66 replies to this topic

[Deerslyr]

Cool. This guy has a great basic tutorial for all grain brewing. You can use any cooler with a drain port without any major modification and some basic parts. If you only have one pot, collect your runnings in buckets instead of the boil kettle. This way you can still heat the sparge water.

A cheap 5 gallon aluminum pot for about $20 is all he may need to heat all of his sparge water (unless he does a double batch). I just use the 5 gallon pot that came with the turkey fryer.

[davelew]

I do 5 or 6 gallon AG batches, and have no desire to move up to 10 gallons. I already brew more beer than I can drink.My brewday is usually about 6 hours, and that includes a trip to the homebrew shop to buy extra ingredients, grinding the grain myself, setting everything up, and putting it away afterwards.

[Mynameisluka]

A cheap 5 gallon aluminum pot for about $20 is all he may need to heat all of his sparge water (unless he does a double batch). I just use the 5 gallon pot that came with the turkey fryer.

i'm in business as far as that goes...i didn't even think about that.

[Deerslyr]

lol...you'll like my chilling method (but it works fairly well). i have a very large aluminum washtub. i put the kettle in it and fill it with water until the kettle barely floats...i spin it to get a whirlpool and keep it spinning until the water in the washtub gets warm. about 5 minutes. i then take the kettle out, dump the water, put the kettle back in, fill washtub with ice, then fill with water until it floats again. i spin the kettle, wait until the water gets warm again. then i repeat the ice/water combo one more time. i can cool 5 gallons in about 25-30 mins like this.but, having said that, i will invest in some sort of cooling system soon. i have looked at plate chillers, but for various reasons, i don't think i'm going to take that route...first, it seems like it would get clogged easily, and second, it seems like the cold break would happen in the fermenter rather than in the kettle. i would prefer to have that happen in the kettle. i will probably end up with an ic.

That is quite the method. I'd hate to be lifting all that weight, especially when "near boiling". Your muscles will thank you when you move to an Immersion Chiller.

[Mynameisluka]

That is quite the method. I'd hate to be lifting all that weight, especially when "near boiling". Your muscles will thank you when you move to an Immersion Chiller.

yeah...i agree...the crappy part is all of this tends to happen on the garage floor, so my back is screaming at me by the time i am done...especially if i do 2 batches back to back (pun intended).

[chadm75]

Kinda sh!tty thing to say. All Grain or extract, brewers can develop their own recipes. Good sanitation practices and controlling fermentation temps are at least as important to making good beer as going to all grain.

I'm not saying extract brewers don't make good beer because I've had and made great extract beers so maybe that was a tad harsh. Sorry Chris!

[Mynameisluka]

so...if i start out ag brewing 5 gal batches, all i really need right now is the mash tun.if i decide to move to 10 gal batches, all i would need to add at that point would be a larger kettle, which i would probably achieve by making a keggle...right?i would probably try to move to 10 gal batches fairly quickly. i tend to be very consistent with my beer taste...blonde ales and stouts. so, i would want to brew large batches of those...this would also be nice for perfecting recipes, because i could then more easily expirement with yeasts, dry hopping, fermentation temps, etc. then, for experimenting with other styles of beer, i would do 5 gallon batches, which i would already have a setup for.

[Mynameisluka]

I'm not saying extract brewers don't make good beer because I've had and made great extract beers so maybe that was a tad harsh. Sorry Chris!

ahh, man...it's all good. i agree with your overall premise. extract brewing is a lot like making brownies out of the box.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

so...if i start out ag brewing 5 gal batches, all i really need right now is the mash tun.if i decide to move to 10 gal batches, all i would need to add at that point would be a larger kettle, which i would probably achieve by making a keggle...right?i would probably try to move to 10 gal batches fairly quickly. i tend to be very consistent with my beer taste...blonde ales and stouts. so, i would want to brew large batches of those...this would also be nice for perfecting recipes, because i could then more easily expirement with yeasts, dry hopping, fermentation temps, etc. then, for experimenting with other styles of beer, i would do 5 gallon batches, which i would already have a setup for.

5 gallon cooler = 5 gallon batch <1.06010 gallon cooler = any 5 gallon batch or 10 gallon batch <1.06060 quart cooler = 10 gallon batch <1.100 (but not great for 5 gallon batches due to head space/temp loss.

[Mynameisluka]

5 gallon cooler = 5 gallon batch <1.06010 gallon cooler = any 5 gallon batch or 10 gallon batch <1.06060 quart cooler = 10 gallon batch <1.100 (but not great for 5 gallon batches due to head space/temp loss.

<1.060 referring to original gravity?

[Deerslyr]

<1.060 referring to original gravity?

Yes. I have a 48 Quart (12 gallons) cooler which is in line with the 10 gallon line he has in the post. If I do a 10 gallon batch, I'm pretty much maxing out the tun. I have maybe an inch or so clearance.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

<1.060 referring to original gravity?

