Getting started with AG brewing

I've done some extract brewing, and I want to start looking into what it would take to move up to AG brewing. My equipment list is as follows.

1 1/2 Barrel Keggle
1 8 Gallon Stock Pot
2 Propane turkey fryer bases w/ tanks
2 6 gallon glass carboys
3 5 gallon glass carboys
1 Bottling bucket with lid
and one moderate sized fermentation chamber (in the works)

I'm planning on installing bulkhead fittings into the keggle. I assume I need a third kettle or a converted cooler to do this effectively. Some sort of chiller would be necessary too, yeah? What else am I missing? What are the must read threads/sites/info for new AG brewers?

Thanks in advance.

 

I did just find the following information from a link on here... http://www.suebob.com/brew/allgrain.htm

 

Do you have a Mash/Lauter tun? Or, are you planning on mashing in the keggle? If so that seems like a really big mash vessel for a 5 gallon batch.


EDIT: nevermind, my eyes kept glazing over the last bit of your post.

 

would a 10 gallon beverage cooler be better suited?

 

I started out with a 10 gallon cooler, and it works great for 5 gallon batches. However, if you ever move to 10 gallon batches you'll want to upgrade that MLT to 15-20 gallons. I love my keggle with the SS false bottom, but a more economical option is to grab a Coleman Extreme cooler for cheap and get a ball valve setup from BargainFittings.com. For a chiller, nothing beats making it yourself, whether you prefer a counter-flow chiller or an immersion chiller. Bobby_M has some great guides on how to make both.

 

whats the deal with the big round orange coolers? are those 10 gallon? or larger?

edit: I think i saw your 10 gallon cooler in your signature gallery. which is the same as what i'm speaking about above.

so the coleman extreme ones are the big square ones, yeah?

 

Yes and yes. The big orange ones are 10 gallons, and cost anywhere from $25-40 depending on the store and time of year. The Colemans which are the rectangular coolers, cost about the same but have almost twice the capacity. If I were to do it again and didn't care to have all vessels match , I'd have bought a larger Coleman.

 

very cool. i'll look into it. can i still brew 5 gallon batches if i buy the larger coleman cooler?

 

Yes, that will be fine. There are lots of people on here that use the bigger coolers for 5 gallon batches.

 

Count me as one of them. The only thing that I would recommend with them is to pay very close attention to your mash temps. Originally, I was preheating the cooler with 170*F water, and I was shooting for about 12-15*F above my mash temp with the strike water, but it seems like I need to be at least 18-20*F above my desired mash temp to get it right. I think the round coolers might be a little better about keeping that initial heat because the grist and water are more compact, but that's nothing more than a guess.

Other than that, it holds temp really nicely on 5 gal batches. Be sure to make the same adjustment (should this turn out to be true for you as well) to your sparge water temps. I struggled in the beginning to get the bed up to 168-170 when I'm mashing in the low 150's*.

The nice thing is that practice is fun.

 

bumping an old thread.

I bought another two kegs for converting into kettles, and a 50qt Coleman extreme that i will use as a mlt for the time being. i'm going to pick up an AG kit from Northern or MoreBeer and give it a shot.

 

Ordered the AG kit from Northern Brewer today. We shall see how it goes!

 

Good Luck!!! I am happy with my rectangular MLT. Although it is not a coleman extreme, it holds the temp very well.