How to Move to All grain

[jjinsa]

I have a 23L aluminum pot, and a burner. I have been doing extract brewing. I have a 10L fermenter (like to do small batches). What do I need to move to All grain now. I believe my pot is big enough already for the 10L fermenter to handle all grain. What else? Don't want to spend a lot of money.

Thanks in advance

 

[zippy84]

It's defo suitable for 10 litre ferments. Another pot would be handy if you're not going to be mashing in a cooler type mash tun but not necessary. For example, you could just mash within a muslin bag in your 23L pot (under a duvet or blanket for insulation), then pull the bag of grains out, and sparge them sitting them in a colander/strainer sitting on top of your pot. You would get better efficiency by mashing in another pot. I don't think you 'need' anything else.

I did my first partial mash pretty much with your set up for a 23l batch because rather than boiling the full amount you can boil a few gallons and top off with water. This is something you could try first, it's a nice way to test the water - a combination of mashing base grains and using extract, specialty grains and hops. Means if you don't hit a great mash efficiency (like my first attempt) you can just add more extract/sugars to boost the gravity.

You need an accurate thermometer!

 

[JohnSand]

BIAB. You need only a paint strainer. Your supplier or LHBS can grind your grain, or you can get a Corona Mill or even use a blender.

 

[hunter_le five]

BIAB. You need only a paint strainer. Your supplier or LHBS can grind your grain, or you can get a Corona Mill or even use a blender.

+1 Check out the brew in a bag (BIAB) section. If I could do it all over again, this is how I wish I had gone into all-grain. I would have, had I known it was a thing. It's hard to find any method cheaper or simpler.

 

[mkyl428]

Another one for BIAB if you want to do AG, but don't want to spend a lot of money this is definitely the way to go!

 

[kh54s10]

BIAB. You need only a paint strainer. Your supplier or LHBS can grind your grain, or you can get a Corona Mill or even use a blender.

To get going quickly and inexpensively this is you best option.

I did a couple of mini mash brews while collecting my all grain equipment. In that time I concluded that I dislike doing BIAB because of the hot, heavy, sticky mess it can make. To do the size I want I really need some sort of hoist.

 

[azazel1024]

I still love BiaB. Granted, I at most do 5.5 gallon batches. However, I never fail to enjoy it. It is maybe a little messier than using a sparge tun, but it isn't that bad so long as you don't mess something up (have a large mixing bowl to rest the grain bag in once you pull it out is my biggest tip for you). Granted, bad back or not very strong, it is a pain to hold up maybe 15-18lbs of grain (weight when wet) for a couple of minutes to let it drain, but it ain't that bad in general. Especially if all you are making is small batches that would go in a 10L fermenter. You'll probably only be using 6-9lbs of grain.

Only time I cursed BiaB is when I made my recent 4 gallon batch of RIS. It was 16.5lbs of grain and didn't really fit in my 6 gallon pot well (I had to use my 6 gallon and then a dunk in my 5 gallon, both were filled to the brim, combined it just barely was 4.25G of liquid and boiled down to 4). With the wort in the grains, it was probably close to 30lbs I was trying to hoist and hold on to for a couple of minutes to drain. My back and arms were screaming after that.

A more typical 7-12lbs of grain is nothing in comparison.

 

[Jackweird]

I would do brew in a bag as your next step to all-grain. It all grain with out having to purchase all the equipment all you would need is a large mesh bag that can be reused. It would sit in your pot as you "mash" the grain to pull the sugar out once it is done you pull the bag out and your wort is ready to boil. to get started may online retailers offer BIAB kits. Hope this helps

 

[Kharnynb]

biab all the way, i wrote this "guide" and there is another one in the beginner forum for 2 kettle version.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=525556

 

[Subdivisions]

Yep, BIAB. I did a blonde ale the first couple runs to get used to the process and keep it as simple as possible. It will actually cost you less than doing an extract batch since all you need is the bag and the grain is much cheaper than extract.

I also got a home depot 5 gallon bucket to do a sparge for larger grain bills that fill the kettle too close to the top. That's a whole 3 dollars extra.

Oh, one more point. Don't fear the trub. Dump all but the last couple pints into the fermenter. It will be a lot more than what you're used to with extract.