Overwhelmed?!?!?

[MrBaloo]

I have done all grain batches with friends and have done extract solo years ago. Now that I can afford to go all grain and want a nice setup I have been reading posts about people building systems.... And have been ooing and ahing at every shiney thing that came along.

BIAB... eBrewery... My head is spinning with all the different ways to go...

I plan to dedicate a good portion of my workshop to my brewery. But what to build?

How did you settle on what system to build? And what advice do you have for me as I embark on this journey?

Thanks in advance.

Baloo

(See post #7 for a little more info)

 

[Yellowirenut]

Meds have helped me....

No seriously I had an issue of getting overwhelmed in life and meds have helped!:rockin:


I just went with the most common type of system...a single tier with a cooler for a mash tun. Again i chose it because it was the most common with the most amount of info and least amount of recipe correction needed.

 

[ncboiler]

Start with a budget. That may eliminate a lot of the decisions. Then decide if you want to do BIAB or a more traditional AG method. Probably a lot of the systems that make you 'oohhh' involve some automation. Do you want that? If not that will eliminate a lot of the decision making.

I am planning on getting in to AG in the near future and I will start out with something bare bones and will build around and upgrade from that as I learn.

 

[riderkb]

Maybe you should tell us about your DIY skill set and your budget. Are you interested in automation or doing big batches?

 

[Ski12568]

Buy a turn-key Blichmann BrewEasy

http://blichmannengineering.com/products/breweasy

 

[fiveohmike]

I personally decided on a 3 tier gravity fed system (made from wire shelving racks from home depot) because I did not want to deal with 220V electric outlets, re-circulation or having to lift heavy ass bags out for BIAB (10 gallon). I just wanted the simplest setup, gravity fed.

I will add to this later and may change to single tier but for now, she doesnt look like much, but she works like a champ and didnt break the bank:

 

[MrBaloo]

I am a pretty good do it yourselfer.... Like to fix things myself... Love the automated systems.. One of my best friends is detailed enough to get me through the electrical schematics.. Willing to spend a couple grand on this to make good beer...

To let you in my head... I would rather grill my own steak than go to Ruth's Chris... Enjoy cooking it as much as eating it... I guess that is why is returned to the attraction of home brewing.

That brew easy is really nice.... But kinda takes some of the appreciation out of it...

Current thoughts are automated electric system... But would like to do it in steps so I can begin enjoying it sooner....

 

[brewingnoobie]

Would you mind sending me or describing your 3 tier system a little more? I love the idea, but have a couple of questions. Do you have 2 propane tanks? How do you get the water heated to temp and then also the wort to a boil? I see two burners, but only one propane tank on the bottom shelf. Other than that I think this is a great idea. So the only think you need to lift is the water in the top kettle twice for the strike and then sparge water correct?

Thanks again and I like the setup like this since it is cheaper.

 

[brick]

I don't think there's any good reason to spend a couple grand on your first AG setup. You can make great beer with a decent brew pot, burner, mash tun, and the stuff that you used to use for extract brews. The advantage of starting simple is that you will get a better feel for which parts of the process you, personally, want to make easier and invest your resources accordingly. It doesn't take anything special to get past the point where quality is about the brewer, not the equipment.

 

[kh54s10]

Mine is also a 3 tier. I did partial mash and thought BIAB was not going to be my thing. So I built mine from plywood I had on hand and culled 2x4's (warped or cracked) from HD.

Added the valves and sight glass myself etc.

I have since turned it around to the BK is next to the sink for cooling. I have also plumbed a water line across the ceiling (with a filter) to fill the HLT. No lifting of water or wort until taking the fermenter to the basement.

 

[Rev2010]

I just went with the 10g rubbermaid round cooler with simple bazooka screen for the mash tun, a Blichmann 10g kettle, an 8g Megapot 1.2 for my sparge water, and a Blichmann burner. To go cheaper one can go with many alternatives to the Blichmann stuff of course. I love my system, simple and does what I need and makes amazing beer. You really need to analyze what works for *you* as everyone on the Internet has different circumstances. Some have nowhere to brew outdoors and need to do it all indoors, you don't want to use a propane burner in that situation for example. If money and space for equipment is an issue BIAB is the best way to go, and many just prefer it outright regardless of money and space. Only you can really decide


Rev.

 

[fiveohmike]

Would you mind sending me or describing your 3 tier system a little more? I love the idea, but have a couple of questions. Do you have 2 propane tanks? How do you get the water heated to temp and then also the wort to a boil? I see two burners, but only one propane tank on the bottom shelf. Other than that I think this is a great idea. So the only think you need to lift is the water in the top kettle twice for the strike and then sparge water correct?

Thanks again and I like the setup like this since it is cheaper.

Yep no problem.

The wire racks consist of two parts:

1x 24"x18"x54" Unit from home depot (only using 2 of the 4 shelves ) holds the MLT and the boil kettle
1x 24"x18"x36" Unit from home depot ( only using 2 shelves) - holds the mash tun and propane tank

1x Blichman burner on the bottom for the boil kettle
1x Cheapy burner up top for the HLT

1x MoreBeer Heavy Duty 15Gallon Mash Tun
1x MoreBeer Heavy Duty boil kettle - 15 Gallon
1x MoreBeer 8 gallon HLT

1x Propane tank with pressure gauge. I swap between the burners (since there is some time before boiling). I wait until I have a full boil kettle before swapping the gas line and firing up the second burner on the bottom.

Whats not pictured are the new sight gauges for the Boil and HLT so i can measure accurately my water levels.

My brew process consists of filling the HLT up top from a garden hose (water is semi ok around here, and there is no lifting of water required). I then adjust the water using additives (like gypsum and what not).

I heat the mash water to the desired temp and drain into the mash tun.

I then refill the HLT up top with the garden hose and heat it up for when I do my batch sparge.

Then drain / sparge into the boil kettle on the bottom and boil away.


EDIT: Once the mash tun is done, and cooled, I have a cart I wheel over and scoop out the grain and wheel it over to the dumpster. I hate lifting heavy things unless I am at the gym, so I try to brew smart ... not hard

 

[Roadie]

Where is your workshop and is there a way to ventilate it? If not then propane isn't for you.

I didn't want to freeze my a$$ off brewing in the winter so knew right away that I wanted an electric system. I had a spot in the basement that fit the bill so that determined size. Then it came down to what I wanted my normal batch size to be and how large of a batch size I wanted to be able to brew at once. That determined the size of my kettles. I started researching who made the size kettles I wanted and then I found theelectricbrewery.com where I saw a great example of how to connect everything together.

 

[Transamguy77]

When I was looking to build a stand I looked at how much did I have to spend and what was my ultimate goal.

My ultimate goal was a system that I could make 10 gallon batches, to use propane and simple to use, I have no desire for automation or electric. Originally I was going to do a 2 tier with 1 pump then a fixture of some sort made out of 3" angle ended up in the scrap bin at work and I decided on a 3 tier.

I now have a simple to use, direct fired 3 tier stand that I can make 10 gallon batches with and I am happy with an it looks like this.



Once you know what you want it makes it easier to make it happen.

 

[MrBaloo]

That's a nice brew stand transamguy