All Grain with a French Press Coffee maker

So I just recently bought a new French Press coffee maker. I love it! While I was making a pot I thought, as Im sure most brewers have already thought, making coffee is just sparging. So I decided to try to brew a small batch of beer with a coffee maker.

1. Crush grains as usual.
2. Heat mash water.
3. Pour crushed grain into coffee maker.
4. Pour mash water over grains.
5. Stir and put the top on the pot and wait.
6. Depress plunger and pour off wort.
7. Fill with water and stir and repeat step 6 until volume of wort is achieved.

I remembered the camera half way though but it is pretty basic. I should have used a bit less grains, but this was more of a proof of concept and to see if the group thinks it is worth putting the whole process to pictures.
Some benefits are:
1. Those who have a french press can try a small AG batch with no investment.
2. Very little work and less clean up. No baby sitting for boil overs, after hot break.
Downfalls:
1. Small amounts amplify mistakes.
2.You would need a scale for hop measurements if you were trying to go by an exact recipe.


A few things that I would modify.
Insulate the coffee maker.
Use a coffee filter during the "spare". I was too lazy to dig one out.
Pictures to come shortly.
So what do you guys think?

 

if they have a gallon french press this could acutally be kinda plausable. Amusing at the least. So what did you brew and how much?

 

I have been using one to make up wort for starters. They work great. (I wrap mine in a towel and pop it into in a pre-heated oven to keep the temps up while mashing.)

 

WOW MAN!
That is innovative.
You should get 8 or 10 bottles out of that.

I'd try it.

 

i never considered that. How much liquid do they hold? And how much grain would it take for that to work. It would be convinient

 

One of the things on my want to do list is to make counter top AG brewery for 1 - 2.5 gallon batches.

I'm going to look at the viability of using a cheese or fruit press type thingy.

 

The large $60 ones hold 12 cups of liquid. so if you wanted to make a 1 gallon small batch i think you would have to mash 1.5 times to get the right volume ??

 

does this mean I can make 10 gallons of coffee in my mash/lauter tun?

 

Well if A=B and B=C...



This is the one that I have. Im toying with the idea of getting a larger one. Id have to say I got maybe 3/4 of a pound in and I have the smallest one as Im the only one that drinks coffee. I didnt actually brew the recipe I just had a few pounds of grains the ferrets go to, shakes hand angrily in the air, so I decided to try this. Got a good conversion, lost a bit of heat but I didnt insulate at all, learned not to compact the grain bed too much. Im going to go for another try tonight with full pictures hopefully.

 

OMG that's hilarious.

I like this idea, for starters especially, so much I just went and ordered this:

Bodum "Young." It's borosilicate glass inside, polycarbonate outside, supposed to hold some heat. 34oz capacity - figure 12oz of grain, ~1.1 qt/lb strike and two batch sparges ought to yield a half gallon of 1.040ish wort...:rockin:

 

FYI you can get cheap(er) glass French Presses at TJ Maxx. I got mine there for $20. It holds 1 litre.

 

Mine was $15. $21 shipped.

 

I have a 4 cup bodum and use it to make 2L (preboil) starters at around 1.035 SG. It takes about a half-pound of grain and two or three sparges to make it all work. The volumes are very small, so it goes pretty quickly.

I have to admit, though -- I don't do this very often. DME or canned/frozen wort are much quicker alternatives to making starters.

 

I have been thinking about getting into AG brewing and stumbled upon this thread. I tend to learn better by experience and I think this may be a perfect way to learn some basics of AG brewing without the expense and waste. Anyway, I did a little research and found this:

51 oz capacity, double wall stainless steel construction.
Seems like a prefect French Press for this type of application I am about to run out and see if I can pick one up.

Bodum® Columbia 12-Cup Thermal Coffee Press from Bed, Bath and Beyond

 

The basic brewing guys have been using them to make samples of different grains and Chris Colby of Byo was on there recently also using it for making Hop tea...

 

That's the one I have. Love it for coffee, but the wife would be pissed to see beer being made in it.
I have found myself looking at the filter and wondering if I could build one that would fit in my 60 qt. kettle for ultra fast sparges. Kind of like a mini-industrial mash filter.

 

Wow, that would really piss my wife off. Maybe I'll try it.

 

So heres my first real attempt.


Grind your grains and pour them into the french press. My crush was a bit too fine but it usually is. If your a first time AGer see if your LHBS can crush a little on the coarse side. Or if your ordering online some rice hulls might be a good idea. Ill be experimenting with this in the future.
View attachment 8305
Dough in with you mash water that should be heated by now. Do this in the sink just in case you spill. I filled it a little too much. Next time I would go with a little less but it still worked great.
View attachment 8306
Put the top on and wait an hour or so depending on your recipe. I wrapped it in a few hot wash cloths because my oven wouldnt go below 200.

