I need....

[alex_wilkosz]

I need people to give me a propane tank, a burner, a large pot, a mash paddle.....

ok just kidding, but i wish that i could afford to go AG or at least get the kegerator i want.

Such is college life, at least I can do extract and perfect that, and drink much better beer than my schoolmates and their crappy BMC products.

 

[magnj]

I feel that. Take a look at the stove top brewing guide, I'm taking a crack at it for my second batch. It require little more than your using now.

 

[ThirstyHobbit]

Okay- Here's what you do- go to Wal-Mart and buy a 50$ Turkey Fryer. You've got your burner, and 7.5 gal (30 qt) stock pot. Buy a cooler for 15$ and spend another 20$ on hardware to make your mash tun. There are some good YouTube videos on making a mash/lauter tun...I did it, and I'm NOT handy! All-Grain CAN be very affordable to get into and buying your grain is soooo much cheaper than extract.
Good luck! Let me know if you need some further answers. I just did my first AG Porter, and it turned out AMAZING!!!!

Happy Brewing!

 

[chefmike]

Or go even cheaper: Wal Mart has big pots (yes, aluminum) that are for tamale steaming... at least in my area big hispanic population. It is an 8 gallon and I think I paid $20. It works great on my electric stove even!

If you can borrow a drink cooler (got an friends in athletics? the sports teams always have them), get a jumbo mesh bag from your LBHS or Austin Brew Supply. I use a compression strap and a nut to hold open the cooler.

Or hit up campus food services for a couple of 5 gallon buckets (they throw them away) I recommend mayonaise instead of pickle... I am always worried that I would have dill beer! You can sparge your grain charlie Papizan style (you have a copy of that?!) with one bucket inside another bucket, holes drilled in the bottom of the first....

I think it all depends on how much you want to think about this, or tinker with it. Think of the forum like college: you come here and read about how people are doing things and why (and read palmer and papizan and listen to Jamil...) and then go into the real world and figure out how to get it done with the resources you have on hand.

Shoot... you may even be able to convince food services to let you boil wort on the stove in one of their big pots when they are closing up... I would not call it brewing beer though! Who knows what you can accomplish!

This is how I made it happen: I ordered a recipe all grain. Then I had to make it work! Check out this site on mesh bag style brewing, it was very inspirational: A Guide To All-grain Brewing In A Bag - AussieHomeBrewer.com

And feel free to ask me any questions if you want a hack and tinker opinion... brew beer first, bet perfect equipment later!:rockin:

 

[alex_wilkosz]

i did brew an AG batch with a buddy that used his pail ales that he no longer uses for his mash tun one in the other like you mentioned! i guess i really need the burner then and 1 more pot...my electric stove is a bit weak for ag batch.

 

[Southwood]

And taking the brewday outside not only makes cleanup easier, stiring a big metal pot over a jet burner boosts your style points tenfold... Cheers!

 

[mnadamn]

especially at an apartment building near school

 

[z987k]

i did brew an AG batch with a buddy that used his pail ales that he no longer uses for his mash tun one in the other like you mentioned! i guess i really need the burner then and 1 more pot...my electric stove is a bit weak for ag batch.

might consider a corona mill while you're at it

 

[alex_wilkosz]

might consider a corona mill while you're at it

damn it my funds can become depleted so fast

 

[Yunus]

If your going to do full boils you pretty much need a chiller of some sort. You could probably get away without if you do small AG batches. Get the cooler mash tun built and do 2.5 gallon stove top batches.

 

[z987k]

damn it my funds can become depleted so fast

eh, i just bought a refractometer last night om a bit of a whim. Decided I didn't need those new skis I was going to shell out hundreds for, but $22 for a refractometer. Yeah.


Oh and 2.5 gallon AG batches... is it even worth the time? I mean it effectively takes the same amount of time to brew 1 gallon as 1000.

 

[chefmike]

If your going to do full boils you pretty much need a chiller of some sort. You could probably get away without if you do small AG batches. Get the cooler mash tun built and do 2.5 gallon stove top batches.

You can chill by submerging the pot in either the sink of the bath tub. Like the rest of this thread, the idea is not the ideal setup, but what can be done cheap. It works... I am just getting around to buying a chiller now, as I am sick of carrying 6 gallons post boil upstairs to the tub. My old pots fit in the sink, when I did a split boil. I would just stagger the boil and chill them both down with 15 minutes of the end of boil... 30 in the summer.

 

[chefmike]

eh, i just bought a refractometer .... $22 for a refractometer. Yeah.
QUOTE]




Where at?

 

[z987k]

eh, i just bought a refractometer .... $22 for a refractometer. Yeah.
QUOTE]




Where at?

Brix Refractometer ATC 0-32% Fruit Wine + 50 Pipettes - eBay (item 380097098583 end time Feb-13-09 18:12:51 PST)

also you will never get a good cold break w/o a chiller. IMO that's a problem.

 

[chefmike]

also you will never get a good cold break w/o a chiller. IMO that's a problem.

Thanks for the link...

yeah... I am sure I will discover another level of quality and be excited about it. It isn't that I do not believe that more specific equipment increases quality... I just like to encourage folks to first start doing it, then improve it. I would have never appreciated my first all grain (done with all the wrong stuff) if I had not spent all the time messing with extract brews.

I cook for a living, and I have found much the same... I start doing then become involved with the details of whatever function or style I am exploring. I have also found that there always comes a point where I decide what my style will be, where I draw the line (even if better quality can be achieved). Many times it is a result of wanting to be able to do a broad number of things well, rather than one thing really well.

But now I can be excited about brewing another batch of something I have already done, using the immersion chiller I am going to buy from DuckMan, and comparing. I did the same thing with an extract hobgoblin and an All grain. Both good, but noticeable differences.

And it is all beer to drink!

 

[alex_wilkosz]

thnks zak and others... i guess it goes like tihs then:

2 cornie kegs (from zak, gracias amigo)
chiller (make it myself possibly)
turkey fryer kit (bday is a month away, possibly?)
grain mill
ingredients for ag brew
then onto kegging.....