I've made several batches so far but never a true all grain... It's not that I don't want to, it's that I live in a crappy tiny apartment and don't have storage for all my equipment.
I was thinking I could do an all-grain half batch by steeping my grains in cheese cloth instead of floating in the water (avoiding the need for a mash turn - although this would leave sparging out) and just holding the temp steady for steeping. Follow that with a full boil in my 4 gal extract pot, an ice bath instead of a wort chiller and then it's off to the fermenter.
Other than only making a half batch are there any real disadvantages to this set up? I think it's a good compromise between available space and the desire to go full grain.
What do you all think?
I was thinking I could do an all-grain half batch by steeping my grains in cheese cloth instead of floating in the water (avoiding the need for a mash turn - although this would leave sparging out) and just holding the temp steady for steeping. Follow that with a full boil in my 4 gal extract pot, an ice bath instead of a wort chiller and then it's off to the fermenter.
Other than only making a half batch are there any real disadvantages to this set up? I think it's a good compromise between available space and the desire to go full grain.
What do you all think?