Brand New to Brewing

[CynicalWalt]

So this year I decided to jump in and try my hand at brewing. I have been wanting to start this as a hobby for sometime.

I recently starting buying some equipment to start out. My plan was to try and buy things needs for an all grain brew, even if maybe that is to adventurous for a novice such as myself.

Currently I have
10 gallon Cooler Mash Tun
5 Gallon Glass Carboy
6 Gal Bottling Bucket with Spigot
25' copper imersion chiller
Bottle Capper

I am looking for advice on what I am missing here that is a must for to start trying my hand at all grain brewing. I know I do not currently have my kettle, looking at a 10 gallon kettle currently, and already have a propane burner that I will use for my boil.

Would you recommend I start with extract brewing, or can I try my hand at jumping right into All Grain?

A lot going on with my first post, so I appreciate any help and advice. It will be extremely helpful!

Thank you all.

 

[RM-MN]

Make a batch of mead first and put it into the 5 gallon carboy. The mead will tie it up for the better part of a year so you won't be tempted to use it for beer. Buy a 6 1/2 gallon plastic fermenter bucket with lid and airlock and put your beer into that for fermenting, then in 2 to 4 weeks it will be ready to bottle.

You will need a hydrometer to be sure that the beer is done fermenting and a bottle filling wand will make life easier when you go to bottle. Add an autosiphon and some vinyl tubing to transfer the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket.

Bottles and bottle caps should be on your list as well as a sanitizer. You can jump right into all grain if you are confident but doing a couple extract kits will help you with the process.

 

[cubalz]

Get yourself a brew bag to place in your mash tun. It is a whole lot easier and no stuck sparges.

 

[flars]

So this year I decided to jump in and try my hand at brewing. I have been wanting to start this as a hobby for sometime.

I recently starting buying some equipment to start out. My plan was to try and buy things needs for an all grain brew, even if maybe that is to adventurous for a novice such as myself.

Currently I have
10 gallon Cooler Mash Tun
5 Gallon Glass Carboy
6 Gal Bottling Bucket with Spigot
25' copper imersion chiller
Bottle Capper

I am looking for advice on what I am missing here that is a must for to start trying my hand at all grain brewing. I know I do not currently have my kettle, looking at a 10 gallon kettle currently, and already have a propane burner that I will use for my boil.

Would you recommend I start with extract brewing, or can I try my hand at jumping right into All Grain?

A lot going on with my first post, so I appreciate any help and advice. It will be extremely helpful!

Thank you all.

I would recommend buying John Palmer's "How To Brew" 4th edition (the latest) as a start before buying more equipment.

Brewing good quality extract kits can get you set on the basics of cleaning, sanitation, water, temperature control, and yeast management. From extract kits you could progress to partial mash which will introduce the basics of using grain, pH control, and brewing water adjustments.

Almost all of the equipment used to brew extract kits will be used in all grain brewing.

Start with low to moderate original gravity recipes. Brew the first one a second time to see if you can make it better.

Welcome to home brewing.

 

[Boomer]

A mentor.

 

[WestMichBrewer]

I would recommend buying John Palmer's "How To Brew" 4th edition (the latest) as a start before buying more equipment.

I second this!

 

[Kharnynb]

would indeed start with brew-in-a-bag style brewing, leave the cooler to the side for now, ditto the glass carboy, carboys are not the safest or all that practical, especially at the start when you have more hectic brewdays.

brew a bunch of single malt-single hop beers to get a taste of the ingredients.

 

[Br3w4u]

I would second the 6.5 gallon plastic fermentation bucket or even a fermonster. You want enough room for the Krausen to rise. I made a stone arrogant bastard 5 gallon clone in my early brewing days and put it in a 5 gallon glass carboy. It exploded in the middle of the night and covered my closet with Krausen. That was 6 Year’s ago and my closet still smells like that beer. It didn’t taste too great either because I let it ferment at ambient room temps during July in Oklahoma which brings me to the next topic of temperature control. I would suggest at least using a swamp cooler. Something like a plastic tote filled with cold water and cover your fermentation vessel with a dark t-shirt. It will make a huge difference.

 

[Jtk78]

I would probably brew at least one extract batch before jumping to all grain. It will allow you to at least give the boil and post boil a run through before going into all grain. You can get your boil off rate tested, practice taking hydrometer readings, hop additions, chilling times, tranfers, etc. without needing to worry about grain, mash, or cleaning that stuff.

I have four 7 gallon Fermonsters and love them. I also have a bag to fit my cooler mash tun and love it (from @wilserbrew who is a member here).

Things you didn't list include hydrometer and sample container, cleaner, sanitizer, a long stainless spoon, a stopper and airlock for whatever carboy you decide to use.

