moving from extract to Grain

[shin]

Hi all, I've been lurking on these forums for some time, and forgive me as I know this will have already been posted but there is just so much information on here I thought I would start my own post.

I've got a few brews under my belt, and although I've enjoyed them and the simplicity that comes with Extract kits, I've found the beers I've made lacking.

as such I think it's time I looked at moving to a grain setup where I can really take control of the brewing process, but I wanted to find the simplest, cheapest equipment I'd need to do it.

my current setup is pretty basic:
a 7.2l Stock pot which occasionally sees use for cooking (probably about 3 times a year) that came with the rest of my pans, I have an induction hob so not forked out for a separate one.
25L fermenter which I shyphon into a bottling bucket which has a tap, sediment trap and bottling wand attached.

my question is really what do people think is the easiest and cheapest equipment for me to transition to Grain brewing?

thanks in advance

 

[keat64]

Buy a very cheap cooler box to use as a mash tun. This time of year they can be had cheaply.
Knock up a manifold with a tap.
The whole mash tun/manifold setup should set you back about £20 max.

If you're doing extract already, and you feel that your pan is large enough, then you have eveyrything you need.
Although a 7.2L stock pan is only any good for a 1 gallon brew, with the amount of time and effort involved in a grain brew, i personally wouldn't bother with 1 gallon.
You could do multiple boiling sessions, but each one could take an hour. ( I do have a theroty though... I'll post a fresh thread)
In which case you'll need a bigger boiling device.

An electric boiler can be had for about £80- £150 new or £50-£60 used.

 

[Dads_Ale]

If you fancy a bit of DIY then the following is a good way to get a cheap boiler.

If you fancy a bit of DIY then you could get one of these:
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/...l#.Vo6eWI_XK7Q
and add the following:
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/...l#.Vo6eqY_XK7Q
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/...l#.Vo6fHY_XK7Q
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1112095445...:MEBIDX:IT
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/...l#.Vo6gto_XK7Q
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/...l#.Vo6g2o_XK7Q

Think that lot comes to about ���£57 (not inc. any p&p) and you just have to drill a couple of holes. I used this type of set up for about 30 brews before upgrading to a bigger S/S boiler

 

[Kman]

Have you looked at the biab kit Brewers upgrade on geterbrewed? I'm thinking of taking the plunge this year an think this is the way to go for me

 

[Spapro]

A lot of us on here moved to all grain with this BIAB kit from The Home Brew Company - you can use the forum 5% discount code.

You get the boiler, a nice grain bag and copper wort chiller and a free BIAB mashkit - you choose the kit you want:

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk...iler-chiller-mashing-bag-mash-kit-p-2507.html

Great value at �£80 less the forum discount.

Worth emailing Shane at HBC and asking about a hop strainer (pushes into the back of the tap on the boiler) suspect you can add one but can;t find the hop strainer as a seperate itemm on their site.

 

[shin]

some great replies here guys! thanks very much. I look into them all in more detail before I make the jump!

 

[shin]

I'll also have to figure out how the hell I'm going to attach a wort chiller to my swanky kitchen tap :P

 

[cheapbrew]

Yes I have the same problem, a mixer tap with a square end on it and trying to fit a round rubber hose connector, I have to drape a dishcloth over the top to stop it spraying everywhere.

 

[Kman]

View attachment ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453806084.497842.jpg maybe something like this

 

[Spapro]

Just thinking out loud, can you rig up using the syphon approach:
water bath in kitchen sink, kept topped up with runnig tap water (adding coolbox style frozen ice packs to chill the water)
hose from water in sink to wort cooler inlet (would have to be lower than sink)
hose from wort cooler outllet, out the door into a the garden/sink etc.

quick suck on the hose end in the garden should get the water moving (the water in the cooler will be very hot careful not to burn lips).

Not done it, but it should work, could get messy if a hoze moves or the sink overflows so would have to keep an eye on things while its running to avoid a catastrophe !

 

[Cwrw666]

Hi all, I've been lurking on these forums for some time, and forgive me as I know this will have already been posted but there is just so much information on here I thought I would start my own post.

I've got a few brews under my belt, and although I've enjoyed them and the simplicity that comes with Extract kits, I've found the beers I've made lacking.

as such I think it's time I looked at moving to a grain setup where I can really take control of the brewing process, but I wanted to find the simplest, cheapest equipment I'd need to do it.

my current setup is pretty basic:
a 7.2l Stock pot which occasionally sees use for cooking (probably about 3 times a year) that came with the rest of my pans, I have an induction hob so not forked out for a separate one.
25L fermenter which I shyphon into a bottling bucket which has a tap, sediment trap and bottling wand attached.

my question is really what do people think is the easiest and cheapest equipment for me to transition to Grain brewing?

thanks in advance

If you're happy making small batches using your existing pan then the only additional `equipment' you really need is a BIAB bag. Mash in your pan after bringing it up to temperature with the grains in the BIAB bag - then lift it out and drain/squeeze out the wort. Boil the wort with the hop additions then put it hot into your FV and let it cool naturally to pitching temperature. Lots of people on this forum don't bother with chilling the wort. the only benefit of chilling is that you get slightly less hazy beer. Who cares?

 

[keat64]

I'll also have to figure out how the hell I'm going to attach a wort chiller to my swanky kitchen tap :P

I have a hot tub, and when in a rush we might partially fill it with hot water, which can be difficult as my outside tap is cold only.
To overcome this I modified my bath tap.
I removed the sparkler from the chrome faucet, then modified a screw in hose lock connector to fill the void where the sparkler came from.
Basically, I ground the threads away until it fit inside the faucet ring.
Now when i want to fill the hot tub, i just fit the hose lock connected inside the faucet and fix the faucet back on the tap.

Works a treat