Easy Stovetop All-Grain Brewing (with pics)

[Justibone]

was thinking of mashing inside and sparging outside.

That should be fine.

save the propane for the boil by doing mash on stove.

Also fine.

then mixing it with sparge water on the burner. will that work?

So you are going to use the burner to heat the sparge water? Or not. It doesn't matter, what you're saying is that mash water and sparge water will be combined into your boil, which will be outside on your propane setup. Okay, that's all good.

will leaving the flame on low prevent most heat loss?

When we did the mash outside on my buddy's propane, just a 1 min. burst of propane two or three times an hour was good enough to keep the temp up. I think if you keep the propane on low you will actually overheat your mash.

also will i be alright doing a 5 gallon boil in a 7.5 gallon pot?

Yes, provided you do one of three things:

1) mount a fan to blow on the surface of the liquid constantly
2) fill a spray bottle with cold water and watch for boilovers like a hawk
3) add Fermcap-S to the boil

Fermcap-S is proof that there is such a being as the "Beer Fairy". It is *magical*.

 

[sportscrazed2]

yeah i will heat the mash water on the stove and do it in the pot with a large mesh bag. then i will heat the sparge water on the deck then after letting the excess liquid drain out of the bag I will transfer it to sparge water on the burner. will leaving flame on stove on low prevent most temperature loss during the mash?

 

[Justibone]

If you want to prevent temp loss inside the house, a lot of people put the mash in the oven. Maybe you can do that, and maybe you can't, but unless you have a controller or something you are just going to have to watch the temperature to make sure it's steady.

 

[zman]

I am taking the BIAB Plunge today doing Yooers House Pale

 

[sportscrazed2]

i am thinking of doing something similar but on a turkey fryer. I was thinking of picking up a coleman xtreme cooler. then i would heat my sparge water before starting and store it in the cooler. i would then start the mash on the turkey fryer and keep the cooler on a table next to the turkey fryer. when it came time to sparge i would just lift the bag and use tubing connected to the cooler to rinse out the grain bag. would that work?

 

[Hannable1975]

I used this method ( Thanks again DB ) again last night ( to make a Maris Otter / Williamette SMaSH Blone I'm trying to figure out ) - using a turkey fryer I just bought this week. I followed the steps as they are on here, though - heating the mash, doughing in, setting to the side, and using another pot to heat the sparge water , and transferring the bag.

Worked like clockwork.


BTW - FWIW - I found and excellent screen style colander at America's Largest retailer, that has extensions on the sides - with is PERFECT for suspending the bag over the top of the pots hands free. Worth every bit of the $12 I paid for it.

 

[Justibone]

i am thinking of doing something similar but on a turkey fryer. I was thinking of picking up a coleman xtreme cooler. then i would heat my sparge water before starting and store it in the cooler. i would then start the mash on the turkey fryer and keep the cooler on a table next to the turkey fryer. when it came time to sparge i would just lift the bag and use tubing connected to the cooler to rinse out the grain bag. would that work?

Maybe?

Guess you'll have to try it and report back.

 

[joeunc]

is this correct?
We are basically using the correct amount of strike water to mash but using less to sparge and this what brings down the efficiency some. But the trade-off is stove top.

I don't have immersion chiller yet and use my sink to cool the wort so it will only hold a 5 gallon pot. My grain bills would be around 10-12 lbs which would be a mash of just over 3 to 3.4 gallons. I will use my cooler for this. So then I could sparge with about 2 gallons or a little more in my 5 gallon kettle and add the mash back to it which should be under 3 gallons now and get a close to 5 gallon boil (4.5 or so) could top off with water to make the 5 gallons in the fermentor, but less water needed than for partial mash correct.

That seems like a plan unless someone has an idea to cool a larger than 5 gallon pot without a chiller.

thanks

 

[electronjunkie]

is this correct?
That seems like a plan unless someone has an idea to cool a larger than 5 gallon pot without a chiller.

thanks

I use one of those party buckets from Walmart/Target/Lowes/Home Depot that you use for ice and beverages. I have several gallons of water, 50 frozen water bottles, and ice from my icemaker I use to cool the wort. Works great. The ice and bottles go outside the wort in the bucket of course. My brewpot is 6.5 gallon aluminum. Stir the wort and it cools pretty fast.

