So, Ive been a basic homebrewer (only extract and partial mash) for a couple of years now and I want to make the jump to better equipment / all grain brewing. I was wondering if someone could help me design a system? As much as I would love the sabco brew-magic or the ruby street alpha system, I cant afford that much. I need to upgrade everything, so its like Im starting over from scratch. I will eventually be building a basement brewery type setup. I just dont know where to start as far as kettles vs igloo cooler as mash tun, etc. Any and all help would be appreciated and please message if needed.
need help designing a homebrew set up.
- Thread starter golfgod04
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JLeuck64
Well-Known Member
Basement brewery huh... I am thinking ya probably don't have the ceiling height to consider going with a 3 tier system then. 2 tier with a pump or single tier with pump(s) would be your options. Making the move to all grain is pretty straight forward since you've already been doing mini mashes. Just need to scale it up and I did that by getting a good sized cooler (52 qt or bigger is plenty for 5 gallon batches)
You picked a great time to upgrade your equipment actually! Check out the sponsor showcase forum, there are some steep discounts going on for 10Gal kettles right now... SpikeBrewing, AMCYL etc...
What kind of burner are you currently using? You have several options for heating water and boiling too, could go with a single burner and 2 coolers or add a second burner and go with a couple of kettles... I already had a couple of burners so went with 2 kettles.
You picked a great time to upgrade your equipment actually! Check out the sponsor showcase forum, there are some steep discounts going on for 10Gal kettles right now... SpikeBrewing, AMCYL etc...
What kind of burner are you currently using? You have several options for heating water and boiling too, could go with a single burner and 2 coolers or add a second burner and go with a couple of kettles... I already had a couple of burners so went with 2 kettles.
ya, I do not have the height for that. I just use a bayou burner for now in my garage and then most of my brewing could be done on my stove top but I want to move downstairs. besides being a hobby brewer, I am an hobby carpenter. So I want to build a bar are one side and the brewing stuff on the other side.
Delusions_Brewing
Member
Your choices are really dependent on how much you want to spend, if you're planning on brewing in your basement, it would probably be a good idea to look into electric brewing as burners are typically outdoors only.
A source for electric components is: http://ebrewsupply.com/
Good luck in your selection, designing your new system is lots of fun!
A source for electric components is: http://ebrewsupply.com/
Good luck in your selection, designing your new system is lots of fun!
iijakii
Well-Known Member
You will hear a thousand different opinions on this. There is no one method that's better. You need to decide what you want to do.
I vote BIAB because it's cheap and easy. I've had every system besides an electric RIMS and I think BIAB is my favorite overall out of ease; BIAB in a cooler if you want better temp stability than blankets etc.
If you're wanting to move downstairs you need to go electric. Does your laundry room have the dryer outlet? Easy way to get your power source from, or have an electrician come and run a new circuit. Plenty of DIY ideas in the ebrew subforum, or if you're wanting to purchase something there's plenty of cheap to expensive ones as well. @Brumateur has a website selling some that are well priced , coloradobrewsupply (good price on pots with welded TC ports for elements too), the stilldragon kits, a dozen others i cant recall.
Basically, there are tonnes of options here. I know youre just starting out in AG so it'll be tough to design how complex of an AG system you want.
Here's another vote for eBIAB. I'm sort of the opposite of @iijakii in that BIAB is the only method I've done. But I did a lot of research before I started brewing. It was the method that made the most sense to me from a cost and ease of brewing perspective.
can i ask what your setup is and how much it cost?
JLeuck64
Well-Known Member
Yes! I totally forgot about the lack of ventilation in the basement so I would agree with the others you should consider going electric!
I've brewed with a friend on his electric system before and the heat control was amazing (with a capital AMAZING) when compared to a gas burner.
Since you enjoy working with wood, building a brew stand for an electric system will be cheap AND easy for you as well ( ;
I've brewed with a friend on his electric system before and the heat control was amazing (with a capital AMAZING) when compared to a gas burner.
Since you enjoy working with wood, building a brew stand for an electric system will be cheap AND easy for you as well ( ;
My BIAB set-up has evolved. Started out with a 9 gallon Bayou Classic, some paint strainer bags, a sleeping bag and towels for insulation, and my stove top pulling boil duty. Made really good beer for less than $85 all in. Simple and cheap.
Then I decided I wanted to go electric and move operations to the garage so I could take advantage of a ratchet pulley.
So now my setup is this....
http://brausupply.com/collections/b...120v-5-gallon-brew-boss-automated-brew-system
But I was an early adopter so I got a 9 gallon kettle instead of the standard 11 gallon they offer now. $665 and you can have a really nice all electric system that has everything you need to brew, and that you can use anywhere there are two 15 amp circuits. Oh, forgot to mention I got the 15 amp controller.
First determine the volume of finished beer you want. If you are anything 5 gallon and over I would say you will need ventilation in the basement or you will have all sorts of moisture/mold issues after brewing. Ventilation can be as simple as an inlet duct and an outlet duct with an inline fan over your brewing area. If the wall your brewery is going against has all dirt on the other side you may need to consider longer duct lengths, fan numbers, or moving the brewery.
