So here is my question. i want to get into all grain brewing, but I do not have a very big brew pot. i think mine is 3 1/4 gal. I cannot really afford a big brew pot right now so I want to know with this kind of brew pot is it possble to do an all grain batch still and add water to the fermenter like I always do? Yes the water I use is clean and bacteria free.
A question on all grain brewing
- Thread starter Bruiz54
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NWernBrewer
Well-Known Member
You can do anything you want... But this, I probably would not do. You would have to make a really strong short run to water down to strength and it would be more difficult. You would be better off going PM or...
go to a Cash and Carry or other similar place and get a 30 qt. aluminum stockpot and you will be just fine. If you keep your eyes open you can get one pretty cheap under $50. If you upgrade from there, it would make a fair HLT.
go to a Cash and Carry or other similar place and get a 30 qt. aluminum stockpot and you will be just fine. If you keep your eyes open you can get one pretty cheap under $50. If you upgrade from there, it would make a fair HLT.
Kind of a confusing question. We will need to know a little more about the equipment you do have. Lauter tun, mash tun, fly sparge, batch sparge, etc.
You could always break the grainbill in half, and mash in half batches, then put them together.
You might consider holding off, going all grain, until you can aquire a larger brew pot. I started with a small enameled canning pot, holds about 6 gal. Then I picked up the large canning pot, that holds 8 gal.
Just a suggestion.
You could always break the grainbill in half, and mash in half batches, then put them together.
You might consider holding off, going all grain, until you can aquire a larger brew pot. I started with a small enameled canning pot, holds about 6 gal. Then I picked up the large canning pot, that holds 8 gal.
Just a suggestion.
So it si possible to brew all grain with a smaller pot? How, meaning anything different I need to do from what i have read about? From what I have read it seems like one needs at least a 7 gal pot I got the Ice chest for a mash ton.
It's too small to do a full boil 5 gallon Ag recipe (you usually need a pot that holds between 6 1/2 and 7 1/2 gallons.) But you could either do a small batch all grain (1 1/2 - 2 gallons of beer) like the guys on basic brewing radio do, OR you could do partial mashes (which is where you get a good deal of your fermentables from the grain, and round it off with extract, then top it off with water.)
This is a great article on countertop partial mashing.
http://***********/feature/1536.html
And the recipe in my pull down for Old Bog Road Brown Ale, can be done as a countertop partial mash.
A 3.5 gallon pot is pretty small even for regular extract brewing. it doesn't leave a lot of room for boilovers. You can get 5 gallon pots relitively cheaply at places like walmart or dollar general (I got my 5 gallon pot there for under 10 bucks.)
This is a great article on countertop partial mashing.
http://***********/feature/1536.html
And the recipe in my pull down for Old Bog Road Brown Ale, can be done as a countertop partial mash.
A 3.5 gallon pot is pretty small even for regular extract brewing. it doesn't leave a lot of room for boilovers. You can get 5 gallon pots relitively cheaply at places like walmart or dollar general (I got my 5 gallon pot there for under 10 bucks.)
you can do small mashes and make up the bulk of the fermentables with extract, you can also just do smaller 3 gallon batches of AG. you could also look for a cooler as a mashtun which is cheaper than a stainless kettle but you would still need a hot liquor pot and a boil kettle.
Chriso
Broken Robot Brewing Co.
He just said he has a cooler for a mash tun already. We're talking about the boil kettle here.
@ the OP: Check Amazon.com for cheap boil pots. Many of these are made by "Bayou Classic". Also go look in the equipment subforum - there was a post in the past couple days re: Cheap Turkey Fryers specific to amazon.
Search and ye shall find.
For around $50.00, you can get a turkey fryer setup (7.5 gallons) ...that and a propane tank you're set.
With that size pot, you will have to top off with a few gallons of water in the carboy (i used spring water when i did this). This of course means that since you will be diluting your wort after the boil, you need to be able to mash enough grains to reach the gravities you are shooting for.
