I want to break onto the AG scene

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brewmax25

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I am trying to break into the AG scene on a limited budget. So far I have seen the big cooler type mash and lauder tuns for reasonable prices. Some day I will move to stainless but for now I think I will stay with the big coolers. Right now for extract brewing I have a propane burner and a nice kettle I use. Good start?

I was hoping some folks could post some photos of their own AG setups using the coolers.

Also do people use pumps with these setups or is it mostly gravity driven moving sparge water and wort and such?
 
I use a March wort pump to pump my sparge water to the top tier. The tower is made from aluminum and the middle rack can be adjusted for hight.

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How limited is your budget? Can you afford a couple paint strainer bags and a cheap Corona style grain mill? How big is your kettle?

I started all grain with a 20 qt stock pot that I had been using for extract and bought a pair of paint strainer bags from Home Depot (about $5) and a mill I found on Ebay for about $20 and I was brewing all grain. Then I bought a turkey fryer so I could do the full 5 gallon batches because with the 20 qt pot I was limited to about 3 gallons.

So, for about $25 you can do all grain for as long as the 2 strainer bags hold up or you can add to that as you wish. Search this forum for BIAB and find out all you need to know.
 
I just recently went to all grain from extract 3 batches ago. I had a pretty extensive extract setup and only ended up needing a mash tun. I went with the 10 gal. rubbermaid cooler and weldless fittings from bargainfittings.com. The 10 gal. rubbermaid is large enough to do 10 gallon batches of "normal" gravity beer. If you plan to do double batches of higher gravity beers you'll want a larger mash tun.
 
I use a cooler and at this time I'm not really looking to "upgrade" to anything else.

That may change if my process doesn't work with a cooler when I go electric, but I don't foresee that.

At this time I brew with a 10 gallon cooler and heat water and boil on a turkey fryer burner. I have kegs for kettles, but I usually use my old turkey fryer kettle for heating water.

I have a pump, but have not started using it. I do 5 Gallon batches and it's been working to just lift and pour, or siphon. The upgrade to electric and pumps is just to make things "easier", and of course just to have a project to do.

I'd say you are doing very well to use a 10 gallon cooler and a large kettle on a fryer. "upgrading" won't necessarily give you better beer. You can make world class beer on almost anything if your methods are sound.
 
I'm doing my first all grain this weekend using the BIAB method.

I have a 1/2 bbl keg i will be cutting the top off of ($30), will be getting some fine mesh material at our local sew shop ($10). the rest of the stuff needed is extract related, spoons, scales, ect.

It'll sure be nice not to have to buy extracts!
 
Check out youtube for some videos on making a cheap cooler mash tun. It really helped. I have pretty good reading comprehension but watching someone do it just made it all that much easier. I think all together mine cost around $40 between the cooler and fittings and that was just this spring so the prices shouldn't have changed much. There's so many ways to build one you just gotta find a method that works for you. You might even have some of the parts laying around the house and not even know it.

Oh and I just use gravity for every thing right now. I don't plan on using a pump until I get a little older and the lifting portion of the brew day gets to be too much for me. I'd say I've got at least 30yrs before I have to worry about that.
 
I wouldn't go wild and get a pump and everything right away. Learn the AG process and get your system dialed in first. My set up is similar to Homercidal's, except I use a 15g kettle instead of a keg. I lift my mash tun up on a stool and gravity feed through high temp tubing into the kettle. I usually heat my strike water on my gas stove to save on propane costs and then gravity feed that into my mash tun. It's a little extra lifting and carrying, but it makes great beer.

If you're looking to get a kettle and aren't doing full boils yet I'd suggest a 15g over a 10g. You'll have the option of doing 10g batches later and don't have to worry about boil overs. I haven't had issues with evaporation rates being too high and it will save you from having to upgrade later. I'm sure others will disagree with me, but get SS valves, nipples, fittings, etc instead of brass. It will cost you more up front, but again, you won't have to upgrade later.
 
Here's a photo of my first set up:

4189-DSCF0085-1.JPG


No pump, and my "tier" system involved a kitchen chair. It made fine beer, though!

Here's my newest setup:
DSCF5836.JPG


The fancier set up is certainly more convenient with much less heavy lifting! But the beer is NO better than before. And if you notice, I'm still using the cooler!
 
BIAB is probably the simplest and cheapest way to get into all-grain brewing.

if you have a 20 quart pot and a stove which can boil it, then all you need to add is a sheet of voile material for a few bucks and you're there.

