AG set-up, favourite equipment

[Fallen]

Hi all

There is so much information out there and so many different opinions. I thought I might as well tap into the years of collective wisdom there's bound to be on here.

I'm moving from extracts to all-grain but I'm having trouble deciding on the best set-up. I don't mind spending a few quid but I don't want to spend money on equipment that isn't really up to the job (regardless of what the manufacturers say). Please give me some advice on the equipment that works best for you.

Boilers:
Bruheat, Electrim, modified Leyland Homebrew, great big brewpot, other?

Mash Tun:
Glorified cooler, Charlie Papazian's 'Zapap, other?

Lauter Tun:
Glorified cooler, Zapap, other?

Rotating sparge arm:
Yes or no? If yes, which brand? If no, how do you sparge?

Wort cooler:
Immersion or other; is there a brand that works best?

Best method of transferring hot liquid around?

I'm sure there are a million other bits of kit and issues to get my head around. Any other advice would be much appreciated for my first attempt.

Cheers

Fallen

[Scooby]

I can see why you asked the question but imo there is no definitive answer, some will recommend x and y while others will slate them. If it was straight forward then we would all have the same set up.

There is so much information out there and so many different opinions.

I guess my kit evolved like most others, starting out with the basics and adjusting procedures to make up for what I saw as deficiencies. Then from experience changing things so that the item did what I wanted it to do. My the set up evolved to do a job the way I wanted it to but maybe not someone else, that is reflected in the fact that there is not one single item that was bought and used 'as is'.

That said if you have a good read through posts relating to equipment some things will inspire you and you should find enough info to give you an idea about which route to take. Good Luck

[Eric]

Absolutely Scooby, so I'll say this.
Make sure you have an accurate thermometer and Hydrometer.
You can't easily make 5 gallons of beer with a 5 gallon boiler, so you might want to buy/make something bigger.
Buy 2 fermentation vessels, one with a tap.
Get a grain bag and make a hop filter as per one of the many ideas found on this site.
Buy a cheap plastic beer barrel or collect 25 litres worth of bottles.
Make beer the best way you can with these limited means. If you detail here a single problem, you'll generally have at least one solution within an hour.
The rest is the hobby and where you not minding spending a few quid will stand you in good stead.
Learning by trial and error and participating on this forum will lead to a brewing set in which you will have pride. One chosen and operated in your own style and all the experience you gain you can then pass to others.
Eric.

[Horden Hillbilly]

I went for the Hop & Grape ag 10 gallon brewery myself & I have not found the need to upgrade/change to shiny. It may pay you to have a browse through other forum members brewday pics & then decide which system would work best for you.

[escapizm]

I've been Reading this forum for months and have done a few kits while I been putting together my ag kit. If you don't mind building your own kit, it's great fun, there loads of ideas on here. I too when one comes available will buy a 10 gal bucket despite intending to make 5 gal batches to begin with. Some great threads on here on how to use cheap kettles. Iv opted for the batch sparge method because I feel it easier for me to get repeated results. There are threads on here on how to build a cooler box batch sparger. I opted for quite a large (10 gallon future proof) cooler and copied one of the guys copper manifold. I'll postithere soon.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22880&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

mash tun thread , pg2 barnsley brewer's colemanextreme

[Hawkinspm]

So many ways to go - I think one of the key starting questions is ' Buy it, or build it?'

I built my set-up, this meant I could have more for my money ( dedicated HLT for example that wasn't in the kit I could afford). I also really enjoyed building it and there's something nice about drinking a beer thinking 'I made that, in a brewery I built. ' There is stacks of information on here whether you decide to go plastic or shiney and always someone willing to help when / if you get a bit stuck.

Or you can just buy one off the shelf such as the H&G 10 gallon kit which will do the job admirably.

[booldawg]

It all comes down to money and size. What can you afford and whats the largest size batch you envisage brewing?

To start off I'd just get kit that does the job to a reasonable standard. A modified cool box is ideal to mash in. If you insulate it with a sleeping back bungied around the outside it'll retain the mash temp sufficiently. You can buy the manfold for around 15 quid. A 30L coolbox is ideal for 23L average gravity brews. TBH for brews above 1050 you may want to knock the brew length down.

Also a modified Leyland/H&G plastic boiler with twin kettle elements will give you around 50L boiling capacity for alot less than a dedicated bruheat 29L single element boiler.

