All grain setup

[paulmaybee]

Looking for some opinions on all grain setup equip.

I'm switching from extract/grain recipes to all grain (Yippee!) and want some help with what gear I'll need.  I'd like to do 10gal batches and wonder if 15gal pot will be big enough for my mash tun and also for 10 gal at a full boil?  Or will I need to do 19 gal?

Tell me what you wish you had done when you were buying your all grain equipment!

Thanks,
Paul

[jamie_savoie]

I have a 10 gal mash tun and a 16 gal pot and I can do 12 gal batch easily

[Jake]

My 15 gallon keg will easily do 10 gallon batches as you saw over weekend.

Best bet for mash tun is a cooler with a couple simple fittings and bazooka screen IMO. Make sure you dont cheap out and get either all quick disconnects or camlocks between your vessels.

[paulmaybee]

And while we're at it, what kind of propane burner should I be looking for?

[Two Wheeler]

This guy does a hell of a job for $50. Brings 8 gal up to 150 in about 25 mins, then takes it from 150 to 212 in about 20.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/masterchef-stand-fryer-0853259p.html#.U9KJK5RdXTo

I think this is very similar to Jake's burner

[Roger]

You might want to look into going electric instead of propane. There's no fire involved, its cheeper to run, you can Brew indoors away from bugs, bird shit, leaves and shitty weather, you can brew any time any season as long as you have power. You can use either a hot water heater element inside a pot like I did or use an induction unit under the pot.
I know I'm a minority when it comes to electric brewing but it just makes more sense for me. 

[Two Wheeler]

Good point Roger... I'm going to pick your brain at a future meeting, I'm looking to go electric this winter.

Propane is a quick and easy entry point though

[pliny]

Speaking of which, @DandyMason how are you and your father making out with your induction cooktop? Happy? Powerful enough?

http://nbcba.org/forum/equipment/new-brew-set-up/msg31610/#msg31610

[ECH]

I use propane (although only doing extract/mini mash at the moment), did my first one outside, and while I got away unscathed, a friend that was helping me out got burnt to a crisp in the sun.

Next back I did it in the garage, and just left all the doors open so no propane fumes built up. Was still warm, but no direct sun, and should allow me to brew in the winter.

Was amazed when doing a mini mash with the specialty grains that I only lost about 3 degrees while waiting the 30mins or so for the grains to mash out. I am sure in the winter it would loose more.

[blisster]

I'm using a 15 gallon pot and 10 gallon mashtun as well (Igloo cylinder type cooler).

This setup works well for 10 gal batches but depending on what you are brewing, the mash tun may not be big enough.

I find 28-29 pounds of grains (and rice hulls) is about the limit my mashtun will hold so if you are planning on making a 10gal  imperial IPA or an imperial stout with a grain bill above that you may have to mash twice which makes for a very long brew day...  I'd aim for a 8-9 gal batches for those brews instead.

I started with a 9Gal pot and regretted it right away.
Not using BeerSmith from the start is another thing I would do differently.

Hope this helps 

[robcoombs]

I also use a 15gal pot and 10gal mash tun also. I'm happy with it. I use propane but as @Roger was saying electric may be something you want to look into. There's going to be 3 months through the winter that will be very difficult for me to brew. So if low (ish) budget isn't the top priority you may want to spend more now rahter than upgrade later. 

[Al-Loves-Wine]

Yeah +1 for beersmith, its well worth the money, and OBK sells the license for a great deal. I know 28lbs of grain in my gatorade cooler is pushing it hard depending on how thick/thin you prefer to mash. Larger the cooler is better there. Pretty sure @Roger can do 36lbs in his 58L keg tun, which is the perfect size for 10gal batches. He would have to verify that one though. I find my mash tun is my biggest limitation for 10 gallon batches depending on style as well.

[Roger]

Yea your right @Al-Loves-Wine I can do around 35lbs in my keg mash tun and with an insulated sleeve I don't loose a single degree.

[paulmaybee]

Thanks for all the input.  So what I'm getting here is that I should have a 15 gal mash tun, a 15 gal brew kettle and I can get away with a 10 gal pot for an HLT?  I would probably go with stainless for my mash tun and insulate it instead of a cooler...

[blisster]

The answer is always "depends"... haha

I'd go with three 15.5gal stainless sanke kegs and converting them for a HLT, mashtun, and kettle if cost/time/effort/space aren't concerns.. This will be a bit of work (if you can even find 3 of those kegs) but this setup would take a while to outgrow and you ever decide to go electric, the same equipment can be re-used.

If your goal is to make 10gal batches the easiest/cheapest way possible (like most of use on here), you would need at least a 15gal brew pot and a 10gal mashtun cooler (15 gal would be ideal) and a 10 gal HLT pot like you said.

If you ever have any questions or need to borrow anything let us know.. I'd be more than happy to have you over for a brew day or lend some equipment while you get setup for all grain (it can get expensive quite fast, the list of wants and needs never seems to end with this hobby).

Oh, by the way, another thing I would change from the start would be kegging... Washing/sanitizing bottles sucks especially for 10gal!