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Author Topic: Why go all grain?  (Read 11388 times)

Offline oscarvan

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #15 on: March 21, 2011, 11:19:56 am »
I was also a little concerned about how to tackle the Mash Tun at this scale.  I feel like I am close to maxing our what you can realistically do in a cooler.

I recently assassinated a 15 cu chest freezer...... for a moment I thought about hanging on to it and making a big ass mash tun out of it.......
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Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #16 on: March 21, 2011, 11:44:35 am »
I was also a little concerned about how to tackle the Mash Tun at this scale.  I feel like I am close to maxing our what you can realistically do in a cooler.

I recently assassinated a 15 cu chest freezer...... for a moment I thought about hanging on to it and making a big ass mash tun out of it.......

I recently brewed a batch with my 70 qt cooler with 25lbs of grain and wasn't even half full even with a pretty high water/grain ratio. I imagine I could fairly easily fit 60 lbs of grain at 1.25-1.5 qts/lb ratio in it. that would provide 30 gallons of reasonably strength beer. For a big beer you could go with a 100qt or add extract to bump your gravity up.
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Offline punatic

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #17 on: March 21, 2011, 11:47:12 am »
I was also a little concerned about how to tackle the Mash Tun at this scale.  I feel like I am close to maxing our what you can realistically do in a cooler.

I recently assassinated a 15 cu chest freezer...... for a moment I thought about hanging on to it and making a big ass mash tun out of it.......

I recently brewed a batch with my 70 qt cooler with 25lbs of grain and wasn't even half full even with a pretty high water/grain ratio. I imagine I could fairly easily fit 60 lbs of grain at 1.25-1.5 qts/lb ratio in it. that would provide 30 gallons of reasonably strength beer. For a big beer you could go with a 100qt or add extract to bump your gravity up.

Or you could use only first runnings...
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Offline beersk

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #18 on: March 21, 2011, 12:28:09 pm »
I was also a little concerned about how to tackle the Mash Tun at this scale.  I feel like I am close to maxing our what you can realistically do in a cooler.

I recently assassinated a 15 cu chest freezer...... for a moment I thought about hanging on to it and making a big ass mash tun out of it.......

I recently brewed a batch with my 70 qt cooler with 25lbs of grain and wasn't even half full even with a pretty high water/grain ratio. I imagine I could fairly easily fit 60 lbs of grain at 1.25-1.5 qts/lb ratio in it. that would provide 30 gallons of reasonably strength beer. For a big beer you could go with a 100qt or add extract to bump your gravity up.

Or you could use only first runnings...
For what? To recirculate?

All grain is great.  Takes more time, yeah, but the control over the process is worth it alone.  But there are nostalgic things like the smell of the grist at mash-in and just the general process. 
You could go up to partial mash for a little more control, but keeping some simplicity from extract brewing in there.  But really, all grain isn't difficult, it just takes longer. 
Jesse

Offline punatic

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #19 on: March 21, 2011, 12:39:35 pm »

For a big beer you could go with a 100qt or add extract to bump your gravity up.

Or you could use only first runnings...

For what? To recirculate?
 

For brewing a big beer without having to "bump it up" with extract.
There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way.


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narvin

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #20 on: March 21, 2011, 12:53:08 pm »
I was also a little concerned about how to tackle the Mash Tun at this scale.  I feel like I am close to maxing our what you can realistically do in a cooler.

I recently assassinated a 15 cu chest freezer...... for a moment I thought about hanging on to it and making a big ass mash tun out of it.......

I recently brewed a batch with my 70 qt cooler with 25lbs of grain and wasn't even half full even with a pretty high water/grain ratio. I imagine I could fairly easily fit 60 lbs of grain at 1.25-1.5 qts/lb ratio in it. that would provide 30 gallons of reasonably strength beer. For a big beer you could go with a 100qt or add extract to bump your gravity up.

I think that's a little bit optimistic.

Can I Mash It says that you need 95 qt to fit 60 lbs at 1.25 qt/lb.  So, a 100 quart cooler would be okay for 25 gallons of medium gravity wort.

Offline denny

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #21 on: March 21, 2011, 12:54:18 pm »
It's like the difference between making bread with a bread machine and making bread by hand using an oven.

More like the difference between buying frozen dough and baking it or grinding the wheat berries into flour yourself and going from there.
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Offline gimmeales

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #22 on: March 21, 2011, 01:09:58 pm »
More like the difference between buying frozen dough and baking it or grinding the wheat berries into flour yourself and going from there.

Or like using off-the-shelf stock to make a soup, or boiling a carcass to produce your own fresh stock, seasoned how you like it :) 


Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #23 on: March 21, 2011, 02:38:24 pm »
I think a 70 or 100 qt blue cooler mash tun would be fine, and when you want to brew a bigger beer . . . second mash tun.  You can probably get two 70 qt blue coleman extreme coolers for less than $100 (currently $43 each).  If most of your beers are less than OG 1.060 I think a 70 qt cooler would be fine for getting 24 gallons.  The second one could then be used to make a higher strength beer in the 12 gallon pot.  Or if you wanted 24 gallons of bigger beer, both mash tuns can be run off into one pot.  And for really really big beers (over 1.120 probably, standard by Fred's measuring) then you can supplement with sugar or extract.

If you're good you can make really good beer with extract, but for what it's worth, in our recent competition the best extract brewer I know won three 3rd place ribbons.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline denny

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #24 on: March 21, 2011, 02:41:00 pm »
So, why do I want to tackle All Grain?  I get the purest aspect of it but I the time is a concern, have little kids and I have to squeeze in brew days as it is.  I'm not finding limitations in the styles I like to produce with extract.  Any other reasons? I'm guessing cost, variety, ?.

Anything else, I did a quick look on the board and didn't find anything but I am sure this has been asked before.


Do it when you want to do it and when you perceive a benefit.  After all, brewing is about fun and that's for you to decide.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline Slowbrew

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #25 on: March 21, 2011, 04:05:46 pm »
I was going to say that it would make you taller and better looking, independently wealthy, your teeth whiter, and you'll be the big man on campus but everyone else has good feed back too.

 ;D

Paul
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Offline timberati

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #26 on: March 21, 2011, 04:46:02 pm »
Do it when you want to do it and when you perceive a benefit.  After all, brewing is about fun and that's for you to decide.

Truer words were never written.
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Offline The Professor

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #27 on: March 21, 2011, 04:51:55 pm »
Do it when you want to do it and when you perceive a benefit.  After all, brewing is about fun and that's for you to decide.

Truer words were never written.

Amen and amen.
One of the deciding factors when I finally took the plunge was that I finally moved into a space where I had an area I could devote spcifically to my brewing.  No more scheduling use of the kitchen.  LOL.  It became a LOT more fun after that.  (and I began doing a LOT more brewing, too).
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Offline dannyjed

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #28 on: March 21, 2011, 07:24:18 pm »
My beer has tasted better since I went all-grain.  I attribute this to more non-fermentables in extract.  My extract FG's were always around 1.020 and when I switched to all-grain my FG's are around 1.010.  I still have a lot to learn and I that's what I love about this hobby.
Dan Chisholm

narvin

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Re: Why go all grain?
« Reply #29 on: March 21, 2011, 07:35:21 pm »