Going all grain, have ~$300......

[fifthcircle]

Here is the long and short of it.
I have brewed a few extract batches. I have the brewers best kit including an ail pail fermenting bucket, better bottle carboy, and ail pail bottling bucket ect...

I feel I am in this for the long haul.

I have two gift certificates, one local and one for Midwest supply, and some cash leftover from the craps table in Vegas

What are the first items I should buy to start a good all grain system?
I would like to start all grain ASAP.....

Thanks,
Kurt

 

[gray7103]

You can do it for a lot less than $300. Depending on the size of your boil kettle, you may have all the equipment you need to start all-grain brewing. You can read more about it here.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/biab-brewing-pics-233289/

I have made all-grain beer with brew in a bag (BIAB) and traditional mash/sparge techniques and you can make great beer with either method.

If you want a mash tun you can build one for less then $75 depending on how much you pay for your cooler. This is a good link for mash tun.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/

 

[fifthcircle]

You can do it for a lot less than $300. Depending on the size of your boil kettle, you may have all the equipment you need to start all-grain brewing. You can read more about it here.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/biab-brewing-pics-233289/

I have made all-grain beer with brew in a bag (BIAB) and traditional mash/sparge techniques and you can make great beer with either method.

If you want a mash tun you can build one for less then $75 depending on how much you pay for your cooler. This is a good link for mash tun.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/

Thanks, I don't want to BIAB with what I have....I want advice on what I should start with for a great all grain system. Would a grain mill be at the top of your list, or would you value a really nice brew kettle instead?

This is where I was going with the question....

 

[BradleyBrew]

I would not put a mill on the top of my list. You will need a mash tun and in my opinion a wort chiller, 7+ gallon kettle, and turkey fryer.

 

[mux]

#1. You need a mash tun. Don't waste money and time, get at least a 10 gallon cooler.

#2 You need a kettle large enough to boil your full volume. You can laughter from your mash tun into a bucket until your kettle is empty of sparge water.

#3. You need a way to chill your wort quickly.

You should also read books on the subject. I know there is a lot of knowledge here,but books will answer questions you wouldn't have thought of.

 

[matt2778]

15 gallon aluminum boil kettle $65 with shipping
10 gallon cooler/cpvc manifold and fittings $60
8 gallon hlt with ball valve and thermometer homebrewstuff.com $99
25' wort chiller home made from 3/8 flex copper $50
That has you at $275 and is my all grain system. I do have a mill but I did several batches with premilled grains at the price of efficiency.

 

[prrriiide]

I'd definitely go bigger on the tun. Size matters. I have a 10 g igloo, and I'm soon to build a bigger one. But I also do 10 gal batches.

Must-haves:

• ATC refractometer. e-bay for <$25 +shpg. I have discovered the importance of being able to take an immediate grav reading at any point in the process.
• ACCURATE thermometer - Stacks and Stacks for <$30 incl. shipping for digital. I have also discovered that none of my thermometers are accurate. So...a digital cooking one with a probe, that I can calibrate myself to boiling water temp.
• Graduated 1 gal container - gotta be able to accurately measure your strike, sparge, and run-off amounts
• brewing software - I use BeerSmith. Not only is it an incredible tool for managing your brew day, it's fun just to screw around and make recipes
• temperature control - a swamp cooler will still work, but if you're going to invest in AG, you might as well invest in a way to make it the best you can. Small dorm fridge $50, sheet of OSB $7, 4 2x4x8 PT $8, sheet of 2" pink board $30, misc pieces & parts. You can do one easily for <$125. Less if you get the dorm fridge off of ebay or Craigslist
• a mash paddle. I need one...my nylon stir spoon is gonna give up the ghost soon if I keep stirring my mash with it.
• Digital scale
• iodine

VERY nice to have:

• Wort chiller (many would put that in the must-have list)
• Grain mill
• Pump
• stir plate with accoutrements

That's all I can come up with ATM.

 

[gr8shandini]

prrriiide has it just about right. Except that I'd definitely put the immersion cooler in the "must have category." And I think I'd consider a grain mill as "the first chance you get." If you're in it for the long haul, the savings from buying base grains in bulk and the increase in efficiency (I went from about 60% to near 80% when I got my mill set up) will quickly pay for the mill.

