OMG the freshness of grain

[Tanya]

Great thanks.

What mashing equipment would you recommend? I don't want to spend too much cash but I also don't want the cheapest thing going.

What do most people use?

 

[A T]

I think we're 50/50 between coolbox mash tuns and Nordic Optical thermoboxes. It all depends on how much you want to spend You could buy a coolbox for as little as a tenner probably and fit it with a tap and manifold if you were comfortable in your diy skills. Another alternative would be to ask on the forum if anybody is parting with one because with all the upgrading going on surely some brewers must have them lying around

 

[Tanya]

Thanks AT

Are the boiler/mash tun combo's any good? I have seen a couple on the internet from about £65 and would appear to be able to mash and boil in one vessel? or is it better to buy 2 seperately?

Also do I need a chiller?

Sorry for all the questions. Been extract and kit brewing up until now but can't wait to get some grains.

 

[arturobandini]

There's a good All Grain guide posted on the forum which will no doubt be of great help to you Tanya. You can mash and boil in the same vessel but you'll still be sparging into a collection vessel, removing all the grains out of your mash tun/boiler, then returning your wort to the boiler to start up the boil. In short it's a bit of a faff.

You can make a decent plastic brewery using a 10gallon bucket from a homebrew outlet ,Hop and Grape Link, and two Supermarket Budget Kettle elements. Or buy their 10gallon brewery setup if you've got the cash for it ; 10gallon Brewery Link. Their brewery comes with an immersion cooler as part of the package and I know a lot of folks have been happy with it. The only thing I'd suggest if you do go down that road is to let them know if you'll be primarily making 5gallon batches to start off with and to make the immersion cooler arms longer. If they don't then the immersion cooler doesn't hand low enough into the bucket.

Good luck.

 

[tubby_shaw]

Another alternative to try with only one heated vessel available is No Chill Brew In A Bag our antipodean cousins are making good beers using this method :thumb:

 

[arturobandini]

I did a brew in a bag two weeks ago following advise from an Aussie Brewer some months back. I did chill however and Bottled some of it off last night before secondarying the rest to be kegged mid to next week.

 

[Parva]

Or buy their 10gallon brewery setup if you've got the cash for it ; 10gallon Brewery Link. Their brewery comes with an immersion cooler as part of the package and I know a lot of folks have been happy with it.

I don't want to sound pedantic but it didn't when I bought mine and reading the equipment list on their site doesn't suggest it does now. The kit is great though (apart from a minor incident with the washer splitting on the tap mid-boil) and has served me well.