Critique my plans to upgrade (insight appreciated)

[Orrin1988]

Okay so my friend and I split the cost for a 5 gallon beer brewing kit from midwest supplies (intermediate package).. it came with:

1 6.5 gallon primary fermenter bucket

2 5 gallon better bottles

1 6.5 gallon bottling bucket

Auto-Syphon

Hydrometer reader

Bottle filler

(we added a big ol nylon straining bag)

A capper (black beauty)

Caps

Two liquid crystal thermos

2 universal plugs (for better bottles)

2 airlocks

2 blow off tubes

And a bottle brush


We also bought a 5.5 gallon stainless steel brew kettle.


Now while we brew extract beer and continue to broaden our horizon and knowledge of beer, we plan to slowly upgrade our system. Our end goal is to be brewing up to 10 gallon batches of all grain beer so we will skip the step of buying smaller pots that can't handle 10 gallon brews and stuff. We want to maximize the one we've got now so there are just a few more things that we are buying for immediate use, but after that its on to buying the all grain set up part by part. Here is my plans on what order to buy and what I hope to get. Please put your input into what would be a better order or what my be a better deal as far as equipment goes. We don't mind buying used as long as its in good condition and will last a long time. Here we go:

1st: Buy immersion wort chiller (25') - already bought, just waiting to arrive in mail and assemble

2nd buy propane burner and propane tank

Something like: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...ping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100056313&ci_gpa=pla

should do the trick. I have heard good things about the Bayou Classic out door cooker.

As for propane tank what would you all recommend for the size? 5 pound, 10 pound, more? What's best?

Reason I want to buy this one asap is because we can even start using it for our extract beer and getting a feel for how it works, plus it will cut down brew time by alot (it takes a long time to get to a boil on my stove)

3rd: A better aeration system. Not opposed to oxygen injection system if I can find it cheaper than usual, but I have seen people get good results with something attached to a drill bit (which looks like a cheap option). Anyone got any recommendations for that?

4th: Something like: http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-GALLON-A...ultDomain_0&hash=item19ce0ab697#ht_500wt_1214

I will probably have to break it down and buy it part by part... probably starting with the Brew kettle? Then Hot liquor tank, then mash tun?

Any opinion on order from that.

5th: then I will buy a couple 3 gallon fermenters and maybe 1 or 2 more 5-6.5 gallon fermenters (maybe a bucket and another better bottle). Just so I have enough to have a large variety going at once

6th: Hopefully after awhile I will be able to move to kegs. Are a couple corney kegs good to start off with? How bad do you need a kegerator or can that be held off?

7th: Kegerator... that's a ways off so I don't have any specifics there.

Okay so that's the order I have so far. Any suggestions as to how I should change it or what exact equipment I can get? I do want to save as much money as possible so I don't mind a "ghetto" set up, but at the same time I would like the equipment to last quite awhile. So a good balance of cheap but reliable is in order.

Look forward to your thoughts.

 

[runningweird]

1.most propane tanks that you will find will be 20 pound tanks. one tank will last about 4 all grain batches(more if you are doing extract) in the warmer months and about three in the winther(in PA at least)

2. I used what's called a squirrel mixer or paint stirrer for a long time to aerate my wort - http://www.amazon.com/Homax-69011-1-Gallon-PolyPro-Galvanized/dp/B000ELORFE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341862853&sr=8-1&keywords=squirrel+mixer
4. that system on ebay is interesting but you could spend much less and get a better system. I'm not sure that shower heads are made for food safe use. to do 10 gallon batches you need at least 12 gallon pots - I use converted 15.5 gallon kegs and for some large all grain 10 gallon batches that is barely enough. look on craigslist for some kegs - they can be had for under 40 dollars in most cases.
5. I use 6.5 gallon buckets I got from amazon - food grade and easy to put a grommet in for an air lock. i think they wre under 9 dollars a bucket shipped.
6. a few cornie kegs are great, look on craigslist every day. use a website called searchtempest.com to search more than one at a time. check the classifieds section on here. concern yourself more with making quality brew than how you serve it. I keg and love it, but I bottled for about a year before I found some on craigslist.
7. kegerator: I built mine, its in my post at the bottom, and lots of people have great ideas on this site. spend some time searching around and most of your questions can be answered in more depth.


most important parts of making great beer at home: pitch proper amount of healthy yeast(get a stir plate and Erlenmeyer flask to make starters), sanitize properly(use star san), and control fermentation temperatures - an ideal fermentation temp is around 65 degrees internal temp - so you will need to use a swamp cooler(google it) or get a fridge/freezer to convert to use in conjuntion with a temperature controller like a johnson digital.
welcome to the obsession.

