I'm so lost. HELLLP! Just upgraded from white buckets to 10+ gallon stainless system...

[bmac8]

I just bought a used 10+ gallon system and this will be my first time attempting all-grain brewing. I am pretty frustrated and every question I asked the local expert brew shop is just answered with a harder question (if I wanted this kind of treatment, I would see a therapist!)

I had good success with box kits and canned malt +dry malt and grain steeped in a bag. I did great with that. Bottled with priming sugar. Made some funny labels with my face and everything. It is so much fun.

Honestly, I'm not the science type--some here are really smart students of science... some are more like chefs, I suppose... me, I am just trying to make a simple beer. An ale, I guess. The style is not very important to me at this time. I am happy if the system produces... beer.

I'm not trying to win the Catalina Wine Mixer or anything. Just having fun with a hobby.

Can anyone advise re set up? I mean, from the kindergarten level. I'm not pretending to know anything--except that I did about a dozen successful stovetop box kits. This stainless and all-grain setup is a whole new thing, and I am overwhelmed and feeling completely discouraged.

Pick me up!

Thank you for reading!

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I'd recommend reading the book How to Brew by John Palmer. And that you begin with a very simple beer - simple malt grist and hop bill, and a "clean" or neutral yeast. I say this because if you're like me, wanting to manipulate everything at once as you chase "perfection", it is a much longer road than isolating out variables and manipulating things one at a time, evaluating effects, etc.

Have fun.

 

[Chorgey]

Can anyone advise re set up? I mean, from the kindergarten level. I'm not pretending to know anything--except that I did about a dozen successful stovetop box kits. This stainless and all-grain setup is a whole new thing, and I am overwhelmed and feeling completely discouraged.

Pick me up!

Thank you for reading!

You mentioned that you have a 10+ gallon system. Can you walk us through exactly what you have?
What are your questions?

 

[bmac8]

I just bought a used 10+ gallon system and this will be my first time attempting all-grain brewing. I am pretty frustrated and every question I asked the local expert brew shop is just answered with a harder question (if I wanted this kind of treatment, I would see a therapist!)

I had good success with box kits and canned malt +dry malt and grain steeped in a bag. I did great with that. Bottled with priming sugar. Made some funny labels with my face and everything. It is so much fun.

Honestly, I'm not the science type--some here are really smart student of science... some are more like chefs, I suppose... me, I am just trying to make a simple beer. An ale, I guess. The style is not very important to me at this time. I am happy if the system produces... beer.

I'm not trying to win the Catalina Wine Mixer or anything. Just having fun with a hobby.

Can anyone advise re set up? I mean, from the kindergarten level. I'm not pretending to know anything--except that I did about a dozen successful stovetop box kits. This stainless and all-grain setup is a whole new thing, and I am overwhelmed and feeling completely discouraged.

Pick me up!

Thank you for reading!

 

[bmac8]

I'd recommend reading the book How to Brew by John Palmer. And that you begin with a very simple beer - simple malt grist and hop bill, and a "clean" or neutral yeast. I say this because if you're like me, wanting to manipulate everything at once as you chase "perfection", it is a much longer road than isolating out variables and manipulating things one at a time, evaluating effects, etc.

Have fun.

Thank you for the reply. I'm certainly not chasing perfection, although I respect that.

Just trying to make some beers. I bought 25 lbs of a basic grain: 2-Row Pale Malt ("neutral, clean") by Rahr Malting Co. And I bought some cascade hops pellets. I don't even have yeast yet... but if I am on the right track, I think I might be able to make something like a 5%+ Pale Ale... not trying to create anything more complicated than this.

I am still stuck on the system setup. I attached some very confusing pics a few min ago...

Thank you again for replying!

 

[bmac8]

You mentioned that you have a 10+ gallon system. Can you walk us through exactly what you have?
What are your questions?

Thank you for the quick reply. I posted pics a few minutes ago... it's a mess! I actually need a lot of help just setting up the vessels. In my garage, I suppose... and I can fire propane in there... but then, doesn't the fermenter need to be somewhere temp controlled? My garage is fairly cold in winter. (Oregon.)

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Thank you for the reply. I'm certainly not chasing perfection, although I respect that.

