AG is not nearly as hard as I was led to believe by looking at all these blingy eherms and erims setups, and it can be done quite cheap with gear from AIH.
You really only need a mashtun and a boil pot. You can mash in a bucket, but an igloo cooler works better, and you can drain your wort into a bucket, sparge into that bucket, then boil in the same kettle/burner you used to heat your strike/sparge water.
Even simpler, as mentioned, is BIAB, but I ripped a grain bag my first time doing that and never tried again.
danorocks17
Well-Known Member
almost three years. glad I made the switch because I have the room and time to do it.
TimpanogosSlim
Well-Known Member
jbaysurfer said:
I found 1 gallon BIAB way easier than the brooklyn brew shop instructions.
But i can see how a 5 gallon BIAB could be more intimidating.
kitchensqueen
Well-Known Member
Same here, except I'll be doing the first batch this weekend. To me, brewing with all grain is just the same as cooking dinner from a recipe.
As for the grain, I've heard of people making bread with it. Or you could always compost it if you have a garden.
natefrog255
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So simplicistically is this what I would need to go AG...
1. Hot Liquid Tank, which can be a 5 gallon cooler with lid ($19 at Menards). I would replace the plastic spigot with a SS weldless cooler spigot ($38 at MoreBeer). So we'll say $60.
2. Mash Tun, which can be a 10 gallon cooler with lid ($45 at Home Depot). Replace the spigot again ($38 at MoreBeer). And I would need a false bottom or braid system. So like $100 to $150 pending the FB or Braid.
3. Kettle (already have a Penrose 15 g kettle)
4. Tubing from HLT to MT and MT to Kettle $1.00/ft at like True Value
5. Propane Burner/Tank (already have)
6. Mash Paddle $30
Is that essentially it?
If I batch sparge my interpretation is I don't need a sparge arm. Is there any connection that I need to connect the false bottom OR braid to the spigot in the MT? Ideally I'd like to just buy a braid and attach to spigot (if that is how you do it).
1. Hot Liquid Tank, which can be a 5 gallon cooler with lid ($19 at Menards). I would replace the plastic spigot with a SS weldless cooler spigot ($38 at MoreBeer). So we'll say $60.
2. Mash Tun, which can be a 10 gallon cooler with lid ($45 at Home Depot). Replace the spigot again ($38 at MoreBeer). And I would need a false bottom or braid system. So like $100 to $150 pending the FB or Braid.
3. Kettle (already have a Penrose 15 g kettle)
4. Tubing from HLT to MT and MT to Kettle $1.00/ft at like True Value
5. Propane Burner/Tank (already have)
6. Mash Paddle $30
Is that essentially it?
If I batch sparge my interpretation is I don't need a sparge arm. Is there any connection that I need to connect the false bottom OR braid to the spigot in the MT? Ideally I'd like to just buy a braid and attach to spigot (if that is how you do it).
knotquiteawake
Well-Known Member
If you batch sparge then I don't see why you even need the HLT. I just used my brewpot to heat the sparge water and drained the mashtun into my bottling bucket. Once the sparging was done I transferred it all back into the brew pot
all you really need is a mash tun (which can be made for $65ish). and if you do BIAB you don't even need that...just a large enough BK...your 15 gallon is plenty big.
2 extract with steeping grains and 1 partial mash. About a month before going all grain. BIAB was a mess for my partial mash. That's when I decided to get a mash tun, and found one on Craigslist for $35. It's a kettle with a no weld spout. Very easy, all you need is a thermometer to monitor your mash temp. You basically sit for an hour.
TimpanogosSlim
Well-Known Member
I agree with the other person who said that if you batch sparge you don't need the HLT. I sure don't have one.
Your spigot kits are way cheaper at bargainfittings.
My "mash paddle" is a huge stainless steel spoon i bought at a restaurant supply for $8. I am at a loss as to why i might need something that resembles a cricket bat or boat oar.
stratslinger
Well-Known Member
Another thing: Don't go with tubing from True Value! That stuff is most likely not food grade. Spring for the $2/ft + shipping to get silicone tubing from bargain fittings or another online vendor - you're guaranteed to get food grade tubing that'll last for several brew sessions.
Like folks have said, you can definitely shave some money off on the mash paddle (no need to spend $30 there - I have a $5 plastic mash paddle that's worked just fine for me) and you can certainly batch sparge like knotquiteawake described and save the HLT - though I can attest to the convenience of having a direct fired HLT - you may find that eventually you'll want some form of a kettle and another burner for an HLT. Maybe go with knotquiteawake's approach as an interrim until you decide whether you want to go direct-fired HLT or whether a cooler with a valve (and probably a dip tube!) will be sufficient for you.
Like folks have said, you can definitely shave some money off on the mash paddle (no need to spend $30 there - I have a $5 plastic mash paddle that's worked just fine for me) and you can certainly batch sparge like knotquiteawake described and save the HLT - though I can attest to the convenience of having a direct fired HLT - you may find that eventually you'll want some form of a kettle and another burner for an HLT. Maybe go with knotquiteawake's approach as an interrim until you decide whether you want to go direct-fired HLT or whether a cooler with a valve (and probably a dip tube!) will be sufficient for you.
