Should I Try All Grain?

[jyeary90]

Hey everyone,

I was looking at some recipes around this site and found a nice one for a Belgian Blonde I want to try. However after reading a How to Brew Beer book someone on this site suggested to me (Sorry I forgot your name), I realized an all grain brew sounds particularly tricky, especially since I don't even know how my first brew turned out yet (It's been about a week since I started fermenting and it stopped bubbling for the most part). So should I stick with buying another Brewers Best kit (Their first one actually didn't seem too bad, it was a partial kit) or is all grain brewing really not that hard?

 

[Pivot]

if you want to spend the money on the extra equipment then no, it really isnt that hard. takes a little more time and possibly some technique over extract, but naw its easy enough.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

It's only as hard as you make it.

 

[MarsColonist]

If i was to do it again, I would have bought my refrigeration/temp control and kegging equipment before I bought my allgrain equip. While I got some used equip in a good craigslist score, and I learned tons about the nuances of allgrain brewing, several of my batches suffered greatly (couple of dumpers) from the ambient fermentation (70°F+) I subjected them to... 3 fridges later, my beers are MUCH better.

 

[jyeary90]

Okay, so the general consensus is to stick with the extracts until you can afford to buy the all grain stuff? Is a kegerator absolutely necessary?

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

If you already have the capacity to do full boils then you should definately go all grain. You can do it cheap too if you don't want to spend money. If you have a seven to ten gallon cooler on hand you are set. You just need about twenty bucks worth of fittings from lowes or any hardware store in order to convert it to a tun.

If you don't have a pot already .......... well then it will be a little more expensive.

 

[Whut]

It's only as hard as you make it.

What GMB said!

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

I ferment in the basement. Temp it constantly between 65-68

I agree with the previous posters on the temp controller first if you can't keep your place below 70.

 

[rayg]

http://byo.com/stories/article/indi...21-extract-vs-all-grain-wild-yeasts-mr-wizard

I would say: no need unless you have some tricky recipe that requires
it. I would learn to use yeast correctly first including proper fermentation
temps and pitching rates. You can make most beers with extract only,
extract plus steeping or partial mash plus extract.

Ray

 

[Dave258]

Okay, so the general consensus is to stick with the extracts until you can afford to buy the all grain stuff? Is a kegerator absolutely necessary?

You only need a kegerator to keg your beer. So if you plan on Bottling, no you don't need one.

 

[jyeary90]

If you already have the capacity to do full boils then you should definately go all grain. You can do it cheap too if you don't want to spend money. If you have a seven to ten gallon cooler on hand you are set. You just need about twenty bucks worth of fittings from lowes or any hardware store in order to convert it to a tun.

If you don't have a pot already .......... well then it will be a little more expensive.

Do you have a guide as to how I can convert one of those coolers into a tun?

 

[MarsColonist]

Well, I suggest SOMETHING to control the temp. Living up north, you probably have the advantage of a cool basement with pretty consistent temps year round; we dont get none of that action here in central Texas. We have completely inconsistent schizophrenic weather here and a pier-and-beam house pretty much necessitates active cooling (esp in the summer)... but you can always do the swamp cooler thing to hold steady temps. Nonetheless, extracts can get you far for a few dozen brews.

 

[user 22118]

I have never brewed an extract batch because I think they are going to be difficult! I started All Grain and have never looked back. There are some great ways to get into it without upgrading your equipment much. Just brew to the size that you can do a full boil. So if you own a 15qt pot, then do three gallons.

 

[sp1365]

It's only as hard as you make it.

QFT!

Do you have a guide as to how I can convert one of those coolers into a tun?

Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion

I stepped into All-Grain after 1 extract batch and love it. As for fermentation control, make a simple swamp cooler. Mine keeps a fairly consistent 62*.

 

[KevinW]

Go for it!
I was pretty scared to go AG my first time but after reading a little bit and some small investment ie.. homemade MLT and 10gallon kettle, I did it and everything turned out fine.
You will do awesome so get out there and DO IT!!

Good luck

 

[lschiavo]

You won't be sorry going AG. I think I did about 4 extract batches before I switched. I had nothing fancy, just a burner a boil kettle and a coverted cooler. My beer is so much better now and the possibilities are endless!

