Have 3 Kegs, want to All Grain Brew!

[BrewMark-SantaBarbara]

Trust me folks, I've read through a ton of material on here from Single Tier, 3 Tier Gravity, Electric Automated, Two Vessel 1 Pump . . . etc. etc. etc.

It's starting to make my head spin. Especially some of the finer details on a HERMS system, I've watched videos, read through builds and I think I may just explode.

I want to try my hat at all grain brewing to make a Hefe, heard they're relatively easy and quite honestly I enjoy them quite a bit and hell its summer time and even will be when its done fermenting! Game plan is this Sunday, I've got a pretty traditional starter brew kit and bought a 8 gallon alluminum pot also, have a keg laying around I can make into a Keggle, and can buy a big old cooler for a mash lauder tun. I also have access to a Turkey Frying Burner/stand that I can use to heat up a sparge tank well. Can't I just install a sparge arm onto the Keggle make that my boil pot, set up the cooler to be a mash/lauder tun and put the alluminum under it to collect the Wort when we're done, run a few gallons back through grain for straining and then gather everything for the boil to add the bittering/aromatic hops. Use my home made 1/2 " copper tubing coil wort chiller to get it down for pitching and the rest as usual? Figuring this way I'll just need to invest in some keggle transformation and a cooler/fittings for the mash/lauder tun?

Anything I'm missing here that I could do better for a first crack at All Grain brewing? (Anything not too expensive that is). I mean with a system like this would 1 pump make my life a crapton easier? Or not so much even?

First DIY build, I don't have too much money to invest into it, but if another 100 - 200 bucks could get me better off what would you suggest. Or is my theory fundamentally problematic?

Thanks in advance, you've all been great! I went from extract partial boil, partial grain/partial boil, to full boil partial grain and now want to get to the next stage of All Grain!

 

[stevo4361]

I just brewed my first AG batch 2 weeks ago, so quite the noob still myself. But I went with a mash tun with a false bottom and batch sparged. Pretty simple really. You fill your mash tun (cooler) with grain and water and hold temp for an hour, then drain. (After vorlauf, fill a pitcher till your runoff is clear.). Then dump in your sparge water, stir, vorlauf, and drain slowly into your brew kettle, and away you go. Use either a spare pot, your kettle, or keg to warm up your water volumes before use. (147-155 for mash, 170 for sparge. On your mash go 170 or so for heat loss from grains/ tun).
Your sparge arm would go on your mash tun, which could be either your cooler or converted keg I guess. I won't comment because I've only done minimal research on them. Batch sparging is pretty easy though, and I hit my expected OG.
Good luck man, sounds like you got enough equipment, just need to give it a shot, it makes a lot more sense when you're doing it than reading about it. Hope this helps, and someone with more experience will explain everything a lot better than me.

 

[outside92129]

I'm with Stevo4361- go with batch sparging for now, no sense in complicating the process just right out of the gate. If you do fly sparging wrong you can really screw up your beer (channeling can lead tannin extraction and lower OG). Once you get the good at batch then you can decide between HERMS and RIMS (or neither).

A pump will work (i'm partial to march 809) wonders for you but then you'll need more valves, tubing, barbs, maybe even camlocks. $Cha-ching$! Every part "only" costs $5, but you'll need a lot of them. The propane plumbing for my rig was $100, and that doesn't include the regulator, burners, or tank supply tubing! If you get a pump you'll need to power it, and they don't come with switches so you'll have to rig something up. Heck, some don't even come with power cords and you'll have to wire it up.

There isn't too much time until this weekend for you to make a lot of new gear and test it out. You already have a MLT to make + false bottom/bazooka/manifold, and a mash paddle to source, maybe some fittings for the chiller.

There are soooo many options and tradeoffs for brew stands that there is no one stand to rule them all (maybe Kal's, his setup is pretty epic). Single vs 3 tier, elec vs propane vs NG, etc. Once you know how you like to brew you can narrow down what you want in a system. So you're pretty much set for an awesome weekend! See how you like it, what you want to improve, and don't forget to RDWHAHB - this is a hobby after all!

 

[hio3791]

Agreed with other posts. For your first AG, don't over-complicate your life! Go with what you have, get the process down and make good beer. Once you get comfortable with your process, you'll know where it can be improved and go from there.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Trust me folks, I've read through a ton of material on here from Single Tier, 3 Tier Gravity, Electric Automated, Two Vessel 1 Pump . . . etc. etc. etc.

It's starting to make my head spin. Especially some of the finer details on a HERMS system, I've watched videos, read through builds and I think I may just explode. !

Take your 8 gallon kettle and try a BIAB, then in two weeks when you are enjoying a nice cold Hefe, you will be able to think more clearly about what system you need / want.

My advice is to let your experience guide you towards your destination, rather than solve the puzzle.

Oops, it was pretty much said...perhaps better said

Agreed with other posts. For your first AG, don't over-complicate your life! Go with what you have, get the process down and make good beer. Once you get comfortable with your process, you'll know where it can be improved and go from there.

For your first batch you don't need much at all! You can easily syphon out of the kettle...stop thinking about pumps for a bit as well IMHO.

 

[mikescooling]

If you get to brewing in full 15 gallon pots, your life will be much easier with a pump. If you don't have a pump gravity is the next best thing. I 2nd the brew in a bag idea.

 

[Frige]

Yeah what they said. A lot of members have built 3 tier systems out of wood that work really well. Just remember the K.I.S.S. method

 

[Stocktonbrew]

If you have the room, I have a wood 3 tier and love it. They are cheap and fun to make. Brew days are fun and not complicated, but everyone finds their own system they like.

 

[brewinginnc]

I do 5 gallon biab and i enjoy it. It is a way to do all grain without a lot of equipment. There are other ways to go as you have researched. My beers got much better with all grain so any way you go, i think you will be satisfied.

 

[BrewMark-SantaBarbara]

Thanks for all the encouragement. Now I'm between going with a BIAB or building out a coleman cooler as a mash/lauder. Either way it's gonna be fun fun fun! Definitely not going to be setting up any complicated systems for the moment. Actually most likely I think I'll just be setting up a gravity system using my buddies back porch "stoop", the propane stand on stoop as top level, actual stoop as 2nd tier and ground as 3rd tier How's that for K.I.S.S. ???

 

[wilserbrewer]

Linked is a ghetto cooler conversion that works well, and is cheap and easy if you want to get started.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/ten-minute-cooler-mash-tun-conversion-125108/

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Watching!