Considering feasability of all-grain

It can definitely be done with one burner.

Actually, it can be done with almost no additional equipment at all.

Google "brew in a bag."

 

I do it with one burner, a cheap wooden stand, and a plastic pitcher to move the water around.

All you need to do is somehow elevate your MLT above the kettle. Here's the basic process -

1. Heat mash water in kettle
2. Move mash water to MLT - dough in, mash
3. Heat sparge water in kettle
4. Move sparge water to another container (I use another cooler, but a bucket works)
5. Drain first runnings into kettle
6. Batch sparge, drain, boil away

Here's a video

 

One burner works for me famously. Don't be discouraged by the cost. I built a lovely mash tun for under $30 and my results of brewing have improved so dramatically. Depending on whether you want to do decoctions or multiple rests, is up to you. Either one does not require an extra burner, but decoctions will require a mash tun (if you omit the second burner).

For a foray into all grain I would build a mash tun and start with single step infusions... trust me, your results will be really surprisingly good if you have a nice recipe and hit your sacch temps right. The process is really simple and just takes a bit more time.

http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/mashtun.htm

that's what i based my mash tun off of. I haven't done tests for efficiency but from every batch i've brewed, i've had about a total of 10 lbs of raw grain and the beer always comes out to around 5.5%-6.5%.

brewing all grain can be as simple or complex, as afordable or expensive as you really choose to make it. I would say start by building a basic mash tun (which you can use with decoctions if you choose to go that route) or do the false bottom thing, depending on what strikes your fancy. from my experience though, the mashtun way has given me really positive results in a short period of brewing.

 

You absolutely do not need more than one burner. I have two-quart and four-quart pitchers that I use to move my strike and sparge water into my mash tun. I keep the mash tun on a folding table so gravity helps me move the wort into my brew kettle. Then it's just a matter of lifting the kettle onto the burner. (It gets pretty heavy since it is a 15 gallon keggle with 6+ gallons of liquid in it.)

Having two kettles is helpful. I use the kettle I started extract brewing in to heat my strike and sparge water. However, you could totally do it with one kettle as long as you have some buckets laying around.

 

Cooler mash tun and one burner for me. If I started doing more 10 gallon batches, though, I would need to get more equipment, including possibly a 2nd burner.

 

I converted a rectangular cooler into a mash tun which i place on the counter for lautering using gravity only, heat the strike and sparge water on my stove top and do the boil over my 4 burners. Apartment all grain brewing isnt so bad, though I really miss the extra space and power of a turkey fryer burner that I used to have.

 

The 3 tier systems and brutus style builds are great, but expensive and unnecessary (FWIW I own a 3 tier). An indoor stove, cooler mashtun and boil kettle are all you really need to do AG, or if doing Brew in a Bag AG all you need is a boil kettle and a vessel to hold your heated sparge water.

 

i have no fancy equipment and went all grain after 3 batches of extract, its completely possible. i am blessed and cursed with having gas stoves in every place ive lived since brewing, so i dont brew outside but i have the equipment to do it.( gotta love turkey fryer kits for black friday) I use a cooler for my MLT and my HLT is also my brew pot. I have a mill but it sucks, so i use my buddies but i intend to get a better mill soon. I enjoy all grain much more than extract in the same way i like manual transmission compared to an automatic.

 

I use an electric tea urn that I picked up from a car boot sale for £10 as a boiler, a 32l cool box that someone was throwing out as the handle had broken and a separate large jam saucepan on my hob for heating sparge water and am doing fine.

That doesn't stop me salivating over the great setups other people have