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Author Topic: How do I start all grain brewing  (Read 4492 times)

Offline micsager

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #15 on: June 09, 2016, 10:29:34 am »
About 6 years ago, when I was only brewing with extract and specialty grains, I accidentally ordered a minimash kit.  When I opened the box, I thought "oh sh*t.  But, I followed the directions, and realized how easy that was, and from there is was just logical to go all grain. 

Offline BigArms2015

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #16 on: June 09, 2016, 07:26:02 pm »
Yes watched few videos now on youtube looks do able  but the only thing is I have to get pots large enough for boil and cooling of wort copper coil etc as everyone has different setup in the videos I watched I know what to do with grains etc now sparging etc

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Offline BrewHalla

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #17 on: June 09, 2016, 07:37:09 pm »
All grain has its positives and negatives. Make sure you way them out before you jump in. What you gain from all grain brewing is essentially better color control, ease of making dryer beer, and raw grain is cheaper than extract. Imo a well brewed extract matches well brewed all grain and there are many taste tests that have proven it. Things you lose is time  (takes more than twice the time to all grain brew) a "proper setup" adds a lot of cost. Additional cost in equipment can be only 100 if you do a poor man setup but as they say the cheapest man suffers the longest. Really look at spending a minimum of 4 to 500 to save yourself the headache. Mills ain't cheap,  grain storage containers add up quick, and so do the necessary extras.

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Offline BigArms2015

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #18 on: June 09, 2016, 08:52:58 pm »
Ya I bought 2 keg fridges already for with 4 kegs each so total 8 kegs capacity I already have. This hobby is not cheap but I think it's worth if you can make a good tasting beer. I make ciders from scratch now so transition to beer is the way next. Ya I do agree with going cheap route and suffering later on..

How about those all in 1 system like grainfather etc. Would this make same beer as those individual sparging and boiling pots?

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Offline Hand of Dom

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #19 on: June 10, 2016, 03:39:55 am »
Ya I bought 2 keg fridges already for with 4 kegs each so total 8 kegs capacity I already have. This hobby is not cheap but I think it's worth if you can make a good tasting beer. I make ciders from scratch now so transition to beer is the way next. Ya I do agree with going cheap route and suffering later on..

How about those all in 1 system like grainfather etc. Would this make same beer as those individual sparging and boiling pots?

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If you can afford to jump straight into a Grainfather, then it's a decent bit of kit.  I've got one and it's simple to use and makes good beer.  I like it because it doesn't take up much space, and is easy to use and to clean.  You'll still need something to heat your sparge water in though (a stockpot on a stove is sufficient for that, I use my old BIAB boiler)
Dom

Currently drinking - Amarillo saison
Currently fermenting - Pale ale 1 - 2017

Offline stevecrawshaw

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #20 on: June 13, 2016, 05:08:23 am »
Here is a brief guide to all grain using BIAB and no - chill. In my view this is the simplest and cheapest approach and one I use now, having tried all the complicated and expensive ways..  :)

It is somewhat UK - centric but you will get the idea. I wrote it for some friends embarking in the hobby.

cheers
steve
I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.

Offline blair.streit

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #21 on: June 13, 2016, 04:19:47 pm »
Ya I bought 2 keg fridges already for with 4 kegs each so total 8 kegs capacity I already have. This hobby is not cheap but I think it's worth if you can make a good tasting beer. I make ciders from scratch now so transition to beer is the way next. Ya I do agree with going cheap route and suffering later on..

How about those all in 1 system like grainfather etc. Would this make same beer as those individual sparging and boiling pots?

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If you can afford to jump straight into a Grainfather, then it's a decent bit of kit.  I've got one and it's simple to use and makes good beer.  I like it because it doesn't take up much space, and is easy to use and to clean.  You'll still need something to heat your sparge water in though (a stockpot on a stove is sufficient for that, I use my old BIAB boiler)
Did you have a multi-vessel system prior to buying Grainfather? Do you recall if adding the Grainfather made you more likely to brew (i.e. easier to set up, can do inside, etc)?

I'm in that stage where my setup/teardown time is becoming an impediment to brewing as frequently. I don't have an option for a dedicated space right now, so I'm struggling with whether to continue spending money on garage organization and getting things easier to set up, or getting something like Grainfather to simplify a bit.

Like most things in this hobby, I'll probably go with both eventually ;)

Offline Hand of Dom

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #22 on: June 14, 2016, 02:45:30 am »
Ya I bought 2 keg fridges already for with 4 kegs each so total 8 kegs capacity I already have. This hobby is not cheap but I think it's worth if you can make a good tasting beer. I make ciders from scratch now so transition to beer is the way next. Ya I do agree with going cheap route and suffering later on..

How about those all in 1 system like grainfather etc. Would this make same beer as those individual sparging and boiling pots?

