Couple noob questions for ya

[acrojade8]

Well, my brewbuddy and I are at the point where we are accumulating equipment for our fantastic endeavor and I'm having a little trouble deciding on how we should proceed. Obviously we will be doing 5 gal batches and we are prepared to drop some nice coin for good equipment. At some point in the distant future we will be moving up to 10 or 20 gal sizes but I still want a really nice 5 gal setup for crafting new beers and tweaking the old ones. I don't want to change a recipe only to find out that it is far inferior and have 20 gallons of the stuff to do something with. I had planned on doing just the usual turkey fryer based setup but the other day I was thinking if this is something we plan to keep around indefinitely then maybe we should look into doing some form of electric heating. I'm still a noob, but from what I've gathered electric definitely helps ease the process which is a very attractive quality. I can't say that I've seen a whole lot of 5 gal setups using electric so I don't know if its b/c its not that practical or just b/c of the natural progression of bigger batch sizes and upgraded equipment. Thoughts?


Also a quick question regarding efficiency. Does it have a noticeable impact on the beer other than abv? It certainly won't be a priority when I first start brewing, there are a number of things I need to get down before I concentrate on that, but I'll definitely keep an eye on it and if a can slowly improve it then all the better. Anyways, say you typically brew at 65% efficiency, get some new key equipment and change some techniques and brew the same beer at 80%. It is going to be a significantly better beer or just get you drunker?

Thanks and happy brewing.

 

[TromboneGuy]

About the efficiency, higher efficiency means you can adjust for the higher efficiency and get the same results as before out of less grain, saving you money.

 

[naemlss]

+1 on saving money and getting drunker doing it!

 

[h22lude]

Just as they said, higher efficiency means you are getting the best starch to sugar conversion giving you the most fermentable sugars possible. So the better your efficiency, the less grains you need to use to get a good amount of fermentable sugars.

With that said, it seems to me like you haven't brewed a batch yet (you saying "when I first start brewing"). If that is the case, I wouldn't worry about putting a lot of money into great equipment or worry about 10 or 20 gallon batches. Don't get me wrong, if you want to go all in, go for it. I would personally not do that, for a few reasons. 1) you may not like brewing or decide that you would rather buy beer than make it 2) you don't need high priced fancy equipment to brew great beer...many of us on here brew with cheap stock pots and coolers as mash tuns 3) at least get the process down before putting a lot of your hard earned money into it.

Like I said, I'm not telling you you shouldn't buy a $350 Blichmann brew kettle or a $2000 heated/cooled conical SS fermenter. If you have the cash to do that and want to, go for it. I like to recommend a good starter kit first. Do a few extract batches and read a ton. Get the process down and understand the basics of brewing. Then move up to AG and then maybe into an automated system (gas or electric).

Plenty of people do 5 gallon batches with electric heating elements. Look through the electric threads. There is a lot of great info on this site.

Just my 2 cents

 

[acrojade8]

Thanks for the info so far. I figured efficiency was just that, being efficient, but in some of the threads I've read and the way some people pine over it I thought maybe it affected the quality of the beer; and I guess it becomes a much bigger factor when you're brewing large batches. No I haven't started brewing yet, but the biggest reason I'm wanting to start up is because I don't like buying beer. Its a lifelong hobby and I can get really good beer for cheap (eventually) so I'm pretty confident I'm going to enjoy it. My original plan was to just go basic and diy as much of stuff as I can, I was looking to get started for just a few hundred dollars, but my brewbuddy, who will be funding most of it as I attempt to assume the mantle of the brains for the time being, has the money and is willing and wants to throw down for some quality equipment to start off with. I've told him its not necessary and we can brew quality beer with basic hodge-podge equipment but he's not worried about it and that's cool with me, better toys to play with. As for starting, I definitely plan to begin with extract so that I can familiarize myself with the process and the equipment, but I do plan to go AG fairly early. I don't plan to go all out like with the conical but items like a Blichman, a pump, and a grain mill are all certainly within the cards. And don't worry, I have no delusions of brewing great beer right off the bat or moving to large batches (as stated: "in the distant future"). I know its going to be a long road and I have far too much more information to learn. Well, off the the electric threads for a bit.

 

[naemlss]

This might be me talking out of my a**, but from what I understand some beers are meant to have low efficiency. It has to do with the way you crush your grain, and the temperature that you mash at. IIRC an englishwoman posted on here about how the typical efficiency for them is 60-65 percent and they mash hot and heavy(high temperature and thicker than average wort.

I would do some research into that subject if I was interested in doing tradional english style ale.

 

[mrbippers]

Don't start worrying about efficiency and such before you've even done your first batch. The best way to learn is to start brewing. As far as equipment does, brewing in a keggle (essentially a keg with the top cut off) is a great way to go for the short and long term. It will hold 10 gallon batches comfortably, does 5 gallons just fine, and you can add extras like drain spouts and electric heating elements down the road. As long as you have a place to do it, heating with a propane burner/turkey fryer works great.