Seeking help prioritizing all-grain equipment list

[Travel by the Pint]

I'm making the plunge into all-grain brewing. I have some equipment already (e.g. immersion wort chiller, hydrometer), but I need to buy other items, too, and this is potentially a very expensive step.

I'd originally planned to buy two pieces of equipment with proceeds from a garage sale: a grain mill, and burner.

The grain mill I'm eyeing is the Barley Crusher with 15 lb capacity hopper. That'll run around 150 at Northern Brewer. This could technically wait because I could have the homebrew shop do it, but I forgot the last time. Pounding barley with a mallet was zero fun, and that was only a partial mash. Hate to think what a nightmare all-grain would be.

The burner is a Blichmann Floor Burner, which will run around 140. Using the burner outside will make using the wort chiller easier. Otherwise I either have to haul the steaming kettle outside, or pop the screen out of the window to get the garden hose inside.

Beyond that, it appears that I need to buy a larger brew kettle. Northern Brewer sells a 7.5 gallon pot for around 80, or I can get an 8 gallon MegaPot for 110. If I chose a MegaPot with thermometer and ball valve, that price leaps to 205, so that's a bit of a stretch for me right now. I might be able to do it, but if I did, I might have to postpone the mill or burner. On the other hand, I would rather spend the money on something that I can really use for a long time, rather than spend half the money on something to get me by that will be useless as soon as I spring for the MegaPot… In other words, is a savings of 105 now going to cost me much more later?

And then there's the cooler lauter tun. My book gives detailed directions for making this, so no problems there.

The garage sale went better than expected, so I have roughly 450 to work with.

Any thoughts on prioritization and/or the make or model of equipment I've eyeing? Am I forgetting anything?

Thanks!

-Sally

[Steve Brown]

This is the best price on a larger (11 gallon) stainless steel stockpot I've seen ($88). Don't know about quality as compared to others. Don't know what keggle conversion costs; I'll find out soon, as I have a Sanke keg.
http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-104 ... PJT3DRG37C

Amazon also has Bayou burners on for $40 to $60 depending on the model. That's lower than they have been. Seems to me that Amazon prices fluctuate randomly.

[Bill]

Hi Sally,
Glad to see you are going all grain. Welcome to the addiction

You seem to have your requirements list correct. All that really matters is what order you think you really need them. You can skip the mill if your home brew store will grind it for you. Always keep 10 gallon batches in mind when making your purchases. Moving from 5 gallon to 10 gallon batches is a pretty small step if your equipment is able to handle it already. Most people start off saying they'll never do 10 gallon batches, but sooner or later it will come up as an option.

Is a grain mill required for all grain, in my opinion, yes. I'm not going to hand-crush 15 lbs of grain, but you seem to be getting your grain from the HBS so they will crush it for you, so you could always push this one back for a while.
I have the same grain mill you listed and I love it. Though I didn't opt for the 15 lb hopper as I'm fine with having to dump grains in a few more times for the $$ saved.
I haven't heard anyone complain about their specific grain mill, so the choice is yours as they all seem to be well constructed and last a long time.

You have a good choice on a burner, but just make sure it will handle a kettle that you can boil for a 10 gallon batch if needed down the road. One thing to think about with short burners like that is that you will be using gravity to move your post-boil wort (at least I hope you will), so you will have to have it higher off the ground than your carboy/primary fermentation vessel. Cinder blocks work great and are usually available for free if you ask around.

When it comes to boil pot, you have tons of options and tons of opinions and will usually save money if you shop locally. I started out with an aluminum boil pot and it worked fine, though I got a lot of crap from the 'oxidation is an issue' crowd. Meh, read up on metallurgy and make your own decision if you go this route.
You can always try hitting a restaurant supply store and get a good deal on the pot you want. I hear there is one in N. Topeka by the Ale-n-Vino home brew store. Or you can see if you can legally get your hands on a 15.5 gallon sanke keg. Plenty of people in the club will help you get it opened up and ready to take wort. You will also need a vessel for hot water so you can sparge your mash. If you are going to batch sparge, you can probably use your old boil pot for this.

Same rule goes for your mash tun you plan on making; keep larger batches in mind when you purchase/make it. The only downfall of having a "over-sized" mash tun, in my opinion, is that you will have a larger thermal mass to heat up when doing smaller batches.

I'm pretty sure that you can make an all-grain system for your $450.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Travel by the Pint]

"Don't know what keggle conversion costs; I'll find out soon, as I have a Sanke keg."

...There are times on the forum when I wish I had a "translate" button... I am correct that you are offering a suggestion for kegging equipment? Because I'm not there yet.

