stanley1271
Well-Known Member
I am planning on moving on to AG soon, but I do not want to go to 10 gallon or even 5 gallon rigs. I am looking at doing 3 gallon batches to start and if need be I can always save up for a nice single tier build. Right now I am doing 5 gallon extract and mini-mash batches and that is great for something like a house ale or something I know I will drink the hell out of.
So I figured I would start this thread to ask my many questions on AG equipment on the smaller scale. I found a cooler on Walmart.com that is 5 gallons. so my first question is about head space. How much is to much head space? And how much space would a 3 gallon batch (just a rough average since each recipe may be different due to grain(s) and thickness) take?
I already know that my stove can boil 3 gallons of water with out much of an issue and can even boil a second pot of 2 gallons at the same time, so I have no real worries about my stove. And I am looking at maybe getting a turkey fryer for free. I have no clue what condition or if it is one of the flimsy ones at this point, so I am just going with the idea of doing this on the stove.
At this point I have pretty much hit, or am getting close to, my space limitations for brewing gear, at least according to SWMBO. So I am looking to keep the gear purchases to a minimum, hence the smaller batches. So assuming I have all the gear needed for extract (5 gal pot, hydrometer, auto-siphon, IC, scale) is there something else that I am missing that would be needed for AG?
EDIT: I am also planning on only doing SMaSH to begin with just to simplify things. I have a habit of jumping in with both feet, so I am setting my self a limit/goal. Basically I want to be able to learn more about the malts and hops one at a time.
-Stanley
So I figured I would start this thread to ask my many questions on AG equipment on the smaller scale. I found a cooler on Walmart.com that is 5 gallons. so my first question is about head space. How much is to much head space? And how much space would a 3 gallon batch (just a rough average since each recipe may be different due to grain(s) and thickness) take?
I already know that my stove can boil 3 gallons of water with out much of an issue and can even boil a second pot of 2 gallons at the same time, so I have no real worries about my stove. And I am looking at maybe getting a turkey fryer for free. I have no clue what condition or if it is one of the flimsy ones at this point, so I am just going with the idea of doing this on the stove.
At this point I have pretty much hit, or am getting close to, my space limitations for brewing gear, at least according to SWMBO. So I am looking to keep the gear purchases to a minimum, hence the smaller batches. So assuming I have all the gear needed for extract (5 gal pot, hydrometer, auto-siphon, IC, scale) is there something else that I am missing that would be needed for AG?
EDIT: I am also planning on only doing SMaSH to begin with just to simplify things. I have a habit of jumping in with both feet, so I am setting my self a limit/goal. Basically I want to be able to learn more about the malts and hops one at a time.
-Stanley