hello all, i've been brewing for a year now, and i'm ready to add on to my current setup. i've been doing partial mash biab for the last few batches (which works but is a pain in the ass), and boiling about 3 gallons of wort, then cooling in an ice bath (also a pain in the ass), then topping off in my primary bucket to 5 gallons. i know the biggest issues for newer brewers is fermentation temp control and boil volume, so i'm looking to make a few upgrades to my setup this summer. right now the plan is to get a 10 gallon kettle and an immersion chiller. without spending a whole lot (just graduated college and am still unemployed for the time being), i'm looking to get the most important things that will provide the biggest improvement. should i get anything else for the time being? is it really necessary to get a cooler, or would i be fine doing ag biab for now? is there anything i could get to help out with fermentation temp? thanks a bunch.
Get a 50 ft counterfow chiller, a digital phmeter and not be too worried about a 10 gals kettle.It is better to do a good 5 gals batch instead a mediocre 10 gals batch
10 gal might be over kill, 6 or 7 should work just fine. i would say a wort chiller is a good investment, if you are handy you can make one for about 40 bux with parts from your local hard wear store. i bought a huge fine mesh strainer a few years ago and it has been really helpful with doing stove top partial and all grain batches. plus i have gotten a few large volume cambros from a restaurant supply store and they are helpful for measuring large volumes. if you dont have a scale that comes in handy as well. if i was you i would figure out what your homebrewing goals are for the next year, and work from that. because even though chilling in a ice bath is a hassle, it is cheap and you could use the money saved for a larger pot and a mash tun.
I would just go ahead and get a 10 gallon kettle and an immersion chiller. If you go with an aluminum kettle you should be able to get both for around $100 or so. I fussed with a 7.5 gallon kettle for way too long before I gave in and upgraded. It just wasn't practical to do full boils in.
Method to make starters would be my #1. Cheap, simple, and pitching enough yeast turns ok batches into great batches. Its also cheap. Kettle for full wort boils would be #2. 7 gallons minimum, preferably 8. Need the space to compensate for boil overs and boil off. 6 is too small, 7 is minimal. You also need to remember you need a method to boil that much volume, if its a stove, turkey fryer, or banjo burner. Then a wort chiller. An immersion will be cheapest and work just fine. I prefer them over counterflows. After that you step up to a mash tun. convert a cooler, it won't be too expensive, but there is no point in having one unless you did everything before this.
In my opinion controlling fermentation temperature is far more important than anything you do on the hot-side of brewing. Also, it is cheap. I use one of those 60qt Ice-cube coolers (about $30) and cut a hole in the lid so the neck of the fermenter can stick through. I put the fermenter inside, fill the cooler with water, and make an ice bath using 20oz soda bottles. For fermentation temps in the mid-60s this only requires me to two or three 20oz ice bottles in the water bath per day. Extremely simple, cheap, and effective. I do the same thing for lagers, only with more ice.
i've been making starters in a growler, which has worked well for me so far. of course, i could go for a plate stirrer and a flask but that doesnt seem as necessary right now as a bigger boil kettle or something to control temp.
oddNotion, you are correct about size.... i forget that 5.5 is sorta the norm batch size, i typically do 4 to 4.25 gallon batches these days, and the 6 gallon pot i have works just fine. im sure if i ever had to money to upgrade i would. the only drawback to having a 10 gal pot would be that you would need a more powerful source of heat to get boils. part of the reason i am doing 4 gal batches is that i can still manage to do them all on my electric stove top.
i have an induction stove top, but i've heard it works with stainless steel kettles. i found a 10 gallon one on northernbrewer, so i'm assuming it would work? if not, i'd be fine getting a burner.
The 10 gallon Polarware or MegaPot kettles on NB are both good kettles (I have one of each, plus some keggles and 26 gallon PolarWares). Just an FYI, the PolarWare kettles are much taller and narrower than the MegaPots, so if you plan on going all grain in the future, it might make sense to have one of each to have the correct geometry for your mash tun (MegaPot is wider and less prone to grain compaction than the Polarware). I'd also say go with an immersion chiller. I really don't like plate chillers or counterflow chillers, for several reasons, but the biggest two are that all the trub ends up in your fermenter (Unless you recirc w/ a pump and whirlpool) and they can be a bit of a pain in the ass to clean.
Gotcha, when I was doing 3 gallon batches the 7.5 gallon was more than big enough. I use my stovetop for my 10 gallon pot but do agree that the boil is a little weaker (I am lucky in that my stove top is a gas range so I am provided a little more power). I also put the pot over two burners to get the extra heat that I need.
