The time has come

[natehilde]

Hello to all. My name is Nate and I am new to this forum. I have been Extract brewing for a little over a year now and it is probably the best thing that has happened to me since my daughter was born. I am a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy and am stationed in the Charleston, SC area. I need some help from all of you. There is no homebrew store in the area and I really want to make the shift into all grain brewing. I have done quite a bit of research on it and I would appreciate some suggestions on Equipment, places to buy ingredients on-line, and any helpful hints.

I have looked at many different AG setups, and I think I want to stay away from the plastic cooler MT. I want equipent that will stand the test of time. I would prefer to start with a gravity drain system, but with the potential to upgrade to pumps at a later date.

I would appreciate any additional guidance or suggestions. Thanks

Nate

 

[Reverend JC]

Welcome Nate-

Northernbrewer.com

austinhomebrew.com

midwestsupplies.com

those are the three that i would start with.

As for equipment, without getting into a whole bunch of personal preferences i would suggest just getting 1 pot big enough to boil 13 gallons of wort, and 2 big enough to hold 10 gallons each, and of course make them stainless steel. that way you can make the 5 gallon batchs to begin with and you will have the proper stuff to expand to 10 gallon batchs without buying anything else.

Hope this helps


Reverend

 

[aweks]

www.homebrewery.com

This website has EVERYTHING. Equipment, ingredients, recipe books, kegging systems, EVERYTHING. They have very competitive prices and ship very quickly. I have always been satisfied with their service.

 

[Blender]

You should also visit Morebeer.com. They have a bunch of beer structures in all price ranges.

 

[natehilde]

Thanks for the help guys. I have a few other questions about the process.

With out any insulation around the MT, will the temperature of the mash remain constant enough to complete the rests or will more heat have to be added periodically?

Does water pH always have to be adjusted prior to mashing?

If the first runnings are not recirculated, is there a noticable impact on the finished product?

What should the flowrate through the sparging assembly be? Describe the flow through the sparging assembly (dripping, spraying, streams????)



Once again, thanks for your help.

Nate

 

[Beer Snob]

When you see what inicially comes out you will want to recirculate. Lots of grain particles and stuff.