Just trying to make some beers. I bought 25 lbs of a basic grain: 2-Row Pale Malt ("neutral, clean") by Rahr Malting Co. And I bought some cascade hops pellets. I don't even have yeast yet... but if I am on the right track, I think I might be able to make something like a 5%+ Pale Ale... not trying to create anything more complicated than this.

I am still stuck on the system setup. I attached some very confusing pics a few min ago...

Thank you again for replying!

OK, thanks for more details. What I really meant is the difficulty of trying to achieve several things at the same time, when every change impacts on other things, so it's difficult to know what any change your doing actually does in terms of the final result. Just a sort of classic experimental method.

First, hearty congratulations on your new system. You've boatloads of wonderful beer ahead. Secondly, well - learning curve ahead, as you know. You're trying to learn all-grain brewing while at the same time needing to know a pretty advanced brewing system.

Nevertheless, the fundamentals apply across all systems. I'd still recommend you read and apply How to Brew - he covers the transition from extract to all-grain brewing well. You need to know this whether you start on a couple plastic buckets with holes in one, or on a system like yours. I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I think the cheapest all-grain setup (i.e., plastic buckets or water cooler mash tun, etc.), might get you in to learning how to brew a bit more easily. But that's debatable. I know if it were me and I came on to your rig, without any experience, I'd probably want to dive in head first myself.

Secondly, and sorry if you know this already, but every system is unique to itself. Mash extraction efficiency, boil off rates, dead space and wort throughput yield, etc., each is unique so you'll need to know this and will come to know this as you move ahead. Just saying this as it will guide your recipe writing going forward.

I'm sorry to say, I can't quite make out your system as it will be set up. Maybe if you itemize each item, with details, we might be able to better guide you on setup?

 

[tracer bullet]

I might suggest getting a used AIO (All In One) like an Anvil Foundry, brewing a few times on it, and then scaling up to the 10 gallon. Just so you get the basics of the process.

Or, do you have a local club? Maybe someone else w/ a 10 gallon or other size but large system can help you set it up. Even a 5 gallon brewer with a lot of experience. You could do a thing where you supply the system and the ingredients, they help brew, and then you split the batch.

 

[whoaru99]

Jump into the deep end from the wading pool.

A bit ironic though this came up. Just yesterday I bought a two burner Blichmann Top Tier stand and a single controller Tower of Power off FB marketplace, but not all the kettles and extra bling you got.

I've been doing 5g all grain with one kettle, a cooler mash tun, and lots of lifting so maybe not quite as steep learning curve but still some, no doubt.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I think you're sort if putting the cart before the horse. You have an advanced brewing system you need to learn about first before attempting to brew your first batch. Most folks slowly upgrade to a system like that. Lucky you though, that is a great setup!

Do some searching on how all the pieces work and with each other. Make sure all of pieces are cleaned and sanitized as needed. Check and make sure you have all the pieces. It might sound stupid but what if you're missing a hose. Find a spot that you can set up everything like you going to brew then do some more reading and watch some YouTube on a system like that, or close to what you have.

After all that homework and you feel confident, then work on your first recipe. As suggested, try something simple so you can learn the system and your brewing technique.

Everyone here will want to know how it goes and everyone here is willing to help with more questions.

Good luck! Again, sweet system!

 

[whoaru99]

In a nutshell, as I alluded to, what you have is a Blichmann Top Tier system with (presumably) two burners, and a two-controller Blichmann Tower of Power with pump, flow meter, and valves.

It appears to be a RIMS setup as it stands (didn't see HERMS coil/setup but maybe it's there somewhere).

There are plenty of YouTube videos out there that will give you good overall perspective on what you have there and should help even with the general setup and basic operation.

Far as the fermenter location depends what temp it gets down to in your garage and depending on yeast and beer style.

 

[bmac8]

I'd recommend reading the book How to Brew by John Palmer. And that you begin with a very simple beer - simple malt grist and hop bill, and a "clean" or neutral yeast. I say this because if you're like me, wanting to manipulate everything at once as you chase "perfection", it is a much longer road than isolating out variables and manipulating things one at a time, evaluating effects, etc.

Have fun.

Thanks for the book title also. I'll check it out.

 

[bmac8]

I might suggest getting a used AIO (All In One) like an Anvil Foundry, brewing a few times on it, and then scaling up to the 10 gallon. Just so you get the basics of the process.

