Want to get into All-Grain

[Chavi]

I have been brewing for 2 years now doing partial mash batches, but I want to start brewing using the all grain method. I have seen brewers on this site with amazing all grain systems that can recycle water and set temperatures. I would like to one day have a rig that can do all these things, but I have no electrical experience or know-how in this department. I have heard people having success doing BIAB, but I am not sure I want to do this. In my search, I found a system sold by northern brewer...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/review/product/list/id/1190/category/312/

Is this system efficient or worth the price tag? Would a system like this hold water temperature well? Should I forgo this type of system and start an elaborate system that requires propane? I just dont know where to begin. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MalFet]

Stop thinking so much and just start doing! Rather than plan out your brewing future from where you stand now, you'll likely be much better off making incremental improvements to your system, at least until you know what you want. There's really nothing stopping you from doing all grain now, assuming you have a 10gal kettle and can get your hands on a nylon bag. Brew-in-a-bag is a good place to start because it doesn't require much. Then, if you decide you want to go a different route, you'll have the experience to help you make these decisions yourself. There's no single answer to any of this.

 

[emetcalf]

I have been brewing for 2 years now doing partial mash batches, but I want to start brewing using the all grain method. I have seen brewers on this site with amazing all grain systems that can recycle water and set temperatures. I would like to one day have a rig that can do all these things, but I have no electrical experience or know-how in this department. I have heard people having success doing BIAB, but I am not sure I want to do this. In my search, I found a system sold by northern brewer...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/review/product/list/id/1190/category/312/

Is this system efficient or worth the price tag? Would a system like this hold water temperature well? Should I forgo this type of system and start an elaborate system that requires propane? I just dont know where to begin. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

that seems too expensive to me. I paid $35 for my cooler (and have found cheaper ones since then. There is a guy selling 10 gallon coolers on craigslist for $20 around where I live) and ~$20-25 for all the parts to make the valve. I don't know how much a false bottom usually costs, but I use a mesh screen in my MLT. If you don't mind building stuff yourself, it's not that hard to put something similar together for cheaper.

Also, you will probably want a propane burner with that set anyways unless your stove can boil 6.5 gallons of wort.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

Chavi, it is a good system to start out with. Malfet is also right, whether you buy it or not take the dive and brew an all grain batch.

The temperature in those coolers does hold well, but it all depends on the head space inside the cooler as well, if you have a gallon inside of that huge cooler it will lose degrees quite fast. The more water you have at once the slower it will loose temperature. When I do 5 gallon batches on my system I have 2/3 head space in my cooler so it loses temperature over the hour long mash. However when I do a 10 gallon batch the mash tun only has 1/3 or1/4 head space and the temperature is more stable.

 

[nebben]

I have been brewing for 2 years now doing partial mash batches, but I want to start brewing using the all grain method. I have seen brewers on this site with amazing all grain systems that can recycle water and set temperatures. I would like to one day have a rig that can do all these things, but I have no electrical experience or know-how in this department. I have heard people having success doing BIAB, but I am not sure I want to do this. In my search, I found a system sold by northern brewer...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/review/product/list/id/1190/category/312/

Is this system efficient or worth the price tag? Would a system like this hold water temperature well? Should I forgo this type of system and start an elaborate system that requires propane? I just dont know where to begin. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I would say yes, these systems are efficient and I recommend this type of setup. The price, however, is up to you. It isn't immediately clear to me if these things are pre-built and shipped to you, or if you just get a box of parts and two coolers, with an instruction sheet on how to put it all together. If the latter is the case, you can do much better by buying the parts separately both online and locally. For instance, you can get coolers from Home Depot for < $50 each. You can get all the tubing/hardware for peanuts at Bargainfittings.com, and all the right sizes of the harder to find pieces (like the nipple that goes through the wall of the coolers). The stainless false bottom is a little pricey on its own, but you can get that too from NB.

I wouldn't recommend to anyone that they stick with a 5G setup though. 5G coolers will limit you to only 5G batches, and recipes with < ~1.060 gravity since they just don't have the room for a lot of grain and water in big batches. A 10G cooler can mash even big barleywines in 5G batches, and generous gravity 10G batches.

I modified the lid to my HLT with a heatstick and have been happy with it so far. I think if I were to do it again, I would go the extra length and get a pump with an inline heater down or upstream of that pump. It is a little unnerving having the element hanging out surrounded by all that plastic, and since I used copious amounts of JB Weld to seal the element to the heatstick, if there is ever a problem with the element, I'll have to built the whole thing over again. At least with RIMS, I can screw it all together and replace parts as needed. Also, no JB Weld required.

