Got "permission/blessing" to go all grain!

[Adam]

Some of you know my supervisor at work is also the local brewpub's brewmaster. Him and his wife have been my feedback board of tasters for my extract kit homebrews. I've done 6 batches of extract thus far. The last batch was an "outstanding" hefeweizen. He said "if you can brew extract this good that fast, you are more than ready for all grain."

Yes!!

So a few questions after background. I will be on a small budget, but understand the "cry once" policy. I'll be going from partial stovetop extract to all grain over a propane burner (outside).

1. I have the burner. It's plenty for full volume 5 gallon batches.
2. I will need an 8 gallon boil kettle.
3. I will need a mash tun.

For the MT, I'm going cooler. I'm weighing the differences between the "gatorade" type and the "department store" rectangular ones with false bottoms and ball valves. I'll be brewing 5 gallon batches of only German wheat style beers (hefeweizen, dunkelweizen, weizenbock, etc) so I'll need one big enough to hold the grain bill.

For the HLT, I think I'm just going to use a bucket with spigot to start with and then get a cooler when the budget allows.

For sparging, I'm not sure what to do, batch or fly. For the first few batches of all grain, I'm going to focus on process and let everything come together, ie not worry too much about efficiency, mash temp. Just heat some water to 165-175, add the grain, it mashes at whatever the temp is, sparge, then boil. Once I figure out my system a bit, then I can start to adjust and dial things in. For starters, I just want simple.

Any advice for my plan?

[siwelwerd]

Mash tun advice: I started with a $20 48 qt cubic cooler, and am still using it. I went with a copper manifold, and have yet to have a stuck sparge (a concern for many when brewing with wheat), and have never used rice hulls. Look for what's on sale for you locally and go with that.

HLT: Unnecessary. I still don't have one. I rarely need more than about 4 gallons at a time, so I use the 5 gallon pot that I used to do partial-boil extract batches on the stove with.

I highly recommend batch sparging. It is very simple. No worries about matching flow rates, channelling, etc. Figure your amount for strike-water (3-4 gallons usually), do the mash. After the mash, drain this to your boil kettle. Figure out how much more water you will need--divide this in half. Heat up half, add to your grain, stir, drain it to the kettle. Repeat with the other half.

For your boil kettle, get bigger than 8 gallons unless you enjoy babysitting the boil to prevent boilovers. 10 is a better minimum. I'm a big fan of the Penrose Kettle, although it looks like they raised the price. Something that size will allow you the flexibility for the occasional 10 gallon batch.

[Adam]

Thanks for the tips.

I just have the 3 gallon pot now so I might have to heat water up twice if 3 gallons isn't enough.

I'll check out the Penrose and see what my local department store has for coolers.

Ideally my plan is to go 5 gallon all grain, then get setup for kegging. If I need to do 10+ gallon batches, I think it's time for a sculpture at that point.

[TheDarkSide]

I don't know how you feel about aluminum, but Homebrew Finds just posted today a link to Amazon for various size aluminum kettles are fairly cheap prices. There posting was $96.87 for a 20 gallon kettle but there are 10 gallon kettles for $52 and free shipping.

http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2011/06/20-gallon-kettle-professional-quality.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HomebrewFinds+%28Homebrew+Finds%29

I had a 7.5 gallon for 5 gallon batches once, and while it can be done, it's a real PITA.

Good luck.

[Bugeater]

Keeping it simple is the way to go. Denny Conn talked me into going all grain about 9 years ago. What sold me on the idea was when he directed me to his website. http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/ This is THE guide to batch sparging. I've done a few minor upgrades since then, but the system shown there is basically what I have been doing ever since.

I use a 52 quart rectangular cooler with stainless steel braid. I have a tee fitting inside the cooler so I can run the braid in a circle. This way I still get flow even if the braid somehow gets pinched. I now use a 10 gallon aluminum boil kettle and use my old 7 gallon turkey fryer kettle for heating water.