Or, do you have a local club? Maybe someone else w/ a 10 gallon or other size but large system can help you set it up. Even a 5 gallon brewer with a lot of experience. You could do a thing where you supply the system and the ingredients, they help brew, and then you split the batch.

I appreciate the reply. I am a decent 5-gallon brewer. This is totally different. I like your suggestion to find a local friend with more experience, but, respectfully, that's kinda why I am posting here...
Also, just venting my frustrations.
Thank you for trying to help me...I'll grt there somehow.

 

[tracer bullet]

I am a decent 5-gallon brewer.

Ahh, cool. I didn't pick up on that.

I guess then if I were you I'd just very slowly look through all the parts - start with the bigger and obvious ones like the kettles, and then start thinking about the brew day steps. How to heat water, how to transfer wort, how to recirculate, and so on and start looking for the right parts to make those connections.

Alternately as mentioned there are probably videos for this if it was purchased as a "system". Or even an instruction manual?

 

[bmac8]

Ahh, cool. I didn't pick up on that.

I guess then if I were you I'd just very slowly look through all the parts - start with the bigger and obvious ones like the kettles, and then start thinking about the brew day steps. How to heat water, how to transfer wort, how to recirculate, and so on and start looking for the right parts to make those connections.

Alternately as mentioned there are probably videos for this if it was purchased as a "system". Or even an instruction manual?

I like it! I'm going to lay it out piece by piece... and will post better pics.

I must sound like a disorganized bozo--I'm actually very good about simplifying, eliminating chance, being organized, keeping records, and definitely good at cleaning-- but just losing it trying to get to first base...
Thanks--stay tuned!

 

[hottpeper13]

Having a sac of grain means you have a mill. I suggest that for the first couple of brews (if recirculating) set the gap at .035-.040 to prevent stuck mash. Use 65% efficiency for the first one and then you can figure out with an OG measurement.
Make sure when using the pumps that the inlet is wide open and you control the flow rate with the pump outlet valve to prevent cavitation.
I think a SMASH with pale malt and cascade will make an awesome beer,just ordered a pound of cascade.

Are those 10 gal vessels or can you make 10 gal batches?

 

[redrocker652002]

Thanks for the book title also. I'll check it out.

I am going to be the anti on this one. I read, or tried to read, Palmer's book and it just confused me even more than I was. I started this about two years ago with Extract kits on the stove. Move to a single kettle, all grain brew in a bag and added a Igloo 10 gallon cooler as my mash tun. While I am sure the book is a great resource for info, it was much too advanced for me and most it just flew right over my head. I found Youtube and good folks here to be much more helpful and easier to understand, well most of the time anyway. LOL.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I appreciate the reply. I am a decent 5-gallon brewer. This is totally different. I like your suggestion to find a local friend with more experience, but, respectfully, that's kinda why I am posting here...
Also, just venting my frustrations.
Thank you for trying to help me...I'll grt there somehow.

bmac - I can't speak for others but I was responding to your saying this would be not only your first time with your system, but your first all-grain brew. Hence my suggestions. It's a totally different world in so many ways. Mashing, most obviously. So diving into that while diving into an advanced brewing system will be really difficult. You're overwhelmed and frustrated already, and I believe this will only multiply going forward without some basic experience on all-grain.

I am an experienced brewer, though I've had periods when I've been away for years. My last system was a 3-vessel 20 gallon Spike system I built myself, learning welding along the way. I had substantial investment in time and money not only in brewing equipment, but lab and yeast propagation equipment, 3-roller mill (with substantial after-market investment to make it a motorized bench mill), complete cask ale setup, dedicated 1/2 bbl fermenter with 4" tri-clover, complete counterfill bottling and kegging equipment, not to mention a ton of hop, yeast and malt inventory, and a ton of books.

I sold everything down to the last worm clamp. I am literally starting over. I have a 7 gallon stock pot left over from my chef-owner days. No spigot or wp tubes, ports, etc. That will be my brew kettle. My sparge vessels will actually be a few 2-3 gallon stockpots, also on the stove indoors. The LHBS where I work has water cooler mash tuns for rent, and I can use one for free. That will be my mash tun. I'll be using a plastic bucket for a fermenter and will bottle condition naturally. Roughly 30 bucks to get back in.

You can do the same and I think you'd be wise to do it.