 

[Justibone]

That seems like a plan unless someone has an idea to cool a larger than 5 gallon pot without a chiller.

I guess some people just leave their hot wort in the fermenter bucket and let it cool down overnight, pitching the yeast the next day. Otherwise you could always cool it in the tub instead of the sink. There are always options... but your option doesn't sound bad.

 

[ErieShores]

I did a quick search of this thread and found nothing, but what mash profile setting using this technique would be appropriate while using Beer Smith?

 

[joeunc]

try Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out

 

[ErieShores]

try Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out

Bingo! Thanks

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Thanks for the thread!! I am doing my first all grain using BIAB and it's going great. It's a 5 gal batch of Watney's Cream Stout from Midwest. I have about 15 extract/specialty grains/hops kits under my belt.

The only problem I had was that I thought I should mash the base grains (9lbs 2row) and then steep the specialty grains separately like I usually do with the other kits. Oops hehe! I'm pretty sure I will be fine soaking them for 30 mins at 150degF.

But I'm a tad worried because the specialty grains were: 12oz Crystal 50/60, 12oz chocolate malt, 8oz roasted barley, and 8oz flaked barley. Do these particular grains need to be mashed? I thiiink I remember hearing that (too late)? I'm sure everything will be fine though! They are marked on the label as specialty grains so thats why I treated them like that.

If there is any way you can edit your original post to include instructions to add specialty grains to the mash along with base grains that would help AG newbs like me from getting confused there! Thanks again!

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

I was doing other things so didn't finish with the BIAB untill pretty late last nite. Everything went great! I cant wait to go out and get another kit today.

Has anyone addressed partial boils and BIAB? I was only able to get about 3.5g into the fermenter after final 60m roiling boil. Everything seemed normal to me! I just topped off with 1.5g water, pitched and stirred.

 

[Justibone]

Has anyone addressed partial boils and BIAB? I was only able to get about 3.5g into the fermenter after final 60m roiling boil. Everything seemed normal to me! I just topped off with 1.5g water, pitched and stirred.

A good read of Deathbrewer's thread will tell you *everything* about BIAB, I believe.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Sorry but I am not talking about partial mash, but partial boil. Deathbrewer does a full 5 gal boil. I'm not really worried about it, just curious.

 

[Justibone]

Oh, well, partial boil is no big deal. Some of the more experienced brewers seem to think it's sub-optimal, but fine if that's your only option.

Is that what you were asking?

 

[Mookie]

Should be a sticky

 

[krisagon]

I did my first BIAB session last week, and it was great. My one tip is to make sure you have a SECOND/SPARE big pot (other than your main brew pot) to carry the bag outside in to dispense the grain.

Bag runoff is really sticky when it hits the floor!

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Any old bucket will do to dispose of the grains.

I am looking for alternatives besides the trash. Compost is okay, but anything better? I dont have doggies so dont really need 9lb of doggie snacks hehehe!

I ended up doing two 5gal BIAB AG batches last weekend, it was super fun and easy. I was able to come closer to a full boil the last time, ending up with about 4.25gal of wort for my Irish Red (topped off with water to 5gal). Justibone, yep thanks for your help.

I am finding my fermentation space is becoming too cold grrr...... Time for lagers I guess.

 

[Justibone]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f56/spent-grain-bread-87486/

Or put them into any beefy soup or stew.

 

[jourelemode]

i'd run a search on this forum "aluminum vs. stainless steel" and you will find a lot of argument that aluminum works just fine.

i've always been a fan of stainless steel just because it's way cooler

from everything i've read, you can mash and boil in aluminum...no problem.

(EDIT: you can boil in aluminum...whoops!)

I can't mash in a aluminum pot?

