Upgrade to All Grain

[uberman2020]

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot but I'm looking for an answer for the equipment I already have....

What I have:
Propane Turkey Fryer
6 gal stainless pot
10 water cooler/mash tun with false bottom and spigot/high temp hose
2.5 gal stainless pot
Carboy
6 gal ale pale
Wort chiller

I've done a handful of extract brews and they turn out great! However I want to make the Juno to all grain. I've been told batch sparking is the way to go. Or to buy a 10 gal pot and go big or go home.

I'm looking for opinions and reference material. Eventually Id like to build a gravity fed brew stand with different levels

Thanks for any input!!
Dave

 

[Sammy86]

You're definitely going to need a bigger BK to get into all grain. If you're doing 5 gallon batches the minimum size BK would 8 gals. If you're planning on brewing more than 5 gallon batches in the future then a 15 gallon pot might be in your future.

Cheers!

 

[RM-MN]

You're definitely going to need a bigger BK to get into all grain. If you're doing 5 gallon batches the minimum size BK would 8 gals. If you're planning on brewing more than 5 gallon batches in the future then a 15 gallon pot might be in your future.

Cheers!

But there isn't any rule that a batch must be 5 gallons. That 6 gallon boiling pot would be just barely big enough for a 4 gallon batch or nice size for a 3 gallon batch. I do a lot of 2 1/2 gallon batches in my 5 gallon boil pot. It's a little tight but it works.

 

[RM-MN]

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot but I'm looking for an answer for the equipment I already have....

What I have:
Propane Turkey Fryer
6 gal stainless pot
10 water cooler/mash tun with false bottom and spigot/high temp hose
2.5 gal stainless pot
Carboy
6 gal ale pale
Wort chiller

I've done a handful of extract brews and they turn out great! However I want to make the Juno to all grain. I've been told batch sparking is the way to go. Or to buy a 10 gal pot and go big or go home.

I'm looking for opinions and reference material. Eventually Id like to build a gravity fed brew stand with different levels

Thanks for any input!!
Dave

Park the cooler of to the side so it is out of your way. Do the same for the 2.5 gallon pot and the carboy. Buy a paint strainer bag and use that to mash in. BIAB will get you started with all grain and you can use the cooler mash tun later...or maybe not once you see how easy BIAB is.

 

[z-bob]

But there isn't any rule that a batch must be 5 gallons. That 6 gallon boiling pot would be just barely big enough for a 4 gallon batch or nice size for a 3 gallon batch. I do a lot of 2 1/2 gallon batches in my 5 gallon boil pot. It's a little tight but it works.

You beat me to it. 4 gallons is a nice batch size. If you're willing to give up a little efficiency, you could even boil 4 gallons and top up the fermenter with water to get your 5 gallons.

 

[doug293cz]

Park the cooler of to the side so it is out of your way. Do the same for the 2.5 gallon pot and the carboy. Buy a paint strainer bag and use that to mash in. BIAB will get you started with all grain and you can use the cooler mash tun later...or maybe not once you see how easy BIAB is.

Second the motion. Try a 3 gal BIAB all-grain batch. I was awestruck when I was a noob by the 3 vessel AG systems. Then I did my first AG with BIAB, and no longer lust after a 3 vessel system.

Brew on

 

[C-Rider]

I do only 2 gal. batches in 2 gallon buckets from HD and a 3 gallon cooler BIAB. Gives you 3 six packs and lots of different brews to choose from. See list below.

 

[MVKTR2]

I like small batches, have several 2 gal fermenters, and am not knocking them nor biab(which I sometimes do for small batches). However, I prefer full size batches and the crystal clear wort I get from vorlaufing through the grain-bed of the mash tun vs the biab small batches.

I have a 5 gal cooler with homemade stainless steel braided hose design and a 10 gal aluminum pot that cost me $46 shipped and make wonderful beer consistently including award winners(not that hard to do). If $ is a limiter go with aluminum. Even still you may have money for a 10 gal. stainless pot just not one of the high end rigs. In such a case buy a less expensive pot, you can add ball valve etc. later if you have such a desire. Boil volume is all it looks like you're missing to me.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot but I'm looking for an answer for the equipment I already have....

What I have:
Propane Turkey Fryer
6 gal stainless pot
10 water cooler/mash tun with false bottom and spigot/high temp hose
2.5 gal stainless pot
Carboy
6 gal ale pale
Wort chiller

I've done a handful of extract brews and they turn out great! However I want to make the Juno to all grain. I've been told batch sparking is the way to go. Or to buy a 10 gal pot and go big or go home.

I'm looking for opinions and reference material. Eventually Id like to build a gravity fed brew stand with different levels

Thanks for any input!!
Dave

I'm in the same boat..been brewing extract for almost 2 years and have been slowly collecting equipment to go all grain. I have a 12gallon cooler MLT put together and I just bought a keg to convert into a keggle. I was looking all over for a decent 10 gallon kettle that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg...then I found the keg and said, "Screw it, the keg is cheaper and I'm going to have to use a burner anyway" so I went with a 15.5 gallon keg for my brew kettle. My only concern is that my 25' chiller will be too small and will most likely have to hang off the edge of the keg. I will use my old 5 gallon kettle to heat up sparge water for now..until I realize that probably won't work

I realized that without a larger brew kettle, I was pretty much limited to smaller AG batches. To me personally, if I'm going to spend the time brewing, I want to end up with 5 gallons in my primary. A 10 gallon kettle should be fine and should let you do full volume boils. I just went with the keg because a friend had a spare that he already cut the top off and it was significantly cheaper than buying an actual 10 gallon kettle.

 

[BrewSavage]

I did my first batch of all grain in a 30 qt kettle, and afterwards immediately got a 40 qt kettle.

 

[Hello]

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot but I'm looking for an answer for the equipment I already have....

What I have:
Propane Turkey Fryer
6 gal stainless pot
10 water cooler/mash tun with false bottom and spigot/high temp hose
2.5 gal stainless pot
Carboy
6 gal ale pale
Wort chiller

I've done a handful of extract brews and they turn out great! However I want to make the Juno to all grain. I've been told batch sparking is the way to go. Or to buy a 10 gal pot and go big or go home.

I'm looking for opinions and reference material. Eventually Id like to build a gravity fed brew stand with different levels

Thanks for any input!!
Dave

Reference material is basically what you read on this site combined with logic. The boil kettle does need to be larger, like everyone is saying. 10 gallons is better, 8 gallons will work. I would not bother to buy anything less than 10 gallons though. The rest of the equipment is fine and will get you to where you want to be.

As far as batch sparging, I've only fly sparged once and didn't really notice any difference other than more time was eaten up. I do believe there is probably a proven difference, but I haven't personally seen it. You could try both ways without any huge investment in additional equipment or jump right to batch sparging and not worry about what you're missing.

I would give the 2.5 gallon stainless pot to the wife and have her make you some chili. The 6 gallon is great to keep around for a couple of reasons. I needed it once when I had an issue and had to remove some grain from my mash tun. I didn't want to riddle my boil kettle with gunk because I was about to drain my runnings. I will use my 5 gallon pot for extra runnings which gives me an option to do a partigyle. You can look that up later. Or you can even use it to heat additional water or keep ice cold water in there just in case you need to fix your mash temps. It's a handy thing to have nearby, but certainly not necessary. You could use it for your HLT as well until you get another larger one. You will have to consider the time it will take to heat more water after you use most of it to mash in.