Best all grain brewing equipment to start with?

[philly224]

I apologize for this question in advance. I am sure it gets asked a million times. The issue is there is just so much different equipment out there that I have no idea what direction to go.

I have been extract brewing for a while now and want to try all grain. My equipment is as follows:

11 gallon kettle
1 burner (Turkey fryer)
bottling bucket
two fermentation buckets
2 stainless steel kegs

Basically I have no idea what to add to this for all grain brewing. I see some people use stainless steel mash turns, some use plastic. The price of the plastic ones seem pretty high though, would it be better to just take the hit and get something nicer? Is there anything else I would need aside from a mash turn?

 

[Redtab78]

$20 cooler. $10 ball lock and a $5 screen, doesn't get much cheaper

 

[Lefou]

You already have a burner and a boil kettle.
In my case, I bought a new ANVIL boil kettle and installed the false bottom from the old Igloo cooler. The ball valve and hardware came with the ANVIL, all I had to do was assemble and buy a plastic hose barb. With an extra 5gal pot, the ANVIL with precision thermometer gives flexibility by adding the capability to do smaller stepped mashes and decoctions on the stovetop.
Your needs and budget will dictate your gear. I bottle and use 3, 5, and 6 gal glass carboys for now.

 

[philly224]

You already have a burner and a boil kettle.
In my case, I bought a new ANVIL boil kettle and installed the false bottom from the old Igloo cooler. With an extra 5gal pot, the ANVIL with precision thermometer gives flexibility by adding the capability to do smaller stepped mashes and decoctions on the stovetop.
Your needs and budget will dictate your gear.

Thanks!

What do you mean by installed the false bottom from an old igloo cooler? You installed that into the anvil kettle?

 

[mongoose33]

I'm going to get here first.

You should strongly consider Brew-in-a-Bag. It is essentially using a kettle as a mash tun, with the bag holding the grain so it can be lifted out and the wort drains out.

A bag and pulley costs about....oh, maybe $35 when all is said and done. Works well.

I've done both the traditional mash tun (cooler w/ torpedo screen and ball valve), and BIAB. The quickest way to get to all-grain, IMO, would be to do BIAB.

You need about a 10-gallon kettle to do that efficiently....you have an 11 so you're all set there.

Here's where I bought my BIAB stuff: http://biabbags.webs.com/

*************

There's a whole forum on HBT devoted to this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=244 . Just to whet your appetite for it, here are a couple pics, one showing me hoisting the bag, the other with the kettle and burner wrapped up to hold heat in during the mash (and yes, the burner is turned off ).

 

[Lefou]

Yep. It can be done. I specifically bought a 7.5gal ANVIL because the inside diameter would fit the false bottom.
I'd previously bought the false bottom and steel fittings from the local brew shop and the Igloo from Home Depot. I found I couldn't do stovetop stepped mashes quickly or efficiently enough with a single pot, so I shopped around and found a stainless kettle from Love2Brew that would accommodate the false bottom.
Works great and was a good next step for me.
The ANVIL with false bottom does double duty acting as a precision mash tun/boil kettle and I can have extra hot water going at the same time for the decoctions I do, or swap and use the older pot to boil, too.

 

[mashinary]

You could go the brew in a bag route, or build a mash tun. I built a mash tun, and prefer that to using bags. All the parts together I spent about $52.
Cooler - $20
Water heater stainless steel hose braid - $9
Stainless steel Ball valve - $14
Fittings - $9

 

[thekraken]

I'm surprised it took 4 posts before someone mentioned BIAB. All you need is a 1 item, that's a mesh bag and you can brew all grain 5 gallon batches in your 11 gallon pot. After you've mashed your grains just yank the bag out and the rest of the brew proceeds just like your extract batches. It's that easy. I also second biabbags.webs.com

 

[philly224]

I'm going to get here first.

You should strongly consider Brew-in-a-Bag. It is essentially using a kettle as a mash tun, with the bag holding the grain so it can be lifted out and the wort drains out.

A bag and pulley costs about....oh, maybe $35 when all is said and done. Works well.

