Buying a house....and more importantly a brewery

[markaberrant]

I'm really concerned about how to do this cost-effectively, so what kind of brewing setup do you use?

I'm not sure what an indoor electric/natural gas heating and ventilation setup would cost, you could probably build most of it yourself with parts from Home Depot.

Other than that, you just need a mash tun, a HLT and a kettle to do all-grain brewing. I would ballpark the combined cost of all 3, plus various fittings at $100-$150.

You'll also need a grain mill, or know someone who has one. Some supply shops will crush your grain for you, but then you can't buy in bulk, which is where the real cost savings of all-grain kicks in. I spent $150 on my mill, and it paid for itself in just 1 year of brewing.

You'll need all the other basic brewing equipment (carboys, racking cane, bottling/kegging stuff, hydrometer, cleaners, sanitizers, etc). I would suggest getting this stuff first, and then you can start making the Festabrew or Brewhouse kits right away. These are decent kits, and they will give you a good understanding of sanitation, cleaning, fermentation and bottling.

[dutchcanuck]

I am going to start all-grain brewing right away, so one thing I am looking for is a Cooler Mash Lauter Tun. One of those barrel coolers, not the box, anyone know where to get a REALLY good deal on coolers?

[Derek]

Unless you plan on doing 5 Ga batches with starting gravities under 1.060, a 5 Ga cooler isn't big enough.

Unfortunately, once you go larger than 5 Gallons, the barrel coolers get more expensive (and false bottoms aren't cheap either).

So most people that use coolers tend to use a box. Copper & PVC are relatively cheap & making a manifold isn't hard... but there's nothing wrong with batch-sparging with a mesh-screen either.

[dutchcanuck]

I want to buy a large cooler so I can upgrade with it (thinking doing high gravity 5.5 gallon mashes), but I read an article by Palmer that if you use TOO big of a box cooler, you wont get a sufficient grain bed. Can anyone provide some real life feedback?

[jcc]

I want to buy a large cooler so I can upgrade with it (thinking doing high gravity 5.5 gallon mashes), but I read an article by Palmer that if you use TOO big of a box cooler, you wont get a sufficient grain bed. Can anyone provide some real life feedback?

I use a 52 qt Coleman Extreme cooler with a copper manifold for my 10 gallon batches. I would think a cooler of this size would be fine if you are doing high gravity 5.5 gallon batches. Your grain bed should be thick enough. For 10 gallons, it really isn't big enough I find. I should have gone with the 70 qt as often I am running out of cooler space before I hit my mash temp at higher gravities. Not a huge issue, but something to consider if you're doing 10 gallon batches.

[Derek]

I'm now using a 52 qt coleman xtreme for 5 Ga batches.

When I decocted an Alt that was around 1.054, I vorlaufed for half an hour before it was running clean. That was the only 'issue' I've had.

My efficiency has ranged from 67 to 77%. With a thicker bed, you'd probably do better fly sparging, but batch sparging won't make a difference.

I went with the xtreme in hopes that it would maintain the temperature better (especially for decoctions), but I think the air space is a bit of a problem. Definitely don't go too large.

[jcc]

I went with the xtreme in hopes that it would maintain the temperature better (especially for decoctions), but I think the air space is a bit of a problem. Definitely don't go too large.

I am doing 10 gallons usually, so I do tend to fill the cooler, but I have never had problems holding temperature, at least within 1 or 2 degrees, even at -10 in the garage. I always dump about 4 litres of boiling, or at least hot water, into the cooler before I mash and let it sit while I bring my HLT up to temperature. Seems to reduce the errors in hitting my mash temperatures I had prior to doing that.

[Gedge]

+1 on the 52qt Coleman. I also hit it with boiling water prior to mashing and I've had good results.

[Derek]

IIRC, when I pulled 1/3-1/2 of the grain for a decoction, it lost about 7-8F in an hour.

I think my single infusions lost around 3-4F for a 1 hr rest.

[dutchcanuck]

Great info guys, you've definitely sold me on the cooler MLT idea. Now question, what other options are there to using copper tubing on the bottom of the cooler to sparge? Are their other or better options?

[cannondale]

Stainless steel braid.

[dutchcanuck]

Keep the facts flowing my fellow home brewers!

Another question, what is the general consensus on primary and secondary fermentations? I've heard that you can get away with just doing a single fermentation for ales. What do you guys think?

[markaberrant]

Keep the facts flowing my fellow home brewers!

Another question, what is the general consensus on primary and secondary fermentations? I've heard that you can get away with just doing a single fermentation for ales. What do you guys think?

I am strictly a primary guy, unless I need to dry hop, or if I am making mead/cider/sour ale.

That being said, you still need at least 2-3 carboys. I think I have around 10.

[dutchcanuck]

Curious...why do you use 2-3 carboys?

[Derek]

Another question, what is the general consensus on primary and secondary fermentations? I've heard that you can get away with just doing a single fermentation for ales. What do you guys think?

I think it's fine to leave it on the yeast, but if there's much trub I'd recommend racking it off. I generally just do a secondary.