To be honest, I don't think having a friend along for your first several brews is also not a bad suggestion. To some extent, everything new we learn in life tends to come on the shoulders of someone who came before us....tips, practical experience and theoretical knowledge, wealth of answers to questions that can only come up through brewing itself and not reading books, etc.

 

[micraftbeer]

Here's some additional baby step info.

This is your mash tun (SS Brewtech Infussion):

This is where you're gonna put your crushed grain into warm water and let it sit for like 60 minutes to extract the sugars.


This is your RIMS heater:

It will have an electric heating element in it that you'll control with one of those two Blichmann Tower of Power controllers. It will use a temperature probe to measure the wort as it recirculates through the RIMS. You'll pick a mash temperature (148F - 156F), and then use your pump to pull wort out of your Mash Tun, send it through the RIMS, and then based on the temperature reading, the controller will either turn on or off if it's below or above the temperature you set on the controller.

When the wort you're recirculating during the mash comes back into the top fitting of your mash tun, you connect it to this Recirc Manifold:

It lets the wort come in in a nice pattern so you're not drilling a hole in your grain bed with a firehose gusher stream of wort.


Since your pictures show 2 kettles (one SS Brewtech, the other Blichmann), you have what's referred to as a 2-Vessel (2V) setup. So after you mash for an hour, you pull the sugary wort liquid out of your mash tun using the same pump that has been recirculating, and direct it into the other kettle, which will be called a Boil Kettle (BK).

This point forward in your process is exactly like how you made your beer when using extract. The mash tun portion is creating your extract from soaking crushed grain. Now the BK is going to need some further pictures/investigation from you to see what is the planned heat source. Is there an electric heating element inside? If so, you would probably hook it up to the other Tower of Power controller. If not, maybe you'll be using your propane burner, or however you did your extract batches.

The Stout is your fermentor:

It's basically just your new plastic bucket. Treat it the same way. Sanitize it before putting your cooled wort into it. Monitor the temperature and put your yeast in at the right time. Have a blow-off or airlock to allow the CO2 created during fermentation to escape, etc.


The controllers for use during your mash and/or your boil are pretty simple. If you flip the toggle switch up to "Auto", it's going to turn the power on & off based on the temperature you've set with the little digital readout on the left, while comparing to the temperature it's measuring from your temperature probe. The middle position "Reset" is like off. And when the toggle switch is down to the "On" position, the controller will just be sending continuous power, not monitoring the temperature. When in that mode, the black control screen to the left lets you set the % power output, so you can dial down your boil intensity once your BK starts to boil.

Now on your control stand, you have two controllers:

There are little labels on there for "Mash", which would control your RIMS. And "HLT" which stands for Hot Liquor Tank, which is just a dumb name for hot water pot. If your Boil Kettle is electric, you could use this controller to control its heating element (even though someone put a sticker on there saying HLT). If your BK is not electric, then this HLT would be for a 3rd kettle that you use to heat water for sparging (since your RIMS can heat your water for mash-in). As a beginning journey, you can probably just skip the sparge step, and a do a "full volume mash" / "no sparge". If you so desire later, and want to do a 3rd vessel to heat sparge water, it makes your process a bit more complicated, but gets you better mash efficiency out of your grain. But that sparge process in itself is the topic for a whole other debate.

 

[micraftbeer]

Also, I echo @tracer bullet suggestion of hooking everything up and running trials before you're actually brewing. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to troubleshoot a new system on the fly while brewing beer. Hook it all up and just use water. Or use water + your cleaning solution of choice. Check to make sure when you're turning on the heater control, things are actually heating up that you want to. Make sure your hose lengths are right. Make sure your hoses that you're gonna be swapping around have the right fittings on them. Etc.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I am going to be the anti on this one. I read, or tried to read, Palmer's book and it just confused me even more than I was. I started this about two years ago with Extract kits on the stove. Move to a single kettle, all grain brew in a bag and added a Igloo 10 gallon cooler as my mash tun. While I am sure the book is a great resource for info, it was much too advanced for me and most it just flew right over my head. I found Youtube and good folks here to be much more helpful and easier to understand, well most of the time anyway. LOL.

That's fair. Been a long time since I've read it but just re-acquired it, so we'll see. Maybe I was more along by the time I came to it, can't recall. Still suggest the book, at least as part of a learning library.

OP, I also think the "style" books can be decent - for instance, but more for ingredient choices, recipes, background and techniques specific to each style. Still, helpful guides along the way.