A length of microbore copper tubing from DIY shops makes an excellent IC for less than 20 quid.

To cut down on initial costs you could batch sparge, no extra equipment needed for that.

A cheap, simple but effective All Grain brewery should cost around 120.

[Fallen]

Thanks for the input so far.

I'll probably start with 5- or 10-gallon batches so the hop and grape 10G brewery looks spot on.

Also, thanks to Dave (Horden Hillbilly) for the detailed description of the full process on the UK-Homebrew website. A picture speaks a thousand words!! Clarifies a lot of further questions I had on the whole process, particularly sparging. Batch sparging looks like the way forward for me!!

A follow up question I have is regarding oxygenation. I'm not quite sure why you're supposed to oxygenate the wort at certain stages but avoid it at others? At what stages are you at risk of developing off-flavours and at what stages is it beneficial to introduce oxygen to the wort?

Cheers

Paul

[Hawkinspm]

I am sure there will be a few views on aeration as well, I simply leave a long drop from the boiler to the FV and also place a sieve on the top of the FV for the flow to run through - this adds to the aeration as well as picking up any tiny hop bits that get through my hop strainer. I find this is plenty to get the yeast going well.

[booldawg]

Thanks for the input so far.

I'll probably start with 5- or 10-gallon batches so the hop and grape 10G brewery looks spot on.

Also, thanks to Dave (Horden Hillbilly) for the detailed description of the full process on the UK-Homebrew website. A picture speaks a thousand words!! Clarifies a lot of further questions I had on the whole process, particularly sparging. Batch sparging looks like the way forward for me!!

A follow up question I have is regarding oxygenation. I'm not quite sure why you're supposed to oxygenate the wort at certain stages but avoid it at others? At what stages are you at risk of developing off-flavours and at what stages is it beneficial to introduce oxygen to the wort?

Cheers

Paul

Just before you introduce the yeast to the wort; thats when you have to ensure there's plenty of oxygen to kick off the reaction - else you risk a 'stuck fermentation'.

As the above poster mentions; a drop of around 3ft or more from the boiler to FV usually is adequate at introducing oxygen, the big white frothy head in your FV will suggest its got plenty! Else stir like billy-o for 10 minutes with a sanitised paddle.

After that try to avoid any kind of movement of the FV, now fermentation has started you don't want to get any oxygen into your beer else you'll get off flavours. This includes the bottling/kegging stage when you can't help but have to move the beer. Careful handling will ensure this doesnt happen.

[Fallen]

Thanks booldawg

So am I right in thinking that it doesn't matter how much oxygen is introduced during the mashing, sparging etc? You only need to be careful to prevent oxygenation of the brew after you've introduced yeast?

[Eric]

All that oxygen will be driven off as it reaches the boil. Remember the noise your kettle makes.
The yeast will multiply during the aerobic stage and when the oxygen is completely consumed it becomes anaerobic and produces the alcohol. Introducing air/oxygen at/after this stage gives bacteria a better chance than they would have without oxygen and you don't want that.

[russt1969]

I am sure there will be a few views on aeration as well, I simply leave a long drop from the boiler to the FV and also place a sieve on the top of the FV for the flow to run through - this adds to the aeration as well as picking up any tiny hop bits that get through my hop strainer. I find this is plenty to get the yeast going well.

That's the way to do it. Works for me since I went all grain in '93

[Bribie]

Yonks ago in the UK I used to brew AG using a Bruheat. I didn't get back into brewing again till a year ago and after spending six months doing kits n bits, then partial mashes, I went AG again in November last year doing brew in a bag (BIAB) and now onto my 32nd brew.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/i ... opic=11694

I use a 40L electric urn and get great results, including a Yorkshire Bitter that won a prize in the Brisbane HB comp.
Using this method you can make beers from stouts to bitters to lagers of equal quality to the more 'traditional' three vessel systems.

Brew in a bag is becoming very popular in Australia and is making inroads into the USA as well.

[Earth Titan]

I can't recommend strongly enough, how important a wort chiller is. I bought a single length of microbore tubing and wound it round a former (fire extinguisher) to make a coil to which I attach a hose to the tap and with this simple device, it cools the wort in under 10 minutes. If you don't force cool it the brew can take anything upto 7 or eight hours to complete.....