I've done both the traditional mash tun (cooler w/ torpedo screen and ball valve), and BIAB. The quickest way to get to all-grain, IMO, would be to do BIAB.

You need about a 10-gallon kettle to do that efficiently....you have an 11 so you're all set there.

Here's where I bought my BIAB stuff: http://biabbags.webs.com/

*************

There's a whole forum on HBT devoted to this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=244 . Just to whet your appetite for it, here are a couple pics, one showing me hoisting the bag, the other with the kettle and burner wrapped up to hold heat in during the mash (and yes, the burner is turned off ).

View attachment 394469

View attachment 394470

Thanks!

My kettle doesnt have a ball valve, id have to install one I am assuming correct?

 

[Lefou]

There are so many options it will make your head spin. You just have to fit needs and budget.
I have the ability to do smaller BIAB, too, but have never used it.

 

[thekraken]

Thanks!

My kettle doesnt have a ball valve, id have to install one I am assuming correct?

Not required, it can just make life easier. I assume since you had an eleven gallon kettle you were doing full volume extract batches and dumping the finished wort in the the fermentation bucket? You can just keep doing that. It's just easier on the back to open a valve and drain into a fermentation vessel. A valve is not needed for the biab mashing process unless you are planning on recirculation but I think that's way down the road.

 

[Redtab78]

You could go the brew in a bag route, or build a mash tun. I built a mash tun, and prefer that to using bags. All the parts together I spent about $52.
Cooler - $20
Water heater stainless steel hose braid - $9
Stainless steel Ball valve - $14
Fittings - $9

Mine is the same one, but in blue.....I was told the blue one holds heat better

 

[mongoose33]

Thanks!

My kettle doesnt have a ball valve, id have to install one I am assuming correct?

No....you can siphon out just like anyone might siphon from a kettle w/o a ball valve.

They're nicer than having to siphon IMO but not necessary. Once you've chilled down after the boil, siphon to your fermenter.

You'd have to do that whether you used a traditional mash tun or not--you still would have to boil in your kettle regardless.

***********

FWIW, I brewed 26 all-grain batches using a traditional mash tun before I decided I'd take a shot at BIAB 2 1/2 weeks ago. Purportedly easier and faster.

My first time doing BIAB, being the first time, was slower as I had to figure out things like how to wrap the kettle/burner, how to squeeze the bag (some do, some don't), etc. But it clearly is faster in this respect: you don't have to sparge unless you want to, and you start heating toward the boil immediately upon raising the bag. No gathering first runnings in a grant, no vorlauf, no sparging and then having to wait while you vorlauf....

I hit almost exactly the same gravity w/ my BIAB effort as previous batches done using the mash tun, so there wasn't any real loss of efficiency. I could have done better had I squeezed the bag more. Working on how to do that more efficiently. I'm kegging that beer tonite (it's been crashing at 32 degrees the last two days), and then I'll force carb it and see. I can't imagine it tastes any different than what I love in that recipe made w/ the more traditional mash tun.

I expect I might shave 20-30 minutes off my brew day doing this, and that is worth it to me.

 

[dstockwell]

BIAB, EZPZ.... Get you a bag and pulley..

 

[thekraken]

$20 cooler. $10 ball lock and a $5 screen, doesn't get much cheaper

You could go the brew in a bag route, or build a mash tun. I built a mash tun, and prefer that to using bags. All the parts together I spent about $52.
Cooler - $20
Water heater stainless steel hose braid - $9
Stainless steel Ball valve - $14
Fittings - $9

What size coolers at $20?

 

[philly224]

There are so many options it will make your head spin. You just have to fit needs and budget.
I have the ability to do smaller BIAB, too, but have never used it.

Haha yeah thats kind of my issue right now. So many options!

 

[Redtab78]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002V9XV9K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

but I got mine a wally world for $19.99

 

[thekraken]

Cool. You can also get the 60 qt Ice Cube cooler from walmart for under $30. I remember getting it at even more of a discount because I found one that had a damaged handle.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-60-Quart-Ice-Cube-Roller-Cooler/23735487

 

[berndawg84]

I second BIAB, I love it. The above website has the "Grand Slam" package, everything you need, including hop bags, brew bag and pulley. The only extra thing you'll need is to install a hook in the ceiling to attach the pulley to. Or other people use a beam in their garage, depending on where you brew. If you brew outside, you could use a ladder or something else. It's much simpler and takes less time than regular all grain, as you don't need to do a sparge

 

[mashinary]

What size coolers at $20?

