All grain newbie

[Dsherratt]

Hi all. I've been brewing from kits for a couple of years and I'm thinking of moving to AG brewing. I'm trying to keep costs down but is it a good idea to do a course like the AG brewday or is it easy enough to learn from books and youtube? Any advice much appreciated.

 

[ManseMasher]

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779

Have a look at this. Good way to start.

 

[CreweBrewer]

Have a look at this thread. It's how I got into AG.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779

 

[CreweBrewer]

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779

Have a look at this. Good way to start.

Great minds, haha!

 

[ManseMasher]

Great minds, haha!

Or fools never.....!!

 

[Dads_Ale]

Hi and welcome
The cost of all grain brewing depends a lot on how good you are at DIY. You can make a lot of the kit such as mash tuns and boilers quite cheaply by converting other kit such as plastic FVs. Or you can jump straight in and buy a Grainfather.
It not actually that complicated but is time consuming, I started by reading the original Graham Wheeler book about 20 years ago and it all went pretty well. I am still using my original mash tun made out of a 25l FV. I think the key is to start simple until you get used to your equipment.

Good luck :smile:

 

[Dsherratt]

Hi all. Thanks for the advice. The five litre recipe in the link sounds really straightforward so I think I'll give it a go. I've got Graham Wheeler's book as well and it puts the brewing process across quite simply.

 

[baggybill]

Don't waste your money on a course if you feel you can follow the simple instructions on the posts linked above. Worked for me, started with a 10L brew (couple of demijohns), now doing full 23L's, grinding my own grain etc. Can be hard work but boy, the results are sooooooo worth it :drink:

 

[HarrowBrewer]

You really don't need much kit. I've got a 15 litre saucepan that I mash and boil in, and another second-hand preserving pan that I batch sparge in. That and a bag to mash the grains in is my basic set-up and I've managed to make a lot of very decent 10 litre batches.

 

[LarryF]

I upgraded from kits to AG BIAB, it cost me £26 in equipment as I already have the equipment to brew kits. I bought a 21L pot with bag thrown in from one of the members on here (I missed the wort chiller though) and that's all I needed, I had everything else around the house. When it comes to brewing, necessity is definitely the mother of invention.

 

[m_rawdin]

I started out with Malt extract kits and decided I wanted to get into AG. I kinda did mine the expensive way though and bought a stainless steel 100 litre kit. There's loads of advice and help out there (and on here too) along with websites and books you can buy. I'm only a beginner in AG brewing but it's kind of exciting to be learning something new. Luckily I know someone who is very knowledgeable and he has built kits for a couple of the micro breweries near me.

 

[andyh]

Hi all, gonna have a go at this, done loads of kits but never from grain. Somewhere it says look at this video but I can't find anything, does anyone have any links please:)

Just bought a 19l pot to do it in £37:twisted: