I have been brewing all grain for a few months now but am ready to upgrade. Ive been mashing on my stove top in a one gallon stock pot and sparging using a strainer. My capacity per brew is stuck at one gallon at the moment. My question is what is the best way to upgrade to a five or even ten gallon setup (do you think five is big enough or should i just jump to ten?) Whats the best and cheapest way to get a brew pot, lautering tun and all that stuff going. Whats your recommendation as far as carboys go? My goal is cheap, big, and not making too big of a mess (eliminating spills). I already have a turkey frier setup and access to every power tool imaginable (lathe, drill press etc.) so a little DIY is no issue. I'm mostly brewing simpler ales with some experimental batches thrown in here and there. Basically whats my best investment at this point? I would love to be self sufficient and be able to brew all the beer I drink (not that I would, but that I could).
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BIAB fan boy checking in...haha cheers!
I recommeing looking at the brew in a bag thread. It is a method of doing all grain w/o having to use a formal mashtun. These batches can be scaled to any size and are easy to do (you may already be doing something like this on your stove top. If you think you are going to stay with 5 gallon brews then I would look at getting an 8-10 gallon pot to handle BIAB sessions with your turkey fryer.
My setup is pretty basic - in addition to the propane burner that you already have, I have a round cooler converted to a mashtun, a big pot (12 gallons?) that I bought at the LHBS, a wort chiller that I won in a raffle at my homebrew club, and assorted other kitchen pots to heat up sparge water. That's the basics. Next for me came a grain mill and a fermentation chamber. You can see some of my rustic equipment here http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/about.html
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
Safer than glass carboys and easier to use (when I used them) than buckets.
I've evolved beyond the need to see inside the fermenter. I use other methods to KNOW what's going on inside the vessel without needing to see something going on inside. So, I use adapted/converted 1/4 barrel sanke kegs for my 'normal' sized batches of beer (6-7.5 gallons in, typically). I also use adapted 1/6 bbl kegs to ferment my batches of mead, and other things. I have a 50L (that's 13.3 US gallons) keg that's also been converted into a fermenter.
You need to be careful with better bottles to not scratch them around the neck or inside, that's where bacteria and wild yeast can hide. Glass carboys are easier, in that way, for sanitizing purposes.
But lots of folks use BB and make great beer.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
Same care (to not scratch) needs to be taken with plastic buckets.
Better Bottles are very light, won't shatter and cut you to ribbons, and to me even easier to clean than a bucket.
I soak overnight with Oxyclean, rinse, add about 1/2 gallon of hot water and a washcloth. Swirl around to remove the rest of the crud, rinse very well - done.
I soak overnight with Oxyclean, rinse, add about 1/2 gallon of hot water and a washcloth. Swirl around to remove the rest of the crud, rinse very well - done.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
BTW, PBW rinses easier/cleaner (IME) than oxyclean. It also does just as good a job (better in my experience) at cleaning brewing items. I usually buy it in 8# containers, so I don't worry about running out. 1-1.5oz/gallon of water is my typical mixture. I use hot tap water too. You could boil it and run it at that temp through your hoses and such.
Transamguy77
Well-Known Member
If you already have a turkey fryer I'd suggest BIAB also, I did that after extract. It depends on how big you want to go, I brew all I drink (unless I go out) so I moved to 10 gallon batches with a 3 tier set up and converted kegs. After I started BIAB I realized that for maybe 30-45 mins more I could double what I make and that was my push to 10 gallon batches. So if you have any thoughts on bigger than 5 gallons plan accordingly. Oh and remember you need to cool all that wort so invest in a large IC.
Have you checked your turkey fryer to see if there is an automatic shutoff timer? Do you have any brewing buddies that would loan you a 8-10 gallon kettle to see how you tirkey fryer does trying to bring this to a boil? This may help in determining pot size.
squeekybobo
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Yes... The shutoff timer... I hate that thing but haven't spent the time to circumvent it yet. It's on my to-do list. I hate getting distracted (usually cleaning out mash tun, sanitizing stuff, etc.) while boiling and hearing that ding go off.
45_70sharps
Well-Known Member
Hmm... Budget and room would be good info for figuring out what you should get.
One gallon doesn't seem worth the time and trouble to me.
Brewing in a bag might be a good option, but I haven't ever done that.
If it were me, I would shoot for a 10 gallon cooler for a mash tun, get at least a 10 gallon brew pot, a chiller, a couple buckets ( 6.5 or 8 gallon ), and a propane burner.
If you buy a five gallon cooler for a mash tun for example, you might end up wanting something bigger. Then you are out the cost of a second mash tun.
One gallon doesn't seem worth the time and trouble to me.
Brewing in a bag might be a good option, but I haven't ever done that.
If it were me, I would shoot for a 10 gallon cooler for a mash tun, get at least a 10 gallon brew pot, a chiller, a couple buckets ( 6.5 or 8 gallon ), and a propane burner.
If you buy a five gallon cooler for a mash tun for example, you might end up wanting something bigger. Then you are out the cost of a second mash tun.
All you BIAB'ers convinced. I decided to get a 10 gallon stockpot as my brewpot ($40) and a grain bag and I'm going to pick up a bucket next time I head to my LHBS for ingredients. I'm looking forward to brewing some spiced christmas ale in a quantity that I am willing to share. Thanks going BIAB saved me like 150 much appreciated. Eventually i'll update to some kind of sparge setup but I like that this is a size upgrade and leaves room for more upgrades. How do you guys formulate your BIAB recipes though is there some adjustment you make for the amount of grains used in your mash?
Just use BeerSmith, tell it what size, and type of brew your making. Then add ingredients and watch the slide bars till you hit the correct numbers. Don't think there is much difference in what kind of AG you do as far as ingredients is concerned. Water amounts will differ.
