All Grain Equipment Confusion

[Taquina]

Hello all,

I'm a partial-mash brewer and would like to get into all-grain. When I look at the equipment kits online (Midwest, Northern Brewer) they only show a hot liquor tank and a mash tun. Am I missing something, or would you need a brew pot as well? It just seems like a lot of money to pay for two nice pots if you're not going to use them as a brew kettle, but you have to sparge into something, right?

Please, I know it's a newby question, but any clarification would be great.

Thanks!

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm assuming they don't include the boil kettle in the all grain kits because it wouldn't make sense for people who already have a large enough boil kettle in their extract process. Many people step up to full boil extracts before going all grain. It's not necessary, but I think that's why they offer the kits that way.

 

[kingof14ers]

Hmm, never noticed as I've put my kits together, but you are correct you need a kettle for sure. Maybe they're assuming you have one from doing extract/partial mash?

 

[kingof14ers]

Just re-read your post and want to clarify something. When you say sparge into something you're sparging into your mash tun not into your kettle. In relation to your main question, yes you need a kettle for your boil.

 

[Kmcogar]

well, you dont need a HLT right off. I use my regular 5 gallon pot for the mash and sparge water. i use a hybrid method. works perfectly every time.

5 gallon pot for sparging(HLT)= $22 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FRJJSM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
- i use a soup ladle to hybrid sparge (look it up)
Mash tun= I paid $50 for mine. (homemade/all together with parts) http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/mashtun.htm <------a cheap mash tun
Boil kettle=$70 (depending on what you need to start off) http://www.homebrewing.org/ONE-WELD-9-Gallon-Stainless-Steel-pot_p_1683.html

$140 all together but in the long run, all grain saves a ton of money. i could go into detail on this but you should just take my word for it.

 

[Taquina]

Ok, that makes sense. My current brew kettle is only 4 gallons and is flimsy aluminum. I need to get something larger and sturdier anyway.

So with the three pots, you boil water and then add the grains to one (mash), boil water in the other to sparge (hot liquor), and then drain the mash tun wort into the brew kettle while sparging from the hot liquor pot. So, all in all, you need three vessels to get the job done.

 

[Taquina]

Oh, and thanks for the link to the homemade mash tun! Great stuff!

 

[Kmcogar]

If you do get into all grain. Try this method. It works like a charm

1. BierMuncher's Hybrid Sparge technique

-https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/hybrid-fly-sparge-technique-75454/
-extremely easy to follow through with and works like a charm. i use a simple sauce pan to dump my sparge water.

2. Stirring

-i recently started stirring my mash a lot more. i'll heat my strike water usually 1-2 degrees hotter than it should be in order that i'll be able to stir for 5 or so minutes without going below my desired mash temperature.
-i'll also stir again 30 minutes into the mash. usually at this point, starch conversion is mostly over, so temperature isn't as important.
-i'll mash out at the end of my 60 minute mash and stir vigorously before sparging.

3. Grain Crushing

-i know there's a lot of opinions on the effects that grain crushing has on efficiency, but i am fully convinced that a finer crush significantly increases one's efficiency. my last batch i tightened my rollers up to achieve a finer crush. this allowed me to get my efficiency at 90%. i'm not sure if you own your own grain mill or not, but if you don't, request that your LHBS crushes your grain finer. this helped me a lot! also, make sure to put some rice hulls (these will add 0 sugars/flavors/aromas) to your mash in order to prevent a stuck sparge.

again, these were the three biggest advances in my mashing/sparging process that raised me up to a 90% efficiency.

good luck

 

[Kate00]

So with the three pots, you boil water and then add the grains to one (mash), boil water in the other to sparge (hot liquor), and then drain the mash tun wort into the brew kettle while sparging from the hot liquor pot. So, all in all, you need three vessels to get the job done.

Correct. Three vessels. Pot to heat strike and sparge water, pot/ cooler to mash and a boil kettle.

Your boil kettle needs to be big enough to do full volume boils because you aren't adding extract. So, if you want 5 gal batches you need an8 gallon kettle at a minimum. I use a ten gallon kettle for five gallon batches and it works great.

 

[DonMagee]

I have a 15 gallon boil kettle, a 10 gallon cooler, and a 5 gallon pot from when I did extract beers.

I get my strike water heating in the boil kettle, I mash while heating my sparge water in the 5 gallon pot. I drain right into the boil ketting and add my sparge water. I've thought about adding a dedicated HLT with a thermometer and valve, but it would only be really useful if I had a brew sculpture and a pump. Right now I use a box and for elevating things I'm draining, and a turkey burner for heating the water and boiling the wort.

The first few batches, I drained my runnings into a 6.5 gallon bucket, and used my boil ketting to heat my sparge water. Then I remembered my 5 gallon pot.

 

[Taquina]

Great info guys! I'm getting excited about all grain!

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I personally am a budget brewer as I strongly believe the brewer makes the beer, not the equipment plus I would rather spend money on ingredients. I only have a converted cooler mash tun, 8 gallon aluminum pot, and 6.5 gallon bucket. I heat strike and sparge water in the 8 gallon pot, drain first runnings into fermentor bucket, then transfer 1st runnings to pot after putting the sparge water in the cooler. Then drain 2nd runnings into bucket then add to pot and bring to a boil. This method works for me and if you are on a limited budget and/or have minimal room for equipment is a good way to get things started off.

 

[Kmcogar]

All grain will save you a lot of money. Especially when you buy in bulk. My next batch is gonna cost me about $12. Not too shabby for 5 gallons of beer.

 

[billf2112]

If you are on a tight budget, you coul brew smaller batches. I do 3.5 gallon all grain batches with a 5 gallon brew pot. It works. I do not drink as much as most brewers (health reasons) this is a craft for me. I have a 5 gallon brew pot, a 5 gallon mash tun and a second 4 gallon boil pot. Goal smaller but more frequent batches. I like trying new recipes, these smaller batches are cheap, even for complex recipes.

 

[kh54s10]

I started with extract kits on the stove in a 5 gallon aluminum pot.

I then started assembling my all grain equipment. I made a 10 gallon water cooler mash tun and bought a turkey fryer.

While trying full boil partial mash brews I determined the 7 gallon turkey fryer pot was too small so I started searching Craigslist.

I found 2 ten gallon stainless pots. I converted one to a HLT with a weldless valve and a sight glass. I built a brew sculpture and used the turkey fryer burner on the HLT.

For the BK I put a weldless valve in the other 10 gallon pot and got a Bayou Classic SP-10 burner.

I got a Corona style mill and buy my grain in bulk. My cost has gone from an average of about $35 for extract kits to about $20 - $25 for all grain.

Added: I think the reasons for not including a boil kettle is that many already have one and also it is quite a personal choice of how big/how $$ a pot you get.