10 Gallon or Bulk Grain

[Jandrew]

I have been homebrewing for almost a year now. I jumped right into all-grain and cannot stop annoying my wife by talking about beer. I am really looking to upgrade my system in the coming months.

I cannot decide if I would like to move toward a 10 gallon setup just because it would be such a time saver and I really like to drink a lot of beer. 5 gallon batches just go way to fast (2 - 3 weeks tops) to drink. But moving to a 10 gallon setup would require at least a new chiller, possibly another propane burner (mine is a basic Bass Pro with a timer) and a pump to move the wort. I already have a 15 gallon boil pot available to me, and a 20 gallon mash tun available.

However, moving to bulk grain means I could save a good amount of money. But I still will likely need to buy a grain mill and work out a storage system for grains and hops. Also, I will look into starting to do big beer starters to save on yeast.

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated.

 

[GunnyB]

The only thing wrong with 10 gal batches is if you don't dig how it turns out. Dump it or drink it? 5 gal batches give me an opportunity to try many more styles or improve on those I like

 

[MedicMang]

All of those upgrades are kinda easy to fix. You have a pot and mash tun for 10 gal batches. You can make a wort chiller that uses 60 ft of coil for around $60-70 (better than $150 new). I have done some 10 gal batches with my set up and I don't use a pump. Put your first runnings into the kettle and start the boil. Drain the sparge into a bucket and dump it into the kettle when it is done draining. When it is done boiling, just use gravity to drain the wort into the fermentor.

In terms of buying in bulk, you will want to start since you are doing 10 gal batches. I bought a dog food container on wheels from Walmart for $13 that can hold a whole sack and a little more. This keeps the bugs out and makes sure they stay dry and such.

The yeast saving can be done by buying a flask and making a stir plate for about $15.

Most improvements on my system are made myself and for cheap.

 

[dgr]

I just bought a bag of two row for $43.50. "Can you crush it for me?" Done and done. So ask. Your LHBS might really appreciate you as a customer and if you aren't in there on Saturday morning when they are busy they may crush it for free.

How much longer would a 10 gallon batch take? I'm guessing 30 more minutes to sparge, 30 more to bring to a boil and 15 more to cool? Have you thought about doing a partigyle on brew day and getting your 10 gallons in two different beers? You can sparge the second beer while the first one is boiling.