I began as most of us might have with Charlie Papazian's The Complete Joy of Homebrewing which was great and wonderful for the time, but I think there are better sources. If nothing else, I feel having that in the library pays homage to a father of this wonderful hobby.

Ray Daniel's Designing Great Beers is also good, though again it's not so much about making the transition to all-grain brewing as it is a survey overview of the components to brewing, and brewing to style (I used to depend much more heavily on this approach - but abandoned the book's main thrust, an analysis of what wins at competitions and comporting with the trends there).

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Also, I echo @tracer bullet suggestion of hooking everything up and running trials before you're actually brewing. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to troubleshoot a new system on the fly while brewing beer. Hook it all up and just use water. Or use water + your cleaning solution of choice. Check to make sure when you're turning on the heater control, things are actually heating up that you want to. Make sure your hose lengths are right. Make sure your hoses that you're gonna be swapping around have the right fittings on them. Etc.

Missed that. DEFINITELY also agree with tracer bullet and micraftbeer. Especially with your system. You know what they say about best laid plans.....

Water or water and cleaner is cheaper than a full 10-gallon malt grist and hop bill.

 

[wdavis2003]

My suggestion would be to put it together, piece by piece, fill it with water and have a simulated brew day. Then you can play around with the controller. Get familiar with the valves and how to make the water go where you need it to go. Do it for as many hours as you need to until you get the hang of it.

You got this!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

My suggestion would be to put it together, piece by piece, fill it with water and have a simulated brew day. Then you can play around with the controller. Get familiar with the valves and how to make the water go where you need it to go. Do it for as many hours as you need to until you get the hang of it.

You got this!

Great suggestion!

 

[whoaru99]

This is your RIMS heater:
View attachment 834860
It will have an electric heating element in it that you'll control with one of those two Blichmann Tower of Power controllers. It will use a temperature probe to measure the wort as it recirculates through the RIMS. You'll pick a mash temperature (148F - 156F), and then use your pump to pull wort out of your Mash Tun, send it through the RIMS, and then based on the temperature reading, the controller will either turn on or off if it's below or above the temperature you set on the controller.

When the wort you're recirculating during the mash comes back into the top fitting of your mash tun, you connect it to this Recirc Manifold:

This is where you're gonna put your crushed grain into warm water and let it sit for like 60 minutes to extract the sugars.


Since your pictures show 2 kettles (one SS Brewtech, the other Blichmann), you have what's referred to as a 2-Vessel (2V) setup. So after you mash for an hour, you pull the sugary wort liquid out of your mash tun using the same pump that has been recirculating, and direct it into the other kettle, which will be called a Boil Kettle (BK).
View attachment 834862
This point forward in your process is exactly like how you made your beer when using extract. The mash tun portion is creating your extract from soaking crushed grain. Now the BK is going to need some further pictures/investigation from you to see what is the planned heat source. Is there an electric heating element inside? If so, you would probably hook it up to the other Tower of Power controller. If not, maybe you'll be using your propane burner, or however you did your extract batches.

(Apologies for the poor quoting, PITA to try to parse out long quotes on phone).


The hop rocket doesn't look like it has the RIMS heater, if so it's not installed. I think it would not be typical with this setup.

Also, my guess (not seeing the Top Tier stand) is that it's all propane-fired and that the RIMS is direct propane burner heating of the mash tun, and direct propane burner heating of the HLT.

That type of Blichmann controller basically controls temp by automatically turning on a gas valve then spark ignites the burner.

 

[mashdar]

How familiar are you with the fundamentals of mashing? Do you need a suggested recipe w/ mash temps, etc? (Basic pale, maybe start at 152F and err on the side of too much water in the mash. IMO don't worry about water chemistry at first, but make sure you treat your water for chlorine.)

Do you use any recipe software? I.e. do you have a way to project pre- and post- boil gravity so you can determine your efficiency? This will help to accurately size grain bills for the desired OG down the road.

edit: and ditto the dry (wet?) run with water or cleaner

 

[whoaru99]

It's a double whammy.

I gather the OP has no AG brewing experience at this point, and now a completely foreign set of tools which no doubt seems very complicated to first understand the setup/connections and fundamental operation of that gear.

Talk of any recipe details is way premature at this point.

 

[whoaru99]

This might be a good overview of what you'll eventually be doing with your system. In the video is just a one controller setup but the fundamentals are same/similar.