I was lucky though: I met YooperBrew on HBT and she invited me over for a brew session. For me, seeing the process before trying myself was so much help! Find someone who does AG and sit in on a session if you can or watch some videos on youtube.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[PhelanKA7]

I wish I could do AG, but I just don't think it's possible in my tiny apartment.

 

[lschiavo]

I wish I could do AG, but I just don't think it's possible in my tiny apartment.

If you can do a full boil you can do AG.

 

[PhelanKA7]

If you can do a full boil you can do AG.

Do you think a 7.5g and a 2.5g pots are enough?

 

[Netflyer]

For small spaces and esp. as an intermediate step between Extract and AG you can use the deathbrewer methods:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/

I made an incredible partial mash Fuller's ESB clone using his methods and if I didn't have a mash tun I'd still do it that way.

 

[lschiavo]

Do you think a 7.5g and a 2.5g pots are enough?

To do all grain you will need to be able to heat your strike water (3-4) gallons for a 5-gal batch. While mashing you can heat your sparge water, again (3-4) gallons this can be the same pot that you heated the strike water with.

When you sparge however, you will need a boil kettle (the 7.5 gallon should work) to collect the wort and a container to hold your (3-4) gallons of sparge water that can maintain proper temperature.

Maybe one more pot and a mash tun and you are on you way!

 

[PhelanKA7]

To do all grain you will need to be able to heat your strike water (3-4) gallons for a 5-gal batch. While mashing you can heat your sparge water, again (3-4) gallons this can be the same pot that you heated the strike water with.

When you sparge however, you will need a boil kettle (the 7.5 gallon should work) to collect the wort and a container to hold your (3-4) gallons of sparge water that can maintain proper temperature.

Maybe one more pot and a mash tun and you are on you way!

Thanks for the reply!

It's the mash tun i'm most concerned about with regards to my spatial situation. I have just enough room to do extract brewing as it is, and to add much else to it is going to result in a big freakin mess.

Once I get a house I'll probably go the AG route. I've been thinking about doing the PM thing on my next brew (my 3rd) to see how it goes. For someone who considers making scrambled eggs an operation this homebrewing thing is a little bit of a challenge. Extract brewing is just a tad harder than making a pot of cowhand coffee, so it's comfortable to me atm. I'm not one to back off from a fun challenge though

 

[dracus]

I wish I could do AG, but I just don't think it's possible in my tiny apartment.

I have a 600SF effencency apartment. I just brewed a 10g all grain batch.

Before I did all grain I did late addition extract batches. I used an 8g pot on two burners of my dinky stove. It took about 45 min to boil but it worked.

Today I still heat up sparge and mash water on the stove inside. At least until it gets nice outside.

Seriously it doesn't take as much space as you think. I put the mlt on a chair and I drain it into brewpot.

You'll be fine with a 2.5g pot and a 7.5g pot if you already have them. You just put the wort into a bucket while heating sparge water in the big pot. You can also do a thinner mash and dbl batch sparge and your 2.5g pot will be fine.

 

[dvdfnzwbr]

If you fall into one of the following demographics All Grain brewing is for you. If you fall under two, buy your equipment tomorrow.

Unemployed, retiree, loner, dude without girlfriend, married guy, crazy, workaholic, crazy alcoholic, only hobby is making beer, 15,000 posts on this forum, beer making encompasses 50% or more of your daily thought, you compare your lifestyle to that of a monk, and you long to emulate the movie character "Brewmeister Smith". Otherwise consider extract brewing.

 

[dzlater]

Also remember any all grain recipe can be converted into extract.

 

[Netflyer]

You don't need a mash tun for the deathbrewer method, you mash in a grainbag that you dip into a kettle at the correct temperature. The only extra equipment you need from extract for partial mash/AG on the stove top is a nice grain bag you can get from a lot of places, I think I got mine from Northern Brewer ...

 

[sp1365]

You don't need a mash tun for the deathbrewer method, you mash in a grainbag that you dip into a kettle at the correct temperature. The only extra equipment you need from extract for partial mash/AG on the stove top is a nice grain bag you can get from a lot of places, I think I got mine from Northern Brewer ...

This is how I started doing AG and is a great way to try it without spending all the money on an AG set up.