That will get you a half batch without trying. If you want to do a full batch, then you either need to sparge, or get a larger pot (40-50 quart?) and the equipment to heat it (stoves will rarely heat that much liquid)
 
I agree with Homercidal, Bougeoisebee and Yooper - a cheap cooler and stainless braid. I'm in the process of upgrading to electric and the cooler's coming with me !!

I also don't use a pump, I use carefully volume marked 5 gallon buckets. I don't like to lift 5 gallons of 170f wort over my head to pour in the kettle, so I use TWO !! It costs an extra $3 but really saves your back :)

Also FWIW - Keggle, keggle, keggle, keggle, keggle - I can't imagine a more well made stainless steel pot for any amount of money, let alone $40 !
 
I agree with Homercidal, Bougeoisebee and Yooper - a cheap cooler and stainless braid. I'm in the process of upgrading to electric and the cooler's coming with me !!

I also don't use a pump, I use carefully volume marked 5 gallon buckets. I don't like to lift 5 gallons of 170f wort over my head to pour in the kettle, so I use TWO !! It costs an extra $3 but really saves your back :)

Also FWIW - Keggle, keggle, keggle, keggle, keggle - I can't imagine a more well made stainless steel pot for any amount of money, let alone $40 !

FWIW... I use a drilled copper manifold... ;)


And +1 for the keggle. It's great and usually pretty cheap if you can find one, but any large like 15 Gallon ish) pot will be great. That is the first thing I would not skimp on. Brewing is SOOO much better with a larger kettle.

The only problem with a Keggle is having to lift it up onto something to gravity feed through my CFC. It's much heavier than my turkey fryer kettles.
 
I started brewing all-grain from batch 1, and on the cheap. It's not that hard to put together a setup that will work on a budget.

You basically need two items:
-Mash Tun
-Wort Chiller

For a mash tun, I bought a 48QT rectangular igloo cooler for around $20. Removed the spigot and installed a ball valve for $5 using the original gasket. I then fashioned a manifold out of CPVC for about $4 and an hour of my time. That's it, instant mash tun for around $30, maybe $40 if you want to pad the budget for small stuff.

A Wort chiller is the other big item you need for all-grain. You can pick up 25' for 3/8" copper tubing for around $20-40 depending on copper prices in your area, and where you buy from. Just bend it into an spiral column, and attach two 3/8" ID hoses with some hose clamps to the ends. Hookup a female hose adapter to the inlet, and you're done. Should cost under $50.

With those two items, you can start brewing all-grain batches for under $100 assuming you have a pot that can boil at least 7.5-8gallons. My first 15 batches I did in my condo's kitchen. My stove was able to bring my 8gal aluminum pot to a boil, and I set the mash tun on a chair (above the floor, but below the counter). Worked really well.

I've now upgraded to a HERMS system using the same mash tun (ignore the RIMS tube, i switched it out). You can ignore the toolbox and the pump, as you don't need to recirculate your mash.

Just heat your strike water on the propane burner, then dump (or gravity feed) the strike water into your mash tun. Stir in the grains and close the lid for an hour. It's pretty simple.

IMG_2390.jpg
 
My first ag system was one keggle and a cooler tun. Gravity feed from keggle through cooler tun, collect in bucket and repour into keggle for boil. I used to set it up on some stairs with good results. Helps to have a buddy to help you lift.

Keggles are good, but ideally a sandwiched bottom on a pot is better for prevening scorching. Imo.

-brad
 
I just did my first all grain batch. It was only 3 gallons. My wife is pregnant, so I have one less person to help drink the final product. I did just fine with a 10 gallon cooler from Home Depot and a turkey fryer.
 
My AG system is a 5 gal brew pot, a 7.5 gal brew pot, and a 10 gal converted Rubbermaid cooler. Minimal cost to convert the cooler. The brew pots do not have valves. I do 5 gal batches.

I heat my strike and sparge water in the smaller kettle and lift and pour into the mash tun on the countertop. Mash and sparge on the countertop, and drain the tun into the larger kettle on the floor. I then lift the full kettle to the stove for the boil, then lift again for pouring into the fermenter.

It isn't that bad to lift 6.5 gallons of wort. Lifting stuff saves a lot of money on fancier kettles and pumps. I'm sure I'll eventually upgrade to fancier gear, but don't have the extra money right now.

There are really cool setups in this forum and in some of the videos YouTube, but they aren't truly needed unless you're doing bigger batches.
 
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