Also, go for a keggle or a 15 gallon brew kettle. When I first went to all-grain, I figured I'd never want to do more than a 5 gallon batch. But that went out the window pretty quickly and after three years, I'm finally investing in a bigger system to do 10 gallon batches.

 

[fifthcircle]

Thanks for the replies! Good list of stuff I didn't think about prrriiide.


I have a couple pots, one 5.5gal stainless and one 7.5gal aluminum. (I am going to try a batch in the AL pot, as I have read both sides of the arguments and think it'll be ok).
Other stuff I already have/don't feel are necessary yet:
Scale: cheap one but it works great.
Temp control: my basement closet is a steady 65*F.
Turkey fryer burners: got two
Grain mill: I can use a friends for now...Or buy crushed.

Gonna go to the LHBS and see what he has for mash tun equip (false bottoms, etc.).
I also have a gift card to Lowes, and will probably make an immersion chiller.

A refractometer sounds nice, and since I broke my hydro after the first batch... :/

A floating or digital thermometer is a must...gonna pick one up along the way wherever.

I am going to my friends tomorrow to brew all grain again (3rd time). He has been doing it for 20yrs. Still just the same 5gal cooler and simple brew pots on a 220V hot plate. Makes great beers too!

 

[GreenDragon]

I did it for way under $300, here's my breakdown:

MLT = $20 for the cooler (CL) and $35 in hardware parts
10 gallon boil pot = $25 at Wal-Mart (technically a steam pot but works great).
Aireration Kit = $30 total (just a wal-mart aquarium pump, tubing, and stone)
Stir Plate = Free (Made it with a computer case fan and hard drive magnets)
Temp Controller = $85 (I use a spare fridge as ferment chamber).
Ferment Chamber = $40 (spare fridge I found on CL)
Hot Liquor Tank = $30 Coleman outlet store

 

[Cacaman]

Here is a pick of my ghetto brewery:

For my mash tun i used a 10 gal cooler with a SS braid for cost efficiency. False bottoms are expensive!

I found the keg on CL for $25 and did the conversion myself.

Academy sells nice crawfish paddles for about $10.

I made a Counterflow Chiller(not shown in pic) using Bobby's build, and came out to about $50-60.

For my HLT, I use my turkey fryer kit.

As mentioned before, temps are imperative, so make sure you have a trusty thermometer for monitoring the mash, and a hydrometer. I have a refractometer, and personally i think it was a waste of money.

 

[fifthcircle]

Here is a pick of my ghetto brewery:

You say ghetto, but Warren Buffet drives a used town car. His vanity plates say "thrifty". So it's not the vessel, it's what's inside


So originally I started this thread thinking I would start with a couple high dollar pieces for an advanced all grain system down the line. Instead, everyone's advice has swayed my thought to going much more budget on the equipment and concentrating on the brewing process and learning my craft. Then in a few years, go high dollar. Time to quit screwing around and get some equipment!

Thanks a bunch everyone!!!
-Kurt :rockin:

 

[birvine]

And with that in mind, that is where BIAB can work not to mention you can brew a bunch of small batches to really improve your processes.

But if not... make your own MLT with hardware store cpvc for the manifold, and get an IC.

B

 

[Matteo57]

15 gallon aluminum boil kettle $65 with shipping.

Where can you get a 15 gallon boil kettle for only $65?
Definitely my next few things I want are larget boil kettle I can do 10g batches in and a mill!

 

[dgoldb1]

Do you have a way to control your fermentation temperatures within a degree or two? I would spend $$$ on this first before I would go all grain. Just my .02.

 

[jaynik]

Do biab and you only need to get an ic and a grain bag.

 

[fifthcircle]

Do you have a way to control your fermentation temperatures within a degree or two? I would spend $$$ on this first before I would go all grain. Just my .02.

No, but where I ferment is a rock solid 66deg. Hasn't changed a bit through 75 degree days, down to 5 degree days. I will eventually get a couple freezers to convert into a keezer and fermentation chamber.