Can I use just a 10 gallon kettle and multiple smaller pots for All-grain brewing?

I am just starting out (never did AG brewing) and looking for an easy way to get going with AG brewing and wondering if I really need the coolers. I'm wondering if I could buy a 10 gallon kettle (with spout and false bottom), and use that for the mash. That way I can use the same kettle for both the mash process and the brewing (boiling process). I would do the mash in the 10 gallon kettle and then drain the wort into two 4 gallon pots I already have in the house. After I get the amount of wort I need, I would then dump the grain, take out the false bottom, and pour the wort back in to do the boil process.

My thinking is that with this approach I would be able to later add more equipment if I needed and in the meantime it would be a little more work. Any thoughts anyone has on this would really be appreciated.

Check out the BIAB sticky. It is a way to brew all-grain with only one pot.

You could also do all-grain with a kettle and 1 cooler.

BIAB doesn't look as appealing to me for some reason. Does my plan seem like it won't work? If so, what will the issue be? Thanks.

A 10 gallon will work. One 10 and one 5 (for sparge water heating) would be better.

More time.

A 10 gallon round cooler tun + your (2) 5 gallon buckets to measure and catch the runnings works nicely. You can use your pot to heat up the sparge water.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/madscientistbrewhaus/page4/

That makes sense 1MadScientist... however, it means I need to buy additional equipment (a 10 gallon round cooler tun). I was hoping I could go without the cooler and use the 10 gallon kettle as both the mash tun and the boil kettle. Would that approach work at all, or is it not even worth trying? Thanks again.

No, it will work logistically, but give it a few batches, and that cooler tun is going to look less and less expensive. I think people are just trying to let you know some easy upgrades.

I used to boil in two kettles/pots on my tiny apartment stove. I mashed in a cooler but have done some mashing in kettles as well. I would put all of my hops into one kettle, then mix both of the kettles into my primary fermentor.

the only real issue I had was cooling two kettles. I had an IC and transfering it between the two kettles was a pain. keep in mind, my kitchen was smaller than most peoples broom closets.

I'd say work on some partial mashes,get the techniques down a little while saving up for the 10 gal mlt.

Jumping in late here, and I know you mentioned BIAB doesn't look as appealing to you as other methods, but I would recommend that route as it appears to be alot less potentially messy as other methods (I am assuming your brewing inside, if not disregard my advice). I use a gott cooler mashtun, keggle, and turkey fryer burner. And I couldn't imagine doing the transfers inside in the kitchen. Moving my brewing to great outdoors was the best thing I ever did, and now that I am married with a kiddo, it is a requirement as 17 month olds and boiling liquids DO NOT go together....haha.
So, get yourself a big bag, and if I were you and wanted one upgrade...it would be a out door turkey fryer burner...

RonPaul said:

That makes sense 1MadScientist... however, it means I need to buy additional equipment (a 10 gallon round cooler tun). I was hoping I could go without the cooler and use the 10 gallon kettle as both the mash tun and the boil kettle. Would that approach work at all, or is it not even worth trying? Thanks again.

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I don't know your situation, if you can brew outside or not, if you want a minimal amount of equipment because of space. If it was me and had to do it all over again, I would do this. Join a club, buy a used keg and get it converted to a keggle (such as mine in my photos), and if you don't like the idea of going BIAB, then DIY a cooler.

For the cost of a stainless false bottom, you can buy and convert a cooler. You may out grow that 10 gallon pot and might not be able to use the false bottom on your new one. Stainless pots are overpriced for brewers because they have holes pre-drilled and stuff. DIY yourself and/or your buddies and club members.

I think I have the minimum amount of equipment for the brew day (on the hot side of things), burner, keggle, BIAB bag and immersion chiller. If I don't want to chill I have NO CHILL cubes. If I don't want to BIAB I have my backup 10 gallon round cooler.

Yes you can brew with your idea too. What pot and false bottom are you looking at? Are you brewing outdoors?

All of this information is very helpful... thank you to everyone who has posted a reply.

I am able to brew outside, and I already have a turkey fryer burner and a few pots that are 5 gallons or less. I also have a thermometer, but the markings do NOT seem to be too precise as there is only 1 slash for every 2 degrees and they are very close together... I'm not sure if that will be good enough for AG brewing or not.

Based on everyone's input, it's sounding like it's NOT a great idea to try to buy just a 10 gallon kettle with some sort of false bottom (DIY or not), and get away without the cooler. Instead, I should buy a regular pot and a cooler (as my mash tun).

I don't think I want just a 5 gal cooler as I like higher gravity beers, so I think I will need a 10 gallon cooler. As for the kettle, do you think an 8 gallon pot is big enough, or should I go with a 10 gallon if it's just $15 more?

You can get away with a 5 gal cooler even for big beers if you're doing 5 gal batches. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you mash at 1.1qt/lb, you can go up to about 14-15lb of grain. You can get a square cooler that holds around 12 gallons cheaper than if you go for the 10 gal round cooler, but we're talking like $20 difference here.

