So I am making the switch from extract/partial mash brewing to all grain brewing. I was wondering if someone can help me put together a list of every thing I need (or if there already is this on some website, I cant find it). As far as brewing equipment, As much as I would love the sabco brew-magic or the ruby street alpha system, I cant afford that much. I need to upgrade everything, so its like Im starting over from scratch. I will eventually be building a basement brewery type setup. I just dont know where to start as far as kettles, igloo cooler as mash tun, etc. Any and all help would be appreciated and please message if needed. Also, any advice for conical fermenters and carbonating brews would be appreciated too!
It will depend on how much you have to spend. When I upgraded I needed a bigger kettle, some might say 8-10 gallon, I went 10. You will need to decide if you want something with a thermometer, sight glass, and ball valve. I would recommend at the least a ball valve. This way when you have to transfer 5-6 gallons of wort it is a lot easier than trying to lift a heavy kettle filled with hot wort. Then you will need to decide if you will batch sparge or fly sparge. Northern Brewer sells a package where you get a mash tun and hot liquor tank. Basically a larger kettle and a mash tun and possibly a burner. My larger kettle wouldn't fit on my stove, plus getting 5-6 gallons of wort to a boil on a stove might take a while. My mash tun is a converted 10 gal igloo cooler with a false bottom. It holds the temperature really well. Of course if you move to a basement brewery setup this might become obsolete depending on your setup. Electric or brew in bag. A lot of options and different opinions so look around a bit and read up.
Be looking at Craig's List for someone selling their system. Some great bargains can be found there. If you are looking for new equipment, a good quality kettle can be had from most online home brewing outlets, you just have to shop. As far as requirements, it depends on what you want to brew. If you ever intend to do a big beer, you will want a mash tun that can handle the grain bill and not have the false bottom collapse from the weight. Go with Stainless the first time and you will never have to replace your system. One single expenditure instead of two. A few questions.... Are you sticking with 5 gallon batches? From experience, I recommend this approach. Are you going to be kegging or bottling? More equipment is involved but it can be acquired later. Are you building your own brew stand? If you can weld, you're set. Stainless would be ideal. My suggestions... 15 gallon boil kettle http://www.morebeer.com/products/mash-tun-15-gallon-heavy-duty.html $380 15 gallon Mash Tun or larger http://www.morebeer.com/products/mash-tun-15-gallon-heavy-duty.html $380 Yup, they are the same kettle, you will need the false bottom for the mash tun, and extra $100 http://www.morebeer.com/products/false-bottom-boil-kettle-screen-15-gallon-heavy-duty.html A sparge arm is nice to have but not necessary http://www.morebeer.com/products/ultimate-sparge-arm.html Then there is the HLT http://www.morebeer.com/products/15-gallon-hlt-stainless-hot-liquor-tank.html And Burners.. You will need a pump and hoses and quick disconnects that you can shop from MoreBeer. I use this site because they have nearly everything, but you can find lesser expensive equipment if you shop around. Or you could buy one system http://www.morebeer.com/products/tippy-dump-brewsculpture-v4.html?site_id=7 That will last you a lifetime.... I have no affiliation with MoreBeer, other than I own their 20 gallon Tippy Manual system.
Im going to spend the least amount I can on the brewing equipment. Im in new england and have been watching craigslist and never see anyone selling their stuff on there except for plastic fermenters. I guess I'll go with 10 gallon brew pot and 2 igloo coolers.
Its going to take some time to get the funds together to do this but Im just not sure how to convert igloo coolers. The price of the fermenters' favorites seem to be twice the price of just doing it myself.
all that stuff from more beer is more expensive than what I was expecting to spend. I was thinking a 10 gallon brew kettle and 2 igloo coolers (if I can find conversion kits), a burner, and a false bottom.
A lot of people brew all grain without a hot liquor tank, myself included. Maybe start without it and add it later if you think you need it. I don't need it.
^This. I don't use an HLT either. It takes a little extra attention to detail to make sure that mashout/sparge water is at the right temperature exactly when it's needed, but it's not too difficult.
Although another vessel of some sort is necessary if you're not mashing out. I sparged a barleywine recently vs. mashing out and overlooked this detail entirely. Luckily I had another kettle laying around to collect first runnings.
After some practice and familiarity with your system you just pretty much know when you need to start your sparge water to coincide with when you are ready for it.
If you are fly sparging, you really need an HLT. If batch sparging or mashing out, you can just dump the heated water into the mash tun from a kettle.
What they said. Basically, you heat the sparge water before you start to drain the mash. When the mash is drained, the sparge water gets dumped into the mash tun. You need a vessel to collect the wort. I use a cheap 5 gallon steel pot. Some people use a food grade plastic bucket.
i think if money is really tight you could use a 5 gallon igloo water cooler for a HLT but it's nice to have the pot freed up and empty when you are ready to start sparging. I'm still using the 2 10 gallon round igloos I bought in 2003. I think they were $42 each back then. I put a Zymico conversion kit on the mash tun but you don't actually need to do that to the HLT, especially if you fly spare--I just use a 2 quart plastic juice pitcher to transfer spare water from the HLT to the mash-tun. I did add a Zymico thermometer kit to the mash tun but I disregard the wildly inaccurate reading and go by the floating thermometer I got for $12-$15 IIRC. I think Zymico sold out to Northern Brewer or MoreBeer in the interim but I'm pretty sure that same conversion kit is still available and under $25. A false bottom is maybe around the same price? The one luxury I think you need is a good pump for speedy vorlauf and loitering and running through your chiller, and of course a good sturdy counterflow chiller like Chilzilla is my preference but YMMV. I don't believe I would have made 75 batches the first two years without these. Although, I made my first CFC pretty cheaply with a Listermann kit, a length of leak-free hose cut from a longer leaky one, and some copper pipe from Home Depot I fed through the hose and coiled myself, and it was fine for 5-6 years, after some cheap plastic parts failed (dramatically!) and were replaced on the 10th use or so. Not sure whether these kits are are still around. But with readily available copper fittings and a soldering iron it should be doable for under $100 I would think.
The clamps, I think. Came with the kit. Should have replaced them with metal worm clamps but didn't. They got brittle and failed under pressure--big mess. Can't remember but somehow I think hot wort got spilled in addition to the cold water spraying everywhere. If the kit was still for sale I'd be able to pinpoint it; that homemade chiller is retired to back-up status and is in my storage unit, haven't seen it for a couple years.