In the long haul we're looking at proper kegs in a chest refrigerator feeding to a taps system - but that won't be until we're ready to renovate the existing wet bar, which is several tens of thousands of dollars down in the home repair/renovation list. A new roof, gutter system, and new porch (one that isn't heading for Clinton Lake) is way above that. No. In the interim we're testing out the pig system, which is more portable and fits in our existing refrigerator. In fact, our first batch (an IPA) using that system is ready to drink today, but I've promised the other half that I'll wait to try it out until he's back on this continent.

Thanks for the tips on the burner and kettle! It's a fine line - going for the least expensive vs going for the most versatile and long-lived. I've run both sides of this line depending on the situation and have been quite happy with most of those outcomes. With brewing and its large volumes of hot liquid, safety is also a consideration.

A bottle of that IPA sounds good about now...

[Jensen]

Most people start off saying they'll never do 10 gallon batches, but sooner or later it will come up as an option.

No truer words spoken! The boil kettle size is a very important consideration. Too big ain't an issue... Most find out pretty soon that if you are going to spend an afternoon doing an all grain batch-- just as easy to do 10.

[Travel by the Pint]

Thank you, Bill. And I did finally figure out what keggle is.

Yes, I definitely want a system that I can grown into, and that will suit my purposes for years down the road. That's why I sprang for the starter kit with the wort chiller and hydrometer, and I'm glad I did. I also think that once I make this particular set of purchases that the expenses the rest of the year will be spread out and smaller (translation: less painful).

The IPA turned out quite nicely, btw. When Mike returns we'll do a batch of blood orange hefe, which I believe is a partial mash. But by the end of April we'll be doing a blueberry ale. That'll be our first all-grain. Not a huge fan of fruit beers. Choking down a case of Pyramid Apricot that we bought because we thought it wasted delicious when we ran it across it in our travels - pretty much put the brakes on fruit. But an occasional fruit beer using the right recipe and ingredients is definitely something to look forward to.

[Joe Yoder]

"because we thought it wasted delicious when we ran it across it in our travels"
I think I might have found the problem with your beer selection!
joe

[Travel by the Pint]

Heh! Perhaps...

[Rob Martin]

As far as mills go, I like our Barley Crusher. I think the extra $ for the 15 lb hopper vs the 7 lb hopper could be better used elsewhere, especially if you brew with a friend. We have the 7 lb hopper and mill 20-30 lbs at a time without a problem (as long as you have a helper).

There are a few members in the guild that will let you use their mill if you can't afford one immediately. When we jumped from 5 to 10 gal batches, I waited about 6 batches before buying a mill. Eventually you will want your own, but if money is tight and you need to wait to save for it, borrowing a mill is an option as long as the welcome isn't over-extended.

Keggles are nice. A good brew pot (keggle or stock pot) and mash tun is absolutely essential. Plan on getting one that is a minimum of 10 gal, 15 is better and will last you a lot longer.

[JMcG]

I started with a Bayou classic, but they are quite thin on the bottom and I would advise getting a heavy bottom kettle to start or you'll end up (like me) with a kettle you won't use very much. Found a good deal on kettles at Kitchenfantasy.com. If you like you can use my old "Bayou" to start out.
jim

[Travel by the Pint]

Thank you, Rob.
I've changed my mind dozens of times over the past few days, and the only end in sight was placing the order.
Here's what I ended with:
Blichmann Floor Burner. I'd almost traded down for the low profile banjo, but in the end returned to the floor burner because it has the option in the future of adding legs, or bolting it to a Top Tier Stand. The legs are currently out of stock, but I'm planning to get those this summer as well. With the legs I'll be able to gravity-flow the wort into the carboy.
Barley Crusher with 7 lb hopper. This is out of stock right now, but should be in within a few weeks, and I'll place my order at that time.
With the brew pot, I changed directions entirely and opted for the 44-quart Bayou Classic. (Sorry Jim - I'd already ordered by the time you piped in) I agree that I probably won't use this more than a half dozen times, but I really want a MegaPot, and I've noticed that there isn't much of a price difference between the smallest size and largest. So instead of ordering an expensive pot that I'll probably outgrow within a year, I'm buying a cheap pot with the knowledge that I'll ultimately want to invest in a larger MegaPot than I would have bought if I'd done so today. (The MegaPot version I'm planning to order has a ball valve and built-in thermometer. - Cool!)
That just leaves the lauter tun, but I know I can pick up the parts easily. And depending on my work schedule, might be able to start on it this weekend. I haven't been to the hardware store in about 48 hours. I think they're starting to miss me...

Thank you for everyone's feedback!

[cyburai]

If you are doing Propane burners, I would get the Bayou Classic SQ14. You can find them on amazon for about 50 bux each. I've used mine for 4 years and loved them.

[Travel by the Pint]

Thank you, Sean.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever decide to order a second burner. I can see where having two going at once would be convenient. Down the road, of course. Baby steps.

-Sally