 

[seatazzz]

I would ask at your LHBS if they host a brew club, or if they know where there is one. I (like many others) jumped into this without knowing a darn thing until I went to the LHBS and got a great education just from asking questions. Don't be shy, all of us started out at the beginning and your local LHBS (while also wanting to sell you stuff) should be super helpful with anything you want to know, because that creates a repeat customer for them. If nothing else, ask if they know someone in your area who would be willing to let you ghost a brew day with them (bet they do). Or, go to the Regional thread here and see if you can find an experienced homebrewer in your area.

 

[CynicalWalt]

I would first like to say thank you to everyone who replied to my post! It was all helpful and informative. I went and picked up the John Palmer book, and its now night time reading, but also seems to be a good brew day resource so thank you!

I will take a few peoples advice and start with a few batches of an extract brew, probably the same one or 2 to see if I improve on the taste from batch 1 to 2.

I was offered a pretty good deal for a 7.5 Gallon stainless steel pot and propane burner, but slightly hesitant from reading that I really need 8-10 Gallon pot to do a full boil in the future. Would most of you agree?

Next stop is to my local store to buy the remaining equipment needed and probably a month out from my first brew day.

Thank you all again for being so helpful!

 

[Br3w4u]

I would first like to say thank you to everyone who replied to my post! It was all helpful and informative. I went and picked up the John Palmer book, and its now night time reading, but also seems to be a good brew day resource so thank you!

I will take a few peoples advice and start with a few batches of an extract brew, probably the same one or 2 to see if I improve on the taste from batch 1 to 2.

I was offered a pretty good deal for a 7.5 Gallon stainless steel pot and propane burner, but slightly hesitant from reading that I really need 8-10 Gallon pot to do a full boil in the future. Would most of you agree?

Next stop is to my local store to buy the remaining equipment needed and probably a month out from my first brew day.

Thank you all again for being so helpful!

I have used an 8 gallon stainless steel pot for a long time. It is just fine for most brews but sometimes it’s not big enough. If you end up with more than the pot will hold you can hold the extra in a smaller vessel and keep adding it to your main pot as you reduce the volume but that’s a real pain, it’s almost better to cut your loses and dump the extra if that happens. It will depend on how strong of a beer you make. More OG=more grain=more water in general. I always looked at the cheap aluminum pots in the Mexican grocery store and was tempted to get one because they are super cheap but I know a lot of people will warn against using aluminum pots. I have never tried it so couldn’t say if they are good or not. Sorry I kind of rambled there, hope it helps.

 

[Br3w4u]

Oh yeah you can also tune your recipe for a lower yield if you really don’t want to invest in a larger kettle. I personally suggest getting at least 8 gallons though so that you don’t end up having to buy multiple kettles over time when you decide you want a bigger one. That is just my opinion though.

 

[Jtk78]

I have two 8 gallon pots and will start with 7 gallons at the start of the boil. It does require watching it and having a spray bottle to spray the foam and knock it down. One of the pots I got used in a great package, the other I bought new and kick myself for not buying a 10 gallon. I have no plans of upgrading either in the near future.

 

[LittleRiver]

would indeed start with brew-in-a-bag style brewing...

I also recommend BIAB.

If you do go BIAB you'll want to crush your grain very fine, much smaller than with other methods. A fine crush can cause stuck sparges in other methods, but it will only help you in BIAB.

I BIAB and have my mill set to .025". I get efficiency percentages in the low 80's, without sparging. Full volume no sparge mashing is so elegantly simple and easy it's almost like cheating.

If you get your grains crushed at your local store, the mill will likely be set much wider, and your BIAB efficiency will suffer. In that case you would want to do a sparge. Once you get your own mill, you'll be able to do a high efficiency mash without sparging.

 

[Jtk78]

I have a question for you guys that do BIAB. How are you maintaining mash temp for an hour? I use a 13 gallon Xtreme cooler and lose about 1F over the hour. I can't see a kettle being able to come close to that. Are you heating part way through and using a pump to recirculate?

Sorry to hijack, but I thought it was important for OP to see answers in case he goes this route.

 

[Shawn3997]

I mash in my kettle and put a sleeping bag over everything, including the burner, and only lose a degree over the hour if it's really cold (I brew outside). I started off moving from the kettle to an Xtreme cooler for the mash and then back to the kettle for the boil for a few batches then tried just the pot one time and never went back. I use the cooler to store grain now.

In the summer I have to take the pot off the burner or the mash will get too hot. When it's *really* hot, as it gets here in the summer months, I don't even zip the sleeping bag up. I just toss it on top of the kettle like a blanket. I haven't burned or melted anything because the pot is bigger than the burner so nothing touches anything. It's an el-cheapo bag from Wal-Mart so you'll not be out much dough. This is my recommendation if you have similar gear.