 

[ErnDollas]

How are you planning on doing your fermentation? Beyond the things you listed focusing on the fermentation side of the process will really improve your beer. Like runningweird said above, ensuring you pitch the proper amount of yeast is a definite must. Properly aerating your wort will help improve your beer as well, http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAMS-OXYGEN-AERATION-SYSTEM-P699C106.aspx this is a great system for the price. Fermentation temperature should also be maintained to help the yeasties produce more of the flavors you want and less of the flavors you don't want. Beyond that everyone is going to have thier perfect recipe for buliding their brew system, but for the most part it looks like you are on the right track to building a great brew system. Cheers.

 

[billl]

Before I bought much else, I'd figure out how to control your fermentation temps year round. You can have the fanciest burners and pots, but if you put that fermenter in a 75 degree room, the vast majority of beer styles are going to turn out sub-par. Beyond that, i'd knock out a couple of batches so you have a little knowledge of what would make YOUR brew day easier. eg You might discover that an extra 30 minutes for the water to boil isn't such a bad thing if you spend it drinking a cold one with a friend.

 

[jCOSbrew]

A few suggestions:
* Buy 2 copies of How to Brew by Palmer
* Buy a bigger kettle for 5 gallon (or 10 gallon) full boil
* 25' IC is too small for 10 gallons. Get a 50' IC or a plate chiller
* If you want more fermentation buckets, pick up the Midwest groupon for extra equipment. You get an ingredients kit and gift card and the equipment is basically free.
* Check out the SQ14 burner, works better for large kettles and keggles.
* Standard BBQ propane tank is 20lb. Should get at least 4 brew sessions from one tank.
* The cheap and effective way to aerate the wort is the shake the fermented bucket for 3-5 minutes.
* Try the swamp cooler technique for fermentation temp control.
* You can try partial or full mash with the BIAB method and a larger kettle

 

[RichH]

Looks like that Midwest Groupon expired in Feb.

 

[jCOSbrew]

Midwest runs the Groupon once or twice a month. Look for it to show up on this site or other brewing sites like homebrewfinds.com
I picked up one for extra equipment and ended up donating most of it to a friend who wanted to start brewing. The amber ale kit was pretty good.

 

[KISS Brew]

Fermentation chamber with temperature control first.

Everything else later.

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

My list of upgrades went as follows

Yeast starters
immersion chiller
swamp cooler
Keggle for full boils
Controlled fermentation chamber

And im finally going to all grain and going to be doing pure 02 injection into the beer.

I would focus on fermentation temps first. Like others have said, if you dont have the temps right the beer will suffer.

 

[Orrin1988]

Okay thank you everyone!

Sounds like I need to spend some time to focusing on my temp control before I move on much further.

Right now we ferment in a room that has an ambient temperature of about 68-70 degrees. However, for at least the first week of the brew (or so) we use a simple and cheap swamp cooler at temperatures ranging from 60-65 degrees (we aim for about 61 or 62) but during the course of the day it may go up or down a few degrees. We are able to change out the ice bottles 2-3 times a day and each time we check it is with in that range. We don't have a reliable way to lager yet, so we are holding off on that for a bit until we can get our hands on a cheap (but working!) fridge that we can put a temp controller on. We might be able to lager in the winter because the average temperature during the day in Abilene TX in the winter is in the 40s and 50s, but we might have to figure out a more reliable way than that if we don't want to ruin any batches due to poor temps.

As far as temp control goes, what is most important: maintaining a steady temp of say 68 degrees or whatever is called for, or keeping below and/or above X temperature (IE Below 70 but above 62)? I guess my question is, is it okay if the temperature is going up and down 1-3 degrees on a daily basis or is that bad for the yeasties?


As for yeast starters, we are officially ready to use a yeast starter as of today. I bought a 4 liter glass jug of apple juice. Now that we have drank all of it we will use it on our next batch. Is it okay to use say just a 1.5 liter starter in that big of a jug? Should we use foil or saran wrap for covering it while its starting up? How important is a plate stirrer? I have seen them on the internet and they look awesome and useful, but can I get by with out one?

@jCOSbrew ... I forgot to mention actually that my 25' immersion chiller I am building for the 5.5 gallon pot we are using right now for extract will not be used to cool down our future 10 gallon batches. I guess after we get all of our 10 gallon batch equipment we will buy 50' of copper tubing to build another one. I think then I will use the old 25' one as a pre-chiller (are those useful or are they not worth the trouble?)... or donate it to a friend.

If a swamp cooler isn't going to cut it, I can spend some time on a fermentation chamber. Is it worth it to build one from "scratch" or is it better value to just go buy one?

 

[hepcat]

I'd focus more on learning how to make good brew with what you have now as opposed to focusing so much on up-grading/buying more stuff. Make a few batches with what you have to get a good feel for creating recipes and the process.