Thinking about going AG? Don't be afraid.

[user 29674]

I just popped my AG cherry last night, and wanted to post a message for those perusing this forum thinking about going AG.

It's easy to read some of the more advanced posts in here and think that AG is really hard and you can't do it. However, those conversations are just that - advanced conversations of experienced AG brewers trying to perfect their technique.

Going AG added two hours to my brew-day. Two. And they weren't a hard 2 hours, it was mostly about waiting. There's a little math and calculations to do up front to know how much water to use, and proper temperatures, but aside from that its not any harder than extract.

As for equipment, much like above its easy to see other people's AG setups and think you need all kinds of fancy equipment. Not true. I converted a Igloo Cube cooler that I got at target for $20, and $20 worth of parts at the hardware store (went with the stainless braid method). You don't need any fancy manifolds and such to get your first AG brew under your belt. Keep it simple for your first go-round and move on to fancier things as you get better at it. Also, I didn't have a HLT, or at least not a separate one. My Boil Kettle and my HLT were the same thing. I Lautered into my bottling bucket while my BK was being used as my HLT, once done I poured the wort from the bottling bucket into my BK and off to my boil. Edit: I forgot to mention that I don't have a chiller of any type (yet) either. I put my BK into a tub full of cold water and just wait. If my tap water is on the warm side, or I'm feeling impatient, I'll freeze a few gallon jugs of water, sanitze the outside of one and drop it in the kettle, and drop the others into the tub of water to speed up the process a little. The bobbing of the jug in the BK helps by circulating the wort a little, too. end edit

Anyways, that was all. I just wanted to post as someone who was intimidated but decided to go for it anyways. It was way way easier than I thought it was going to be, and was actually a pretty relaxing experience. And I managed to get 83% efficiency on my first try.

Anyways, that's all. I hope this is helpful to get other new AG brewers started.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

+1000.

Ag is really easy, and you can do it on the cheap. I converted a bottling bucket to a rudimentary MLT for about $3. A bought a plastic colander, cut the lip off, and stuffed into the bottling bucket just above the spigot. And my boil kettle did double-duty as an HLT, also. I wrapped an old blanket around it to help hold temps. It wasn't the most efficient setup, but it got my AG ball rolling.

And the terminology is pretty simple, too:

Mash= soak
Sparge= rinse

Lauter= strain

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

 

[Mountainbeers]

How did you cool your wort?

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

How did you cool your wort?

That is about all that is stopping me from going all grain....I have even considered doing no chill because of it.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I had already purchased an IC before starting AG, so it was no biggie for me.

 

[waldoar15]

I've got my first two all grains still in primary and will probably do another this weekend sometime.

Don't know if they're drinkable though.

 

[zzees]

I have been looking to go AG, but it looks ominous to me. but you give me hope. I'll hit up my Local brew store and pick up a cooler dealio.

I have everything I need to brew extract plus a few extras, ei wort chiller. Is there anything else I would need?

 

[Bdogg]

Totally agree with the OP.

I was initially skeptical about having to fabricate a bunch of metal parts together to build a mash tun. I bought a 47qt picnic cooler and the braided stainless steel and it sat there for weeks. Then one day I decided to play around and learned that if I simply fed in a 5/8" OD vinyl tube through the actual water drain hole (that just pops open to let melted ice out), the tube was only slightly bigger than the hole, and just needed to be forced in and it sealed all on its own, no BS required. Filled the cooler with hot water and left it for 2 hours, came back - not a drop had leaked. My first time doing AG, the only thing that was a pain with that setup was that I had to tilt the cooler up on its side to get all the liquid out. No big deal. Didn't leak that time either.

Another thing I wasn't looking forward to is building either of two types of a complicated looking wort chiller. Instead of chopping up hoses and trying to find things that would fit my sink, I just build an immersion chiller with a $10 100gph bird bath pump from home depot that I put in a tub full of ice water and just circulated it (although there is an ice machine in my building which made that part easier). No soldering, fittings, or dicking around. It took 5 minutes to assemble, cost very little, and my wort went from boiling to 70 degrees in about 15 minutes. Stove top worked fine for the boil. Slow, but hey, I'm a patient guy.

