Help a new homebrewer setup!

[augiedoggy]

You're setting up something different than what I have/want/need.....but my advice is to buy big. I've never heard a homebrewer say that they wish they had a smaller brew kettle or a smaller propane burner. In your case, I wouldn't settle for less than the ability to do 15 or even 20 gallon batches. Go big on the electric service like another poster said. Buy once, cry once.....nothing sucks worse than buying something and outgrowing it in a year and spending a lot more in the long run.

This is really cool, what you're doing. You are going to have a blast. It will be interesting to see how it goes - I'm guessing one of you will kill a keg much quicker than the others (definitely the 'host' of the brewery will go through homebrew on brew days......your pipeline will get out of whack unless you each have several kegs at your disposal.....but more kegs is an easy expansion.

I have heard many people on here say they were convinced to go with 20 gallon 3 vessel systems and they wished they hadnt. Ive even heard more than a few say they have gone from a 3 vessel herms or rims system back to a single biab setup...way less setup and cleanup time and space needed... and the OP already indicated they werent looking for 7 hr brew days..

I have and love my 3 vessel setup but they are not for everyone... again this is why I agree the OP should actually try brewing on a biab setup before spending thousands like many who jump into this hobby thinking more expensive equipment will help make it easier to make good beer... It doesn't necessarily work that way.

 

[augiedoggy]

Thanks for all the input. I completely understand why most of yall are saying to start small, but after reading about homebrews for the last years, I believe most people get burnt out b/c their brew day is literally all day. Also, the price is fairly substantial but we're splitting it 3 ways so easier to swallow. Who is Kal?

The more sophisticated and fancier the system also means more times than not, longer setup and cleanup times.. Not always but more times than not. Most people with your frame of mind on here end up going with BIAB setups because they are the quickest to brew on and easiest to setup and teardown. The majority people you'll find commenting in the equipment section are not those same people, They are the people like myself who made the equipment and system into a whole additional hobby here... Many of the ones who just want to make beer came here, got the info they needed and now spend most of their time in other sections or the forum like the all grain area..

 

[TechFanMD]

I have heard many people on here say they were convinced to go with 20 gallon 3 vessel systems and they wished they hadnt. Ive even heard more than a few say they have gone from a 3 vessel herms or rims system back to a single biab setup...way less setup and cleanup time and space needed... and the OP already indicated they werent looking for 7 hr brew days..

I have and love my 3 vessel setup but they are not for everyone... again this is why I agree the OP should actually try brewing on a biab setup before spending thousands like many who jump into this hobby thinking more expensive equipment will help make it easier to make good beer... It doesn't necessarily work that way.

I have heard many people on here say they were convinced to go with 20 gallon 3 vessel systems and they wished they hadnt. Ive even heard more than a few say they have gone from a 3 vessel herms or rims system back to a single biab setup...way less setup and cleanup time and space needed... and the OP already indicated they werent looking for 7 hr brew days..

I have and love my 3 vessel setup but they are not for everyone... again this is why I agree the OP should actually try brewing on a biab setup before spending thousands like many who jump into this hobby thinking more expensive equipment will help make it easier to make good beer... It doesn't necessarily work that way.

I didn’t mean to go THAT big! I just meant to buy a bigger kettle than you think you need. Big difference between getting a 15 or 20 gallon brew kettle and going all the way to a 20 gallon 3 vessel system.

Keep in mind they plan to brew for 3 people here - either way the brew day will be at least 3-4hrs with extract and longer if they go all grain. The bigger kettle means that they can each get more than 1/3 of a 5g batch for all of their efforts.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

If had to to do it all over again I'd do it the same way I already did.
A 20 gallon pot for 10 gallon BIAB batches and a homemade electric control panel ...so simple...so effective.
No pumps or bells and whistles. After brew day I stick the control panel, IC, spoon ETC in the pot and store the pot in a spare room. My entire brew setup is stored in one pot. Couldnt get any easier

 

[augiedoggy]

I didn’t mean to go THAT big! I just meant to buy a bigger kettle than you think you need. Big difference between getting a 15 or 20 gallon brew kettle and going all the way to a 20 gallon 3 vessel system.

Keep in mind they plan to brew for 3 people here - either way the brew day will be at least 3-4hrs with extract and longer if they go all grain. The bigger kettle means that they can each get more than 1/3 of a 5g batch for all of their efforts.

20 gallon is often recommended by people who have never used electric for brewing 10 gallons at a time. 1 2 or 3 vessel it doesnt often matter although you make a good point that in biab systems the single kettle is usually larger.

I assume they want to brew all grain. most who brew extract do so on the kitchen stove and in small quantities due to cost and kit size.
I started with extract and did it for a long time before all grain myself and its just my opinion but its like making a cake from a box mix kit to me compared to baking from scratch.. Most people I know who love to bake no longer use duncan hines box kits and thats all im going to say about that since im sure people will get upset about my comparison on this . Ive got a friend who been brewing for longer than me and all he does is extract brewing hes never tried all grain and keeps putting it off. If a persons content with that great, you can mix up some great beer that way.
We all get different pleasures out of this hobby and some of us have different priorities, again that was my point here, To some the brewing system and process is just as important or maybe more important than the beer it makes.