Your second controller basically automated temp control of the HLT. Not absolutely necessary but does add convenience and some safety (IMO) rather than dumping a bunch of hot water from boil kettle to HLT and lifting the HLT onto the stand as they do in the video.

I think you'll get a great understanding of how most of it connects too.

It is a six-part series. Here's episode 1:

 

[Gadjobrinus]

It's a double whammy.

I gather the OP has no AG brewing experience at this point, and now a completely foreign set of tools which no doubt seems very complicated to first understand the setup/connections and fundamental operation of that gear.

Talk of any recipe details is way premature at this point.

Agreed on the double whammy - a few of us have one way or another talked about that.

In my opinion, talk of his system is preliminary. A recipe will have to be used to get him going, but to learn the fundamentals of AG brewing, to do that at the same time he'd be trying to learn on this complex system would be, I believe, an exercise in frustration.

That's why I just suggested the simple PA recipe and plastic bucket fermentor, plus something like a cooler mash tun or whatever vessels he could scrounge up from a club, his LHBS, or friends. Very little money, much less complicated, and he can master the fundamentals on much smaller batches, both preferable to trying it all out on a 10-gallon, sophisticated system. My $0.02.

 

[huckdavidson]

You have a very nice propane system.

Don't run a propane burner in that garage without adequate ventilation (I know you know, just making sure.)

The system you have makes use of an SSBrewtech Mash tun which can't be heated directly.

I would recommend reading the manual first:

https://www.blichmannengineering.com/pub/media/wysiwyg/UpdatedManuals/TOP_Owners_Manual-V5.pdf
The first step would be to hook up the controller, boil kettle, burner, mash tun and just be able to heat some water.

Practice makes perfect, so get to work and just start working with the equipment, even if you don't understand it. Tackling a problem head on makes fear disappear.

Take the boil kettle:

Place it on the burner (hidden behind the fermenter in this picture, couldn't find a clear picture of it):

Connect the output of the mash tun (bottom valve) to the input of the pump (bottom valve) (using a silicone hose and quick connects)
Connect the input of the mash tun (top valve) to the output of the pump (top valve)
Connect the output inside of the mash tun to the wort disperal ring and set that ring on top of your grain bed.

Connect the sensor on the burner to the input on the tower of power:

Fill your mash tun half full with water
Plug in the tower of power.
Turn on the pump, water should flow from the pump and back to the mash tun (recirculating)
Light the burner and turn on the mash controller.
Set mash controller to your desired temperature (This will heat the water in your boil kettle)

The mash controller is a PID, it will display the current temperature of the water (wort) and the desired temperature. The controller will fire the burner trying to match the desired temperature.

Once the basic mash tun recirculation is working and you can heat water in your boil kettle, you can then pump (or drain) the hot water from your boil kettle into your mash tun and start recirculating.

 

[micraftbeer]

That SS Brewtech Infussion mash tun has foam insulation in the walls, so no heat can be applied to it. You have to do either recirculation of wort and heat outside the mash tun, or since it's insulated, get the right water temperature and add your grains and just let it sit. It will hold heat.

 

[whoaru99]

Good catch on the insulated mash tun. Definitely would not want to direct fire that bad boy.

So, the video link posted isn't apples to apples because you can't direct fire your mash tun. Still though, I think conceptually gives pretty good perspective on what it's all about.

 

[doug293cz]

I am going to suggest you not try to use everything in the system when you first start out. Transitioning to all-grain using the brew in a bag (BIAB) method is much simpler than trying to figure out how to move wort between multiple vessels and sparging after the mash. It's just like using steeping grains, but you use more grain, and temperature control is more critical. You just have to get a fine mesh polyester bag that is just big enough to fit your boil pot into, and about 4" taller than the pot. You can order an inexpensive, custom sized bag from @wilserbrewer - just send him a PM ("Conversation" on HBT) as his website is down temporarily. I highly recommend getting a pulley also, as it makes bag lifting much easier.

You say you have a 10+ gal system. Does this mean the kettles are 10 - 15 gal, or are they larger? A 10 - 15 gal kettle is a good size for brewing a 5 gal batch with BIAB (I use a 15 gal.)

Also, for your initial brews, it would be easier to just use a plastic bucket fermenter, as you are already familiar with using those. Less to learn initially.