 

[joeunc]

sure you can, any pot on the stove you can mash in as long as you can hold temps well. Remember aluminum heats up quicker but also cools much quicker, so you may have to monitor your temp and burner more with the aluminum.

 

[jourelemode]

sure you can, any pot on the stove you can mash in as long as you can hold temps well. Remember aluminum heats up quicker but also cools much quicker, so you may have to monitor your temp and burner more with the aluminum.

why did deathbrewer take back his comment stating "you can mash and boil in aluminum" he then said "you can boil in aluminum, whoops" so he took the mashing part back.

 

[Potatosalad]

I just did my first 5 gallon all grain brew using this method! It went pretty smooth, and I nearly hit my OG dead on. Thanks DeathBrewer!!

 

[jourelemode]

hey guys, I want try doing this sometime next week. I got a few question that I'm hoping I can get some answers to.

Can I use just one pot for this method? Meaning, can I mash my grains, transfer to fermenter bucket, then use the same pot to sparge in? Once the sparging is done, I'd take the wort from the bucket and at it to the sparge water where I tea bagged the grains. Can I do that?

The recipe I want to do involves 12.5 lbs of grains. Is that fine or is it too much? DB said about 12lbs is good, I'm wondering if that .5 lbs of grains will ruin things somehow.

Also, my pot is 32 qt. should I just go with DB's suggestion for water of 1.25qt/lbs of grain? If I go with that it would 15.6 qt so I'd use 4 gallons of water for simplicity. would that fit in my pot when I add those grains? And if it does fit, how much head room will I have? I understand that a smaller amount of head room will give me less variation in temperature.

As for sparging, DB says to use as much sparge water as possible because you get higher efficiency. How do you get higher efficiency from using more sparge water. Sorry for the dumb question, but I really don't know and how much sparge water would you guys suggest. I know its a lot of questions. thanks to anyone who'll entertain them.

 

[agenthucky]

hey guys, I want try doing this sometime next week. I got a few question that I'm hoping I can get some answers to.

Can I use just one pot for this method? Meaning, can I mash my grains, transfer to fermenter bucket, then use the same pot to sparge in? Once the sparging is done, I'd take the wort from the bucket and at it to the sparge water where I tea bagged the grains. Can I do that?

The recipe I want to do involves 12.5 lbs of grains. Is that fine or is it too much? DB said about 12lbs is good, I'm wondering if that .5 lbs of grains will ruin things somehow.

Also, my pot is 32 qt. should I just go with DB's suggestion for water of 1.25qt/lbs of grain? If I go with that it would 15.6 qt so I'd use 4 gallons of water for simplicity. would that fit in my pot when I add those grains? And if it does fit, how much head room will I have? I understand that a smaller amount of head room will give me less variation in temperature.

As for sparging, DB says to use as much sparge water as possible because you get higher efficiency. How do you get higher efficiency from using more sparge water. Sorry for the dumb question, but I really don't know and how much sparge water would you guys suggest. I know its a lot of questions. thanks to anyone who'll entertain them.

DB says 12 lbs because of the size limitation with the pot, 32 qts should be more than enough for 12.5 (I've done 12.75 in 22 qt pot). Also, the bags have some sort of theoretical limitation of grains, but 12.5 should be just fine.

You sure can use 1 pot and transfer the wort. There is a convenience of using 2 pots, one being you can have the water already heated, so you remove the grains and sparge without waiting. Doing it your way, the grains would cool, and make it harder to reach a mashout temp. BUT, if you only have 1 pot, give it a try. Be careful transferring the wort, splash it around as little as possible.

With this AG method, you should not be steeping grains, just throw the grains you would have steeped into the mash. No need to make 2 phases out of what can be 1.

As far as mashing with 1.25 qts/lb of water, that is the LOWEST you want to go. I personally like to do 1.75-2 qts/lb, but if you can only fit 1.25, it will work. If possible, add more water (it will reduce headspace). Because of my pot size limitation, I cannot get my full pre-boil amount, so I sparge with more, and save it to add to the boil kettle.