It's a Coleman 48 QT cooler. I got it on sale for $19.99. Just looked at Amazon right now and they have them for $29.

 

[mashinary]

Mine is the same one, but in blue.....I was told the blue one holds heat better

The blue ones do hold heat better, but the red ones lauter better. :fro:

 

[philly224]

Definitely going to try BIAB first! Thank you for the advice everyone!

 

[steamyj]

also check out dennybrew.com. he is in this group too. has a very simple method and it will give you a good starting point. I started with it about six years ago and it still works great for me.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I prefer the cooler mash tun. I bought a $12 bazooka screen on Amazon, some high temp hose and a ball valve and converted a cooler I already had. I like the set it and forget it factor for this. Plus I'm not tied to a pulley system.

I use a 50 qt box cooler and do batch sparge with excellent efficiency.

I can see the appeal of BIAB, but it's not the answer for me.

 

[mongoose33]

I prefer the cooler mash tun. I bought a $12 bazooka screen on Amazon, some high temp hose and a ball valve and converted a cooler I already had. I like the set it and forget it factor for this. Plus I'm not tied to a pulley system.

I use a 50 qt box cooler and do batch sparge with excellent efficiency.

I can see the appeal of BIAB, but it's not the answer for me.

Here's an idea to make vorlauf go faster:

I also have a bazooka screen in my mash tun. I have to go slow w/ vorlauf to set the grain bed, takes a while to do that. In a moment of inspiration, I took a hop sock I had and tied it over the bazooka screen w/ a twist-tie.

Guess what? Faster vorlauf! It screens out most of the finer particles and lets me get to clear wort much faster. Untie and remove it at the end, rinse and/or wash, and ready for the next time.

 

[kh54s10]

I decided on a 3 tier HLT, cooler mash tun and BK gravity rig early on. I have done some BIAB and I for one really dislike that process. But then again I am not set up well for doing BIAB. Without a hoist, I find it a hot, wet, sticky, messy process. I have used 5 gallon paint strainer bags and find them far more difficult to clean than my mash tun. I haven't tried a quality BIAB bag.

What equipment you need is determined by the type of process you decide upon, and how much you spend on it.

My ideal is to go inside the house with this:

https://spikebrewing.com/collections/spike-systems/products/spike-system-10-gallon

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Definitely going to try BIAB first! Thank you for the advice everyone!

Get a bag from wilserbrewer and your all set..couldn't be easier....I would skip a mash tun, valves, and everything else for now...spend your money on a Cereal killer grain mill for under $100 shipped and mill your own grain...

I've been brewing all grain BIAB for years and have nothing but a pot, heat source and bag...Years later and still have no desire to upgrade anything.

It comes down to 2 things:

Do you want to make good beer?
OR
Do you want to make good beer with all the bells and whistles?

The beer doesn't care and will be exactly the same either way...

An economy car will get you down the road
Cruisin in your 5.0 will get you down the same road with the ragtop down so your hair can blow...Vanilla Ice

The road is the same...its the driver that makes the difference

 

[z-bob]

The best equipment to start all-grain is the equipment you have already plus something to lauter the grain in. A paint strainer bag will work. A good, finer-mesh bag will work better. A steamer basket or turkey fryer basket will work but you might have to line it with cloth. An old Igloo or Coleman cooler will work with minor modifications.

You can improve things as you go. I think that's part of the fun, but I'm weird like that (I'm an engineer and that's what we do)

 

[beernutz]

I don't see that anyone has yet mentioned a wort chiller but I may have missed it. I wouldn't call a chiller an absolute necessity since many brewers apparently just let their wort cool overnight but I have always used one and I wouldn't brew without it.

You can make a copper immersion chiller yourself but I'd consider buying one like the hydra https://jadedbrewing.com/products/the-hydra which is very water efficient if a little pricey.