There is simplicity to be had in the process if you are just looking to try it out. I think all the extra equipment cost me about $100 in total (10 gallon pot, cooler, pump, copper tubing, candy thermometer) and if you hated doing it and wanted to go back to extract, you could easily sell off most of what you bought on craigslist or kijiji and recover most of your cost anyway. And if you love it, you can get to work building some of the crazy intense **** you see all over this forum

 

[permo]

I just started brewing in september, I brewed exactly 3 extract brews and then did some research, converted a 48Q cooler and switched to all grain. It is a very simple process and not all that complicated. 1-1.5 quarts per pound of grain on the mash, the same or even more water for the sparge and a big pot. In the last month I have brewed 5 all grain batches and all worked great. I have some advice from my learnings:


One thing that i find VERY important with all grain brewing is a very accurate digital thermometer. THe difference between a beer mashed at 147 degrees and 157 degrees is major and it could cause you to ruin a kolsh or brew a very dry oatmeal stout. I have found that Taylor makes some of the most accurate and reliable models. I monitor the temp of my mash througout the 60-90 minutes....if I fall 2 degrees below my target I add some hot water but if you properly pre-warm your tun the heat loss is less of an issue.

The grind of your grain will greatly affect your efficiency I error on the side of a finer grind and have yet to get a stuck sparge or anything like that

When in doubt, use more water as opposed to less and boil it down

and my favorite thing about all grain brewing

FIRST WORT HOPPING


This all being said, I did brew some quality extract brews, but the 1-2 pounds of speciality grains really limits the complexity and malt profile of your beer. There is no extract that can replicate the complexity of using 10-12 pounds marris otter as a base.

 

[Mountainbeers]

The wort chiller is the only thing holding me back as well. I plan on going shopping in the morning for a turkey fryer on the best day of the year for such a purchase.

I guess I'll just forgo a batch or two so that I can save a few bucks for an IC.

 

[permo]

The wort chiller is the only thing holding me back as well. I plan on going shopping in the morning for a turkey fryer on the best day of the year for such a purchase.

I guess I'll just forgo a batch or two so that I can save a few bucks for an IC.

I wouldn't let that hold you back. I can get my wort down to below 80 degrees in around an hour but putting the brew pot in my bathtub and filling it with cold water. As soon as my boil is done I put the cover on and put it in the tub of cold water. Almost instantly it falls to 150 degrees.

 

[user 29674]

How did you cool your wort?

That is about all that is stopping me from going all grain....I have even considered doing no chill because of it.

...I have everything I need to brew extract plus a few extras, ei wort chiller. Is there anything else I would need?

The wort chiller is the only thing holding me back as well. I plan on going shopping in the morning for a turkey fryer on the best day of the year for such a purchase.

I guess I'll just forgo a batch or two so that I can save a few bucks for an IC.

I wouldn't let that hold you back. I can get my wort down to below 80 degrees in around an hour but putting the brew pot in my bathtub and filling it with cold water. As soon as my boil is done I put the cover on and put it in the tub of cold water. Almost instantly it falls to 150 degrees.

Oh yea, I forgot that detail in my OP. I used the bathtub full of water method. This time of year, my tap water is pretty cold so it takes just under an hour to cool to <80* F. During the summer sometimes I'll freeze a couple gallon jugs of water, sanitize the outside and drop one in the pot and a couple in the tub of water. Sometimes I just wait longer.

I'll get an IC (or something) when time and money permit, as cooling faster is better, but I don't think its big enough of a deal to stop you from taking the plunge. I really don't think the homebrewers in 6BC had immersion chillers, and they invented the stuff, so there you go.

 

[Brew-boy]

Once you move to all grain I bet you will say "Why did I wait so long". More fun to the brew day when you can play with different gains, milling your grains etc.... So much more control and again more fun. Brewing should be fun and that is what all grain has brought to me.

 

[GeorgeH]

I do want to move to all grain, primarily because there are technical things I want to do that I just can't accomplish with PM'ing like using base grains other than 2 row or changing the mash temp to change the end result.

That said, after a couple "off" PM and extract batches I'm first concentrating on making sure my process is really dialed in. One thing at a time.

 

[Baldy_Beer_Brewery]

It's easy to read some of the more advanced posts in here and think that AG is really hard and you can't do it.

I think this occurs not only in other areas of home brewing, but other hobby forums as well. Too often it is easy for a post to appear that you HAVE to do this, you HAVE to do this.

The thing with making beer is there are so many ways to skin this cat that it isn't even funny.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

An excellent down to earth OP. Duly prosted!

 

[Shaggyt]

That said, after a couple "off" PM and extract batches I'm first concentrating on making sure my process is really dialed in. One thing at a time.

I wouldn't worry about dialing in PMs or extracts because you'll have to do the exact same thing when moving to AG anyway...that's what I found out. The key would be just making the move when you're comfortable.

I made the move last year at this time because my extracts were not "dialed in."

 

[Mountainbeers]

Well you guys have convinced me. I'm picking up materials for a mash tun ASAP.

