All Grain equipment

[arnie7781]

I'm thinking about jumping into all grain and I was wondering if I could get some feedback on the equipment I plan to purchase.

Background: I've brewed 7-8 extract beers in a 3 gallon pot and they've turned out really well. I want to upgrade to a full boil, which means a bigger pot and realistically a turkey fryer. I don't think my electric stove is up to the challenge. If I'm planning on purchasing a turkey fryer + 44 quart pot, why not just jump into all grain?

Bayou Classic S1 jet cooker. Amazon: $34.68
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002913MI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Bayou Classic 44 quart stainless steel pot. Amazon: $96
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VXHKMC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

10 gallon Rubbermaid water cooler (upright) Lowe's $45
http://www.lowes.com/SearchCatalogD...10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=10+gallon+cooler

$30 for converting cooler to mash tun

Shirron Wort Plate Chiller. Local homebrew shop: $94.95

That puts me @ $330 or so with taxes.

I can manage this budget, but am I leaving anything out? Should I budget an additional 10% for miscellaneous equipment? Anybody have experience/reviews regarding this specific equipment.

Looking for some tricks of the trade and any feedback. Thanks.

 

[Rivenin]

any reason for a jet cooker as opposed to the SP14? i've heard (not actually used) alot that the jet cookers use alot more propane then the normal bayous..

and i have tried a full boil on my electric stove.. it's no fun

 

[jmf143]

Couple of things - Aluminum brew kettle would be cheaper, and you can convert the cooler to a mash tun with a CPVC manifold for less than $30.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Do you own a pump? Don't think I would want a plate chiller without one. I use an immersion chiller, and I think I would still us it with a pump as I could recirculate the wort and chill faster! Numbers Look about right, don't forget propane to add to the costs list if you don't have a gas grill already.

 

[pkeeler]

A pH meter is not necessary; many sources will tell you pH is important but you can use test strips. 5-20 years ago, the strips sucked, but nobody was going to buy a $200 meter. Now you can get a perfectly good pH meter for $50. You could get an immersion chiller (or the copper to make one) for $50, and use the savings for a pH meter.

Will you spoon reach to the bottom of your new pot without your hand being in boiling water?

A gram digital scale will pay for itself with bulk hop buys. But it isn't necessary if you are not weighing out hops.

 

[starrfish]

Couple of bargains I've found.

Build a CPVC Manifold for mash tun (working on this)

El Cheapo PH meters available on ebay for $11 including shipping. They seem to work great. Haven't used mine brewing yet, but I've run the calibration, and tested the ph of my fish tank which came in at 6.4 in the norm range...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-pH-Mete...475?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564113c283

Walmart digital kitchen scales seem to be accurate enough for my needs... 11lbs to 1 gram

I made a red oak mash paddle for time, and a few bucks in lumber

Your sparge water can be housed in your bottling bucket to start (I still do this). For me I mash thin so never use more than 5 gallons of sparge to a 6.5 gallon boil

Keg Cowboy hear has a valve for a brew pot around 20bucks. I should have done this long ago.

 

[marcycaulkins]

Grain mill. I prefer to buy sacks of uncrushed grain (again, one of those bulk things to save money).

Shop around for your chiller, i think some of our vendors have them for cheaper if you have your heart set on the plate chiller. I am thinking about upgrading to one myself. Although my immersion chiller works great, it is bulky and just another big thing to wash at the end of brew night.

 

[Acoma]

Thats a nice pot!

 

[snevey]

Check out Sam's Club website for aluminum stock pots. They just changed the d@mn price by $10, but you can still get a 15 gallon stock pot for $66.00!!!

 

[BrewThruYou]

I would save some cash and go with an immersion chiller instead of a plate chiller/pump.