I have made both an immersion and a counter flow chiller using 3/8" copper pipe and while they were both ok for the last year I have been using a large 50 foot 1/2" copper pipe chiller that I bought from morebeer https://www.morebeer.com/products/immersion-wort-chiller-recirculation-arm.html .

That chiller also has a wort recirculation arm and cools 10 gallon batches in less than 15 minutes but again it was pricey at about $150 and you need a pump to recirculate the wort but it was worth every penny.

A mill is a nice addition but personally I would would wait until you've brewed a few batches and still have the desire to continue before investing in one. You can buy grain already milled online and every homebrew shop I have ever visited had a mill brewers can use.

 

[bajaedition]

memories of the beginning run through my mind

When I took the jump about what I had you do not was a wort chiller.

I had glass carboys but that is not important to this conversation.

I bit the bullet and bought an 8 gallon brew kettle with ball valve and temp probe and a 5 gallon igloo conversion and started to hone my craft
At first, because the original brew kettle I was using as my HLT, dough in and sparge water was transfered by a pyrex measuring container. It worked but was not real fast.

That was 20 years past, my system now is a custom welded up tree system using that 8 gallon kettle from years ago. I cannot tell you how much a excellently manufactured brew kettle works. I upgraded my HLT to a polarware unit with 3 threaded entrances. and have a custom welded up mash tun becuase I have a modified HERMS SYSTEM.

A bit of advice, Start small and do not think that equipment is a substitution for experience and knowledge.


over the years I have learned so much about brewing and have changed my system a lot. But the bottom line is I learned to brew beer before I added the bells and whistles to the system. I believe you learn the most when you have to struggle a bit.

Relax, decide if you want to do BIAB or more traditional mash system, get what is needed and slowly grow it out. There is no hurry, after all you can always buy a six pack if your beer is all gone.

 

[owmatooth]

I have had a great time using BIAB. I bought the pulley- and have never used it. I hold the bag of grain up and the wifey squeezes it for a minute or so. I'm in a 10 G pot and just use a racking tube to get it over to my carboy after my immersion cooler has done it's job.

I didn't see immersion cooler on your list, so yeah, that's another piece you'd need. I assume the BIAB is frowned upon by traditional brewers, but no chance you can tell the difference in the beer. To me it's much easier than dealing with the extract and worrying about the syrup scorching on the bottom of the kettle.

I've also given up completely on bottling, kegs are much simpler and much faster to drink. Just bought a chest freezer to start my keezer build this week.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I have had a great time using BIAB. I bought the pulley- and have never used it. I hold the bag of grain up and the wifey squeezes it for a minute or so. I'm in a 10 G pot and just use a racking tube to get it over to my carboy after my immersion cooler has done it's job.

I didn't see immersion cooler on your list, so yeah, that's another piece you'd need. I assume the BIAB is frowned upon by traditional brewers, but no chance you can tell the difference in the beer. To me it's much easier than dealing with the extract and worrying about the syrup scorching on the bottom of the kettle.

I've also given up completely on bottling, kegs are much simpler and much faster to drink. Just bought a chest freezer to start my keezer build this week.

I have a friend who does BIAB and cranks out fantastic beers. Never let anyone convince you it's substandard. It's not my choice, but it is less expensive, you have less to store and the results are just as good.

 

[Jtk78]

Get a bag from wilserbrewer and your all set..couldn't be easier....

I'll second this. While chose to go with a cooler mash tun and HLT, I still decided to get a bag for my cooler mash tun. Wilserbrewer (member of the site) had great pricing, was easy to deal, shipped quickly and has a great product.

 

[thekraken]

Wilserbrewer ... was easy to deal, shipped quickly and has a great product.

I'd say he was great to deal with! In my case he really went above and beyond to help me get setup when I screwed up my order and needed an exchange.

