Scaling up to 4 or 5 gallon setup, input please!

[rogercurran]

I have successfully completed 3 batches of biab/all grain kit brewing, on a very small scale (1 gallon/4 litres) and Im starting to think about scaling things up so that I can make enough beer so that I don't have to keep buying it

Im looking at a 20 litre (approx5 gallon) setup, but looking for input on what exactly I will need ito the main equipment.

- Should I continue with a bag, or move to a 'mash tun' (?!)
- Is a butane burner and a large aluminium pot going to cut it for the initial boil?
- Is it ok to use a plastic bucket fermenter, or is glass a non-negotiable?
- I imagine with these volumes that a copper cooling coil is unavoidable?
- Im currently looking at a 3 step setup:
mash-tun -> fermenting container of some sort -> bottling bucket, am I missing anything?

Please share your experiences, thank you!

 

[C-Rider]

I went down from 5 gallon extract to 2 gallon BIAB. I never looked back. Got tired of drinking the same beer over and over and who has room to store 50 bottles of say 3 or 4 different brews? I get about 17 bottles per 2 gallon brew. I mash in a 5 gallon round cooler BIAB, boil in a 5 gallon SS pot on a propane burner, and ferment in 2 gallon paint buckets from HD. I have a copper coil to cool and it cools in about 15 min where water temp is about 75*F.
Making the immersion cooler is easy. buy the copper tubing and it's probably just right for your boil kettle. Two compression fittings and bingo you hook up to your water hose.

 

[RM-MN]

I have successfully completed 3 batches of biab/all grain kit brewing, on a very small scale (1 gallon/4 litres) and Im starting to think about scaling things up so that I can make enough beer so that I don't have to keep buying it

Im looking at a 20 litre (approx5 gallon) setup, but looking for input on what exactly I will need ito the main equipment.

- Should I continue with a bag, or move to a 'mash tun' (?!)
- Is a butane burner and a large aluminium pot going to cut it for the initial boil?
- Is it ok to use a plastic bucket fermenter, or is glass a non-negotiable?
- I imagine with these volumes that a copper cooling coil is unavoidable?
- Im currently looking at a 3 step setup:
mash-tun -> fermenting container of some sort -> bottling bucket, am I missing anything?

Please share your experiences, thank you!

Let me answer the questions in the order you asked, based on the information you have given.
1. Yes
2. Yes, um...I mean NO!
3. Yes
4. No
5. Yes

Now how about I answer based on my interpretation on what you asked.
1. Either method works. BIAB will take less equipment and given the proper milling of the grain can save time and dollars because you can get higher brewhouse efficiency. The brewhouse efficiency is not guaranteed, your technique matters.
2. Butane, propane, wood fire, doesn't matter. If the pot is the right size compared to the heat source it will work.
3. Thousands of us make great beer with a plastic fermenter. Unless you plan to age your beer for a very long time glass isn't needed. Plastic fermenters never send you to the emergency room with cuts from breaking like glass can.
4 Check out "no chill" brewing. Chilling your wort quickly can maintain the proper bitterness and flavors but most of that can be worked around. I'd still consider some kind of chiller for the speed and ease of making the flavors work right.
5. Racking cane or autosiphon, tubing, airlocks, sanitizer, hydrometer, etc. You probably have some or all of these but you didn't mention them.

 

[rogercurran]

Thanks for your response - you make a valid point if its only for personal consumption some variety might be good / lower volumes.

Do you use a cooler for mashing because it saves on energy? In the past I just left the bag in the pot and threw in some sparge water every now and then... do you have a preference?

My thinking was to abandon the bag and go with a modified cooler/mash tun, but if I stick with a bag Im wondering about just mashing in my pot?

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks for your response - you make a valid point if its only for personal consumption some variety might be good / lower volumes.

Do you use a cooler for mashing because it saves on energy? In the past I just left the bag in the pot and threw in some sparge water every now and then... do you have a preference?

My thinking was to abandon the bag and go with a modified cooler/mash tun, but if I stick with a bag Im wondering about just mashing in my pot?

i mash right in the pot....but that assumes that the pot is big enough. For a 5 gallon batch the minimum (bare minimum at that) is 8 gallons. 10 gallons would be preferred. I do 2 1/2 gallon batches in a 5 gallon pot but it requires sparging to get to the desired volume.

 

[Burndog]

As RM-MN notes...preferable is the 10 gallon brew kettle over an 8. I have an 8, it works, but wish I would have gotten a 10 gallon.

 

[Smellyglove]

Since you want to step it up I'd say first of all invest some money in some fermentation-toys. You can botch a wort and ferment it well, and it will be drinkable, but even if you make a superior wort and botch the fermentation you will either drink bad beer or pour it out..

 

[65C]

it's worth keeping an eye on Ebay etc. for people selling complete setups who have given up or upgraded - the difference in price between new and used can 5X

I really recommend using a quality cool/ice box for mashing - that was the best investment I made - you can cut corners on the HLT and boiler initially in my view

I use same plastic boiler for HLT and wort boiler - keeping the wort in a large pans while sparge - it works fine

 

[rogercurran]

Since you want to step it up I'd say first of all invest some money in some fermentation-toys. You can botch a wort and ferment it well, and it will be drinkable, but even if you make a superior wort and botch the fermentation you will either drink bad beer or pour it out..

Tell me about these toys? Are we talking hydrometer or is there more to it?

 

[rogercurran]

it's worth keeping an eye on Ebay etc. for people selling complete setups who have given up or upgraded - the difference in price between new and used can 5X

I really recommend using a quality cool/ice box for mashing - that was the best investment I made - you can cut corners on the HLT and boiler initially in my view

I use same plastic boiler for HLT and wort boiler - keeping the wort in a large pans while sparge - it works fine

Very true, I am moving to Cape Town (South Africa) next year and will be keeping an eye on the classifieds to see what comes up, I just need to know what I'm looking for first.

I can see that the weight of these brews is significant. At the moment I just shift my gallon of wort around but when we get up to 5 gallons of boiling water I will need a properly setup space, use of gravity etc to make it happen.

 

[Smellyglove]

Tell me about these toys? Are we talking hydrometer or is there more to it?

Basically just a fridge with a good thermostat and a heating belt.