I need a recommendation for a good beginner guide for all grain brewing

[zzzman74]

My wife and I want to transition from MrBeer brewing to all grain brewing but can't seem to find a way to transition to the next step in a gentle way. Our experience has been sort of like learning to doggie paddle and then trying to read information about Olympic competitive swimming. We catch on fast but need that beginner level transition.

Any advice?

Ideally we'd like a kindle book or website or even a link to forum here that we could use.

 

[plankbr]

"How to Brew", by John Palmer.

 

[aiptasia]

+1 to the Palmer. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Papizan is also a good reference.

 

[zzzman74]

Thank. Palmer has a website which I'm reading right now!

 

[RM-MN]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/biab-brewing-pics-233289/

It's really even easier than this. If you are intrigued by this method, I can explain it better.

 

[soccerdad]

Palmer, Dave Miller's Guide to Homebrewing, this website, and biabrewer.com (if you BIAB) for reading - and a local brew club for hands on learning.

 

[Beernik]

My first book was Brewmasters Bible. It has a lot of tables for mash temps, beer ingredients by style, yeast lists, hops lists, etc. it's one of my go to reference books. Most the recipes are extract but some are all grain.

I like Palmer's book. I can find info easier in Brewmasters Bible.

 

[70ls1nova]

Just wondering how far along are you guys. Do you have a mash tun and equipment already? Are you planning on buying the equipment or making it? Dennybrew.com http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/ has a good page on making your own mash tun and then batch sparging. I would think the best way is to hook up with an all grain homebrewer in your area and spend a day with him making a batch. Sorta like on the job training.

 

[TangoHotel]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/biab-brewing-pics-233289/

It's really even easier than this. If you are intrigued by this method, I can explain it better.

+1 BIAB requires only 2 new pieces of equipment: a bag, and a grain mill. Your LHBS can also mill grain for you, so you just really need a bag. My wife sewed mine from voile, but you can get them from wilserbrewer on here.

http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[zzzman74]

Nova, Excellent idea. But even your suggestion was confusing because I don't know what you were referring to about specific brewing techniques.

We've made MrBeer several times and wine from kits several times. That's all going well but we want to expand into all grain brewing now. But I literally only learned the term "all grain brewing" yesterday. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We do have a friendly local home brew shop but the enthusiastic guy there gets me confused with lots of technical jargon. It's like he's speaking another language, which, technically, he is.

I need resources which will literally take me step by step, TEACH me the new language, and get me up and moving. My wife and I are both highly educated professionals and can learn the chemistry and such very easily once it's explained. But it's overwhelming when people use terminology that they assume we know. We don't. Yet.

 

[TangoHotel]

Excellent idea. But even your suggestion was confusing because I don't know what you were referring to about specific brewing techniques.

We've made MrBeer several times and wine from kits several times. That's all going well but we want to expand into all grain brewing now. But I literally only learned the term "all grain brewing" yesterday. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We do have a friendly local home brew shop but the enthusiastic guy there gets me confused with lots of technical jargon. It's like he's speaking another language, which, technically, he is.

I need resources which will literally take me step by step, TEACH me the new language, and get me up and moving. My wife and I are both highly educated professionals and can learn the chemistry and such very easily once it's explained. But it's overwhelming when people use terminology that they assume we know. We don't. Yet.

Check out the brew in a bag thread. That's all I used to get started. Its super simple and it will walk you through step by step.

 

[Roadie]

Strongly agree with above posters who recommend a local brew club. Go brew with someone and then ask lots of questions.

 

[runkelia]

I found this video helpful.

 

[70ls1nova]

Perfect! northernbrewer.com has an all grain kit on their home page today. Click on the link and they have a video on what an all grain system is and basically how to use it. Bear in mind that you can build these parts much cheaper, but some people like to buy the kit and start making beer.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...BHomepage&ici=ALLGRAIN-10-GALLON-SYSTEM_Slide

 

[zzzman74]

Brew in a bag sounds great. I'll read the link. Thanks.

 

[zzzman74]

Thanks Nova, I'll check out the link you sent also. We have most of the equipment already but need to figure out those last few specialty pieces that we might need. Thanks!

 

[MindenMan]

Good luck to you and your wife! Even if what you isn't exactly what you planned on, it's still beer when you are done. Welcome to HBT!
I am no longer a total noob, but every good thing I have learned came from this site, and all the help and understanding (translating jargon) as well.

 

[70ls1nova]

And if you don't want to "jump in the deep end with both feet", you can try this as an introductory method and you won't need as much equipment. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/
What city are you in? I would be willing to bet that someone on this forum is from your area and would have no problem with you hanging out at his house on a brew day.

 

[Beernik]

Just wondering how far along are you guys. Do you have a mash tun and equipment already? Are you planning on buying the equipment or making it? Dennybrew.com http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/ has a good page on making your own mash tun and then batch sparging. I would think the best way is to hook up with an all grain homebrewer in your area and spend a day with him making a batch. Sorta like on the job training.

I started brewing in 2004 or 2005. I bought an AG brewing DVD when I started. I switched when it went from looking difficult to looking easy. PMing BIAB style isn't difficult. I did it for a long time. I've been all grain brewing for the last 3 years. I got gift cards to Walmart and Lowes for my birthday one year and used them for building my MLT.

For the last 6 months I have been doing a lot of build projects because my back isn't up to doing a lot of brewing right now. I switched from a PVC manifold to a bazooka screen. I built a 50' immersion chiller - easiest build ever. Then I acquired a freezer from my neighbor and built a controller for it. This week I built a stir plate - the only thing I needed to buy was the stir bar. Now I'm working on a panal of computer fans to circulate the air in the freezer because it will be more efficient than the desk fan I have in there.

 

[70ls1nova]

I found this video helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMHLqnWCNjE&fmt=18

That is a good video. It really is that easy, and I think you'll be surprised at how good your beer comes out. I waited three years to switch to all grain and i wish I hadn't waited so long. Good luck to you guys.

 

[Puddlethumper]

+1 on Palmer's book to help fill in the details. There are a bunch of videos available through supplier's websites and YouTube. Northern Brewer has a good selection of excellent videos at

http://www.northernbrewer.com/homebrew-video-library/

I found these helpful when I was starting.

You will need to make some decisions about the type of mash tun you're going to use and the size and quality of your kettles. The best advice I could give anyone getting started is try to avoid spending the same money twice. Get a decent quality 7-10 gal. boil kettle from the outset. It will serve you well even if you eventually want to re-purpose it later.

 

[zzzman74]

I'm in the Buffalo NY area of western NY, Nova.