Thinking about going AG? Don't be afraid.

[thedidey]

+1

My first All-grain is bubbling away. It sounds pretty hard, but so did any brewing before yI did it. I won't say that it doesn't take some thinking about but it's much easier to make the switch than you think.

 

[bierbrauer]

When I started brewing I read every book I could get my hands on and went straight into all grain brewing. I use extracts for making starters and that’s about it, not to say that great beer cannot be made by using extracts. I figured since someone else is making the extract, that takes away some of the fun of making your own beer since it is some large company who is responsible for half of the way the beer tastes.

And there’s something to be said about grinding up 25 lbs of grain and seeing how that is turned into a fantastic beverage that can get you drunk!!!!

 

[bigjoe]

First AG-BIAB-SMaSH

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.

+1

Don't know why this method gets the red headed step child treatment. If you have the ability to do a full volume boil you can most likely do a Full Volume - No Sparge Mash (BIAB). You might have to use top off to reach your pre-boil volume if going for 5 gallons in a 30 qt pot but it works great and is easy. You can EASILY do multi-step mashes also.

Don't believe the hype about thin mash, highly fermentable, or cloudy wort. Can't remember any of the other args against it that Homebrew club had, but I've been doing research on the topic for a presentation at homebrew club. I've had great success with this method, and wanted to science to back up my anecdotal findings.

 

[RighteousFire]

All grain (or grain only as it should be) is usually overcomplicated. most people that take this step are looking to make perfect beer, so usually you get sucked into all the technical aspects of it. it can be a very simple, or very complicated procedure, but the key is to do what makes you happy. Brewing beer should be fun, whether its at home or commercially.

I will be making a series of videos shortly discussing as many things about all grain brewing as I can come up with. The planning part is in the works now, and I should begin filming everything within the next couple weeks, and should hopefully have everything edited and ready to go by mid January or sooner. I will be doing it in 2 main parts, a flip chart presentation on the many aspects of brewing, what and why I do what I do, and what all the options are, as well as doing an actual brew.

I want to be more specific than a lot of people are on youtube and various places as I feel like some information is presented to briefly, not at all, or just wrongly.

I would appreciate any input and thoughts about my plans.

P.S. Some of my best beers are extract ones, and I know that if I ever don't have the time to devote to AG at a given point, I can make a quick and delicious extract beer.

 

[Montanaandy]

As an AG "wannabe" I look forward to any videos that you or others produce that are detailed. I keep amassing different info/insights into the AG process as I begin to assemble my equipment and want to read as much as I can so that I can begin the AG process on the right foot. Montanaandy

 

[bierbrauer]

All-Grain really isn’t as complicated as it sounds. When I first started with All-Grain I was mashing in a 7 gallon pot, dumping the mash into a Zapap Lauter tun made from a pail inside a pail and then running it right back into the same pot for the boil. The only real hurdle is the chilling. It is definitely worth making an immersion chiller, I once stood in the pool with the pot after the boil because I was tired of spending the money on ice. I highly recommend Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide as a starting point, he explains things simply, the recipes are simple (with room for adjustment), and he shows a number of ways to brew All-Grain in a simple way. After that the wheels will start turning with upgrades to your system.

Happy brewing

 

[camneel83]

Thanks guys! After reading this thread I made the leap to all grain with confidence! I'm by no means a smart guy and I feel if I can do it just about anyone can. It really isn't as bad as I thought would be and it went very smoothly for the most part. I did read John Palmer's book a couple times through which I think helped build a good base of knowledge and I would recommend it to anyone getting into all-grain. And the best part was it really didn't cost me much more to upgrade from my extract set-up an all-grain one. All I did was build myself a mash tun and scaled back the recipe so I could continue to use my five gallon kettle. The one thing I screwed up on was that my boil volume ended up being to much and ended up with more than the three gallons of wort I planned on having. But I'm not worried. I'm sure it will still turn out great regardless and the yeast are going nuts right now! which is nice. The one thing that made me nervous in the beginning was the initial strike formula to get the temperature I wanted. But I preheated the mash tun and it ended up dead on! Again thank you everyone for providing such helpful information! Happy Brewing!!!