I say go for the 8 gallon pot and the larger mash tun for the money. Then you can do really high gravity without worry, and since you'll be boiling around 6.5gal, 8 should work if you keep an eye on the foam.

RonPaul said:

All of this information is very helpful... thank you to everyone who has posted a reply.

I am able to brew outside, and I already have a turkey fryer burner and a few pots that are 5 gallons or less. I also have a thermometer, but the markings do NOT seem to be too precise as there is only 1 slash for every 2 degrees and they are very close together... I'm not sure if that will be good enough for AG brewing or not.

Based on everyone's input, it's sounding like it's NOT a great idea to try to buy just a 10 gallon kettle with some sort of false bottom (DIY or not), and get away without the cooler. Instead, I should buy a regular pot and a cooler (as my mash tun).

I don't think I want just a 5 gal cooler as I like higher gravity beers, so I think I will need a 10 gallon cooler. As for the kettle, do you think an 8 gallon pot is big enough, or should I go with a 10 gallon if it's just $15 more?

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I would go with a 10 gallon pot. I had wicked evaporation rates and ended up needing to start with 7 1/2 gallon of runnings; this was my 10 with 7 gal; 10/09/2010 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Also think about a 70 quart coleman extreme since you like ur high gravity.

And dude, get ur a good thermometer for mashing.

That's crazy that you get that much boiloff near sea level. I've been tweaking my brew pot, and get 1 gallon in an hour repeatedly, 15" diameter, that's with it boiling so hard 6 gallons almost bubble out of a 10.5 gallon pot after the foam has subsided. Well then if no one is like me then go for the 10 gal instead of 8 gal.

Thanks 1MadScientist and PoppinCaps... I just pulled the trigger and ordered a 10 gallon stainless steel pot. My next step will be a new thermometer, and looking into the cooler and building what I need to get that going.

For high gravity beers I highly recommend a 10 gallon rubbermaid from home depot. I outgrew my 5 gallon cooler quickly and it's now used for fly sparging.

Also, 8 gallon pot works just fine for a full boil 5 gallon batch, you just have to watch out for boil overs. That's what I use and I've been fine.

Check out craiglist for round coolers I found some nice looking used ones in mint condition then bought the other stuff at home depot.. cost me less then forty a pop I made two of them... how would you heat your sparge water with the way your thinking of doing it?

RonPaul said:

Thanks 1MadScientist and PoppinCaps... I just pulled the trigger and ordered a 10 gallon stainless steel pot. My next step will be a new thermometer, and looking into the cooler and building what I need to get that going.

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What did you buy?

Here is a wiki for converting coolers; Converting a cooler to a mash tun - Home Brewing Wiki

The round cooler is quite easy to convert. I already gave you my link to the photos on that. There's a guy in my club who uses one and always makes back-to-back 10 gallon batches. He's up there making about 240-260 gallons a year!

wait, you haven't purshased the 10 gallon kettle/spout and false bottom?

BIAB would be MUCH easier than draining into two kettles, cleaning the grains out, pulling the false bottom out and pouring the wort back into the large kettle....

or, buy a tun/cooler and boil in two kettles.....

I ended up buying an "Update International SPS-40 40 Qt Induction Ready Stainless Steel Stock Pot w/Cover". It has the 3 layer bottom and seems to get good reviews. It doesn't have the spout or false bottom, but I plan to drill it out for the spout/valve. Once I get the cooler and do the work on it, I *think* I'll be ready.

1MadScientist, thanks for the links... you have done some serious handywork in your brewing adventures... I see why your name is 1MadScientist.

RonPaul said:

I ended up buying an "Update International SPS-40 40 Qt Induction Ready Stainless Steel Stock Pot w/Cover". It has the 3 layer bottom and seems to get good reviews. It doesn't have the spout or false bottom, but I plan to drill it out for the spout/valve. Once I get the cooler and do the work on it, I *think* I'll be ready.

1MadScientist, thanks for the links... you have done some serious handywork in your brewing adventures... I see why your name is 1MadScientist.

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Good on you! You did ur homework and got perchance what I showed you in my link, but I bought the jacked-up pricey one called the MegaPot from a major mail order place. You saved a bunch of money. Get a step bit drill and cutting oil and you'll do just fine.

RonPaul said:

I ended up buying an "Update International SPS-40 40 Qt Induction Ready Stainless Steel Stock Pot w/Cover". It has the 3 layer bottom and seems to get good reviews. It doesn't have the spout or false bottom, but I plan to drill it out for the spout/valve. Once I get the cooler and do the work on it, I *think* I'll be ready.

1MadScientist, thanks for the links... you have done some serious handywork in your brewing adventures... I see why your name is 1MadScientist.

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You will lose lots of heat mashing in a metal pot. If by chance you can squeeze that pot in your oven with oven set at your mash temp you will lose less heat. Probably not though since 10g pots are big.

You might also carefully wrap the pot in old blankets while mashing. With all flames off of course.

Good luck.