You can check to see how much a certain water/grain ratio will take up here:
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

If you didn't see that in this forum, you didn't read much of it! Part of me thinks DB made that site he promotes it so much (thanks DB btw).

The reason you get more efficiency when sparging with more water is that you are rinsing the grains better. It's quite basic when you think about it (brewing can often seem overwhelming, but in reality, is quite logical in its simplicity), if you have dirt on your hands, using more soap/water would get more dirt off. This is what you're doing to the grains (don't use soap!). The more water you use, the better it gets inside the grains and rinses the extra sugars out. You will always leave SOME water in the grains sparging this way, so you want to leave the lowest possible gravity water behind in the grains, this means diluting it more.

Hope this helps!

 

[jourelemode]

DB says 12 lbs because of the size limitation with the pot, 32 qts should be more than enough for 12.5 (I've done 12.75 in 22 qt pot). Also, the bags have some sort of theoretical limitation of grains, but 12.5 should be just fine.

You sure can use 1 pot and transfer the wort. There is a convenience of using 2 pots, one being you can have the water already heated, so you remove the grains and sparge without waiting. Doing it your way, the grains would cool, and make it harder to reach a mashout temp. BUT, if you only have 1 pot, give it a try. Be careful transferring the wort, splash it around as little as possible.

With this AG method, you should not be steeping grains, just throw the grains you would have steeped into the mash. No need to make 2 phases out of what can be 1.

As far as mashing with 1.25 qts/lb of water, that is the LOWEST you want to go. I personally like to do 1.75-2 qts/lb, but if you can only fit 1.25, it will work. If possible, add more water (it will reduce headspace). Because of my pot size limitation, I cannot get my full pre-boil amount, so I sparge with more, and save it to add to the boil kettle.

You can check to see how much a certain water/grain ratio will take up here:
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

If you didn't see that in this forum, you didn't read much of it! Part of me thinks DB made that site he promotes it so much (thanks DB btw).

The reason you get more efficiency when sparging with more water is that you are rinsing the grains better. It's quite basic when you think about it (brewing can often seem overwhelming, but in reality, is quite logical in its simplicity), if you have dirt on your hands, using more soap/water would get more dirt off. This is what you're doing to the grains (don't use soap!). The more water you use, the better it gets inside the grains and rinses the extra sugars out. You will always leave SOME water in the grains sparging this way, so you want to leave the lowest possible gravity water behind in the grains, this means diluting it more.

Hope this helps!

Oh, I forgot to mention I'll be using an outdoor burner so heating up water again in the boil kettle would probably only take a long as I let the grains drain.

I also changed the recipe a bit, I think I like this one better. Instead of 12.5 lbs of grains, I reduced it to 10 lbs of grains. I tried calculating the water/grain ratio with that calculator, but I think i'm doing it wrong. keeps giving me a ridiculous number :cross: I want to get as much water in the mash as possible because from what I've gathered its better with less headspace. you think 4.5 gal in a 32 qt pot with 10 lbs of grains will do? With that on mind, how much water should I use for sparge?

thanks for the info bro!

 

[agenthucky]

Oh, I forgot to mention I'll be using an outdoor burner so heating up water again in the boil kettle would probably only take a long as I let the grains drain.

I also changed the recipe a bit, I think I like this one better. Instead of 12.5 lbs of grains, I reduced it to 10 lbs of grains. I tried calculating the water/grain ratio with that calculator, but I think i'm doing it wrong. keeps giving me a ridiculous number :cross: I want to get as much water in the mash as possible because from what I've gathered its better with less headspace. you think 4.5 gal in a 32 qt pot with 10 lbs of grains will do? With that on mind, how much water should I use for sparge?

thanks for the info bro!

To save time, I often just fill my 5.5 gallon kettle to the top with anywhere from 8-11 lbs. I recommend that, but I wouldn't go beyond 3 qts/lb. That on its own is really high. If there is too much water, the proteins won't be able to turn the starches to sugar.