Equipment Upgrade Suggestions

[Kyle]

So, I have some money to spare to upgrade my equipment and need some input. Currently I brew all grain 5 gallon batches once a month. I have an 8 gallon BK, a rectangular cooler with a copper manifold for MLT, and a 5 gallon pot to heat up sparge water. I only have one burner that I use for the boil and everything else I heat up on a stove to save on propane. I'm getting tired of hauling all that water though. So here are my thoughts.

Upgrade my kettles and build a gravity fed tiered stand and add another burner and a dedicated HLT. Simplest and cheapest way.

Splurge on an eHerms system. Not sure if it is worth it for me since I brew once a month for 5 gallon batches. It would be nice to have the option to do 10 gallon batches if I get keggles though and more consistency. Just don't want to over complicate things and from what I've seen is a bit more than I really want to spend.

Lastly, a grainfather. I'm split on this one because I really enjoy the process of brewing and being outside and everything. Does the GF take any of that away? It seems more automated and less brewing. Are GF owners really satisfied with it? It would be nice to be able to brew indoors in the winter though.

I have a 3.5 car garage so space isn't an issue. Let me know your suggestions even if it isn't on the list.

 

[jodell]

So my first suggestion would be a ferm chamber, it was easily the one thing that made my beers better and more consistent. It is as easy as a chest freezer and a temp controller. Check craigslist and you could get away with a chest freezer for about 60 bucks.

as far as your list, I built an eHerms system and I love it. It took a little while to get the system down but it makes and excellent beer (that is not to say other systems don't, but eHerms is awesome).

 

[Kyle]

That was one of my first purchases after reading these forums. I have a chest freezer with temp control, a grain mill, built my keezer with a 2 tap tower recently. Do you notice a big jump in efficiency with e herms? Currently I'm getting between 65 - 68 percent with my cooler and want to improve that also

 

[jodell]

I am about 85 percent, so yes it is a good jump. I went from extract to a cheep cooler to eHerms. If you are handy and build it yourself you can actually build it for about 500-700 dollars complete (that was with me buying keggles, if you already have some pots that's less expense)

 

[Ashevillain]

EBIAB is my end game. If you haven't looked into it you should. Its as simple as it gets, and can be as automated or manual as you like. But even automated doesn't seem like it would take away from the pleasurable parts of the brewday, it just allows you to maintain very accurate temps. I personally love doing biab, it makes great beer. EBIAB looks great too.

 

[kh54s10]

This is my 3 tier stand. I have since turned it around so that the boil kettle is next to the sink for cooling the wort. I have added piping to add water directly to the HLT.

For the Grainfather it is not so automated to take all the process out. It allows finer temperature control but you still do most of the rest by hand.
As to the out doors. Take the Grainfather outside!!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Sounds more like your tired of hauling all your old gear outside to brew including water lol.

New equipment won't cut down on the work.

As said above, EBIAB is a nice option for some and the real benefit is that it can be set up in a basement so your not setting up and tearing down when you want to brew.

I would look toward streamlining your process to make it easier and less labor intensive, a 3 keggle herms doesn't sound that easy to me.

I realize this sounds like a sales pitch, but it's not meant to be....

Try a BIAB with your existing kettle and burner as a comparison to the effort put into a brew now....

Just a suggestion.....

 

[Kyle]

Thanks for the suggestions. eBIAB seems like an interesting suggestion never thought of it. I don't mind the little bit of labor I just have a detached garage so I'm carrying stove heated water back and forth so if I get an actual HLT I think that would make things easier.

That 3 tier setup was pretty much what I was thinking for my first idea. Are you happy with it? Just because after this I can't really invest much more for a while so I want to do it right the first time. Appreciate the input.

 

[C38368]

So my first suggestion would be a ferm chamber, it was easily the one thing that made my beers better and more consistent. It is as easy as a chest freezer and a temp controller. Check craigslist and you could get away with a chest freezer for about 60 bucks.

This, assuming that you don't have fermentation temp control down yet. I don't, and it's the single most annoying aspect of brewing for me (even more than the super-leaky bulkhead on my HLT that just refuses to fix).

But once that's sorted, I'll say this: I've spent the better part of the last three weeks designing and locating sources for parts for the eHERMS brewery that I won't be able to install for at least a year, owing to space and power constraints at my current house.

But, the above in mind, the eHERMS that I want (which is a single-tier, three-vessel using two pumps) can readily be bought piecemeal, with each individual piece being usable with my current setup (single propane burner and a picnic table to make it a three-tier gravity system before the HLT leak started; now I'm batch sparging via two tiers out of laziness). The nice thing about that is that I can get nice kettles without breaking the bank, start with a gravity setup, and slowly put more and more pieces in place. You know, once I can justify a 220v outlet to SWMBO.

 

[bigmike86]

If you're already interested in eHerms as I am, then you know you'll end up there anyways, so I would just go for it. You'll waste more money in the long run with the middleman upgrade.