My first brew

Madsciontst · Aug 27, 2013

I did my first brew which was a brewers best witbeir. I have to say that it is a great beer. Everything came out perfect and today I just did the milk stout. Its gonna be hard to wait for this one. Next all grain , can't wait...

Onkel_Udo · Aug 27, 2013

Congrats! You will love brewing.

Before you make the jump to all-grain, make sure you help a buddy do a batch of AG. It is a lot more work and the investment in equipment can go from modest to bankruptcy if you let it. Besides, there are 3-4 major methods and infinite variations on the methods.

Heck, if I were to do it all over again, I would probably be an brew-in-bag guy...and I have lost count of the gallons of all grain I have made with a three tier gravity system.

Madsciontst · Aug 27, 2013

I'm gonna keep it simple with a homemade mash tun and I'm thinking a turkey fryer setup. And thanks I do love brewing especially the final product.

Qhrumphf · Aug 27, 2013

Before jumping in to all-grain, I would make sure you've got your major bases under control. I don't know what processes you used or what kind of equipment you had, and if your first brew turned out great, you're probably most of the way there already. Make sure your cleaning and sanitizing is up to snuff. Invest in some form of fermentation temp control, even if it's only a swamp cooler. And get into the habit of pitching the proper amount of yeast, and aerating properly. Hopefully you're doing this things already, but if not, I'd go there first.

In any event, congrats on the good brew!

Madsciontst · Aug 28, 2013

Thanks man. I am really careful with everything and I am doing my homework. Right now I'm still putting the equipment together.

Onkel_Udo · Aug 28, 2013

Madsciontst said:
I'm gonna keep it simple with a homemade mash tun and I'm thinking a turkey fryer setup. And thanks I do love brewing especially the final product.

If you have a turkey-fryer, or plan to get one, try a BIAB for your first couple of partial or full mash recipes. This is assuming you are capable of lifting out 10-13#'s of soaked grains (what is it, 30#ish?) or have a nearby rafter to put a pulley system on. that way your only extra investment is you reusable bag that can become part of your future traditional mashtun if you so desire.

When I went from extract to all grain, I jumped in feet first with my hair on fire. Built a three keggle, three burner gravity monstrosity (that I loved).

I am also a fan of rectangular cooler mashtuns with a bulkhead valve and copper pipe manifold. Simple and inexpensive to make for full mash 5-gal systems even if you want to make big beers. Also capable of relatively small 10 gal batches in the same relatively small cooler. Total investment is maybe $50 and a couple of hours?