 

[gbx]

I've done more than 100 BIAB batches with not much more than you have. All you need is $6 bag and something to stir the mash with (this could be anything from a stick to a wooden spoon to a fancy mash paddle). I don't use a pulley, I put the bag in a bucket with a mash paddle wedged in so it can drain. Use your bottling bucket for this step. Now spend any money you were thinking of using for upgrading to all grain on kegging. Kegs will improve your beer and your enjoyment of homebrewing so much more than any hotside improvements.

 

[philly224]

Just ordered the BIAB setup from Wilserbrewer. Seems like an amazing business and I have not even got it yet!

I also forgot to mention earlier in the thread that I do have a wort chiller so I am good there.

Is there a certain style I should start out with that might be a little easier to manage? I was thinking about ordering this kit on morebeer:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/7-deadly-cs-ipa-grain-beer-kit.html

 

[applescrap]

Get a bag from wilserbrewer and your all set..couldn't be easier....I would skip a mash tun, valves, and everything else for now...spend your money on a Cereal killer grain mill for under $100 shipped and mill your own grain...

I've been brewing all grain BIAB for years and have nothing but a pot, heat source and bag...Years later and still have no desire to upgrade anything.

It comes down to 2 things:

Do you want to make good beer?
OR
Do you want to make good beer with all the bells and whistles?

The beer doesn't care and will be exactly the same either way...

An economy car will get you down the road
Cruisin in your 5.0 will get you down the same road with the ragtop down so your hair can blow...Vanilla Ice

The road is the same...its the driver that makes the difference

This is well said.

With no insult intended, it seems to me some people like to build things and brew beer. If your trip is building things the sky's the limit.

If you want to brew beer get a bag and get to it. If you dont have huge forearms consider winch. Look forward to your results!

 

[mongoose33]

Just ordered the BIAB setup from Wilserbrewer. Seems like an amazing business and I have not even got it yet!

I also forgot to mention earlier in the thread that I do have a wort chiller so I am good there.

Is there a certain style I should start out with that might be a little easier to manage? I was thinking about ordering this kit on morebeer:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/7-deadly-cs-ipa-grain-beer-kit.html

If you've been doing extract brews like this, it'll be fine. The only fundamental difference between what you've been doing and this is where you're getting the wort from. If you're OK with the hop schedule and you know how to dry hop, the rest should work fine.

And you're doing this in the order that, to me, makes the most sense. You've mastered extract brewing, you have all those pieces down. Now, you're just changing how to create your wort, and it's really not a huge addition to your knowledge base, given what else you've alraedy done.

I think new brewers should start w/ extract, master the process, then move to all-grain. You're doing that, and I expect it will go very well. And IMO simple brews for the first time are better than complicated ones, for reasons which should be obvious. But you're past that, and it's time for you to make the jump.

(I do 5-gallon batches; a lot of my brews cost me maybe $20 to do, at a per-12-ounce-bottle cost of perhaps 40 cents. Hoppier costs more, obviously. When you get this one-gallon thing down, look at 5-gallon batches as a possibility).

Brew on, enjoy, and let us know how it goes.

 

[applescrap]

In biab the grains move, in other methods the water moves.

 

[philly224]

If you've been doing extract brews like this, it'll be fine. The only fundamental difference between what you've been doing and this is where you're getting the wort from. If you're OK with the hop schedule and you know how to dry hop, the rest should work fine.

And you're doing this in the order that, to me, makes the most sense. You've mastered extract brewing, you have all those pieces down. Now, you're just changing how to create your wort, and it's really not a huge addition to your knowledge base, given what else you've alraedy done.

I think new brewers should start w/ extract, master the process, then move to all-grain. You're doing that, and I expect it will go very well. And IMO simple brews for the first time are better than complicated ones, for reasons which should be obvious. But you're past that, and it's time for you to make the jump.

(I do 5-gallon batches; a lot of my brews cost me maybe $20 to do, at a per-12-ounce-bottle cost of perhaps 40 cents. Hoppier costs more, obviously. When you get this one-gallon thing down, look at 5-gallon batches as a possibility).

Brew on, enjoy, and let us know how it goes.

Im planning on doing 5 gallon batches from the start. I have a big enough pot so it should be no problem. I've been doing 5 gallon extract batches for a while now.

Where do you get your ingredients? $20 a batch is solid.