All grain mashes.

I am just started out brewing a couple days ago with my first batch being an all extract brew with some specialty grains that had to be steeped for 15 minutes in the wort before the extract was added. I thought it was pretty easy and I am having an excellent fermentation so far. I was wondering if there was any way for me to do an all grain brew without having to get a grinder to grind the wheat/malt?

Yes. Most homebrew stores offer the option of grinding your grain for you.

Just remember that all grain is more than 'steeping' the grains, and you need to be able to boil over 6 gallons of wort, and then rapidly chill it.

AG isn't difficult, but it does require additional equipment beyond an 18qt stockpot like the typical extract + steeping grains recipe.

The grinder is not needed, you can get grain crushed. What you will need is a lauter tun or figure out brew in a bag or some similar low-scale all grain method. I'd read into partial mash brewing and do one of those.

You can also do a partial mash on a stove top using a big kettle and a big grain bag or paint strainer bag. Deathbrewer's tutorial is a good place to start.

malkore said:

Just remember that all grain is more than 'steeping' the grains, and you need to be able to boil over 6 gallons of wort, and then rapidly chill it.

AG isn't difficult, but it does require additional equipment beyond an 18qt stockpot like the typical extract + steeping grains recipe.

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I don't think this is too much off the topic to ask here, but...what draw backs are there, if any, to just doing an AG 2.5 gallon batch size?

Jcoz said:

I don't think this is too much off the topic to ask here, but...what draw backs are there, if any, to just doing an AG 2.5 gallon batch size?

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Less beer.

Jcoz said:

I don't think this is too much off the topic to ask here, but...what draw backs are there, if any, to just doing an AG 2.5 gallon batch size?

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Not any. I do 2.00 gallon all grain batches for test batches all the time. I probably do 12 throughout the year and actually have 7 going right now.

-bn

BeernuT100 said:

Not any. I do 2.00 gallon all grain batches for test batches all the time. I probably do 12 throughout the year and actually have 7 going right now.

-bn

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Fantastic.

Haha, yes I know, less beer....but I can do this stovetop with much much less equip...just gotta buy some 3 gallon buckets and some lids/airlocks.

Thanks!

I use a 2 gallon mash tun to do my mashes in but I am limited to 5lbs of grain or less.

-bn

Jcoz said:

Fantastic.

Haha, yes I know, less beer....but I can do this stovetop with much much less equip...just gotta buy some 3 gallon buckets and some lids/airlocks.

Thanks!

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I just did 2 batches, each 2 1/2 gallons and put each into its own 6 1/2 gallon fermenter bucket. I think that as soon as it starts fermenting the CO2 produced will push the air out of the airlock and leave my fermenter full of CO2. If I'm right, I will have good beer from it. If I'm wrong, I'll have 5 gallons of cardboard tasting beer to drink.

BeernuT100 said:

I use a 2 gallon mash tun to do my mashes in but I am limited to 5lbs of grain or less.

-bn

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Couldn't you just mash it on the stove in a SS pot?

If the pot fit you could stick it in the oven to maintain temps I would imagine...I mean in my head I'm just thinking of deathbrewer's stove top AG method dialed down to achieve a full boil....should be able to cool 2.5 gallons quickly enough to not necessarily need a chiller

Jcoz said:

Couldn't you just mash it on the stove in a SS pot?

If the pot fit you could stick it in the oven to maintain temps I would imagine...I mean in my head I'm just thinking of deathbrewer's stove top AG method dialed down to achieve a full boil....should be able to cool 2.5 gallons quickly enough to not necessarily need a chiller

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You can do that also. I do not see any problems in that. And it usually takes me 25 mins tops to get 2 gallons down in the 80's in a water bath.


-bn

Wow, such great replies. Thanks for all the tips guys, I do plan on working my way up after getting more experience with extract brews then partial mashes before going AG. I have a 5 gal pot and just wanted to also make sure that would be large enough to make the wort I needed for the brew. I think I can pretty much assume that I can start with 3 gallons of water then add what I need to bring it up to 5 gal after I chill it.

You should look into doing a cooler conversion mash tun and doing batch sparge AG method. I'm doing my first AG batch Saturday and I'm super excited.

http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/
http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/mashtun.htm
http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/all_grain_how_to.htm

Let me know if you have any questions. This is all in my head as I just built my mash tun for $20. Also, your LHBS should have a mill by the grain selection area. Northern Brewer allows me to select and weigh the grain, and mill the grain right into the bag. Takes 5 minutes.

I started AG with a 3-4 gallon batches because of my pot. Great way to start and then trick your wife into letting you spend the money on a bigger pot.

I agree with idigg. If you want to do all grain, you might want to just decide on your equipment instead of gradually stepping it up. Its very important to have a process that is very consistent. It take a few times before you get all of your parameters just right for _your_ equipment.

All that said, you can save money with the "Zap Pap" Lauter tun. Google it. I did my first AG recipe with that and it went well. It just took me about 2-3 hours to drill all of those holes.

Also, nothing wrong with Brew In a Bag, I've heard of people getting great efficiency with BIAB