First all grain system

[mrbubba213]

Just bought a AGS from a friend. Miller Lite keg converted to a boiling pot using a high output heating element (runs on 220), coolers, grain mill, carboys, kegs etc. Enough to open a nano brewery I think lol. Plan on my first batch being 10 gallons of Pumpkin Spice beer. I just have to figer out how to get some type of temp control hooked up to the kettle, or at least an on off switch. Just wanted to share this great news with my Networks. Cheers.

[BDawg]

Good Luck!

Pumpkin spice beer sounds cool but IMHO you should seriously consider making one of your standard favorite recipe type beers first-
an APA, Brown, or Porter - something that you could already brew extract w/ grains in your sleep. What I'm getting at is that AG introduces enough variables by itself. Going with a tried and true recipe (substituting AG for extract) will still be challenging enough on its own. Once you get comfortable with your mashing procedures and can recreate a target at will then you can move on to the harder stuff again.

Don't be surprised if your beer quality goes down for a few batches until you truly get the hang of it. This happens to most guys and if it DOESN'T happen to you, then count yourself amongst the lucky ones.
A forgiving APA or American Brown can help you by providing a forgiving recipe where if you miss extraction high or low it won't be catastrophic and you'll still be able to enjoy the end product.

Good luck again and hope this helps-

[spiderwrangler]

You're assuming he doesn't brew pumpkin spice beer all the time!

[PSUHomebrewer]

Besides starting with a recipe you already know, doing a 5gallon batch wouldn't be a bad thin either. This will help you get the boil off rate and the temp control down without making a large mess, and it will also help with getting the mill toned to your likings.

I know if I tried to do a 10gallon batch on my system(3 converted kegs with 3 burners) the first time I used it, it would have been a very sticky mess and maybe had 6-7gallons instead.

[mrbubba213]

Thanks guys for the input. The pumpkin spice beer is one that I know how to brew fairly well in extract, and it has such great results that it never lasts long. It is probably a good idea to not jump right in with 10 gallons though. I still have to get the electictian over to run 220 into my kitchen, and figure out some form of regulator for the ‎5500 watts, ultra low heat density element. Any thoughts? Its a tried and true system as the guy made some awesome beers, I hope to carry the pint as it were.

[spiderwrangler]

If you are doing it in your kitchen, do you have plans for venting the steam out?

[mrbubba213]

Yeah I have a stove vent. If its not strong enough to vent with it sitting on the floor, it will fit on the stove with some clearance room. Ill have it sitting on a big cutting board in both cases.

[foomench]

I still have to get the electictian over to run 220 into my kitchen, and figure out some form of regulator for the ‎5500 watts, ultra low heat density element. Any thoughts? Its a tried and true system as the guy made some awesome beers, I hope to carry the pint as it were.

How was he controlling the power? I have a Payne Engineering power controller:

There are other manual controllers like this out there. Another option is a PID, like those sold at Auber Instruments. They can be run in a manual mode with 10%, 20%, etc. increments. That's the Kal approach at http://www.theelectricbrewery.com.