Going all grain on a budget

BIAB gets the job done but an MLT is so much more better.

Couple pixs and the parts list...
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/
The SS washers can be somewhat hard to find.

So easy...even HerbMeowing can do it.

 

Just moved from 37 batches of BIAB to my first batch with a MLT today. Hit a comparable mash extraction efficiency (79%) and obviously I haven't tasted the beer yet. So I'd be interested in any elaboration you can provide on the positives that a MLT provides over BIAB. Would help me feel justified and get me even more psyched about my recent switch!

 

Cheapest way to do it is BIAB in your bottling bucket. All you need to buy is this. You can do about 13 or 14 pounds of grain and anything bigger you can use extract to bump your gravity. Wrap the bucket in towels and use the cover to keep the heat in.

 

You don't need any fancy equipment and needn't spend a lot to get started. But whatever you do don't compromise on ingredient quality. As the expression goes, you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear

 

I agree with this point about ingredient quality, but I also wonder how a homebrewer really would compromise on ingredient quality? It's not like there is a large number of maltsters to choose from or that any of them offer the option of purchasing "B Stock" ingredients at discount prices as far as I know. Am I misinterpreting your point in some way?

 

Living on this side of the pond I've no experience of US circumstances, my comment was a general one.But judging from past threads and lots of beermails (remember those?) it appears that domestic malt is not the best choice for certain styles.It might cost more to buy imported malt but the results make it worth while.With hops, if they are vacuum sealed and properly stored they will be better than cheaper ones not so treated.
On the whole it's horses for courses-different styles are the results of different local conditions which bring about distinctive characteristics to the raw materials.That's why for example English malt is excellent for pale ales but a poor choice for lagers.

 

You'd be surprised, many maltsters do indeed offer a "grade B" option but of course don't advertise it as such. For example, not many people realize that the standard Briess lineup of crystal malts are actually made from 6-row barley. They don't advertise it as such, but if read the fine print what you'll find is that they actually offer a second line of "premium", more expensive crystal malts that are made from 2-row barley. The same goes for their "Pilsen" malt, one would assume that this is made
from 2-row like a continental pilsner malt would be, but unless I'm mistaken I believe it's a 6-row malt.

 

The Vienna is 6-row, the Pilsen is 2 row.
http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Products/Base.htm#Pilsen

 

I stand corrected, thanks for the info.

 

Your advice on the Briess crystal malts was spot on. I have no idea why they have 2 lines of crystal malt.

 

My guess would be that they make a higher profit margin by producing and selling 6-row crystal, and the majority of people don't know the difference, but they also produce the 2-row for those that are looking for it.

 

No need to spend a lot of $. I got a ten gallon cooler at a flea market for 10 bucks, put 15 bucks worth of mesh hose and a brass spigot and nipple. Works unbelievably well and I get up to %80 efficiency with it.

 

Did a modified BIAB for a year or so before going over to the MLT dark side.

An Aussie-style BIAB mash uses enough water to fill the boil kettle. My modified method would mash with the common grain:water ratio of 1.25:1...followed by a double sparge using enough water to produce the pre-boil volume. Brewhouse efficiency was ~60% and the ales were tasty.

Made the switch to an MLT two years ago and realized quickly the Bag required so much more effort.
Compare the ease and simplicity of pouring hot water over grains contained in an MLT to slinging a dripping bag of wet grains from one kettle to the next for the mash and two sparges.

MLT FTW!

Other advantages...
MLT's efficiency has been higher than the Bag.
No worrries about the bottom blowing out of the MLT.
SWMBO approved (far less wort ends up on the floor).

 

great thread, I will be keeping track for my own upcoming shift to all grain

 

Good stuff. I brewed 37 batches with an Aussie style BIAB mash (1.5 - 2.7 quarts of water per 1 pound of grain ratio) with no sparge and was getting mash extraction efficiencies ranging from 72 - 85% (usually a 77% brewhouse efficiency) myself. It seemed to me that I'd usually get better extraction when I used more water, but I'd also have to nurse the mash tun a lot more because it would retain less heat when the mash was thinner. Brewed with a MLT for the first time this past weekend (batch sparge utilized) with a 1.36 ratio and hit 79% extraction efficiency and a 72% brewhouse efficiency. Pretty sure I'll get both of those numbers to improve as I dial in the process though. Part of my lower brewhouse efficiency stemmed from having longer transfer hoses on my new 3 kettle rig so I think I left more wort behind during the final filling of the fermenters. BIAB did make it easy to recoup more of the wort in that sense.

I never had a problem getting wort on the floor with the bag. I purchased a nice size 14 gallon HDPE food grade bucket, placed 5 upside down glass beer mugs in it (to create a false bottom), would pick the bag up out of the kettle, and transfer it into the bucket to drain. Then once it was drained I'd take the bag / mugs out, lift the bucket up, and pour the wort into the kettle...viola! BIAB also made the brew day quicker in the sense that there really was little to no lauter time, but having a 3 kettle system now makes up for the additional lauter time by allowing me to heat fluids in one kettle while finishing processes in another kettle.