wanting to switch to grain

It takes more time and attention to detail. Are you willing to make this 'investment' of time/effort?

You need a mash tun to mash the grains. Also if you are accustomed to conducting partial boils while extract brewing you will need a bigger kettle, wort chiller, etc, to brew 5 gallon all grain batches.

I would strongly recommend that you thoroughly read the book How to Brew by John Palmer to better understand this transition.

Cheers!

 

How much beer did those kits make....5-gallons?

 

If you want to try it without spending a lot of money, you can brew in a bag (BIAB). You can then mash in your kettle (not ideal but OK as a starting point) ... pull the bag out and then boil. Keeping the temp steady is tricky but some people insulate the kettle on the outside with a fire proof type blanket once mash temp is reached. If the temp falls too quick you can put the flame back on (remove the insulation first) to bring it back up. After your mash time is done (usually an hour) continue as you normally do.

A mash tun is better of course. An insulated cooler is how most of us started. And you can use your brew bag in it as well. The benefit is it holds temp much better. The benefit of the bag in the tun is no stuck sparge . Pull it out and transfer the wort to the kettle for boiling.

A good bag is maybe $25. A cooler is about $40.
That would be a good intro to all grain brewing.
Even more really. You could brew excellent beer that way.

 

Brewing with extract does not present as much concern for the water that you use when compared to all-grain brewing because the mash has already been done for you and the liquid converted to DME or LME. Depending on the quality of your water, you may need to become knowledgeable about water adjustments for the best quality beer. That makes all-grain brewing a bit more complicated.

 

Here's what I recommend:

1. Make small batches. I like doing 2.5-3 gallons because it's enough to drink for a while, but not so much that you'll be swimming in it if it's less than awesome. The recipes are cheaper and you can try more ideas/techniques more quickly, iterate faster.

2. Do BIAB. Combined with the small batches, this lets you really keep equipment costs down. I did about 15 successful 3-gallon batches using a 6-gallon kettle and cheap bags off of Amazon (3 for $10, iirc). I mashed in bag, in the kettle, either on my kitchen stove (gas) or on a $45 1800W induction burner. For mash control, I used an Anova sous vide wand ($80ish on sale, but you can get an equivalent unit from Monoprice for much cheaper). If you can't do that, either just wrap your kettle in towels or put it in the oven on keep warm once you've achieved the right mash temp. You might lose a couple degrees over an hour, but it's not a huge deal.

3. Learn the basics of water chemistry. It makes a huge difference. Buy a bag of calcium chloride, a bag of gypsum, and a bottle of lactic acid. Use distilled or RO water. If you don't have a RO system and don't want to buy jugs of distilled every time, there are usually machines outside of grocery stores that'll give you 5 gallons of RO for $2 or less.

4. If you don't have a grain mill, shop from a LHBS or an online store that lets you order small amounts of grain rather than whole pounds. I like Atlantic Brew Supply because you can order down to the ounce and they'll double crush for free. I think there are a couple of other stores that'll do the same.

Overall, going to all grain is easy—not nearly as difficult as some people make it out to be. Just don't be afraid to fail a couple times, learn from your mistakes, and you'll be making great beer in no time.

 

@deadwolfbones nailed it on #2, you can get by with single pot by using a sous vide, and can also use it in the kitchen, so it isn't a uni-tool.

 

I'll pile on to the BIAB approach. If I heard of it in 2005, that might have been the way to go. Instead, built a mash tun and split my boil between two smaller kettles rather than 1 larger one. I also find myself wanting to brew smaller batches and BIAB is good way to do that. I switched to a BIAB system in 2015.

 

I went from extract to BIAB about 6 months ago. Brew days are about 4 hours and keeping down how many different vessels to have to clean is also a pro to BIAB. Some people actually sparge in BIAB as well just as they would in a 3 vessel system but that's more personal preference i suppose. I Watched a lot of youtube on all grain (BIAB and 3 vessel systems) and applied those techniques to fit my own style and equipment.

Also, i had to upgrade to a 15 gal. kettle since i wanted to brew "big beers" with high OG's. Not sure what size kettle you have now, but definitely keep that in mind.

 

My first batch was with a kit that came with my equipment, i switched to AG right away because in my country it was too difficult to get extract for brewing, it was easier to go to one of the breweries and buy it from them, not much of a grain selection but they had enough for me to do something. I went from using a mashtun to BIAB, i find BIAB much easier for me, im a single brewer and everything that can make my brew day easier is more than welcome. Is not hard, is just different. Takes more time but its fun as hell.

You can start with what you have, go from a small batch and see if you like that way, i started BIAB with only 2 or 2.5 gal, now im doing 4 to 5 gal if i dont screwed up the volumes hahaha.

Cheers and go for it.

 

What's your budget $250,500,1000. As you get more advanced you'll wish you didn't buy all this stuff you'll never use again because you improved your process. If i could start over i would have got a all in one electric brewing system which i may still buy.

 

It’s not difficult at all. Are you talking about moving to a “partial mash” or a “full grain” mash? A partial mash is a piece of cake, and you can get/order your grains already milled. All-grain is quite a bit more work, tho obviously still do-able.

FWIW, I’ve never done an extract-only batch. I started with partial mashes, moved to all grain, and now I’m BACK to partial mashes.

 

I use BIAB as well. The costs are minimal and I’ve had good results. There’s a lot more to it than just a giant “tea bag”. You still have to manage your temps and calculate the correct amount of water you need. I have started mashing with less water to allow myself room to do a “pour over type sparge” that I rinse the suspended bag of grain with after mashing. This has worked great and really improved my efficiency. I also switched from a tall narrow kettle to a very wide 10 gal. I think the wider kettle allows more space for the grain during the mash. Just my theory. Good luck!