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk

 

[lumpher]

i use an 50' 1/2" immersion chiller i got off craigslist for $20. no plate needed, no pump needed; just a garden hose. i also have 3 mash tuns, 2 rectangular types for 5 and 10 gallon batches, and a keggle mash tun. i tried the cpvc some time ago on 1 of the rectangulars, and got frustrated as the cpvc wore out and kept coming apart when pouring in the mash water, causing stuck mashes. i soldered a manifold on the cpvc 1, and have never had a problem with sticking since

 

[vortexla]

I bought my nice 10 gallon aluminum pot from Wares Direct for less than $50 with shipping.

 

[wolverinebrewer]

Check out Sam's Club website for aluminum stock pots. They just changed the d@mn price by $10, but you can still get a 15 gallon stock pot for $66.00!!!

Yup. This is what I just received for xmas and its the cats ass. It was going for under $40 in December.

Build a CPVC Manifold for mash tun

+1 on this also. I built mine for a 62 qt and I got by with a 5' stick of 1/2" a few tee's and elbows for less than $7

 

[iijakii]

I cannot recommend BIAB enough. I have a proper 10-gal rubbermaid mash-tun and still prefer to BIAB. So cost of your kettle and burner and that's pretty much it.

I went with the 62-quart SS Bayou Classic that's on Amazon. I dig it, and would recommend you getting the bigger size over that 44-quart. I then installed a spigot from bargainfittings.

 

[arnie7781]

Thanks for all the responses.

Will definitely consider the immersion chiller over the plate chiller. My homebrew shop doesn't seem to carry the 50' version. They have a 39' for $89. Amazon has the 50' for $58. Pros? Cons?

It seems like the consensus is that an aluminum pot is fine. I started with an enamel pot, but assumed my first upgrade would be to stainless. Would anyone care to elaborate?

Also, I thought a 44 quart pot would be plenty for 7 1/2-8 gallons of water. What's the benefit of an even larger pot? I don't see myself ever wanting to do 10 gallon batches.

Here's a video of the mash tun I plan an making. $30 to convert was a conservative number. Any pros/cons to this method?



Here's a thread from this forum that looks identical:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/

Finally, a spoon to get to the bottom of the pot? Genius!

Thanks again for all the feedback.

 

[Rivenin]

as far as accessories go, i bought a 3' plastic spoon from my LHBS for like $10, it was the best thing i ever bought lol

 

[starrfish]

Amazon 50' chiller for $58 is a good deal... I got a 25' when I was partial mashing/partial boil, it still does an ok job on full boils in the winter, but SC summers where tap water temp runs like bath water can be a challenge.

I just like Stainless Pots too! They look cooler. I'll be drilling a hole in mine for a drain valve this weekend. If I screw it up I'll be in the market for a new pot! Mine is 40 qt plenty big for 6.5 gallon boil and it sits nicely on my Bayou Classic SQ14 (square burner) It's a rock solid burner platform. I really don't think I'll ever do a 10 gallon batch either, but 40qt is minimum size I'd go.
May have found a line on a keg to turn into a "keggle"... It's free keg tucked way back in back of a work buddies garage from years ago... now that would just be COOL!

I fly sparge so I'm going to need a manifold made from copper or CPVC or a false bottom to prevent channeling of the grains. If you batch sparge the braided tubing method works well.

hope this helps.

 

[pkeeler]

44 qt is fine if you are not going to do 10 gal. batches. I have a 15 gal. pot, and it is hard to see into the pot during the boil because of all the water vapor when doing 5.5 gal. batches. Also, larger pots will have more evaporation (although some 7 gal. canning pots have more surface area than my 15 gal. turkey fryer pot).

 

[starrfish]

My 40qt is one of the widest pots i've seen, and it's not very tall

 

[arnie7781]

Update.

Went with the 40 quart aluminum pot from Wares Direct. Picked up a 10 gallon rubbermaid water cooler there as well. $86.88 total + taxes and shipping = $111.64 Picked up the jet cooker and 50' wort chiller from amazon for $108 and change including taxes and shipping. Still have to purchase the supplies to convert the cooler, but I'm about $100 under budget. Thanks for all the help! Looking forward to making the jump to ag.