Moving to AG, Aiming too high?

I will be moving to AG in the new year, and am an ambitious brewer. I realize my limitations at the moment but in the long term am ambitious.

So my question is this, When buying brew pots, coolers for mash tuns, etc, price is relatively similar among brewing for 5 gallon batches to 15 gallon batches. I have 3 primary glass carboys on hand at the moment, so 15 gallons split 3 ways would not be terribly out of hand.

I am thinking that while I am buying coolers for mash tuns/pots for brewpots etc, why not get ones I can work with 15G batches? Is this a terrible idea? Are there considerations im not factoring in? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

15 g is alot of brew, i think you would be happier brewing three 5 gal batches

I am not necessarily preparing to brew 15G off the bat, but i would rather have the capacity to do so for a few dollars more then repeatedly buying pots/mash tuns to upgrade. I would also be interested in doing 3x5G batches with diffrent yeasts, or diffrent dry hops someday.

Basically, is it worth the initial minor investment to offset the eventual upgrading I perceive? What have you guys done?

I'm kind of in your position. I bought all my equipment to do 5 gallon all grain batches. Now I wish I had the capacity to do 10 gallon batches.

15 gallons is getting up there though.

Yea, no doubt 15G is very high. But eventually Id like to buy a 15G conical and not have to buy the rest of the **** to work with it.

At this moment 10G's is the goal, with 5 G's for experimental recipes and 15 for tried and true recipes. Like i say my consideration is that the price dif from 5-10 or 10-15 is not significant past the initial investment. So would having equipment bigger then whats needed for the brew, IE a 5G in 15 capable equipment, have poor results?

Also what size cooler is ideal for 15G MLT? I know that im asking alot, but I appreciate everyones help

In my opinion it's a good decision to go with a 15G system... because sooner than later you will be wanting to move up. You can always do 5G batches for a while (and I would just to dial things in).

If you don't buy it now, you'll probably just end up buying it next year and spending the money all over again.

As for the size of MLT you need: Green Bay Rackers--Mash Calculators scroll down to "Can I Mash It"

If you have the space to do 15g, it just makes financial sense to me to buy equipment that can be used in the future to realise your ambitions.

My simple brewing procedures allow me to brew 1/4 kegs (7.75 gal) batches. I've thought about going larger but don't really see the need. 15 gal. batches and larger starts to necessitate more advanced techniques like pumps, bigger chillers, fermentation temp. controls etc. etc., which I don't really have the desire to get into right now.

You need to look at your consumption. If you have a bunch of friends over on a regular basis where 5 gallons will literally disappear in one night, yes, 15g makes sense. In my house, I'd be lucky to float a 5 gallon keg in 2 months. Why? Because I have 5 taps on my kegger and I'm the only one that drinks out of it 95% of the time. Frankly, I get tired of the same beer by the time I'm on gallon 7 of a 10 gallon batch.

If you're goal is to brew the most beer with the least amount of effort, bigger is always better. I think 10g is the sweet spot for most. It's still manageable for 5 gallon experimental/specialty batches and capable of 10g when you find your house recipes for mass consumption.

Bobby_M said:

You need to look at your consumption. If you have a bunch of friends over ........Blah blah blah.....yuddah yuddah.....

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You know? I had NEVER EVER considered the faintest notion of the merest possibilty that I could brew more than I could drink!!........

I'll have to sit down and consider that concept!.......

Nope! Impossible! What you talkin' about, Willis?

dude i got a $10 cooler from craigslist, big rectangular igloo and it rules. loses 1-2 degrees an hour. capacity is huge, although i haven't really loaded it up yet. pvc manifold in the bottom with hacksaw slits. everything works perfect - total investment to go AG was less than $30.

I realize many of you guys are drunks and all but even if I increased my consumption up to 3 pints a day, it's going to take some time to get through 25 gallons on tap.

Bobby_M said:

I realize many of you guys are drunks and all but even if I increased my consumption up to 3 pints a day, it's going to take some time to get through 25 gallons on tap.