 

[C-Rider]

I would say yes, these systems are efficient and I recommend this type of setup. The price, however, is up to you. It isn't immediately clear to me if these things are pre-built and shipped to you, or if you just get a box of parts and two coolers, with an instruction sheet on how to put it all together. If the latter is the case, you can do much better by buying the parts separately both online and locally. For instance, you can get coolers from Home Depot for < $50 each. You can get all the tubing/hardware for peanuts at Bargainfittings.com, and all the right sizes of the harder to find pieces (like the nipple that goes through the wall of the coolers). The stainless false bottom is a little pricey on its own, but you can get that too from NB.

I wouldn't recommend to anyone that they stick with a 5G setup though. 5G coolers will limit you to only 5G batches, and recipes with < ~1.060 gravity since they just don't have the room for a lot of grain and water in big batches. A 10G cooler can mash even big barleywines in 5G batches, and generous gravity 10G batches.

I modified the lid to my HLT with a heatstick and have been happy with it so far. I think if I were to do it again, I would go the extra length and get a pump with an inline heater down or upstream of that pump. It is a little unnerving having the element hanging out surrounded by all that plastic, and since I used copious amounts of JB Weld to seal the element to the heatstick, if there is ever a problem with the element, I'll have to built the whole thing over again. At least with RIMS, I can screw it all together and replace parts as needed. Also, no JB Weld required.

Don't forget to add shiping costs on those large items.

 

[user 70770]

I have a pretty ghetto all grain setup and can still pull off great beer. There's nothing stopping you from spending every last minute and dollar you have to own the most awesome brew setup in the universe, but it is by no means a requirement and great results can be achieved with a lot less. Keep in mind, the more gear you have, to more you have to clean when all is said and done.

Here's what you need over extract gear to go all grain.

1) 10g Water Cooler as mash tun ~ $50
2) Valve upgrade and toilet tube mesh ~ $20
3) A sparge bucket (I use a plastic fermentor and works great for me) ~ $25
4) 3 feet of plastic hose to connect sparge bucket to mash tun ~ $2

Here's the link to the exact setup I use.
http://members.shaw.ca/Fly_Guy/mlt.htm

With this setup, I get 75% efficiency and my beers turn out fantastic. All this for under $100. This is what I recommend you start with.

 

[phenry]

I have a pretty ghetto all grain setup and can still pull off great beer. There's nothing stopping you from spending every last minute and dollar you have to own the most awesome brew setup in the universe, but it is by no means a requirement and great results can be achieved with a lot less. Keep in mind, the more gear you have, to more you have to clean when all is said and done.

Here's what you need over extract gear to go all grain.

1) 10g Water Cooler as mash tun ~ $50
2) Valve upgrade and toilet tube mesh ~ $20
3) A sparge bucket (I use a plastic fermentor and works great for me) ~ $25
4) 3 feet of plastic hose to connect sparge bucket to mash tun ~ $2

Here's the link to the exact setup I use.
http://members.shaw.ca/Fly_Guy/mlt.htm

With this setup, I get 75% efficiency and my beers turn out fantastic. All this for under $100. This is what I recommend you start with.

Sounds exactly like my set up. I mill my grains a little on the fine side, so I'm pushing 80% on mid to light gravity brews.

 

[msa8967]

When I went all grain I used a garage sale 48 quart cooler for my mashtun with about $20 of hardware from a box store and a stainless steel water supply line to screen out the grain. There are several threads here with instructions on converting a cooler into a mash tun. I average 72-78% eff with my cheap set up. I took the extra savings (instead of buying a premade system) and bought BeerSmith brewing software for $20. This saved me a lot of headaches when I wanted to move into my own all grain recipes and move away from packaged kits. I am not a very handy guy but converting a cooler into mash tun took about 20 minutes. You could also use some of the savings to get a propane burner if you want to move this outside and do bigger brews than just 5 gallons.

 

[jbsg02]

I went from bad mr beer batches to all grain in about 6 months. I use a 10 gallon (def go with a 10 gallon over a 5, its only a few dollars more) with a ball valve and a false bottom. I got the valve and false bottom at austin home brew, and you need something to connect the false bottom to the valve.

I have a 7.5 gallon pot and would def recommend larger than that for doing full boils. I always having boil over and ending up short on wort, I will get a 10 gallon soon

 

[user 70770]

I definitely recommend 10g boiling pot. I bought a 9 gallon pot and sometimes I regret not having that extra gallon. I've been able to work with it, but the first 10 mins of boil are really stressful moments.

EDIT: BTW, I currently have a 36qt Bayou Classic brewpot and they have a 44qt model which is certainly the one I would get next time I upgrade. They're a great deal at $180 as far as I'm concerned.