AG startup equipment

[calumrobertson]

Hi,
I posted this in the All grain brewing advice section but only got one reply and, on second thoughts, this is maybe a better place to post it.
I am definately considering moving to AG, maybe once i've had a little more experience but am certainly going to give it a try. I'd like to get a good value kit whereby it includes everything i need - not necessarily the cheapest (but that would be good!) but something that is good quality and will last mean for a while as i experiment with AG. There is one here: http://leylandhomebrew.com/item2641.htm which seems good but very limited picture and info...and would obviously have to do my own insulation - im pressuming the mash tun is only a bucket.
Any advice that people could give me on a good setup would be most appreciated. I know you can make all the equipment but think i'd rather get a good quality set made by someone who knows what they are doing!
Cheers!

[Horden Hillbilly]

Check Hop & Grape's range of brewing equipment out here. I bought mine in the mid 1990's & it is still going strong. Look on the cost of the equipment as an investment, my H & G equipment must have saved me a fortune over the years compared to the cost of commercial beers. Have a look at my brewing website to see my gear in action, it is the uk-homebrew link in my signature.

Good luck with your ag brewing, you won't regret it.

[Brotherton Lad]

You may not get many replies because I expect most of us got into AG brewing incrementally via kits and extract and not by buying a full set of AG kit from scratch.
I've been accumulating my gear since 1974, very little of it was bought new, it's either scavenged or found in skips or junk shops for a total outlay of about £60.

[calumrobertson]

I have started with kits and extracts, sorry didnt make that clear - so i have all the equipment needed for that but want to add to it so that i can do AG. Dave, thanks for that - yup, have read through your website before, one of the encouraging sites that makes me want to try AG!

[boingy]

I've not noticed that Leyland package before and the details are a bit sketchy. I'm also a bit alarmed by the bit where they say "Mash Tun will require some Insulation". Does that mean they just provide a bucket or are they saying that it's a coolbox but would benefit from some further insulation? Either way, it's a bit cheeky to sell it like that. Either they are selling ready made kit or they aren't.

I would have no hesitation in recommending the Hop and Grape 10 gallon brewery except that I think they can no longer source suitable boiler buckets so that kit might now be unavailable (it's been showing as "out of stock" for months). You could always ask them.

[calumrobertson]

Yeah, i asked Leyland about the insulation - basically said that its a bucket with strainer and you can add your own insulation in the form of bubble wrap or camping maps....yeah not sure why they dont do that for you to make it a complete package! Also he said that its £199 just now but that thats an introductory offer and it will be going up to £250 'soon'. I'm not ready to buy all the stuff now so not going to be tempted into just going for it but it does seem like a decent deal considering it includes pretty much everything and has two boilers which would be handy but i not actually necessary. Also i think i'd prefer a cool box mash tun - they are better..?

[Brotherton Lad]

Understood now. When I moved to AG, I only needed to acquire a mash tun, which I got second hand on here (it's the Brupack cool box one and is good for up to about 7 gallon brew lengths) and an immersion cooler bought from Hop and Grape (I should have made my own but I was too impatient). I already had a good and free Burco 10 gallon boiler. No doubt others can advise if you need to buy a boiler, which will be the most expensive item.

[boingy]

If you are already extract brewing you don't actually need much more kit. A mashtun and a boiler will do it. You can add a HLT, cooling coils and stuff at a later date. Batch sparging needs no extra equipment and cooling can be done in a bath of cold water (or even overnight at a pinch).

I use the H&G coolbox and it is spot on. It works just fine as supplied. I've cut a few more slots in the grain manifold and injected foam into the lid but neither of these things is really necessary.

For a boiler you could just buy a bruheat or electrim type thing. They work fine although you will need to add a hop stopper of some description. Alternatively use a large aluminium or stainless steel pot over a gas flame.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

I don't like the sound of a 1KW element in the HLT. That will take forever to heat up. And that price I'd expect the MT to come ready insulated.

[calumrobertson]

That's for the replies - yeah i'd been thinking along the same lines re the Leyland kit - it seems unfinished and it isnt actually that cheap...although it does include chiller which H & G doesnt include so they are on a par cost wise. Agree re 1kw HLT although guess its cos it only needs to be taken up to 70Cish? But im not sure i need a seperate one when can just use the boiler!
I'd want to get an electic boiler just for ease as i dont have a gas hob or outdoors space for a gas burner.
I have very limited space in my flat so want as compact equipment as possible - think all i really need extract is a boiler with hop strainer, a mash tun with strainer and an immesion chiller.

[Brotherton Lad]

HLT is convenient but not necessary. I go boiler to mash tun to underback (aka spare FV) and back to boiler. It takes a tad longer because you can't start the boil till you've finished all the sparging, so it adds 20-30 mins to the brew day.

[boingy]

I don't like the sound of a 1KW element in the HLT. That will take forever to heat up. And that price I'd expect the MT to come ready insulated.

That's a very good point. Heating 30 litres of water from 15C to 80C with 1kW will take about 2.5 hours! You would definitely want to do that on a timer.

[boingy]

HLT is convenient but not necessary. I go boiler to mash tun to underback (aka spare FV) and back to boiler. It takes a tad longer because you can't start the boil till you've finished all the sparging, so it adds 20-30 mins to the brew day.

I agree that a HLT is not essential. I brewed for years with just a single element Bruheat boiler. I even used it for mashing (for which it was rubbish!).

You can speed it up a bit if you use the boiler to overheat the sparge water (to allow for losses) then transfer the sparge water into the empty FV and sparge from there, then your boiler is available to start the boil whilst the sparge is still going. It's fiddly but saves precious minutes.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

HLT is convenient but not necessary. I go boiler to mash tun to underback (aka spare FV) and back to boiler. It takes a tad longer because you can't start the boil till you've finished all the sparging, so it adds 20-30 mins to the brew day.

That's only true if you fly sparge. If you batch sparge then once you're run the 2nd lot of sparge water into the MT you can put the 1st runnings into the boiler and start heating it.

One of the big time savers I find is to only heat as much strike water (plus boiler dead space of course) as you actually need. I find that it takes about 30 minutes to heat about 10 litres of strike water on my single-element boiler which is plenty of time weight out the grains and get the MT set up. Once the mash is on, I have plenty of time to heat the sparge water, which usually takes about 50 minutes.

[Brotherton Lad]

Indeed, boingy and OSB, I was keeping my post simple, just to answer the point about equipment.

Only done 2 AGs so far, but had already got to the heat up sparge water during the mash stage and last time I dropped the water for the final sparging into the family picnic cool box so that I could get the first batch of wort into the boiler. Always looking for concurrent activity to cut the time down while not having to buy too much kit.