 

[McKBrew]

Don't let AG scare anyone. I avoided it for awhile too. If you have any basic cooking skills you can handle AG.

 

[CrazyJames]

Tonight I'm picking up a 10 gallon cooler, and a turkey fryer hopefully tomorrow I will do my first AG batch!

I <3 Craigslist and kijiji

 

[Montanaandy]

Great post. This will help provide the shove that I need to get going on AG. All of the things I read about RIMS, HERMS, etc. made me a bit wary. Just need to assemble the Rubbermaid MLT and get the BK that should arrive Tue. and then I am ready. Thanks. Montanaandy

 

[user 29674]

Great post. This will help provide the shove that I need to get going on AG. All of the things I read about RIMS, HERMS, etc. made me a bit wary. Just need to assemble the Rubbermaid MLT and get the BK that should arrive Tue. and then I am ready. Thanks. Montanaandy

You and the others saying the same thing make me glad I did this post. Cheers!

 

[Scut_Monkey]

AG is awesome in my eyes. Extract batches were fun when I started but I like the control factor that AG gives me with mash temps, specialty grains.

Like everyone has said it dosen't have to be expensive at all. I think the most crucial things for getting a setup that will work well is a reliable and accurate thermometer, cooler mash tun with enough capacity, turkey fryer/burner, some type of chiller and access to a grain mill at LHBS or at home. Of course this isn't the only route to go for equipment. Chillers can be expensive but with coppertubingsales.com prices and about 2 hours you can make a larger chiller yourself for quite a lot less than others charge.

 

[NAVET]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/first-ag-biab-smash-149085/

All Grain is very easy. Except for the math.

You don't need a cooler. You can get a 30 Qt Turkey Fryer setup from your local home hardware mega mart for about $80 or so, $5 for large paint strainer bags and you are off and running. My paint bag I can attest will hold 12 Lbs of grain wet. I probably could have gone to 13 or 14 Lbs. 14 would have been a bit much for my piece of mind, but it can be done on the cheap.

I am in for less than $200 for equipment. If I tried real hard to remember the costs of it all, it is probably less than $175.

Ferment in a tub with ice packs keeping the water chilled. Ice packs too much? Freeze water in plastic containers and use that. Need bottles? Buy your bottles already full and clean the empty ones in the dishwasher.

Note-if you use bleach, rinse till your blue in the face. Then rinse one more time. Don't ask how I know.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Waiting for Dec. 8th to roll around before hopping on the AG wagon...Xmas bonus day, baby! :rockin:

 

[CrazyJames]

Tonight I'm picking up a 10 gallon cooler, and a turkey fryer hopefully tomorrow I will do my first AG batch!

I <3 Craigslist and kijiji

Took me 3.5 hours to drive 23miles to pick up my new 10 gal mash tun, and turkey fryer.

Due to which I couldnt make it to the LHBS so my venture into All grain will have to wait untill next week.

God I love driving on sheets of ice, and watching idiots in their 4x4's doing multiple 360's. Saw one guy do it twice times in 1 block, you'd think he'd learn.

But still... AG will be worth it!

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Took me 3.5 hours to drive 23miles to pick up my new 10 gal mash tun, and turkey fryer.

Due to which I couldnt make it to the LHBS so my venture into All grain will have to wait untill next week.

God I love driving on sheets of ice, and watching idiots in their 4x4's doing multiple 360's. Saw one guy do it twice times in 1 block, you'd think he'd learn.

But still... AG will be worth it!

Don't worry, as you know brewing is about patience. You would think people would know how to drive better in ice/snow in Canada......

 

[gmadd]

Don't be afraid of all grain. I started brewing one year ago with all grain, I've never brewed an extract batch. The things I screwed up never had to do with the mash or the sparge, it was more of the beginner stuff like sanitation. If you can do extract you can do all grain.

 

[BA_from_GA]

Neighbors tossed out a perfectly good 12 gal igloo cooler... only problem, didn't have the plug for the drain hole. SO, i'll be going to the hardware store today to get all the necessary fittings to turn it into an MLT, then it's working on finding an old keg to convert to keggle.

Oh, and i guess i'll brew the final extract batch i have in the fridge. (then watch GA Tech destroy UGA!!!)

 

[GeorgeH]

That said, after a couple "off" PM and extract batches I'm first concentrating on making sure my process is really dialed in. One thing at a time.

Please disregard what I said a couple days ago, here's a picture of the mash tun I built today:



The spray foam in the lid will be coming off when it dries. It's a 45 qt. Rubbermaid from Home Depot ($33) and a stainless steel braid. The one problem with the cooler is that I needed to mount the ball valve upside down for it to close completely.