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What? Me? No!!!!! HAHA
Actually Bobby I'm right there with you, I'm usually the only one drinking the 20 or so gallons I usually have on tap at any given time. Guess I just need to get some more friends

Definitely go to 15 gallon.
I started at 5 gallons. It is so much work for a bit of beer that 4 adults can drink in such a short time.
I have been brewing 11 gallons for years(50 -54 litres). Usually only 2-3 times a year 3-50 litre batches per day.
Even there I do not share(sell at cost) as much as I would like.

I now want to reduce it to 2 batches in one day but would like to up the size of the batches. I am finding it very difficult with the pot and carboys I have.

Take my advise though on this. Learn how to use gravity to move beer (Ie. use A hose & gravity) & buy pulley systems to save your back. You should never lift 10 gallons of beer even if you physically can. Your back cannot handle it.

Also your decision should be influenced by the beer your going to brew. Ie if you love barley wine don't worry about it. If you like Weisse beer or lagers. Be ready to share. You"ll be surprised at how many heads you can turn with a good home brew.

Hope this helps

Bobby_M said:

...I think 10g is the sweet spot for most. It's still manageable for 5 gallon experimental/specialty batches and capable of 10g when you find your house recipes for mass consumption.

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I agree.

You better love the crap out of that batch of beer cuz you’re going to be drinking it a long time.

I think (my own opinion) that you have diminishing returns once you go over 10 gallons. Simply because you may have saved a few cents per beer, but now you’ve got the equivalent of 155+ bottles of the same brew on hand. I think the monotony brings down the value of your brew savings.

Homebrewers (generally) are an impatient bunch when it comes to beer styles. We like variety. We like experimenting with styles. We want to get on to that next brew session. Consider how much more appetizing a nice Smoked Porter sounds this time of year than it does on July 4th. You’ll notice the clamor for wit recipes and cream ales has died down a lot with the changes of the season.

I’d just hate to see you brewing up 15 gallons of a single beer and then wishing you had a freed up corny for your next brewing temptation.

I vote 15 gallons or bigger if you share. It's too much work to only make 5 gallons when you can make 10 or 12 gallons just as easy.

My keezer holds 6 5gl kegs, I'd rather have 6 diffrent beers than 2.

One of the best reasons to go to 15 gallons, in my opinion, is to split that 15 gallons into 3 carboys so that you can start with the same exact base recipe and see how the taste changes by pitching different yeast varieties, dry hopping versus not dry hopping, adding stuff like oak chips, vanilla, ginger, whatever, etc, etc.

That's a fantastic way to fine-tune a recipe in the least amount of time and hone in on what really makes that particular beer stand out above the rest.

As far as brewing 15 gallons to put into one keg with no variations, I wouldn't bother, but that's just me - I like variety.

Bah, go big or go home. You can brew smaller batches in larger vessels. I can brew from 5-25g batches. Odd ball stuff I brew small, house staples I brew big. And you can always get more cornies!

I love brewing beer, but when I was doing 5 gallon extract batches I was brewing 3 Saturdays per month to keep up with demand. When I switched to AG I knew that the brew day would take even longer, so I went with a big system so that I didn't have to brew almost every weekend. Now I can do 20 gallons of a house brew once every 6 weeks or so and slip in fun 5 or 10 gallon batches in between when I feel like it.

If you're even considering going big then go big - you wont be disappointed.

Check out the huge amount of pot I have:

For my purposes I can't imagine doing anything larger than 10 gal. I'm the only one doing major consumption of the beers i brew and at a pint a day brewing once a month almost keeps up. Plus I like to have a good variety and doing larger batches means less variety.
However if you are trying to keep up with several heavy drinkers I could see where 15gal batches would be desirable.
I put together my AG system for very little. A 5 or 10gal cooler with KewlerKit and braid is cheap as is the turkey fryer w/30qt pot. The most expensive investment so far has been the grain mill. If I want to move to a larger size then I need a much bigger investment for brew pots with spigots and some kind of pump or stand system to move the wort. Dumping the chilled brew pot into the fermenter is no longer an option, nor is heating sparge/strike water on the stove and dumping it into the cooler MLT. I dream about such a system and if I do it it will be capable of 10gals.

Craig

Don't brew bigger batches, brew bigger beer! Malt takes up lots less room if you leave out all that water.