Once you have the BIAB process down, you can start adding more complexity to your process as your comfort level increases.

Brew on

 

[whoaru99]

Wonder if there is a HERMS coil hiding out somewhere, considering can't direct fire that tun?

 

[Spartan1979]

Any chance the seller would help you out with your first brew?

 

[bmac8]

I think you're sort if putting the cart before the horse. You have an advanced brewing system you need to learn about first before attempting to brew your first batch. Most folks slowly upgrade to a system like that. Lucky you though, that is a great setup!

Do some searching on how all the pieces work and with each other. Make sure all of pieces are cleaned and sanitized as needed. Check and make sure you have all the pieces. It might sound stupid but what if you're missing a hose. Find a spot that you can set up everything like you going to brew then do some more reading and watch some YouTube on a system like that, or close to what you have.

After all that homework and you feel confident, then work on your first recipe. As suggested, try something simple so you can learn the system and your brewing technique.

Everyone here will want to know how it goes and everyone here is willing to help with more questions.

Good luck! Again, sweet system!

Thank you so much. Great advice.

 

[bmac8]

I am going to be the anti on this one. I read, or tried to read, Palmer's book and it just confused me even more than I was. I started this about two years ago with Extract kits on the stove. Move to a single kettle, all grain brew in a bag and added a Igloo 10 gallon cooler as my mash tun. While I am sure the book is a great resource for info, it was much too advanced for me and most it just flew right over my head. I found Youtube and good folks here to be much more helpful and easier to understand, well most of the

Any chance the seller would help you out with your first brew?

Good thought--Poor guy is in the hospital with something serious... I only just met him while buying his system... but yes, I know he would help me to understand it all... but it might be a long time until he is up for it. I don't want to bother him.

 

[bmac8]

Good catch on the insulated mash tun. Definitely would not want to direct fire that bad boy.

So, the video link posted isn't apples to apples because you can't direct fire your mash tun. Still though, I think conceptually gives pretty good perspective on what it's all about.

Noted! Thank you.

 

[bmac8]

Here's some additional baby step info.

This is your mash tun (SS Brewtech Infussion):
View attachment 834859

This is where you're gonna put your crushed grain into warm water and let it sit for like 60 minutes to extract the sugars.


This is your RIMS heater:
View attachment 834860
It will have an electric heating element in it that you'll control with one of those two Blichmann Tower of Power controllers. It will use a temperature probe to measure the wort as it recirculates through the RIMS. You'll pick a mash temperature (148F - 156F), and then use your pump to pull wort out of your Mash Tun, send it through the RIMS, and then based on the temperature reading, the controller will either turn on or off if it's below or above the temperature you set on the controller.

When the wort you're recirculating during the mash comes back into the top fitting of your mash tun, you connect it to this Recirc Manifold:
View attachment 834861
It lets the wort come in in a nice pattern so you're not drilling a hole in your grain bed with a firehose gusher stream of wort.


Since your pictures show 2 kettles (one SS Brewtech, the other Blichmann), you have what's referred to as a 2-Vessel (2V) setup. So after you mash for an hour, you pull the sugary wort liquid out of your mash tun using the same pump that has been recirculating, and direct it into the other kettle, which will be called a Boil Kettle (BK).
View attachment 834862
This point forward in your process is exactly like how you made your beer when using extract. The mash tun portion is creating your extract from soaking crushed grain. Now the BK is going to need some further pictures/investigation from you to see what is the planned heat source. Is there an electric heating element inside? If so, you would probably hook it up to the other Tower of Power controller. If not, maybe you'll be using your propane burner, or however you did your extract batches.

The Stout is your fermentor:
View attachment 834863
It's basically just your new plastic bucket. Treat it the same way. Sanitize it before putting your cooled wort into it. Monitor the temperature and put your yeast in at the right time. Have a blow-off or airlock to allow the CO2 created during fermentation to escape, etc.


