Considering moving to All-grain

[patrickm]

I'm thinking about making the jump from extract brewing to all-grain. What are some of the things that you wish you'd have thought of when you switched?

I've got a decent burner, and a 10 gallon aluminum pot. I'll probably upgrade that pot, possibly using the 10 gallon aluminum as an HLT?

Any pointers in the right direction to avoid any possible pitfalls is much appreciated.

 

[oljimmy]

This isn't an equipment thing, I'm not particularly educated on that stuff. But I wanted to mention a couple of things that I've learned from my recent switch. First, the better the crush, the better your efficiency will be. The major producers like Northern Brewer and Morebeer seem to do a great job when they crush your grain, but local home brew stores may be using inferior or worn-out equipment to crush. Examine what they give you before paying for it!

The second thing concerns sparging. I started with no-sparge brew in a bag, then built myself a mash tun and did a batch barge... Boom, a 15% mash efficiency increase. Not sure what your set up is, or what efficiency you are shooting for, but at least in my experience sparging is not optional for all-grain.

Finally, you may have this already, but BeerSmith is just amazing, since it takes care of a huge number of calculations you ordinarily would have to worry about when trying to hit your target gravity with all-grain.

 

[bragona71]

if your using a cooler for a mash tun build a PVC manifold instead of braided hose I just did that and helped my efficiency

 

[--Dom--]

Don't freak out about all grain. The only thing you can really screw up is your mash temp. And even then... you're still gonna make beer... In my experience I've had to heat my strike water a few (2-3) degrees higher than the program says in order to hit my temp.

 

[smAllGrain]

either go with straight RO water or get your water tested

 

[scottballz]

Best advice I can give you is take good notes, especially on your first all grain brew day. your first all grain brew day is an experiment to see how your equipment works. the more you understand your equipment the better your beer will be. take good notes, and make the necessary adjustments.

 

[Sir_niveda]

If you go with a round drink cooler mash-tun, just get the 10 gallon, theres no reason not to and you will end up needing a 10 gallon mash tun for a 5 gallon batch.

I guess that kinda goes for all the equipment. Get a little bigger than you think you'll need.

I like your idea of reusing your 10 gallon aluminum pot as you HLT. I use my original BK as my HLT and I bought a 9 gallon stainless pot to be my BK. Of course in hind sight I should have just saved for a 15 gallon pot.

Also be prepared to have a lot of fun. When you switch to all grain the process becomes more real and fun, at least I think so (I understand not everybody can/is interested in it, but I like to take things as far as I can go).

 

[Hoppity]

I moved to all grain 10 gallon batches quickly after doing several 5 gallon kits. I haven't used my keggles or my 10 gallon cooler mash tun for months since converting to 5 gallon BIAB batches. I run the grains through the mill twice and my efficiency is higher than ever. I save time and have less equipment to clean. I sunk a lot of $ into equipment that is now idle. You might try BIAB first and see if you like it.

 

[bragona71]

either go with straight RO water or get your water tested

If you use RO look into adding back some stuff I personally make my own RO and use PH stabilizer,gypsum and calcium, amounts depend on beer im brewing. There are tons of other additives and chemistry behind brewing but my beer comes out amazing so I don't need to study chemistry

but that isn't just for AG brewing that goes for all brewing

 

[RM-MN]

This isn't an equipment thing, I'm not particularly educated on that stuff. But I wanted to mention a couple of things that I've learned from my recent switch. First, the better the crush, the better your efficiency will be. The major producers like Northern Brewer and Morebeer seem to do a great job when they crush your grain, but local home brew stores may be using inferior or worn-out equipment to crush. Examine what they give you before paying for it!

The second thing concerns sparging. I started with no-sparge brew in a bag, then built myself a mash tun and did a batch barge... Boom, a 15% mash efficiency increase. Not sure what your set up is, or what efficiency you are shooting for, but at least in my experience sparging is not optional for all-grain.

Finally, you may have this already, but BeerSmith is just amazing, since it takes care of a huge number of calculations you ordinarily would have to worry about when trying to hit your target gravity with all-grain.

I gotta try that mash tun with batch sparge. That should get me from my paltry 85% efficiency all the way to 100%.....or maybe not. Changing from BIAB to a mash tun doesn't really have that much improvement and most are showing a decrease in efficiency. I think you should give BIAB another try but this time get your grain milled properly.

 

[brewbama]

I recommend relaxing. It's really no big deal. You're simply soaking cracked grain in hot water then separating the wort (hot water with simple sugars in it) from the grain. You will also rinse more sugar from the grains (sparge). That's it. It's really a very simple thing that's been done for a bazillion years.