Yep. You can always cheat it a bit with a thick mash or add dme to the boil for bigger beers.

[Mynameisluka]

Yep. You can always cheat it a bit with a thick mash or add dme to the boil for bigger beers.

will a thick mash affect efficiency? i would assume that to be the case. dme? i thought the whole point of ag was to get away from extract?

[BrewerGeorge]

...but, having said that, i will invest in some sort of cooling system soon. i have looked at plate chillers, but for various reasons, i don't think i'm going to take that route...first, it seems like it would get clogged easily, and second, it seems like the cold break would happen in the fermenter rather than in the kettle. i would prefer to have that happen in the kettle. i will probably end up with an ic.

That is quite the method. I'd hate to be lifting all that weight, especially when "near boiling". Your muscles will thank you when you move to an Immersion Chiller.

Yeah, you will definitely want some kind of more conventional chilling method - especially if you want to move to 10 gallons. Personally, lifting water is the thing I hated most about brewing (after bottling, which I abandoned almost immediately). I've built my setup so I don't ever have to lift anything except the mash tun with spent grains to clean it. It makes brew days, and the day after, MUCH more enjoyable.

5 gallon cooler = 5 gallon batch <1.06010 gallon cooler = any 5 gallon batch or 10 gallon batch <1.06060 quart cooler = 10 gallon batch <1.100 (but not great for 5 gallon batches due to head space/temp loss.

I agree with your listed sizes, but only for fly spargers. You need more space if you want to batch sparge with a single sparge.I formulate recipes for 6 gallons left in the kettle after cooling. With losses, that gets me a full keg. I can make 111 gal batches, and I do about twice or three times a year, but I rarely want that much of one style around.IMO, there are two reasons to switch: price and quality. Buying AG kits doesn't save you much, but buying grains and hops in bulk and reusing yeast can bring 5gal batches easily down into the $10 range. Quality is generally better unless you can always ensure you get the very freshest extract.

[Mynameisluka]

I agree with your listed sizes, but only for fly spargers. You need more space if you want to batch sparge with a single sparge.

can you elaborate a little more? what size cooler would you suggest for batch sparging 5 or 10 gallon batches? is there a cooler that will work well for both?

[Deerslyr]

I agree with your listed sizes, but only for fly spargers. You need more space if you want to batch sparge with a single sparge.

As noted in the Super High Efficiencythread, I used to split my batch sparging in half. I believe it helped me with some really good (85%) efficiencies.

[Deerslyr]

can you elaborate a little more? what size cooler would you suggest for batch sparging 5 or 10 gallon batches? is there a cooler that will work well for both?

You need at least a 48 Qt Cooler or larger. Let's put this in a bit of perspective. When I brew a 5 gallon batch that would have a gravity of around 1.055, I will start with about 12 pounds of grain and add about 3 gallons of water for the strike. In my 48 quart cooler, there is plenty of room. I think I can go up to about 22 pounds of grain and 5 gallons of water, but as previously indicated, that would be maxing out the system.

[Mynameisluka]

You need at least a 48 Qt Cooler or larger. Let's put this in a bit of perspective. When I brew a 5 gallon batch that would have a gravity of around 1.055, I will start with about 12 pounds of grain and add about 3 gallons of water for the strike. In my 48 quart cooler, there is plenty of room. I think I can go up to about 22 pounds of grain and 5 gallons of water, but as previously indicated, that would be maxing out the system.

aight...so, it looks like the first thing i need to do is figure out if i want to batch sparge or fly sparge. i will do some reading and figure that out tonight. i kind of understand the difference, but not really. from there, i will figure out a cooler size that will work for both a 5 gal and 10 gal batch.

[MtnBrewer]

aight...so, it looks like the first thing i need to do is figure out if i want to batch sparge or fly sparge. i will do some reading and figure that out tonight. i kind of understand the difference, but not really. from there, i will figure out a cooler size that will work for both a 5 gal and 10 gal batch.

Just go grab a 48 qt. Ice Cube or similar. I think you can do anything you want to do with that cooler.

[Deerslyr]

aight...so, it looks like the first thing i need to do is figure out if i want to batch sparge or fly sparge. i will do some reading and figure that out tonight. i kind of understand the difference, but not really. from there, i will figure out a cooler size that will work for both a 5 gal and 10 gal batch.

Start with batch sparge. You can always start with a simple braided hose to figure out how it all works and then build a manifold. Or, you can do like I did and build a manifold right off the get go and be able to do both batch sparging and fly sparging. I would say that I utilize a pump and a float switch to automate my fly sparging... otherwise I would just do batch sparging. A popular setup these days is the "Cube" cooler. Do a little searching in the forum here and you will find a few discussions. I lost my instructions on how to convert my 48 Quart cooler, otherwise I'd forward them to you. And I don't know where I found them on the net... but they were great instructions.