The controllers for use during your mash and/or your boil are pretty simple. If you flip the toggle switch up to "Auto", it's going to turn the power on & off based on the temperature you've set with the little digital readout on the left, while comparing to the temperature it's measuring from your temperature probe. The middle position "Reset" is like off. And when the toggle switch is down to the "On" position, the controller will just be sending continuous power, not monitoring the temperature. When in that mode, the black control screen to the left lets you set the % power output, so you can dial down your boil intensity once your BK starts to boil.
View attachment 834864


Now on your control stand, you have two controllers:
View attachment 834865
There are little labels on there for "Mash", which would control your RIMS. And "HLT" which stands for Hot Liquor Tank, which is just a dumb name for hot water pot. If your Boil Kettle is electric, you could use this controller to control its heating element (even though someone put a sticker on there saying HLT). If your BK is not electric, then this HLT would be for a 3rd kettle that you use to heat water for sparging (since your RIMS can heat your water for mash-in). As a beginning journey, you can probably just skip the sparge step, and a do a "full volume mash" / "no sparge". If you so desire later, and want to do a 3rd vessel to heat sparge water, it makes your process a bit more complicated, but gets you better mash efficiency out of your grain. But that sparge process in itself is the topic for a whole other debate.

THAAAAANK YOUUUUUU! This is exactly what I needed to get my sanity back... Thank you!!!

 

[bmac8]

Here's some additional baby step info.

This is your mash tun (SS Brewtech Infussion):
View attachment 834859

This is where you're gonna put your crushed grain into warm water and let it sit for like 60 minutes to extract the sugars.


This is your RIMS heater:
View attachment 834860
It will have an electric heating element in it that you'll control with one of those two Blichmann Tower of Power controllers. It will use a temperature probe to measure the wort as it recirculates through the RIMS. You'll pick a mash temperature (148F - 156F), and then use your pump to pull wort out of your Mash Tun, send it through the RIMS, and then based on the temperature reading, the controller will either turn on or off if it's below or above the temperature you set on the controller.

When the wort you're recirculating during the mash comes back into the top fitting of your mash tun, you connect it to this Recirc Manifold:
View attachment 834861
It lets the wort come in in a nice pattern so you're not drilling a hole in your grain bed with a firehose gusher stream of wort.


Since your pictures show 2 kettles (one SS Brewtech, the other Blichmann), you have what's referred to as a 2-Vessel (2V) setup. So after you mash for an hour, you pull the sugary wort liquid out of your mash tun using the same pump that has been recirculating, and direct it into the other kettle, which will be called a Boil Kettle (BK).
View attachment 834862
This point forward in your process is exactly like how you made your beer when using extract. The mash tun portion is creating your extract from soaking crushed grain. Now the BK is going to need some further pictures/investigation from you to see what is the planned heat source. Is there an electric heating element inside? If so, you would probably hook it up to the other Tower of Power controller. If not, maybe you'll be using your propane burner, or however you did your extract batches.

The Stout is your fermentor:
View attachment 834863
It's basically just your new plastic bucket. Treat it the same way. Sanitize it before putting your cooled wort into it. Monitor the temperature and put your yeast in at the right time. Have a blow-off or airlock to allow the CO2 created during fermentation to escape, etc.


The controllers for use during your mash and/or your boil are pretty simple. If you flip the toggle switch up to "Auto", it's going to turn the power on & off based on the temperature you've set with the little digital readout on the left, while comparing to the temperature it's measuring from your temperature probe. The middle position "Reset" is like off. And when the toggle switch is down to the "On" position, the controller will just be sending continuous power, not monitoring the temperature. When in that mode, the black control screen to the left lets you set the % power output, so you can dial down your boil intensity once your BK starts to boil.
View attachment 834864


Now on your control stand, you have two controllers:
View attachment 834865
There are little labels on there for "Mash", which would control your RIMS. And "HLT" which stands for Hot Liquor Tank, which is just a dumb name for hot water pot. If your Boil Kettle is electric, you could use this controller to control its heating element (even though someone put a sticker on there saying HLT). If your BK is not electric, then this HLT would be for a 3rd kettle that you use to heat water for sparging (since your RIMS can heat your water for mash-in). As a beginning journey, you can probably just skip the sparge step, and a do a "full volume mash" / "no sparge". If you so desire later, and want to do a 3rd vessel to heat sparge water, it makes your process a bit more complicated, but gets you better mash efficiency out of your grain. But that sparge process in itself is the topic for a whole other debate.

I cannot thank you enough. This is EXACTLY what I needed to get my brain back into my head. I am working to organize and figure the hoses, clamps, attachments... and I will run a water batch and an extra one to clean all before I even think about brewing.

You really went above and beyond to help. Thank you so much. I owe you a beer, someday! I will keep you posted!