Ok. So me and my 2 other brewing buddies have decided to move to ALL Grain. I will list the equipment we have now and then ask my questions.
2x 6.5 gallon Glass carboys
2x 5 Gallon Glass Carboys
1x 6.5 Gallon Bucket(for bottling or fermenting)
3x 15.5 Gallon Kegs
1x 50' Wort Chiller
1x Blichmann Floor Burner
1x Walmart Turkey fryer burner
2x heated and cooled temp controlled fermentation chambers
1 Calibrated thermometer
So that is the equipment we have right now!
Here is alittle back story:
Me and my 1 buddy have brewed about 10 extract batches using the 1 keg as our brew pot and turkey fryer burner for first 5 batches then bought a new Blichmann burner and did another 5 batches. Now we have another friend who wants to start homebrewing with us and a couple months ago he bought some homebrew supplies off craiglist that came with two kegs(tops cut off) and a carboy. So now we have 3 people to split the cost with and also 3 kegs.
Initially I was just going to buy a cooler and a 2nd pot to move to all grain. But now with us having 3 kegs it got me thinking. How close money wise and everything are we to get the Ultimate setup?. Now I know new equipment and all wont make great beer. and I am totally fine just getting a cooler and using the other keg as a sparge pot and doing a few all grain batches with that set up before I move to a 3 tier system.
So here is my question.
1. Do we go big and make a 3 tier brew system or do we just buy a cooler and turn it into a Mash tun?
All 3 kegs have the tops cut out but DO NOT have any ball valve's or thermometers or sight glasses on them.
And I may be misleading in saying a 3 tier system. It would not be gravity fed. It would have to be a side by side by side system that is pump fed as we do not have the head space to do a 3 tier stack system.
How much money with the Equipment I have right now would it take to move to a 3 keg brew setup?
Here are a few other things that I wanted to do as well before me and my buddies decided we wanted to move to all grain.
1. Build a re-cirulating ice bath for the wort chiller to pump ice cold water through it to get the wort temp down quicker and save water.
2. Buy a thermapen
3. Install ball valve and thermometers on at least one keg.
4. Get water tested by Ward Labs
How important are the things I listed above?
So again I am really at a cross roads. We have about 350$ that we are willing to spend right now.
So if you were in my shoes what would you do? We are avid DIY people so i know that would cut down on costs. But I am Really looking to you guys for some great advice. I don't want to get the Horse before the cart and I am not thinking new equipment will make great beer. I really have a level head on me and want to learn all the in's and out's of water, yeast, Hops ( Have all those books right now and we are all 3 in the process of reading them) and other parts of beer so as to make the best beer I can. So please give me your opinion on what my next step should be while factoring in the equipment, money and limited experience we have with.
Thanks so Much!
2x 6.5 gallon Glass carboys
2x 5 Gallon Glass Carboys
1x 6.5 Gallon Bucket(for bottling or fermenting)
3x 15.5 Gallon Kegs
1x 50' Wort Chiller
1x Blichmann Floor Burner
1x Walmart Turkey fryer burner
2x heated and cooled temp controlled fermentation chambers
1 Calibrated thermometer
So that is the equipment we have right now!
Here is alittle back story:
Me and my 1 buddy have brewed about 10 extract batches using the 1 keg as our brew pot and turkey fryer burner for first 5 batches then bought a new Blichmann burner and did another 5 batches. Now we have another friend who wants to start homebrewing with us and a couple months ago he bought some homebrew supplies off craiglist that came with two kegs(tops cut off) and a carboy. So now we have 3 people to split the cost with and also 3 kegs.
Initially I was just going to buy a cooler and a 2nd pot to move to all grain. But now with us having 3 kegs it got me thinking. How close money wise and everything are we to get the Ultimate setup?. Now I know new equipment and all wont make great beer. and I am totally fine just getting a cooler and using the other keg as a sparge pot and doing a few all grain batches with that set up before I move to a 3 tier system.
So here is my question.
1. Do we go big and make a 3 tier brew system or do we just buy a cooler and turn it into a Mash tun?
All 3 kegs have the tops cut out but DO NOT have any ball valve's or thermometers or sight glasses on them.
And I may be misleading in saying a 3 tier system. It would not be gravity fed. It would have to be a side by side by side system that is pump fed as we do not have the head space to do a 3 tier stack system.
How much money with the Equipment I have right now would it take to move to a 3 keg brew setup?
Here are a few other things that I wanted to do as well before me and my buddies decided we wanted to move to all grain.
1. Build a re-cirulating ice bath for the wort chiller to pump ice cold water through it to get the wort temp down quicker and save water.
2. Buy a thermapen
3. Install ball valve and thermometers on at least one keg.
4. Get water tested by Ward Labs
How important are the things I listed above?
So again I am really at a cross roads. We have about 350$ that we are willing to spend right now.
So if you were in my shoes what would you do? We are avid DIY people so i know that would cut down on costs. But I am Really looking to you guys for some great advice. I don't want to get the Horse before the cart and I am not thinking new equipment will make great beer. I really have a level head on me and want to learn all the in's and out's of water, yeast, Hops ( Have all those books right now and we are all 3 in the process of reading them) and other parts of beer so as to make the best beer I can. So please give me your opinion on what my next step should be while factoring in the equipment, money and limited experience we have with.
Thanks so Much!