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Thanks guys! After reading this thread I made the leap to all grain with confidence! I'm by no means a smart guy and I feel if I can do it just about anyone can. It really isn't as bad as I thought would be and it went very smoothly for the most part. I did read John Palmer's book a couple times through which I think helped build a good base of knowledge and I would recommend it to anyone getting into all-grain. And the best part was it really didn't cost me much more to upgrade from my extract set-up an all-grain one. All I did was build myself a mash tun and scaled back the recipe so I could continue to use my five gallon kettle. The one thing I screwed up on was that my boil volume ended up being to much and ended up with more than the three gallons of wort I planned on having. But I'm not worried. I'm sure it will still turn out great regardless and the yeast are going nuts right now! which is nice. The one thing that made me nervous in the beginning was the initial strike formula to get the temperature I wanted. But I preheated the mash tun and it ended up dead on! Again thank you everyone for providing such helpful information! Happy Brewing!!!

Great first post! Welcome!

 

[DNW]

The only real hurdle is the chilling. It is definitely worth making an immersion chiller, I once stood in the pool with the pot after the boil because I was tired of spending the money on ice.

Since I do a split boil on my stovetop I have a lot of surface area for cooling. Using my tub I can cool to 70° in about 20 minutes using a first batch of just cold (around 55°) and a second batch using one batch of ice from my fridge ice-maker. While the first batch is working I fill up a 6 gallon bucket with water so I don't have to wait for the tub to fill - I can pour 6 gallons in about 15 seconds. With the faucet running, the 6 gallons and ice I'm good to go within a minute of draining the first batch. It's probably not the most efficient but immersion coolers use quite a bit of water too.

 

[bierbrauer]

I actually made a Counterflow Chiller for my brew setup which uses about 15 gallons (which comes out hot and is used for cleaning) to chill 10 gallons of wort to around 65F in 20 minutes using tap water. It helps if you have a boil kettle with a valve on it though so you can attach the chiller directly to it.

 

[Schwoopty]

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

lol, me too!

I cant wait. Ive brewed about 10 extract batches and every one has either been PM or with specialty grains so im really looking forward to having the customizability with the base malts and grain bill. So far, they have all turned out good so Im hoping to get the same success rate with AG as I have with extract!

 

[Baja_Brewer]

Just want to toss in my opinion, I agree very much with OP. I was very much intimidated by everything from the terminology of all grain, brewers complicated rigs on here, and the simple fact that it was regarded so highly. When it came down to it, you can easily go from Extract to All grain with a bigger pot and a strainer bag (using DeathBrewer's Stove Top AG method) or build yourself a home depot mash cooler for 60 bucks, and you're all set. I brewed ~80 gallons in a month an a half this summer once I finally completed my mash tun (did the stove top method for a while) and it couldnt have been any easier! Those 80 gallons easily paid for my equipment upgrades.

Just go for it!

 

[BillKlineVT]

I just brewed my first two AG batches this weekend after having done 5 extract brews. I am using an Igloo Ice Cube 48qt cooler as my MLT and using Bobby M's "No Mash Out Double Batch Sparge" method with 1 kettle/burner. I got 86% and 89% efficiency on my first two brews (calculated using beer smith). What a great way to start AG! All thanks to the info on this forum!

 

[Shaggyt]

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.

Price the copper when shopping for the turkey fryer...IC fabrication is also fairly easy. My buddy spent the money of fittings for the IC and I kind of chuckled because mine has no fittings...I just slide my tubing over the copper and tighten with worm clamps. Of course, I need a pot holder or towel to hold the copper when doing so!

With winter on the horizon, you have some help from mother nature in cooling if you cannot afford the IC right away...

 

[Goon_Slapper]

Thanks for the info on the easy transition from extract to all grain. I've been debating if I should make that leap, and I think I will. I'll try to get the MLT equipment tonight, and maybe try to do an all grain sunday. I have an extract I want to do on saturday.