What makes it all-in-one?

[jezbrews]

From what I can tell, with (the majority of, at least) all-in-ones you still need a separate hot water tank and FV, so it's just mash to boil, which is only a part of the process. I'm not trying to be simplistic or flippant here, I'm just confused as to what makes something like the grainfather "all-in-one" with an eye watering price tag and you still need other equipment? I feel the only difference in process from a three tier is that you mash and boil in the same space, but that's it.

 

[NormanHurst]

You are right, of course. It's not "all" in one. That would conceivably be a machine that dud everything from crushing grain to dispensing finished beer.

It's more accurately a 2 in 1 mash tun and kettle.

Advantages?
* Less faff moving hot wort around
* Reduced risk of hot side aeration (should you care about it)
* Speeds up brew day - fewer processes, fewer pieces of kit to clean
* V good mash temperature control (versus say a converted cool box mash tun)

Does it make better beer? Not necessarily. Shiny kit won't make a bad brewer a good one.

Is it worth it? Your call. I recently bought a system after doing 30- odd brews on a small scale, home made, 3 tier system. I wouldn't go back as it just makes the brew day simpler, more enjoyable and easier to control and clean up.

 

[jezbrews]

Thank you. That's fair, I just expected an all in one to go from HLT to FV. An in-built maltster and keg might be a bit much anyway, but I was really thinking what was needed on the brew day.

With this in mind, if I went for, say, the Brew Monk 30L, what extra kit is essential and what is good to keep in mind for future?

 

[foxy]

Thank you. That's fair, I just expected an all in one to go from HLT to FV. An in-built maltster and keg might be a bit much anyway, but I was really thinking what was needed on the brew day.

With this in mind, if I went for, say, the Brew Monk 30L, what extra kit is essential and what is good to keep in mind for future?

All in one refers to hot side of brewing, the mash and the boil. A fermenter is the cold side, so, if you went for a Brew Monk which is a very good unit you will just need a fermenting vessel. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, I fermented for years with a HDPE vessel and cling wrap over the top. Pretty much like open fermentation with a get out of jail card.

 

[Dutto]

….., I fermented for years with a HDPE vessel and cling wrap over the top. …..

I did the same …

… right up until a carrying handle broke off and 23 litres of fermented brew went down the cracks in the shed floor …

… then I bought a proper Fermenting Vessel!

However, I still check the handles before EVERY brew!

 

[jezbrews]

All in one refers to hot side of brewing, the mash and the boil. A fermenter is the cold side, so, if you went for a Brew Monk which is a very good unit you will just need a fermenting vessel. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, I fermented for years with a HDPE vessel and cling wrap over the top. Pretty much like open fermentation with a get out of jail card.

View attachment 73978

Thanks! This will save me a penny to save up for a SS FV eventually.

 

[jezbrews]

I did the same …

… right up until a carrying handle broke off and 23 litres of fermented brew went down the cracks in the shed floor …

… then I bought a proper Fermenting Vessel!

However, I still check the handles before EVERY brew!

Ooo I felt that, that must have been soul crushing. What FV did you get?

 

[foxy]

Ooo I felt that, that must have been soul crushing. What FV did you get?

It wasn't an Australian one obviously

 

[Dutto]

Ooo I felt that, that must have been soul crushing. What FV did you get?

Cheapest available from Wilko. It got scratched over the years and now acts as a plant-pot for my chillies!

It has been replaced by an el-cheapo from The Range!

BTW, great questions that I wished I had asked!

 

[Dutto]

It wasn't an Australian one obviously

Nope! It was a dust-bin!

Just one that didn’t manage to cope with the weight of 23 litres of beer when I went to lift it up, to syphon the brew into bottles!

 

[foxy]

Nope! It was a dust-bin!

Just one that didn’t manage to cope with the weight of 23 litres of beer when I went to lift it up, to syphon the brew into bottles!

To be truthful Dutto I am always anxious carrying my bottling bucket down the yard with the thin handle thinking it is going to go at any minute but it hasn't let me down yet. My fermenters are the Apollo with the PET handles built in, same thing with them, I think how can these skinny handle handle all that weight.

 

[Pennine]

I believe the brewzilla and anvil foundry models are technically an all in one and you can ferment in them. You can also get away with cool sparging if you want or just go full volume mash.

But why would you want your brewer tied up for weeks as a FV?

 

[foxy]

https://brewhaequipment.com/blogs/h...ha-biac-10-gallons-of-saison-in-under-5-hours

 

[jezbrews]

I believe the brewzilla and anvil foundry models are technically an all in one and you can ferment in them. You can also get away with cool sparging if you want or just go full volume mash.

But why would you want your brewer tied up for weeks as a FV?

Fair point!

 

[jezbrews]

https://brewhaequipment.com/blogs/h...ha-biac-10-gallons-of-saison-in-under-5-hours

I'll have a look at this video later, thank you.

 

[WHISKYWILL]

All in one refers to hot side of brewing, the mash and the boil. A fermenter is the cold side, so, if you went for a Brew Monk which is a very good unit you will just need a fermenting vessel. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, I fermented for years with a HDPE vessel and cling wrap over the top. Pretty much like open fermentation with a get out of jail card.

You will also need a hot liquor tank or other means to heat the sparge water.

 

[foxy]

You will also need a hot liquor tank or other means to heat the sparge water.

What sparge? Cut out the sparge and save some time on brew day, as well as power.

 

[jezbrews]

I listened to the Brulosophy podcast episode on that, really interesting. It just requires that the brew is much smaller than the max volume to ensure a well dissolved liquor.

 

[hoppyscotty]

The only real benefits of all in one systems are cost, convenience and space saving. They really are a game changer for home brewers and makes it really easy for them to get into the hobby and especially get into all grain brewing. Though having just got my 3v system built up and running an all in one brew day is no quicker than a 3v brewday. You're still doing the main process in sequence and that is where the time is taken and you can be cleaning up doing the dead time of the mash and boil processes so no real time saving.

Sparging doesn't really take that long with an all in one. Firstly you're only sparging a relatively small volume - around 6 - 10 litres for a 20ish litre batch, and because you can't control the speed of sparge as it just flows through the grist under gravity its usually done and dusted in 20 minutes or less. I've had a few that went on longer if the grist was particularly thick or gummy, but usually the sparge water just flows through pretty quickly. I'm getting much better efficiency from the 3v system as I can slow the sparge down and extract more sugars...if efficiency is something that is important to you...it doesn't really matter for home brewers at our scale - a few extra quid on more grain to make up lower efficiency is no big deal, but its nice to have good efficiency if nothing other than to know you've got a really efficient process - and for bragging rights down the local home-brew club of course .

 

[foxy]

The only thing about efficiency which I aim for is a consistent efficiency, always between 60 and 64% depending on the mash regime. Probably one of the lowest in my brew club but it gets me more accolades. As mentioned efficiency is more important to the pro's and their profit margins.