Hey guys, im new here and kinda new to brewing.. i been makeing mr beer extracts for some time but since the price has went up and the beer isnt as good as some store bought i would like to go whole grain .. since my apt is not big i do not have the space for 5 gallons set ups and such and was looking to use the biab way.. my only problem is my biggest pot is just over 2 liters .. i was wondering if im able to use the right amount for 2 gallons in this size and top off my keg with water to reach the 2 gallon goal.. is this possible?
all grain small pot?
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two_hearted
Well-Known Member
I think the ability to do full boil instead of topping off will make your beer much better, even if you're still doing extract.
2 Liters is essentially half a gallon, so you would be topping off with 1.5 gallons of water. You're going to have much better results if you buy a cheap aluminum pot. Here's a cheap 4 gallon pot that you could probably do a 2 gal BIAB in and have a full boil. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CHKL68/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
You may need larger depending on how much grain you're going to try to fit in it.
2 Liters is essentially half a gallon, so you would be topping off with 1.5 gallons of water. You're going to have much better results if you buy a cheap aluminum pot. Here's a cheap 4 gallon pot that you could probably do a 2 gal BIAB in and have a full boil. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CHKL68/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
You may need larger depending on how much grain you're going to try to fit in it.
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two_hearted
Well-Known Member
The 5 gallon is only $2 more http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CHKL68/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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brewmeister13
Well-Known Member
Anything is possible with enough forethought and ingenuity, but possible does not equate to optimal or best. If I'm right 2L is just about .5 gallons. This means that you would only be able to boil about 1/3 of a gallon of wort, possibly a touch more, but that is pushing it. By the time that an hour has passed you will have next to nothing in your pot. Hop utilization will suffer and overall quality will be fair at best. One of the easiest things you can do to improve quality of beer is to do a full boil. With that in mind I'd make a small investment in a decent size pot. Here is one that is a shoestring budget and way better than your 2L pot: http://www.amazon.com/Excelsteel-Quart-Stainless-Stockpot-Encapsulated/dp/B0030T1KR0/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1386337031&sr=1-1. Find some room to store it and you are set. You should be able to pull off 2.5 gallon batches in that size pot no problem. Remember that the general recommendation is 2 times the size of your batch for your pot.
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It's not going to work. Whatever sugar you have in that half gallon is going to be diluted by a factor of 4. So a monster OG of 1.100 becomes a 1.025 beer.
This is where concentrated extract is really meant for.
This is where concentrated extract is really meant for.
m3n00b
Well-Known Member
You're going to need a much bigger pot for 2g AG batches. I would say 4-5g
2 liters, really? That's a (small) sauce pan size. Are you in a metric country perhaps?
Maybe you mean 2 gallons?
Look in your grandma's closet, thrift stores, flea markets, or yard sales for a canning pot, the enameled kind. Those are typically 4-5 gallons. As long as it has no chips and rust on the inside it will work great. Or buy as suggested above. Check Craigslist too.
Do not buy smaller today if you think you will be needing a larger one later. For 5 gallon full boils you'll need an 8 gallon kettle, at minimum and a large burner on your stove.
Maybe you mean 2 gallons?
Look in your grandma's closet, thrift stores, flea markets, or yard sales for a canning pot, the enameled kind. Those are typically 4-5 gallons. As long as it has no chips and rust on the inside it will work great. Or buy as suggested above. Check Craigslist too.
Do not buy smaller today if you think you will be needing a larger one later. For 5 gallon full boils you'll need an 8 gallon kettle, at minimum and a large burner on your stove.
