Next Priority Equipment Purchase

I'd say if you want to go all grain then a most necessary item is a larger brew pot and the ability to heat it. Post-T'giving turkey fryer sounds like a good use of the gift card..

 

Turkey fryer & a SS toilet braid. Then you can batch sparge to 7 gal.

 

I would use the gift card to get the turkey fryer. You can use the pot as your HLT and the burner to heat the HLT, but make sure it's a good burner. Make sure the BTU output is adequate and that it's a quality product.

Next get a false bottom and valve for the cooler. If your cooler is cylindrical and similar in dimension to the Gott/Rubbermaid, Northern Brewer sells false bottoms made specifically for it. (You can fly sparge with this setup, I have, but batch is easier for me.)

Next get a 10 gallon kettle with valve. This will provide enough volume to do 5 or 6 gallon batches. But make sure your fermenter is big enough. You don't want to put 5 gallons of wort into a 5 gallon fermenter, need some headspace.

Good luck!

 

Mine is another frig.

 

Turkey fryer. Unless you don't have good temperature control, bit it sounds like you probably do if you're making good beer already. So turkey fryer. They work great, and with a ten gallon mash tun, you're about there for all grain. Don't bother with a false bottom. I just have a bazooka tube and a five gallon cooler, works fine.

If you could squeeze in an extra bucket you could do two batches at once. Just sayin'.

 

a bazooka tube is essentially a tube-shaped screen filter that screws into a ball valve fitting. Google-fu will find one quick, I'm too lazy to look right now.

Sounds like you are splitting every batch if you so choose? That's pretty cool. And there's no reason why you can't do a stout with munich and vienna as base malts. You might get some real interesting results! I may have to try such a beast myself! Worst case is you'll have made beer, but it won't be the new sensation. That's a risk I could live with. Not all of my beers have been sensational, but I haven't made much drainpour ale yet either.

But seriously, munich + vienna + steeping grains = stout sounds like iit could be really nice. It should be malty, have character and body, and how stouty or black/used diesel it comes out would be a function of the steeping grains. Fascinating. Your ideas intrigue me, and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I've been in a quite stouty mood lately, and my oatmeal stout turned milk stout has basically satisfied the craving, but for some reason I'm thinking I want something stronger... perhaps a Yeti* of some sort is in order this week....

*a commercial great divide yeti, I'm too lazy to brew such a beast myself, at least not this week

 

I did notice that your list of equipment was lacking one specific piece that you need whether you are doing AG, PM, or Extract... Wort Chiller. $50 @ Lowes will get you all that you need to make an Immersion Chiller. You will need this before you get the larger kettle as doing a full 5 gallon boil boil with no chiller is going to be very difficult to effectively and efficiently chill. Buy Copper tubing, and a couple compression to hose fittings, coil that up, and get to chillin, chillin, ow!

 

Depends what size copper tubing and how much of it you get. You can do 25' of 3/8" for around $25. I did that, then stepped up to 50' of 1/2" when I jumped to 10 gallon batches.

 

Look to Craigslist for after Thanksgiving deals on a turkey fryer. Probably a lot cheaper than a new one from Lowes. Instead, buy the steel for a brew sculpture, or at least a stand for your new 23-tip burner:
http://www.lonestarrestaurantsupply...tore=default&gclid=CKyb-fXSiLoCFckRMwodCx8AGQ
(they also sell a propane version, if NG is not an option for you)

 

Do you aerate your wort yet?

 

Last I checked (8 months ago?) 1/2" OD copper is about a buck a foot. I have 50'. It works well. I'm not sure how 3/8" would stack up. What I do want to say is that I think the most important parts of a chiller aren't the copper or the length--it's the temp of the water. So long as you have ice and a pump, you're golden, because this 70F+ ground water just isn't cutting it in Indiana for half the year.

 

I had the same issue, especially trying to do lagers in the Summer. Got me one of these... just drop it in the bottom of a bucket of water that has 2 12"X8"X2" blue cooler ice packs dropped in it, hook this up after the beer temp is down to 90*F or so. Possible Lowes sells something like this as well?