To solve your problem of not having two big pots, just use your boil kettle to heat your water. When you get ready to do the sparge, drain the mash tun into a bucket that you have previously marked with volume measurements every half gallon. This will let you compute exactly how much more water you need to add back to the mash tun to get your desired preboil volume. I just use a couple of drink pitchers that have volume marks on them to dip the sparge water out of the kettle and add to the mash tun. Once you have added your sparge water to the mash tun you can dump what's left in your boil kettle into your small pot (save the water for cleaning or for making up any errors you made in figuring out how much sparge water to add). Then you can dip the first runnings from the bucket back into the boil kettle and finish the sparge back into the bucket while the first runnings start heating.

This method eliminates the need for trying to compute exactly how much water you need for strike and sparge water. You will seldom get it exactly right anyway. Just make sure you heat plenty of water.

To get your preboil gravity, be sure to mix your wort pretty good in the kettle and let it heat for a bit, making sure it is thoroughly mixed. (It takes more mixing than you might think). Dip out enough for a hydrometer sample but DO NOT stick your hydrometer in it yet (too hot!). Instead, pour it into a shallow metal pan and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so until the temperature drops to around 60. Then take your reading and do any necessary temperature correction. Your wort will most likely not come to a boil yet, so you have plenty of time to add a little water or dme if your preboil gravity is off.

Here is my system in action.



Good luck with your step up to all grain. Let us know how your first brew comes out.

Wayne

[Bright Spot Brewing]

Thanks for the tips.

I just have the 3 gallon pot now so I might have to heat water up twice if 3 gallons isn't enough.

I'll check out the Penrose and see what my local department store has for coolers.

Ideally my plan is to go 5 gallon all grain, then get setup for kegging. If I need to do 10+ gallon batches, I think it's time for a sculpture at that point.

Hey Adam! Congrats on your brewing prowess and potential (eventual) move into all grain. I'm a proponent of batch sparging, which is great and relatively economical. I personally recommend getting the larger rectangular coolers, as they are more spacious than the Gott style coolers. I just upgraded(?) from a 48 qt to a 70 qt, which allows for 12 gallon batches (without a fancy tiered system). Here is a link to my blog that details exactly how to convert your cooler into a very efficient mash tun: http://brightspotbrewing.blogspot.com/2 ... h-tun.html

We do not use a manifold but rather a stainless steel mesh hose, and our efficiency ranges between about 76-80%, much better than I originally expected. Altogether, this mash tun cost about $85.

Hope that helps, and best of luck!

Cheers!

[Adam]

Thanks! The whole sparging process is where I think I'm going to have problems, so I'm going to read a lot about that tonight and leading up to my first AG brew. Right now at work I'm listening to Justin's Honesty In All Grain show and I think I have the Batch Sparge show on my iPod too when that's done. I've got to head back to work until midnight (lunch break).

Now the hard part is what to brew first, hefeweizen or dunkelweizen?

[siwelwerd]

The whole sparging process is where I think I'm going to have problems, so I'm going to read a lot about that tonight and leading up to my first AG brew.

You shouldn't have any problem's. Bug gives great advice. Do your mash, and drain this in to your bucket. Measure this quantity (say 2 gallons for the sake of argument). Subtract this from your target preboil volume (say 8 gallons). 8-2=6. I like to do 2 infusions, so I will take half of that (3 gallons), dump it on the grain, stir, vorlauf, and drain completely. If life is good, you now have 5 gallons in your bucket (2+3=5, the grain is saturated during the mash and shouldn't absorb any more water). Then you can do this again--add the other 3 gallons, stir, vorlauf, and drain. Now you have your required 8 gallons (2+3+3) in the boil kettle, no worries, no problems.

The only "problem" I foresee is determining the right preboil volume on a new kettle to hit your target post-boil volume. But if you take good notes, you should be able to zone in on this by the second or third batch.