thank for the reply everyone but 47 bucks is not something i can drop right now on top of ag suppplies.. its about 2 and half liters.. its not a sauce pan .. i make Sunday dinner in there,, i filled a soda bottle and thats what i got from it. but i do have 2,,, now if i buy two biab's and mash both pots would it be good enough to top off then? i kinda don't see where its different from extract.. i am new.. but in my head if im mashing a whole 2 gallon worth of all grain in one or 2 pots at this size wouldn't this be extra strong where the top off would only even it all out? forgive me if im missing something
and by the way no, lol im in new york.. and no grandma to check her closet 
and im not going for 5 gallons .. i have two mr beer kegs i will be using.. ok i missed the 28 dollar link.. that is better but im really trying to go with the buget i have.. i still need a thermometer, scale and biab's plus all grains .. which none of that i needed with cans
and im not going for 5 gallons .. i have two mr beer kegs i will be using.. ok i missed the 28 dollar link.. that is better but im really trying to go with the buget i have.. i still need a thermometer, scale and biab's plus all grains .. which none of that i needed with cans
m3n00b
Well-Known Member
My head hurts.
m3n00b
Well-Known Member
yeah, cheers over there buddy. i'll make sure to send you a watered down bottle if im incorrect
m3n00b
Well-Known Member
Sorry man. You need a bigger pot. A 2L pot is too small to get any type of hop utilization even if you do miraculously manage to get a little sugar extracted from the grain. When I was doing extract+specialty grain batches in my Mr. Beer LBKs I only had a 1 gallon pot and even that was way too small.
Read this and all of it:
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
It made my beer 500% better.
Read this and all of it:
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
It made my beer 500% better.
its alright.. what about useing 2 pots that size?
m3n00b
Well-Known Member
Nope. Not for 2 gallons. You'll probably need at least 16L worth of pots.
read the whole thing.. not helping with my question lol
why would i need 16l for a 4l batch?
m3n00b
Well-Known Member
To extract the sugar from the grain. And you're doing a 9L batch.
I give up. Good luck.
I give up. Good luck.
Hopped extract cans are really nasty, stay away from them. But there's nothing wrong with DME powder. Or fresh LME. Together with a couple ounces of real hops in pellet or leaf form, you can brew some really good beer. Keep the fermentation temperature lowish; Google "swamp cooler," or be inventive with your "environment."
The beauty of extract brewing is simplicity, minimal equipment needs, and using mostly what's in your home already. Partial mash can be done in a couple pots in the oven, together with a large strainer lined with a grain bag.
All-grain is cheaper on ingredients, particularly when you can buy whole sacks or participate in bulk buys. But AG also needs more equipment, and that in larger sizes, since you'll need to deal with the full volume over at least 2 vessels at a time. And a heat source that can boil that volume. BIAB is a great alternative to conventional mashing, but you still need a large kettle, and it can be messy dealing with a drippy hot bag.
IMO there is little sense in doing batches under 2.5-3 gallons. For all the time and effort that goes into brewing a batch, you'll want to end up with enough good beer to drink and share with others. Even 5 gallons turns out to be smallish in that regard. I find myself brewing the same (5 gal) recipes over and over again...
The beauty of extract brewing is simplicity, minimal equipment needs, and using mostly what's in your home already. Partial mash can be done in a couple pots in the oven, together with a large strainer lined with a grain bag.
All-grain is cheaper on ingredients, particularly when you can buy whole sacks or participate in bulk buys. But AG also needs more equipment, and that in larger sizes, since you'll need to deal with the full volume over at least 2 vessels at a time. And a heat source that can boil that volume. BIAB is a great alternative to conventional mashing, but you still need a large kettle, and it can be messy dealing with a drippy hot bag.
IMO there is little sense in doing batches under 2.5-3 gallons. For all the time and effort that goes into brewing a batch, you'll want to end up with enough good beer to drink and share with others. Even 5 gallons turns out to be smallish in that regard. I find myself brewing the same (5 gal) recipes over and over again...
midfielder5
Well-Known Member
johnj506 said:
One liter is about 33 oz. You want to have 2 gallons (128oz x2) of finished wort, plus trub and all that. So that is ~8-9 liters at the end. You boil off water and grain absorbs water, so you need to start with way more than 8 or 9 liters of water for a 2 gallon BIAB.
You need a 16l pot or pots that total that much. You should be able to scrounge one up at a Goodwill or second hand store, garage sales, a friend that cooks or look for sales on new equipment.
edit: jump on the $28 pot, linked above. Amazon also showed a $20(!) 16l pot.
