First Time All Grain

TheMoodieBrews

Looking to try my first ever all grain home-brew and have plumped for the Brewolution Oktoberfest style beer. I have seen a few videos online about doing the mash in a large pot on the stove rather than having to buy the Brewster Kettle and kettle sieve etc. I appreciate temperature control is more difficult but is it worth giving it a go or would you not bother without all the proper equipment? Obviously I would like to start making all my beers from scratch rather than constantly using extract kits, but 1) can't/don't really want to splash out on all the equipment just now, 2) I want to make sure the difference is worth the outlay before spending all that hard earned cash!

Any thoughts would be appreciated, cheers guys!

HBO_Staff

You can make all grain brews without the expensive equipment, if making larger batches then an all grain set up such as the Brewster Beacon or Grainfather etc will pump the wort around and extract the maximum from your grains and hops. If you instead use a large pan then the efficiency is reduced, however one thing you might consider if wanting to experiment, is to make an all grain batch on a small scale as this is easier and can often be done with pans you may already have. We would suggest to take a look at the smaller 1 gallon ingredients such as these:

http://www.home-brew-online.com/beer-kits-c1/crafty-fox-m85#b2:b1

These can be made with a smaller set up, they are available as a starter kit and more information on the equipment needed is here - you may already have the equipment needed if you compare to the list of equipment included:

http://www.home-brew-online.com/starter-kits-c47/beer-lager-c50/brewing-from-grain-c214/crafty-fox-m85

Hopefully this would be a good way to try all grain but on a smaller scale and without all the cost - the set-ups such as Brewster and Grainfather are great and help with the circulation of the wort and the cooling etc, but are a big step up if you then decide to stick to extract beer refills

TheMoodieBrews

thanks guys, I work in catering so do have access to some pretty large pots and good commercial quality gas burners to get good heat for boiling large batches. Am very keen to give the all grain process a try so think I will pursue with the BIAB method. After all, whats the worst that could happen eh?? Having said all that, these smaller kits look perfect for trying the system out, getting used to what to do when, getting comfortable with the process and of course trying out different beers and finding ones you like before making your favourites in larger batches! Oktoberfest brew here we come!!!

HBO_Staff

That's great, if you have some good equipment you can use then that makes it easier, BIAB is a good way. There is a little feature on BIAB here if of any interest:

https://homebrewonlinebrewblog.wordpress.com/2015/06/04/biab-all-grain-brewing-easy-brewing-on-a-sunny-day/