So for example, if you are planning on brewing a simple pale ale and you want your OG to be 1.050 with a 3 gallon boil and five gallon batch here is how it will work. (Let's assume 60% efficiency since this is your first batch)
You will need to mash approx 11.5 lbs of grain. You can do that in a 5 gallon MLT cooler, but a ten gallon would be better so that you could also brew much larger beers.
So you then collect 3 gallons of wort with a 1.084 preboil gravity. Boil for 60 minutes and then add approx 2.5 gallons of spring water to the carboy.
That is all very doable for your setup, and then once you have done a few brews that way you can upgrade your pot to a larger one. I currently do all grain in my kitchen. I use 10 and 5 gallon cooler mlt's (depending on how much grain I am using), I have a 8 gallon pot for the boils, and I can bring 6.5 gallons of wort to a boil in about 20 minutes.
When I had a 5 gallon pot and was doing partial boils, I also did partial mashes where I would mash up to 12lbs of grain, and then during the last 15 minutes of the boil, add up to 2 lbs of extra light DME to hit my target gravity. I made great beers like that, light years better than my all extract attempts.
So for example, if you are planning on brewing a simple pale ale and you want your OG to be 1.050 with a 3 gallon boil and five gallon batch here is how it will work. (Let's assume 60% efficiency since this is your first batch)
You will need to mash approx 11.5 lbs of grain. You can do that in a 5 gallon MLT cooler, but a ten gallon would be better so that you could also brew much larger beers.
So you then collect 3 gallons of wort with a 1.084 preboil gravity. Boil for 60 minutes and then add approx 2.5 gallons of spring water to the carboy.
That is all very doable for your setup, and then once you have done a few brews that way you can upgrade your pot to a larger one. I currently do all grain in my kitchen. I use 10 and 5 gallon cooler mlt's (depending on how much grain I am using), I have a 8 gallon pot for the boils, and I can bring 6.5 gallons of wort to a boil in about 20 minutes.
When I had a 5 gallon pot and was doing partial boils, I also did partial mashes where I would mash up to 12lbs of grain, and then during the last 15 minutes of the boil, add up to 2 lbs of extra light DME to hit my target gravity. I made great beers like that, light years better than my all extract attempts.
I am getting my 40qt today from this site:
Surfas Restaurant Supply
It was about $50 w/shipping and it's on my porch as we speak!
Wow thanks guys. these are all great sugestions. I am making great beer now I wonder how much better it will be with all grain? You know there is a lot of debate about how much better if at all all grain is compared to extract. Any thoughts?
Chriso
Broken Robot Brewing Co.
It will always be debated till the cows come home.
I've only brewed all-grain and wouldn't have it any other way.
One of my local friends has beaten AG beers with his PM-Extract beers in national competitions.
YMMV. Actual practices/habits seem to have more impact than just AG vs Extract.
I've only brewed all-grain and wouldn't have it any other way.
One of my local friends has beaten AG beers with his PM-Extract beers in national competitions.
YMMV. Actual practices/habits seem to have more impact than just AG vs Extract.
Ditto! My nephew's won awards with extract beers....It ain't the form of brewing you do, it's the skill of the brewer.
As long as I live in my loft with no yard space, I will probably keep doing Partial Mashes and Extract w/ Grains, and people tell me I make pretty damn fine beer.
somecallmetim
Well-Known Member
How about two (or more) small boil kettles on the stovetop, you have four burners...
camiller
Well-Known Member
In the off season I bought two turkey fryers with 30qt pots for $9.99 each (marked down from 39.99 to 29.99 to 19.99 to 9.99
). That will only work for you if your patient and wait for the clearance sale. If you need it right away it is still probably the cheapest way to go, but you'll spend a little more. Mine were branded HeatMac and I bought them at a grocery store in late January.
WBC
Well-Known Member
RodfatherX
Well-Known Member
Choguy03
Well-Known Member
http://www.amazon.com/Eastman-Outdoors-38021-30-Quart-Professional-Grade/dp/B000AXSJJQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=garden&qid=1211216884&sr=1-1
This one is even better, about 10 people have bought this already and it just keeps going down.
Edit: Dang, beat me to it.
This one is even better, about 10 people have bought this already and it just keeps going down.
Edit: Dang, beat me to it.
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