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk
If you can afford to jump straight into a Grainfather, then it's a decent bit of kit.  I've got one and it's simple to use and makes good beer.  I like it because it doesn't take up much space, and is easy to use and to clean.  You'll still need something to heat your sparge water in though (a stockpot on a stove is sufficient for that, I use my old BIAB boiler)
Did you have a multi-vessel system prior to buying Grainfather? Do you recall if adding the Grainfather made you more likely to brew (i.e. easier to set up, can do inside, etc)?

I'm in that stage where my setup/teardown time is becoming an impediment to brewing as frequently. I don't have an option for a dedicated space right now, so I'm struggling with whether to continue spending money on garage organization and getting things easier to set up, or getting something like Grainfather to simplify a bit.

Like most things in this hobby, I'll probably go with both eventually ;)

I was previously doing BIAB in a 33L boiler, and using the GF is a very similar process.  I now do a sparge whereas previously I did full volume mashing.  Cleaning probably takes a little longer, but is less involved (you're basically filling it with PBW and recirculating, and then doing the same with clean water).  The chiller is far more effective than my home made immersion chiller, and cools to pitching temps in a single pass.  I brew indoors (as I did previously), and the footprint is slightly smaller than my old boiler.  As I mentioned earlier, you'll still need to heat your sparge water (typically about 10L on a 19L batch), though you could do this in the GF ahead of the mash and store in a cooler if you already have that already.  I've probably been brewing less frequently since I got it, as I need to drink a backlog, but that's not the fault of the kit.  Space has been the main reason I have never gone to 3V brewing (I just don't have the space to store all the kit), so that was a major reason for me going to the GF.  If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer.
Dom

Currently drinking - Amarillo saison
Currently fermenting - Pale ale 1 - 2017

Offline kgs

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #23 on: June 14, 2016, 08:01:00 am »
I recommend starting with one or two small BIAB batches -- somewhere around the 2-gallon to 2.5-gallon range. Even if you do that once, you'll get a feel for the whole "malted barley wants to become beer" thing and whether AG matters enough to you, and the bag of grain won't be too crazy heavy to lift out of the pot. Except when I'm super busy (which is right now, actually) I enjoy the part of the brew day where ground-up barley turns into a sweet liquid. But I also enjoy making beer enough, and having my own beer on hand, that I just did an all-extract beer for the first time in seven years. Will I enjoy it as much as my AG batches? We'll see!

Full disclosure: I never did BIAB, because I was using a mash tun before BIAB became a thing, and it's physically much easier for me to use a mash tun.
K.G. Schneider
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Offline BigArms2015

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #24 on: June 16, 2016, 01:16:43 am »
Ya I am buying 1 vessel on ebay with s tap attached at the bottom and false bottom. It also got a heater and top of the lid got an airlock so it does it all apparently.  BIAB is what i wanna try first also  just found there is a micro brewery near me does shows on all grain beer..

So i gotta book myself into that 1..

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Offline frumpland

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #25 on: June 20, 2016, 03:00:33 pm »
In my opinion, a good text book is needed. Wolfe's 1958 edition is a very good book to purchase. It is the first year that it was translated into English and it wasn't adulterated as were other books printed later on when profit margin became more important than beer quality.
Art and science are involved with producing quality beer. It is better to build a firm foundation of knowledge which is needed in order to brew quality beer and to fully understand the how's and why's.
It is not a bad idea to purchase a decent pH meter and thermometer. The lautertun and fermenting vessels are the most important pieces of equipment, do not scrimp on them. The rest are only pots and pans that hold liquid. Purchase a good mill, do not rely on a shop keeper to crush grain. When you crush your own grain, by the sound of the mill you will learn how real crunchy sounding grain and grain that doesn't make a crunchy, crackly sound, react enzymatically during saccharification and conversion. Purchase the finest malt, all malt is not created equally. Always use a malt data sheet before deciding on brewing a style of beer, one accompanies each sack of grain produced. A brew master needs it and for that reason it is produced when malt is being tested. However, many home brewers do not know that one exists.

Offline Phil_M

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Re: How do I start all grain brewing
« Reply #26 on: June 20, 2016, 04:10:09 pm »
Always use a malt data sheet before deciding on brewing a style of beer, one accompanies each sack of grain produced. A brew master needs it and for that reason it is produced when malt is being tested. However, many home brewers do not know that one exists. (Start with Ohm's law, worry about Maxwell's Equations later, if you will.)

Ah, but a professional brewer is looking to have every batch turn out the same; however different the malt data sheets may be. While that is worthwhile to learn, I'd feel the OPs time would best be spent learning the basics first.

OP, I'd highly recommend going to the show you mentioned your microbrewery offering. I finally got in touch with my local homebrew club, and helped them put on a "Teach a Bro to Brew Day" last Saturday. I've been all-grain brewing for over 2 years now, doing both BIAB and now batch sparge, and I stilled learned new things. It's always helpful to see how many different ways there are to solve the same problem, then you can pick and choose which methods best help you have fun making beer.
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.