Going to All Grain

[NSNO]

Newbie here. I've been doing Extract for about a year and feel it's time to become a big boy and go to All Grain. Question is, what equipment should i get and what should i priortitize my money on. I'm not looking to go pro or anything, but i would like to become serious about competing in competitions.


Currently I have:
10 Gallon MegaPot with Ball Valve
Blichmann Burner
6.5 Gallon Big Mouth Bubble
Immersion Wort Chiller

I have a budget of around $800 bucks give or take

Should i upgrade my fermenter (was looking at SS Brewtech)
Should i spend my money on a nice Mashtun or get the plastic cooler tun?
Should i spend the money on temp control? I currently leave carboy in dark closet

Thanks and appreciate all the feedback.

 

[Bellybuster]

spend $10 on a brew bag and get at'er. The rest of the cash will keep you in beer for a while

 

[augiedoggy]

Temp control will have the biggest impact on your beer. if you dont want the same recipe to come out different each time I would focus on this whaich can be accomplished very cheaply with a used minifridge and a $20 stc1000 DIY controller or one of those inkbird prebuilt ones.

 

[Bellybuster]

Temp control will have the biggest impact on your beer. if you dont want the same recipe to come out different each time I would focus on this whaich can be accomplished very cheaply with a used minifridge and a $20 stc1000 DIY controller or one of those inkbird prebuilt ones.

gotta agree, temp controlled fermenting was by far the biggest improvement I ever had

 

[NSNO]

Temp control will have the biggest impact on your beer. if you dont want the same recipe to come out different each time I would focus on this whaich can be accomplished very cheaply with a used minifridge and a $20 stc1000 DIY controller or one of those inkbird prebuilt ones.

Do most mini fridges have enough space for a carboy? Thinking back on my college one, i doubt it would hold my 6.5 gallon

 

[Shooter]

Should i spend the money on temp control?

Yes, before you do anything else, you should do this!

 

[Shooter]

Do most mini fridges have enough space for a carboy? Thinking back on my college one, i doubt it would hold my 6.5 gallon

You need one with no compressor hump in the back. The old Sanyo 4912 used to be the main option. Not sure what the status is with them these days. You may be able to find something that's essentially a knock off of the design.

 

[ol-hazza]

Temp control, BIAB and kegs is how I would spend that money.

 

[augiedoggy]

I use a glass faced magic chief wine cooler I disabled the internal thermostat and use an stc1000 to control temps... it holds carboys fine as well as corny kegs.

 

[soccerdad]

#1 is temp control .. you'll have cash leftover for other stuff
How will you crush grain?

 

[doug293cz]

+1 on trying BIAB (brew in a bag) before investing in more elaborate wort making equipment. Your 10 gal pot is big enough to do 5 gal batches of up to about 1.085 OG (might have to sparge a little, but it can be done) If after trying BIAB, you are not satisfied with the process, you can always spend more money on a three vessel system. I recommend you get a bag fit to your pot from Wilserbrewer. Wilser's a member here on HBT, and his bags get marvelous reviews (I have a couple for different pots.)

Then spend the some of the rest of the money on a small chest freezer to use as a fermentation chamber. You need to decide how many fermenters you want to have going at once, so you can figure out how big a freezer to get. Most 5 cu ft freezers will hold one fermenter, and most 7 cu ft units will hold two. New 7 cu ft units can often be found for ~$200, and used for less.

You'll need a temperature controller for the freezer/fermentation chamber. If you have DIY skills, an STC-1000 build is easy and cheap. You can get a plug-n-play controller here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. If you want a more sophisticated controller that can run profiles (ramps, steps, and holds) then go with the STC-1000+. You can get DIY or plug-n-play units from http://www.boostbysmith.com/brewindex.html

Brew on

 

[NSNO]

so do you guys think BIAB is better than using a mashtun?

 

[NSNO]

#1 is temp control .. you'll have cash leftover for other stuff
How will you crush grain?

I currently buy precrushed grain. Do you recommend a grain mill and buy non crushed grain?

 

[oujens]

I would think a nice fermenter and mashtun would be further down on the list. Things I would consider in addition to your equipment:

1) Temp control I think is a must. You can probably do this for less than $150 easily depending on what you use as a chamber (mini fridge or chest freezer).
2) 10 gallon pot is nice, 15 would be better (assuming 5 gallon batches). My full volume boils are at 7 gallons and at risk for boil over in my 9 gallon pot. Probably not necessary though.
3) pH meter - Read about mash pH and how to get in the desired range. A pH meter will give you assurance you are within range.
4) Grain Mill - not necessary if you can get a consistent crush elsewhere, but it can impact your efficiency and consistency. Can also buy grain in bulk if you desire and crush at home.
5) Yeast Starter equipment - good if using liquid yeast or harvesting yeast. Can save you money.
6) Refractometer

I think these items would be on my list for a basic set up. I would vote to keep it simple until you get the all-grain process under control. A lot of variables to study on and control. I say this out of experience, but the journey doing all grain has definitely been fun. Welcome

Edit: Guess I left out the cooler mash tun. I did the Home depot DIY cooler and it works for my needs.

 

[augiedoggy]

so do you guys think BIAB is better than using a mashtun?

They both will accomplish the same thing... I think it comes down to preference.

I built an electric brewery soi I can brew all winter in my spare bedroom... I recirculate through a mashtun with smal $20 electric pumps that pump 2-3gallons perminute... this gives me clear wort in my boil kettle and very little trub from the hops due to using a hop spider...

I will say plan accordingly, nothing worse than investing in equipment only to change your mind and spend more on redundant upgrades.

 

[oujens]

You need one with no compressor hump in the back. The old Sanyo 4912 used to be the main option. Not sure what the status is with them these days. You may be able to find something that's essentially a knock off of the design.

I got lucky and found one on craigslist not too long ago for $40. No modifications necessary to fit a carboy :rockin:

 

[doug293cz]

so do you guys think BIAB is better than using a mashtun?

Many of us do. "Better" a personal preference thing. People make award winning beers with BIAB, and traditional three vessel. I have not seen any technical reasons why one is better than the other. BIAB uses less equipment, so clean up and storage are easier. Some people don't like handling the hot, sticky bag at the end of mash, but they are the ones that think rigging a pulley above the pot is too much work (I use a step ladder to suspend my pulley.)

Brew on

 

[soccerdad]

I currently buy precrushed grain. Do you recommend a grain mill and buy non crushed grain?

as oujens said above ...

Grain Mill - not necessary if you can get a consistent crush elsewhere, but it can impact your efficiency and consistency. Can also buy grain in bulk if you desire and crush at home.

FWIW - my grain mill was free. $40 or so if I had purchased it. A hand cranker that you can run with a drill if desired. So you don't necessarily even need to work that into your $800 budget

 

[doug293cz]

I currently buy precrushed grain. Do you recommend a grain mill and buy non crushed grain?

A grain mill can save money over time, since you can buy base grains in bulk ($0.70 - $1.40/lb vs. $1.25 - $2.00/lb.) You also get a fresh crush so don't have to worry that crushed grain degrades much faster in storage than does uncrushed grain. You also get to control the crush fineness, which can have a huge effect on your mash efficiency (save a couple more $ per batch.)

Brew on