Brewing next steps, advice.... Kit Brewing to Brew in a Bag ?

[cropdusting]

Hi all,

Nice to meet you all. Looking for some advice but thought it would be benefical to give you a little bit of background on where I am today in terms of my brewing adventures.

Over the past three years I have been enjoying brewing various IPA kits on the market, and must say in the main they have been really good. In terms of my setup I have a plastic brew bucket, 2 corny kegs, gas cyclinders, and a home made computer controlled temp controller which lets me keep my fermenting temps within 0.25c. I have been expermenting with closed transfers between the bucket and the kegs but pretty sure my technique could do with a lot of improvement.

With the background out of the way I would love to hear peoples view on typcial next steps, and whether it is worth it. The brew in a bag all grain method seems like an interesting way to sample all grain brewing without having to build a mini brewery, but before I take the plunge and invest in a kettle I would love to know how much better all grain IPAs will be in comparision to the top of the range kits? I am not so worried about the potential savings of all grain brewing over kits, but if the taste is noticabely better then that would be a compelling reason to upgrade. In addition if this does seem like a good idea would people recommend a kettle with a heater or one that sits on the hob, or something completely different?

Thanks for taking the time to read through this,
Really appreciate your insights.

Thanks,
Dom

 

[crowcrow]

Hey Dom,

I followed a similar route to you, was very happy with the kits I made (and messed about with), but itched to try something more.

I can honestly say, other than maybe two brews that weren't great, all my all grain brews have been more pleasurable to make and drink than my kits. Are they 'better', I'm not sure, but I've been able to make some beers I really feel proud of and really enjoy drinking.

I was going to go biab, and started gathering the kit, but I found it cheaper to go for a Klarstein Maischfest - these are about £200 when on offer (go for the 35 litre, the extra room is worth it!).

These simple all in one systems are essentially brew in a bag, but they've taken some of the pains away. If you Have the cash then def look at some of the more expensive all in one systems like a Grainfather or BrewMonk, but I am really happy with mine - probably only cost me £10 a brew now I've had it a while, and I can always sell it and move up if I see the need.


Anyway, long and short - yes I think all grain is worth it, and the kit you'd need doesn't need to cost too much.


As an alternative you could always do a stovetop 4 or 5 litre all grain to start with, some great guides here. But if you already enjoy brewing, good chance you'll like AG - though get ready for the 4 to 5 hour brew days, kits are so much quicker

 

[cropdusting]

Hey Dom,

I followed a similar route to you, was very happy with the kits I made (and messed about with), but itched to try something more.

I can honestly say, other than maybe two brews that weren't great, all my all grain brews have been more pleasurable to make and drink than my kits. Are they 'better', I'm not sure, but I've been able to make some beers I really feel proud of and really enjoy drinking.

I was going to go biab, and started gathering the kit, but I found it cheaper to go for a Klarstein Maischfest - these are about £200 when on offer (go for the 35 litre, the extra room is worth it!).

These simple all in one systems are essentially brew in a bag, but they've taken some of the pains away. If you Have the cash then def look at some of the more expensive all in one systems like a Grainfather or BrewMonk, but I am really happy with mine - probably only cost me £10 a brew now I've had it a while, and I can always sell it and move up if I see the need.


Anyway, long and short - yes I think all grain is worth it, and the kit you'd need doesn't need to cost too much.


As an alternative you could always do a stovetop 4 or 5 litre all grain to start with, some great guides here. But if you already enjoy brewing, good chance you'll like AG - though get ready for the 4 to 5 hour brew days, kits are so much quicker

Thanks so much, exactly what I was looking for. Very intestered in the all in one systems you mention, will keep an eye on that and see if there is any blackfriday discounts appearing. With that system, is there anything else you would recommened or are you pretty much ready to go? Thanks again.

 

[MrRook]

I do BIAB three gallon (11.3 liters) on my kitchen gas stove that turn out great.