You can make it very complicated seeking perfection but really perfection is not required to make great beer.

Careful when talking efficiency. Some folks are referring to brew house efficiency while others are referring to mash extract efficiency, and on and on.

Get a good crush, concentrate on vol and temps and you'll do well. All that other stuff can come later.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Save to buy your own mill. Then you can buy your grain in bulk and save more money! Being able to experiment at home and control your crush is imo the #4 best way to improve your beers... after sanitation, controlling ferm temps, and healthy pitch counts.

You don't have to buy the most expensive mill, but don't buy the cheapest one either!

 

[RM-MN]

Save to buy your own mill. Then you can buy your grain in bulk and save more money! Being able to experiment at home and control your crush is imo the #4 best way to improve your beers... after sanitation, controlling ferm temps, and healthy pitch counts.

You don't have to buy the most expensive mill, but don't buy the cheapest one either!

Why not? My cheap Corona knock off that I use when I'm BIAB keeps me at over 85% brewhouse efficiency and has done so for 3 years at least. It's made from cast iron so it wears....well it wears like iron.:rockin:

 

[oljimmy]

Hey RM-MN, I didn't say everyone would get this increase. Just my experience, that's all. I used the same grains from exactly the same LHBS in my BIAB and batch-sparge batches, so it wasn't the crush.

Also, I am no expert, but I don't quite see how going from no-sparge BIAB to any sparge method could fail to increase efficiency. In the former, you're leaving a ton of sugar on the grain, just lifting the bag and squeezing. In the latter, you're rinsing sugars directly off the grain. So long as the initial mash thickness is around 1.25 and the volumes are the same, how could rinsing those sugars *not* give you more efficiency?

I gotta try that mash tun with batch sparge. That should get me from my paltry 85% efficiency all the way to 100%.....or maybe not. Changing from BIAB to a mash tun doesn't really have that much improvement and most are showing a decrease in efficiency. I think you should give BIAB another try but this time get your grain milled properly.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Why not? My cheap Corona knock off that I use when I'm BIAB keeps me at over 85% brewhouse efficiency and has done so for 3 years at least. It's made from cast iron so it wears....well it wears like iron.:rockin:

I knew as soon as I hit "submit reply" that the Corona crowd would be commenting shortly. Lol! I tried the Corona mill, built a hopper contraption 'cus the damn thing was crazy messy when using it, and got good results.

Then I got a good deal on a new mill that I couldn't pass up. I will never go back to the Corona. A "real" mill is so much faster and easier to make adjustments on the fly. Plus, I don't have a "Sanford & Son" looking DIY makeshift thing sitting in my garage. Lol!

Just my experience. I know many people use and love their Coronas.

 

[RM-MN]

Hey RM-MN, I didn't say everyone would get this increase. Just my experience, that's all. I used the same grains from exactly the same LHBS in my BIAB and batch-sparge batches, so it wasn't the crush.

Also, I am no expert, but I don't quite see how going from no-sparge BIAB to any sparge method could fail to increase efficiency. In the former, you're leaving a ton of sugar on the grain, just lifting the bag and squeezing. In the latter, you're rinsing sugars directly off the grain. So long as the initial mash thickness is around 1.25 and the volumes are the same, how could rinsing those sugars *not* give you more efficiency?

Are you sure it wasn't the crush? LHBS mills have been known to be changed between batches by someone that is not the owner. Crush is the single biggest factor in mash efficiency.

You are right that sparging will add to the efficiency. In my BIAB experience it only added about 5% though. Maybe I squeeze the bag of grains out better than most.

I really just mostly wanted to jerk your chain because most people who claim to have done both conventional mash tun and BIAB find that BIAB is more efficient because of the finer milling made possible by using a bag for the filter.

 

[RM-MN]

I knew as soon as I hit "submit reply" that the Corona crowd would be commenting shortly. Lol! I tried the Corona mill, built a hopper contraption 'cus the damn thing was crazy messy when using it, and got good results.

Then I got a good deal on a new mill that I couldn't pass up. I will never go back to the Corona. A "real" mill is so much faster and easier to make adjustments on the fly. Plus, I don't have a "Sanford & Son" looking DIY makeshift thing sitting in my garage. Lol!

Just my experience. I know many people use and love their Coronas.

I hide my mill in the basement between batches so nobody sees it but me.

My mill isn't messy but it is probably because I slip a gallon ziplock over the milling plates and hold it closed around them with a couple clothespins. One fill of the hopper, one bag of grains milled. I have limited space over my pot as I do the mashing on my kitchen stove and the range hood precludes using a bucket to dump the grains in. I can handle a bag of grains with one hand while stirring them into the water with the other.