BIAB is really easy -- I probably wouldn't brew if I had to mess with 3 pots and all that extra work. The only real hurdle is the cost to start off, but I always point out that you only need to buy everything once. Buy nice stuff once and you're set for years.

 

[Morrey]

There are a bunch of savvy brewers on this site and many of them are answering your questions. To read Palmer's book right out of the starting gate is a great suggestion. Then brew a few extract beers (maybe dabble with steeping grains in the kits) so you can learn sanitation, temp control and process. Then, RE-READ Palmers book and be prepared for the light bulb to come on.

You can go into all grain right off the bat to be sure, but to fully understand the brewing process is the goal with your first couple of beers. Extract simplifies the process so you can learn to walk before you run.

Brew a few beers and see how things go before you invest $$$ in stuff you may not have known what you needed before you brewed. A good example is kettle size. There are very few examples of "one size fits all" in this hobby.

 

[Jtk78]

I wanted to add another book (may have been mentioned above) Brewing Classic Styles. All of the recipes are written as extract with a conversion to all grain. That would allow you to brew a recipe with extract when you're starting out, and go back to the same recipe as an all grain later on and compare. I reference that book often.

 

[LittleRiver]

... BIAB. How are you maintaining mash temp for an hour?

By putting insulation over the kettle. In the winter an old sleeping bag, in the summer a quilted shipping blanket will do the trick.

... I use a 13 gallon Xtreme cooler and lose about 1F over the hour. I can't see a kettle being able to come close to that.

If you assume an un-insulated kettle you would be correct, but we insulate the kettle during the mash.

Are you heating part way through and using a pump to recirculate?

I don't recirculate, so no pumps are required or desired. I'm getting 83% efficiency, using only a single vessel, without sparging, so why would I want to add more gear? That would only complicate things, and make cleanup take longer.

Once, on a really cold day, I added some gentle heat for a few minutes during the mash (while stirring, with the insulation removed of course). I don't use a false bottom, the bag is right on the bottom of the kettle, and I use a propane burner. As long as the heat is gentle, and you stir, burning the bag is not a concern.

I love the elegant simplicity of single vessel BIAB.

 

[jbraaten]

Hydrometer, flask and a ton of star San. Honestly, you seem to have the basics down.

I did partial mash for a year and a half before going all grain. And even then, it was a bit early.

 

[Shawn3997]

OP: BIAB full-volume with no-sparge/no-recirculation (just drain and squeeze) is really easy and I get 82% efficiency just about every time. If I had to do it the hard way I probably wouldn't be making my own beer (too lazy). Thankfully this way is simpler.

The only down side is you have to buy a bunch of stuff but it sounds like you have most of it already. You'll need a mill eventually and you should buy a refractometer but you can get a cheap on from Amazon for $30 or so. Buy a giant flask and make huge starters. Eventually get some temperature control for your fermenting... Star-San, PBW... that's about it. Name your brewery and go for it!

 

[Velnerj]

I went straight into all grain from the beginning. There's really no reason you can't either especially since you already have a mash tun. -Does it have a false bottom or a bazooka strainer or something?

All the things people listed about "learning the process" is still something you can do with all grain, plus grain is much cheaper than extract.

I would only recommend extract brewing to people who either really don't know what they're doing, or people who are unsure if brewing is for them. Because if you're not sure there's no reason to invest in the extra all grain equipment - BUT you already have it so why not put it to use?

One recommendation is to be very careful with the glass carboy. I find its easiest to use plastic buckets with a spigot, that have sealable lids with an airlock. It's easy then to transfer to the bottling bucket and you don't have to hassle with a siphon.

 

[toxdoc49]

Can someone explain the efficiency term? Yes I am new to brewing. You can tell.

 

[Jtk78]

Can someone explain the efficiency term? Yes I am new to brewing. You can tell.

It relates to all grain brewing. If your doing extract, the efficiency was taken into account to make your extract.

If you're brewing all grain, the short answer is how much of the available sugars are you getting out of the grain when you mash (soak) the grain.

 

[Horseflesh]

I also endorse the idea of starting as all grain, full volume BIAB. I wish I did! Even if you don't get a mill for a while, and suffer with the crush from your LHBS... Worth it. Add the mill when you know you're sticking around.

I would also really really recommend getting some kind of temperature control for fermentation. At the least you need a swamp cooler to prevent high temperatures. Ideally, you want something with pushbutton control. That could cost very little... Less than $40 for an Inkbird temperature controller plus the cost of a small fridge off Craigslist.

Good luck!

 

[swampbrewcrew]

You’re going to have fun with this. Just by reading along I can tell you’re a frugal person at the edge of a rabbit hole. If you can get over the small learning curve between drinkable beer and good beer, you seem like the kind of guy who patches together a $2k system for under $500.