Hey y'all, long time lurker, short-term poster. I'm looking for some advice regarding my brew set up. Quick little back story, been partial mash brewing for a bit now in my apartment. Due to space limitations and an older electric stove, I'm not able to boil more than three and a half gallons right now and won't be able to upgrade that until a move happens, which at the earliest would be winter 2018. No worries though, I've been having good luck with partial mash. My set up included two five-gallon pots. I do the mash in one, usually 6lbs grain. Heat the strike water etc etc; preheat the oven to the lowest setting, cut it off, put the pot in there with the lid on and let it hang out for an hour. I've had good luck with it, temperature remains stable enough and I'm usually hitting 80% efficiency. I had been borrowing one of those pots and had to return it to the original owner, so now I need to get something of my own to keep brewing. I'm torn between sticking to this method or investing in some sort of cooler or another mash tun. So, thoughts on what I should get? Cheaper is better, money's tight seeing as I am finishing up my career as a student (September graduation come on!). I typically brew 5.5 gallon batches (to yield 5 gallons into bottles). I would also like to do some 3-gallon all grain batches as well soon. Thanks!
If your current method is producing beer you enjoy drinking maybe just going that same route is the appropriate way to go. Buy another 5 gallon (20 quart) pot. If you shop via Craig's list (or some other used stuff site) you should be able to get another pot real cheap. Here is new one via Target for 21 bucks: https://www.target.com/p/imusa-tamale-47-seafood-steamer-45-aluminum-40-20-qt-46-41/-/A-10827023 Cheers! P.S. When I started brewing over 20 years ago I bought a 16 quart pot from a retail chain store called Best (now out of business); I paid less that 20 bucks for hat pot. That was my one and only brewpot for over a decade. I have since upgraded but I still use that 16 quart pot from time to time: it is my partial mash pot that I place in my oven for mashing. Cheers!
If you could get an 8 gallon or larger pot, I think that would be the best option so you will be ready to do full boils when you move and will be able to use propane. And in the mean time you can still do small volumes in it like you have been. For space saving purposes, I bet the 5 gallon could fit in the larger pot. keep an eye on craigs list, also home brew talk has a buy/sell section in their forum. Otherwise, a 5 gallon pot from imusa, or bayou classic would be pretty cheap. This guy is pretty cheap, and adventures in home brewing has reward points.
3 gal. cooler mash tun would be preferable to the oven/hang out method (especially this time of year), imho Too bad you didn't post this earlier as I just gave away 2 I had that were gathering dust.
Thanks for the tips, very much appreciated. I'll have to start looking around for some good prices on a nice sized pot. My mom has a membership to Restaurant Depot (wholesale restaurant supply store), so I may check it out there. The 8-gallon pot is a good idea because that would be one less piece of equipment I'd need to buy down the road. Any reason you suggest the cooler over the pot? Back before I borrowed the other 5-gallon stock pot that is what I was looking into. What kind of cooler did you use?
Are you doing BIAB? I've had 7.5 lbs of grain in a mash in a 5 gallon kettle for a 2.5 gallon batch and had no issues, losing only a degree during mash as the kettle sat on hot pads and wrapped in a 10 year old ski jacket - no oven involved. Hit 78% brewhouse efficiency that round, my best ever. Depending on the style and ABV of the beer you're looking to brew, this could be an option with a single kettle. You can also brew smaller, higher gravity worts and then dilute using sanitary water to reach your desired OG (Beersmith has a Dilution Tool). Haven't done this myself, but plan to soon for a big stout (still working on that recipe, as it will likely require sparging anyway). Fair warning -- everything I've read indicates you should up your hops when diluting by 15-20%, usually around 18%, to account for the lower hop utilization caused by the small boil volume/increased sugar (I've yet to read enough, or glossed over the part that would help me, to understand exactly why so someone please enlighten me).
Well, I was browsing the internet for deals this morning and for some reason my local Lowe's had a brand new 5-gallon Igloo beverage cooler marked down 75% to $6 and some change. So, I picked that up and plan to convert to a mash tun (hope I won't experience too much heat loss, but a quick Google search reassured me). Now, time to research how to convert this guy...