Now to sparge. Very easy just consists of slowly depressing the plunger as if you were brewing coffee. Then just pour off your wort.

Repeat filling, stirring, depressing, and pouring until your desired volume is achieved.

Your going to get some bits of grain. Probably less than I did because of the fine crush. I didnt have any coffee filters so I tried to use a torn piece of paper towel. It was poorly sized so it didnt work well but a more careful trimmed coffee filter would probably work worlds better. I just let the grain settle out before boiling. I quickened this by throwing the wort in the fridge. Just decant off the grain if necessary and boil as usual.
I know Im missing something...so point it out.

 

Did you check the temp drop?

 

Once again I have to applaud the creative genius at work here.

For small scale mashing like this, I wonder whether using the Brew In A Bag technique would work well too? That's what I use for my five gallon batches, but it'd be a piece of piss to scale it down to do smaller batches.

 

Ya pretty significant. Close to 10 degrees. But my washcloths slid off at some point, I wasnt babysitting so I have no idea when. If your oven goes down to a reasonable temp you could just set the oven too 100, 150, or 160, somewhere in there and it would keep the temp much better. I also thought about filling up the sink with the proper temp water. That should hold the temp really well.

 

This is a really cool idea. Now someone needs to put a fine grind on some grain and brew with an espresso machine. Wort shots!

 

It works very well! It's also probably less costly to get started in than with a french press.

Stovetop All Grain Small Batch Brewing - Lustreking Brewing

 

Great topic. I was just wondering about doing a 2 gallon batch of real heavy weight beer this way. Thanks Chalie

 

For those who don't have a french press already, I think it would be cheaper and a little easier to buy a 2 gallon cooler and install a hose braid. It would also be more applicable for beginners wanting to step up to larger batches in the future. But if you already have the french press, it would seem just fine.

 

Tiny decoction mash?

 

That's actually a really good idea!

I should have kept my old french press when I got a new one.

 

For the price of that you could make a small cooler mash-tun for cheaper.

I did see a Bodum glass, 48oz press for $40.

 

I'm liking to try this for a PM sometime. Going to stop by Target this afternoon so maybe I'll check out their french presses.

 

Everyone should get one of these. There is no better home-brewed coffee than from a French press.

 

Exactly. And that is why like this system so far. I already had the equipment so $0.00 investment. And if your thinking about getting a new coffee maker not only will it make awesome coffee it can also make awesome beer. Try that with your Mr. Coffee!:fro:
(I find the fro simile very under utilized)

 

Sure, but I do want to make coffee when I invest in my mash tun, so in my situation, it works out.

 

Then it's probably worth it then Just wouldn't buy one JUST for a small mash tun. I kind of am liking the idea of a couple gallon mash tun for 1 gallon batches of beer.

I also have an assortment of coffee making devices. Beer and coffee are my drinks of choice.

Now that I'm thinking about it. A Toddy maker would be a great mash tun! It's the big white thing in the pic below. Just have to find a way to insulate it. Can pop the plug out of the bottom and have it filter out the bottom!!! Only problem is the filter they use is pretty thick and you'd probably get a stuck sparge. Could possible cover the bottom with a small mesh screen like a false bottom.

 

It's a bit early yet...do I understand correctly that you could use any coffee-making device with grains as long as the grains are fine ground? And I like the idea of espresso machine shots!

 

This is interesting I make a press of coffee everyday and was thinking this is like mashing all grain. Glad your experimenting with it. I should get some grains and experiment a little.

Any thoughts on an vacuum press for ag? I need to see if there is a video for it.

 

I just wanted to throw this into the conversation - My wife and my son both use French Presses for Coffee. There is an insulating wrap that is made for an "As Seen on TV" 'noodle cooker' that fits our 32 oz. French Presses perfectly! You can see pix of it here (old website link - click on the "proceed to destination link") and here So far, she has found three of the wraps in the thrift store for about $.25 each, one w/ noodle cooker - they originally cost about $20.00 new!. The wraps are Royal Blue and have velcro to hold them in place. We both have a 4 cup size French Press. My son hasn't been able to find any wraps in the thrift stores where he lives in Tennessee, but they seem to be plentiful here in Montana.

Since I am interested in learning to homebrew (the wife makes our wine), I'll be getting a French Press soon. I'll be making my beer in my van as I travel around for work. Hmmmmmm ..... I wonder if a Primary and/or Secondary 1 gallon jug with an airlock can be considered an open container

 

FYI, Ikea also sells coffee presses... They go cheap, like 10 bucks or less.

 

IF you are the type that goes to thrift stores (like my wife and I are) keep an eye out for a blue item that has velcro on each edge - about as tall as your Bodum - and about a wide as it is tall. We have two French presses, and have found two of these wrappers at different thrift stores .... they fit the press just right, and keep the coffee warm for quite a while. We paid about 2 bits each for them. For a pic of them see the links in my post above
Just my 2 centavos ........