 

[crowcrow]

Hey Cropduster - there seems to be some black Friday offer coming on this Maischfest Mash Kettle

It has everything you need, all I've added is something to insulate with (I used towels at first - not needed but when wrapped up the heater doesn't kick in much during mash), and a jug to recirculate a bit. But I don't do that much. You'll also need something to heat the sparge in unless you do no sparge. But pretty much all ready to go.

I rate it, but the more expensive systems certainly have more bells and whistles. I just have too many hobbies so have to cut my cloth well and have been very pleased with this purchase.

 

[Big_Eight]

BIAB is a great way to go. It's all grain just a different technique. What's great about all grain is you have complete control over the recipe and the process.

It's also cheap if you want it to be. I usually brew 19L recipes doing batch sparging with a kettle and a cooler I converted to a mash tun.

I have a smaller 19L kettle and have adjusted some of my recipes down to 9.5L and ordered a brew bag. I'm looking forward to some stove top brews this winter here in the U.S.

I am also narrowing my gap on my grain mill because you can do that with biab without worrying about a stuck mash and increase your efficiency.

While all in one systems are great if you don't mind a little manual labor biab can be a cheap and effective option.

Brew on my friend.

 

[klaus]

Over the past few years I have done about 10 BIABs of various styles.
My first try was a blonde type IPA, and I was blown over by the result!
Compared to kits (and most I have brewed were great) this IPA tasted better than most IPAs I have had in pubs. So certainly something I would suggest as a next step. And it's something where you can decide how much you invest in gear/materials/ingredients and still get good results, even improve on kits.

 

[obscure]

I went the same route as many did, started with kits, moved onto stove top BIAB batches and these days have a 30L Klarstein and still do BIAB but typically 15-23L now rather Than 5-12L. All grain brewing is simpler than you might think and gives good results.

One thing I would say if you are getting a boiler take crowcrow’s advice and go for the 35 rather than 30 litre one, I can just do a 23L batch but it’s a push and I do wish I had gone for the 35L boiler.

 

[gavp1979]

I did BIAB brews in a cheap Peco boiler for years and enjoyed the manual no frills approach. The home brew company had an offer on and I am sure I got a boiler, bag, chiller and a recipe kit for my first brew for less than £100. I have recently upgraded to the new Brewzilla which does have its benefits but I honestly can't fault the no frills approach. As others have already mentioned going all grain also allows you to have a play with your own recipes which can be a lot of fun

 

[damienair]

I’ve been brewing for 2 years. All kits and like you the quality has been great. A few months ago I started doing Full Extract kits. You steep grains first in 3-4 litres of water at 68 degrees for 30 mins then pour another 3 litres over the grains in a sieve to wash out the last of the sugars. Then you put it on a boil adding hops at different times for 1 hour. Chill and add to your fermentation bucket along with 3Kg of Dry Malt Extract or LME and bring up to 23 litres.
I’ve done 3 so far and results have been brilliant. All I needed extra was a 9 litre stock pot which we had at home. I did a Citra IPA and it was the best I’ve done yet. Incredible.

 

[hop-a-long]

I started with kits with only LME. Then I went on with various Brewdog kits, which let you play around a bit with dry hopping. (See thread Bulldog, Evil Dog Double IPA ) I somehow missed the last post on that thread, but the result was definatly worthwhile, as I've repeated it a couple of timestamp.

After that I bought a Grainfather 30, that I got on sales. I recently upgraded that with micro pipework and an overflow filter, so it's easier to do small batches up to 10L.

 

[Druncan]

Like most I started with kits (the first gen boots ones if i'm honest) fast forward to Kits today - Festival Razorback and my life changed. You can then add steeped grains. TBH I do big BIAB when I have the luxury of time. Otherwise I still do a 'big type' of kit (I sell my brews) but i'm big on temp control particularly the cold side (like you) -I have also focused on getting the cold side and kegging perfected first. If you use kits you have this luxury and can play with hop flavours and understand what massive changes you can make with hops and different yeasts and my sadly obsessively documented processes.
+ Learn from your mistakes and don't make them again :tinhat: and have a beer

 

[cropdusting]

Thank you all so much, really insightful and great to hear all your views. Guess I need to keep an eye on black Fridays deals then