In your original post you state 2 gallons being the goal. That's close to 8 liters, not 4. That's for doing all grain.
The biggest advantage of extract brewing is that you can boil your hops with 1/3 or even less of the extract in a "smallish" pot. Then at the end of the boil you mix in the rest of the extract to pasteurize it. You now have a very strong (high gravity) wort that you'll be diluting with water to your target gravity once transferred to your fermentor. That means the only vessel that needs to hold the whole volume is your fermentor.
QuercusMax
Well-Known Member
2.5 Gallons = 9.4 liters. You are going to be boiling your wort for an hour, thus you will need to start out with more than 2.5 gallons (probably more like 3.5), since some water will boil off. And you don't want to fill your kettle up to the brim, since it will almost certainly boil over. (When wort comes to a boil, especially all-grain wort, there's a lot of foam produced.)
You can get a 5-gallon enamel canning pot for pretty cheap. Look on craigslist, check Goodwill, etc. Or even amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001UZL8A/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. Unless your apartment is incredibly tiny, you should be able to find a place to stash that when it's not in use.
You can get a 5-gallon enamel canning pot for pretty cheap. Look on craigslist, check Goodwill, etc. Or even amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001UZL8A/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. Unless your apartment is incredibly tiny, you should be able to find a place to stash that when it's not in use.
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roastquake
Well-Known Member
This might be your best bet, I used to do partial boil/late extract method and made some great beers, definitely better than canned kits. I know you want to go all-grain to save money, but it can't be done with such a small kettle, you would have to buy a kettle at least 2.5 gallons (which has worked for me for 2 gallon batches btw, watch for boilovers). The other side of the coin is you can spend a little more on each batch by using extract, but correct me if I'm wrong, malt extracts are still cheaper than mr. beer kits If you want cheaper, better beer with the equipment you have on hand today, go with the late extract/partial boil method.
Oh and another advantage to diluting a concentrated wort with (cold) water: fast cooling without buying a chiller
brewmeister13
Well-Known Member
I agree with everyone else. If you want to make the best beer for the lowest investment go with non hopped extract brewing. Take the money you would spend on all of the AG equipment and buy a pot large enough for full boils. Ta Da, beer that can be darn good. If you want to pursue the hobby further look into investing in fermentation. A small investment here will improve your beers more than spending $5k on an AG brew setup and then leaving the wort to ferment at room temp (definitely depends on season and location though too).
As far as small batches go, I do 1 gallon batches to experiment with hops. I can knock out two batches at one time and have the whole process done in under 2 hours (I use DME for this). It allows me to fit in 3-5 batches a month (I only have time to devote one full day to AG a month). It's helped me learn hops tremendously fast.
As far as small batches go, I do 1 gallon batches to experiment with hops. I can knock out two batches at one time and have the whole process done in under 2 hours (I use DME for this). It allows me to fit in 3-5 batches a month (I only have time to devote one full day to AG a month). It's helped me learn hops tremendously fast.
Hey john...I just saw 2 gallon stainless steel pots w/ lids @ WallyWorld yesterday
for less than $7 each. Keep an eye on sanitation & mash temps'
You can preheat your oven to 170 then let it cool to 155 for mash...
experiment.
Cheers
hey thanks man.. well i spoke with a homebrew store and my theory is correct.. i can boil the ag at that size and top it off with the needed amount in the keg... i understand you guys take alot of pride in the way you brew but using what i have, this will be good enough for me. your saying after the boil and i add the grain place the whole pot in the oven? woudnt this raise the temp of the already hot water?
well, i have 2 kegs so i would get 4 gallons.. about 40 beers or so i get now from extract.. that is plenty for me while another batch is fermenting
Homebrew store will sell you anything. Don't listen to us.
m3n00b
Well-Known Member
Exactly why I gave up on this dude.
Op read the all grain section on that howtobrew site before going any further and wasting your time/money.
Good advice!
I consider the thread closed since we shouldn't feed trolls here. This one closes the door on me:
johnj506 said:
