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Richard G

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All grain info.
Jan 27^th, 2015 at 3:39pm

Hi all.

I have had a couple of PMs and a text re info about all grain brewing, I will try to put as much info here as I can.

To start I have bumped my topic "getting nearer to AG" ( is it possible to lock this FA?). I have also tried to find Moley's thread, which is most informative, but with no luck so far.

Equipment either can be bought, and/or made, in fact a boiler is quite easy. I have 3, 2 converted to digital and one for emergency which is the knob setting type.

Most of my other equipment I either already had or I made myself.

At the moment I am working on the AG brewers main problem which is keeping the mash at the correct temperature for 1½ hrs. I have used the old cool box method now for years but the brew house efficiency is not how it should be because the temperature falls a lot no matter how much I insulate the box.

Heater elements can be used with a digital controller but grains will burn on them resulting in off flavours, and yes I have tried grain bags but these are very difficult to handle.

I came up with a possible solution based on a hot water heat source using a HLT and gravity to feed water into a boiler type mash tun and a 12 v pump to circulate the water. This however is still in the "what if " stage, although I have bought the pump. More on this later in the year. Wink

The other main question is how much does a bottle of AG cost to make.

I have just had a delivery of grains and hops they cost £48 including delivery, please bear in mind that not all the grains etc will be used in this batch.

I will get a minimum of 6 brews from this batch which works out to £8 per brew, I will get a minimum of 40 x 500 mil bottles per brew which comes out at 20p per bottle, add on water and electric and yeast and it comes out at about 25p for beer that is far superior to any pub beer. Grin

ps I have not included any start up costs in the above.

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« Last Edit: Jan 27^th, 2015 at 8:43pm by Richard G »

The doctor told me not to drink alcohol so I went to the local pub for a pint

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Moley

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Re: All grain info.
Reply #1 - Jan 28^th, 2015 at 7:17am

Richard G wrote on Jan 27^th, 2015 at 3:39pm:

I have also tried to find Moley's thread, which is most informative, but with no luck so far.

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to

or

As I am primarily a winemaker and only tend to brew 2-3 times a year, and find all that mashing and sparging business rather tedious, I have actually taken what many AG brewers would consider to be a step backwards and ditched my mash tun (actually gave it away to another local brewer) and am now using the BIAB (Brew In A Bag) method. I will try to find another link for that, as it would probably be easier for anybody contemplating the step from kit mixing to proper brewing.

Edit: And Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to

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to my first attempt at BIAB.

As Richard said, if you are heating with electric elements then you need some method of keeping the grain bag off them, but as I brew on gas I find this method much easier, and slightly quicker. All of the grain goes into all of the water, you hold it at mash temperature (around 66C) for 60-90 minutes then raise it to mash out temperature (around 75C) for another 15 mins or so, then remove the grain bag and bring the wort up to the boil. Simples.

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« Last Edit: Jan 28^th, 2015 at 7:50am by Moley »

“Wine is the most healthful and hygienic of beverages” - Louis Pasteur

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Richard G Forum Moderator Offline Rock on people SSDD Posts: 4936 Wolverhampton Gender:	Re: All grain info. Reply #2 - Jan 29^th, 2015 at 8:17pm Thanks Ade but I have found the thread I meant and bumped it
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cheapbrew

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Re: All grain info.
Reply #3 - Jan 23^rd, 2016 at 4:33pm

Is anyone still doing All Grain?

I've done a couple now, the first time I got a bit too hot due to not checking my thermometer accuracy, it was spot on 66C for the mash and lost 1 degree in an hour but I found out the next day the thermometer reads 10+ degrees low, meaning my mash temp was nearer to 77C!
so I had trouble with fermentation stopping due to unfermentables and had to feed it to get some alcohol in it to counter the sweetness.

2nd one went much better and is bubbling away nicely Grin

Gonna get another on the go soon.

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vino-tinto Senior Member Offline I Love Beer Posts: 485 Norfolk Gender:	Re: All grain info. Reply #4 - Jan 23^rd, 2016 at 5:21pm I do nothing but all grain, IMHO it beats kits hands down every time. Yes you wont get a lot whilst mashing at a mash out temp
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Richard G Forum Moderator Offline Rock on people SSDD Posts: 4936 Wolverhampton Gender:	Re: All grain info. Reply #5 - Jan 24^th, 2016 at 8:37pm Still doing AG, stopped Dec.2012 because of athritis, ( very bad), tried to go back to kits restarted AG end Jan 2013, just couldn't get used to "tang" no matter which one I bought or how much I tweeked them. But kits are still a good place to start.
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cheapbrew Junior Member Offline Posts: 61 Tring, Herts	Re: All grain info. Reply #6 - Jan 26^th, 2016 at 9:40am Vino, the kit in your signature sounds interesting?
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vino-tinto

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Re: All grain info.
Reply #7 - Jan 26^th, 2016 at 4:22pm

cheapbrew wrote on Jan 26^th, 2016 at 9:40am:

Vino, the kit in your signature sounds interesting?

I bought a T500 a couple of years ago but have completely done away with the standard column and I now have interchangeable homemade ones that do all types of distilling. My LM (Liquid management Boka) and the VM (Vapour management) columns are packed with SS SSP which in turn carries out 1 distill every 4cm, making 23 distillations in one go producing 96% pure gold. I found that I could change the glass lid on the Grainfather with the SS one from the T500 and distill with that as well.

I prefer making beer at the present, I'm running one tomorrow, an Imperial IPA @ 6.8% and 70 IBU with a nice light gold colour.

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cheapbrew Junior Member Offline Posts: 61 Tring, Herts	Re: All grain info. Reply #8 - Jan 27^th, 2016 at 9:30am I have access to wheat at the watermill I run so I'm gonna try a version of a wheat beer soon using some unmalted wheat as part of the grain bill. I'm just doing small experimental AG batches until I hit on one I really like, then maybe I'll scale it up
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vino-tinto

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Re: All grain info.
Reply #9 - Dec 5^th, 2017 at 11:35am

I thought I would resurrect this older thread to see how the all grain situation is going.

I built a new all grain system this summer using a Braumeister, but as it doesn't come with any form of wort chilling, I fitted an inline pump with a Hop Rocket and a 24 plate chiller.

Sometimes I think, is the expense of this system better than my old Grainfather, but I truly believe the finished beer is better as the wort flows upwards through the grain bed it doesn't compact as the GF did. Whether or not it's worth the extra price I will see over the long term, but build quality certainly towers above all else I have used.

Because of a disability I bought the 10 litre model and not the 20. At first I missed making 23 litres at at time, but I have come to realise making smaller amounts lets me vary the recipes to give more selection. I find I can brew every 3 weeks, keeping a steady turn around through the fermenter fridge then onto conditioning.

I expect kegging will be the next modification, so it's onto Youtube to gather as much info I can.

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Aneray Senior Member Offline Posts: 402 SW Cornwall Gender:	Re: All grain info. Reply #10 - Dec 5^th, 2017 at 12:27pm I really should give this AG brewing a go, whether its full AG or BIAB. I have the equipment which includes a 6 gallon pan with tap, Gatorade cooler box for a mashtun, all the copper work made up. Just need to make a cooling coil. Might give it a go after Christmas.
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