I've been a lurker here for quite some time and I would really appreciate any comments or suggestions.
Basically here's the situation, my uncle is a pro winemaker and has asked me to brew beer for his winery. I've only brewed extract a couple of times and he drank some and liked it, but I am by no means a pro. I've read almost all of Papazian's book, and have listened to about 2 years worth of The Sunday Session. I'm a college student, don't have the space to brew during the school year, but have been planning on transitioning to all-grain as shown in the all-grain brewing with extract brewing equipment post by this summer.
The only equipment that my uncle has that would be useful for brewing the amount of beer he wants is a couple of old 55 gallon plastic containers that I think were old wine fermenters (he has awesome 400 or 500 gallon fermenters now). Other than that, I'd have to get his help in assembling the pieces. I was thinking of making a 1 barrel system and using 55 gallon food grade steel barrels as a mash tun and another one as a boil kettle.
I do not have the knowledge and the skill to do this yet, I didn't commit to anything and basically delayed the issue by saying something to the effect of "I need to wait until I get more batches under my belt." It would be nice to be able to do this this summer, and if not, then next summer. Starting this summer, I would be able to brew once or twice per week, and would be able to get experience with all-grain.
What do I need to do/know to get ready; do you think this is possible; if this does happen, what styles do you think I should brew (most of his customers would be the bud/coors crowd and this would be a transition into good (I hope) beer); and what equipment do we need to get in order to start on this amazing opportunity?
I appreciate any feedback, and thank you for your time.
Basically here's the situation, my uncle is a pro winemaker and has asked me to brew beer for his winery. I've only brewed extract a couple of times and he drank some and liked it, but I am by no means a pro. I've read almost all of Papazian's book, and have listened to about 2 years worth of The Sunday Session. I'm a college student, don't have the space to brew during the school year, but have been planning on transitioning to all-grain as shown in the all-grain brewing with extract brewing equipment post by this summer.
The only equipment that my uncle has that would be useful for brewing the amount of beer he wants is a couple of old 55 gallon plastic containers that I think were old wine fermenters (he has awesome 400 or 500 gallon fermenters now). Other than that, I'd have to get his help in assembling the pieces. I was thinking of making a 1 barrel system and using 55 gallon food grade steel barrels as a mash tun and another one as a boil kettle.
I do not have the knowledge and the skill to do this yet, I didn't commit to anything and basically delayed the issue by saying something to the effect of "I need to wait until I get more batches under my belt." It would be nice to be able to do this this summer, and if not, then next summer. Starting this summer, I would be able to brew once or twice per week, and would be able to get experience with all-grain.
What do I need to do/know to get ready; do you think this is possible; if this does happen, what styles do you think I should brew (most of his customers would be the bud/coors crowd and this would be a transition into good (I hope) beer); and what equipment do we need to get in order to start on this amazing opportunity?
I appreciate any feedback, and thank you for your time.