 

[rudylyon57]

I'm using a 3 vessel, one-pump, 16 g pot(s) RIMS setup for reference. Being a tinkerer, I made this the DIY route building on the many great ideas found right here. But if I was to start over I would go eBIAB. On top of that, if I was NOT a DIYer, I would likely purchase something like this. 12 gallon batches are tops but close to your budget.
https://www.cobrewingsystems.com/co...er-home-electric-brew-system-20-gallon-kettle

 

[TechFanMD]

20 gallon is often recommended by people who have never used electric for brewing 10 gallons at a time. 1 2 or 3 vessel it doesnt often matter although you make a good point that in biab systems the single kettle is usually larger.

I assume they want to brew all grain. most who brew extract do so on the kitchen stove and in small quantities due to cost and kit size.
I started with extract and did it for a long time before all grain myself and its just my opinion but its like making a cake from a box mix kit to me compared to baking from scratch.. Most people I know who love to bake no longer use duncan hines box kits and thats all im going to say about that since im sure people will get upset about my comparison on this . Ive got a friend who been brewing for longer than me and all he does is extract brewing hes never tried all grain and keeps putting it off. If a persons content with that great, you can mix up some great beer that way.
We all get different pleasures out of this hobby and some of us have different priorities, again that was my point here, To some the brewing system and process is just as important or maybe more important than the beer it makes.

I don't think that 'most' extract brewers do so on the stovetop, and aren't necessarily doing smaller batches. I do agree that all-grain can lead to better beer and more control of the process. I do both, doing extract when I just need shorter brew days when time gets tight. I hear it a lot, but I don't see the similarity to using a cake mix in baking. Sure, all grain gives more control and requires a bit more skill - but either way you're just making wort......a cake mix comparison would work better if the whole thing wort were already all put together and all you had to do was add a bit of water and warm it up and wallah! Beer. Maybe those cans of hopped malt extract are like a cake mix.....brewing with extracts in general is not.

Remember - not everyone who does extract is brewing pre-assembled kits either. Why do you think brew stores sell LME and DME.....because people are using it to brew beer that didn't come in a kit. There is still sanitation, technique, water chemistry, etc involved either way.

Your experience is different, but I have yet to meet someone (in clubs, at events, etc) that has lamented buying too big of a kettle, but met plenty who lament the extra money spent in upgrading late or wish they had gone big in the first place. Yes - there are people on both sides of every issue, but I don't think that the majority wish they went smaller. FWIW, the secondhand market around me is polluted with 8 gallon pots because people get them when they start and buy bigger later.

 

[augiedoggy]

I don't think that 'most' extract brewers do so on the stovetop, and aren't necessarily doing smaller batches. I do agree that all-grain can lead to better beer and more control of the process. I do both, doing extract when I just need shorter brew days when time gets tight. I hear it a lot, but I don't see the similarity to using a cake mix in baking. Sure, all grain gives more control and requires a bit more skill - but either way you're just making wort......a cake mix comparison would work better if the whole thing wort were already all put together and all you had to do was add a bit of water and warm it up and wallah! Beer. Maybe those cans of hopped malt extract are like a cake mix.....brewing with extracts in general is not.

Remember - not everyone who does extract is brewing pre-assembled kits either. Why do you think brew stores sell LME and DME.....because people are using it to brew beer that didn't come in a kit. There is still sanitation, technique, water chemistry, etc involved either way.

Your experience is different, but I have yet to meet someone (in clubs, at events, etc) that has lamented buying too big of a kettle, but met plenty who lament the extra money spent in upgrading late or wish they had gone big in the first place. Yes - there are people on both sides of every issue, but I don't think that the majority wish they went smaller. FWIW, the secondhand market around me is polluted with 8 gallon pots because people get them when they start and buy bigger later.

All grain is the complete "brewing process" whereas extract is pretty much the point of the boil on.. There is a big difference and I'll leave it at that. again just my take on having done plenty of both.

When it comes to electric brewing there are additional precautions one has to take because the extract can easily burn to the element but its totally doable.. I guess a poll could be done but I stand by my original comment that most extract brewers use stoves or at the most, propane turkey fryers to make beer since they are already taking the simplier route to brewing as it is. I cant recall one thread where someone has come to the electric brewing section asking about building (or buying) a system without any type of mash or temp control because they are only extract brewing. Honestly all you need is a kettle and a heat source for that so why buy an all grain brewing "system"?

 

[Radboud]

I'd go all-in-one too if I had to start over. I have a 5G 2-tier Igloo system and a mini-BIAB setup. Loads of time have gone into finetuning and refactoring the 5G which while fun distracts from finetuning recipes/beer itself. Those all in one things are quite popular around here these days, the main Dutch LHBS sells white-labelled cheap Chinese ones.