Second, I recommend electric no matter what size for the simple reason you won't need fire suppression from using propane or gas. Electric has its own issues as far as circuit breakers and wire gages. All this can be done by yourself, but if you get an electrician involved expect the price to go up a lot. For example, for my electric brewery the electrician wanted $2800 to add a spa panel and upgrade the circuit breaker to 50amp. I ended up buying a book and the parts and did it all for under $300. And that included properly shielding the wires. You'll need to know your system size so you can determine voltage and amp needs to start. I'd suggest no matter what size go with a 50amp 240v circuit so if you change your mind and want to go up to 10 gallons you won't have to redo your wiring.
Third, how do you want your system to run? BIAB is very easy for smaller batches. I've even seen some people do 5 gallon BIAB setups. You'll need a pulley system to lift that much grain, so you'll need to see if you have joists over the brew pot, but you probably will in the basement. For 5 or 10 gallon I recommend a single tier, three pot, HERMS system that is basically a Kal Clone. They aren't to difficult to make and if you use BCS controller you can skip the PIDs and run the thing off a laptop. I built mine from scratch for about $1900. That said, I have my setup in the garage and on brew day I open the garage door, a couple of windows and the back door and don't have to worry about ventilation.
Also plan on expansion space, especially for dedicated fermentation chambers for temp control down the line and probably a keggerator to serve your brew. Maybe even an armchair or two.
If money is your biggest object, then I'd figure out what your max is and find a system suited to that.
Remember, of course, the job of the brewer is to make the brewing process as complicated and expensive as your budget and spouse will allow.
Second, I recommend electric no matter what size for the simple reason you won't need fire suppression from using propane or gas. Electric has its own issues as far as circuit breakers and wire gages. All this can be done by yourself, but if you get an electrician involved expect the price to go up a lot. For example, for my electric brewery the electrician wanted $2800 to add a spa panel and upgrade the circuit breaker to 50amp. I ended up buying a book and the parts and did it all for under $300. And that included properly shielding the wires. You'll need to know your system size so you can determine voltage and amp needs to start. I'd suggest no matter what size go with a 50amp 240v circuit so if you change your mind and want to go up to 10 gallons you won't have to redo your wiring.
Third, how do you want your system to run? BIAB is very easy for smaller batches. I've even seen some people do 5 gallon BIAB setups. You'll need a pulley system to lift that much grain, so you'll need to see if you have joists over the brew pot, but you probably will in the basement. For 5 or 10 gallon I recommend a single tier, three pot, HERMS system that is basically a Kal Clone. They aren't to difficult to make and if you use BCS controller you can skip the PIDs and run the thing off a laptop. I built mine from scratch for about $1900. That said, I have my setup in the garage and on brew day I open the garage door, a couple of windows and the back door and don't have to worry about ventilation.
Also plan on expansion space, especially for dedicated fermentation chambers for temp control down the line and probably a keggerator to serve your brew. Maybe even an armchair or two.
If money is your biggest object, then I'd figure out what your max is and find a system suited to that.
Remember, of course, the job of the brewer is to make the brewing process as complicated and expensive as your budget and spouse will allow.
JoshuaW
Well-Known Member
Im also in the "I have done 3 vessel, and now I am BIAB" camp. I started BIAB, tried 3 vessel, upgraded 3 vessel (sold that system before finishing it) and now Im preparing for my first BIAB on my new cobrewing system. I like BIAB because its much simpler. One kettle to worry about, less mess, no sparging, etc, etc.
You can put together or purchase a BIAB setup fairly easily. For a basement brewery, go electric. Put it on a desk, stand, table, cart, whatever you want to build. Im using a stainless steel cart from Overstock.com that I got for less than $100. You can chose a counter flow chiller or a plate chiller. You can use your immersion chiller or go no chill, but what is the fun in that? If you are upgrading, you might want to consider getting some new fermenters too.
Overall it just depends how much you are going to spend. If you are going to do it incrementally, get a fermentation chamber first (if you dont have one), followed by a pump and new chiller. After that go for the kettle, but get a blank triclamp to put over the element port. That will allow you to keep using it on your burner. Finally, you can get your element and control panel, and you are basically ready to brew inside!
You can put together or purchase a BIAB setup fairly easily. For a basement brewery, go electric. Put it on a desk, stand, table, cart, whatever you want to build. Im using a stainless steel cart from Overstock.com that I got for less than $100. You can chose a counter flow chiller or a plate chiller. You can use your immersion chiller or go no chill, but what is the fun in that? If you are upgrading, you might want to consider getting some new fermenters too.
Overall it just depends how much you are going to spend. If you are going to do it incrementally, get a fermentation chamber first (if you dont have one), followed by a pump and new chiller. After that go for the kettle, but get a blank triclamp to put over the element port. That will allow you to keep using it on your burner. Finally, you can get your element and control panel, and you are basically ready to brew inside!
