shawshank24
Member
i've never done an extract batch. i'm 20-something batches deep in all-grain.
I'm really curious if any of the all-grain brewers could address Fadeux's question:
"If your goal is to be an all grain brewer, how much extract can you do to learn about the process before you are just wasting your time?"
I think this is a good question. Insights? What can extract brewing teach a young jedi who aspires to all grain? My husband got me a basic home brewing kit from Northern Brewer and I already know that *someday* (when school is finished and the toddlers aren't terrorizing the premises) that I would like the control of all grain. Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of good organic store-bought bottled spaghetti sauce in the pantry, but I'm the type of gal who personally prefers to grow my own tomatoes and basil and harvest them to create my own *special* sauce that takes half a day to simmer--know what I mean? Good spaghetti is good spaghetti. Good beer is good beer, no matter how you make it. But I think it would be nice to create something completely from scratch on occasion. I'm a total newb, too, and just trying to soak up knowledge so that we can eventually expand production. But Fadeux's question is one that I've been pondering, myself, as I look ahead thinking about where the hobby (obsession) is going...
Two half-batches. (I bought a cream ale kit and did half of it, then did the second half with some steeping grains I added.)
AG is dead easy, and I see a lot of people saying they'll do it as soon as they get the equipment, but if you don't have a mash tun, do BIAB. It's all-grain, it works great and it costs all of a couple of dollars for a bag. BIAB even lets you do a step mash if you like. Look at Deathbrewer's awesome how-to and you'll never look back.
mind pointing me in the way of Deathbrewers howto? be fun to learn
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/
It's just partial mash, but it's a good tutorial. The only real difference between this and full AG is the size of the pot, to allow more grains instead of DME.
[I'll answer it, but note he asked this Q more than 3 years ago...]
I'd say 3 or 4 batches of extract will give you a very good feeling for the fermentation process. At that point you would be ready to jump into AG. You could just begin with AG, but that's a lot to worry about unless you've got an experienced AG brewer by your side.
At that point all you need is a cooler and a braid and you're mashing.
jbaysurfer said:Even simpler, as mentioned, is BIAB, but I ripped a grain bag my first time doing that and never tried again.
I've never done an extract brew, it looked like more work to me, so I jumped in with both feet brewing all grain. Did my first batch on Saturday and it was pretty straightforward. Its fun and addictive.
The hardest part was figuring out what to do with all of the wet grain!
So simplicistically is this what I would need to go AG...
1. Hot Liquid Tank, which can be a 5 gallon cooler with lid ($19 at Menards). I would replace the plastic spigot with a SS weldless cooler spigot ($38 at MoreBeer). So we'll say $60.
2. Mash Tun, which can be a 10 gallon cooler with lid ($45 at Home Depot). Replace the spigot again ($38 at MoreBeer). And I would need a false bottom or braid system. So like $100 to $150 pending the FB or Braid.
3. Kettle (already have a Penrose 15 g kettle)
4. Tubing from HLT to MT and MT to Kettle $1.00/ft at like True Value
5. Propane Burner/Tank (already have)
6. Mash Paddle $30
Is that essentially it?
If I batch sparge my interpretation is I don't need a sparge arm. Is there any connection that I need to connect the false bottom OR braid to the spigot in the MT? Ideally I'd like to just buy a braid and attach to spigot (if that is how you do it).
So simplicistically is this what I would need to go AG...
1. Hot Liquid Tank, which can be a 5 gallon cooler with lid ($19 at Menards). I would replace the plastic spigot with a SS weldless cooler spigot ($38 at MoreBeer). So we'll say $60.
2. Mash Tun, which can be a 10 gallon cooler with lid ($45 at Home Depot). Replace the spigot again ($38 at MoreBeer). And I would need a false bottom or braid system. So like $100 to $150 pending the FB or Braid.
3. Kettle (already have a Penrose 15 g kettle)
4. Tubing from HLT to MT and MT to Kettle $1.00/ft at like True Value
5. Propane Burner/Tank (already have)
6. Mash Paddle $30
Is that essentially it?
If I batch sparge my interpretation is I don't need a sparge arm. Is there any connection that I need to connect the false bottom OR braid to the spigot in the MT? Ideally I'd like to just buy a braid and attach to spigot (if that is how you do it).
So simplicistically is this what I would need to go AG...
1. Hot Liquid Tank, which can be a 5 gallon cooler with lid ($19 at Menards). I would replace the plastic spigot with a SS weldless cooler spigot ($38 at MoreBeer). So we'll say $60.
2. Mash Tun, which can be a 10 gallon cooler with lid ($45 at Home Depot). Replace the spigot again ($38 at MoreBeer). And I would need a false bottom or braid system. So like $100 to $150 pending the FB or Braid.
3. Kettle (already have a Penrose 15 g kettle)
4. Tubing from HLT to MT and MT to Kettle $1.00/ft at like True Value
5. Propane Burner/Tank (already have)
6. Mash Paddle $30
Is that essentially it?
If I batch sparge my interpretation is I don't need a sparge arm. Is there any connection that I need to connect the false bottom OR braid to the spigot in the MT? Ideally I'd like to just buy a braid and attach to spigot (if that is how you do it).
knotquiteawake said:If you batch sparge then I don't see why you even need the HLT. I just used my brewpot to heat the sparge water and drained the mashtun into my bottling bucket. Once the sparging was done I transferred it all back into the brew pot
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