I’d like to purchase an all-grain system which includes the mash/lauter tun and the hot liquor container. I’ve checked out the one at Northern Brewer (Northern Brewer All Grain Cooler System) and will look into some other distributors, but I figured I may as well also tap into the you all-grainers out there who have had some experience in using these systems. I am not interested in building my own from scratch. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
If you are not interested in building it, that is a great way to break in to all-grain. I’d stop short of a RIMS or HERMES system until you are certain of your addiction… 
Dave
Check you LHBS see if anyone is moving to a smaller system. Also check craigslist I found 2 systems people are selling in CT.
I have that mash tun and it works great. I prefer a burner under my hot liquor tank though. Do be aware that when they say “5-10 gallon batches” it is really only good for 10 gallon batches up to about 5%.
Before you do that, check out www.dennybrew.com
I would have to agree with Denny. I looked at his sight and bought a cooler off of amazon and valve set up with bazooka screen and only paid 80 bucks for all of it.
If your batch sparging you wouldn’t need the hot liquor cooler.
I would go with minimal amount of equipment then add on as you see where your brewing is going.
How much do you want to spend? Electric or gas fired?
For gas this one is great - and expensive: https://brewmagic.com/brew-magic-v350ms-system
For electric I prefer this system: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/
You can buy most of the complicated parts from the site but there is some building to be done.
there’s a lot to be done, but its very worth it:
almost ready to fire up!
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here is my electric kettle. i have a tun set up kind of like denny with just a toilet hose. sometimes i even mash in a bag and use it as the filter. (only brew about 2-3 gal)
+1 for DennyBrew.
That’s how I started all-grain, and (aside from a few minor upgrades) its what I still use.
The best way to nail down your process and produce consistent, quality beer is to start with simple equipment. After you can get good beer out of it for awhile, make changes/upgrades to suit you.
forgot to add - +1 for dennybrew - over the past years it has served me well - made almost 1800 gal of beer, won 4+ dozen medals and had the best time with it - only moving on cause I like toys, and want to brew inside…
Cheers!
Denny taught me all. Beers solid and system is simple. The more gadgets you add the more confused you’ll get from the start …grow into a bigger system slowly
I love Northern Brewer, but I don’t like that their system uses brass fittings or that it is set up for fly sparging (both are purely matters of personal preference though).
In my opinion, you’d be better off (and save a lot of money and sparge time) buying a rectangular cooler and outfitting it with these:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/s-s-cooler-valve-w-barb.html
The only assembly required is drilling a small hole in the cooler wall.
Edit: Here’s a less expensive source for stainless ball valves and cooler bulkheads: http://www.weldlessfittings.com/coolerfittings.html
I have this system from homebrewstuff.com - http://www.homebrewstuff.com/15-gallon-mash-tun-w-hlt-kit.html. I like it b/c it’s got the built in sparge manifold, so I just put 168F water in another cooler, break the wrist and walk away. I also love the John Guest Brand snap in plumbing tubes, etc. I suppose you could find all this stuff, buy it, put it together, etc. but I just bought it outright. This is a 15gal setup but I’m sure they make a 10 or 5 gal. Ditto to the 10 gal comment - I can only make 10 gal batches in my 15 gal system.
I will also agree with this setup if you’re just doing batch sparging. The bazooka screen works great and is cheap.
I used that exact same Northern Brewer System for many years in an all stainless steel hardware version. Absolutely loved it and served me well for many years for infusion mashes. (Went to RIMS couple years ago.) I have no negative comments about this system. I would recommend it to anyone starting all grain brewing.
I’ve also used this same NB system for about 2 years before deciding I wanted to go Stainless Steel with Blichmann’s last November… I can also recommend that same cooler system. The biggest beer I did in was a Russian Imperial Stout from Jamil’s style book… I had around 22 lbs of grain in it.
AleForce are u talking about a boilermaker or just stainless fittings?
ckpash88 - Blichmann kettles. I now have a 20 gal. Hot Liq Tank, 15 gal. Mashtun, and 20 gal. boil kettle. While I enjoyed the coolers for a awhile (I started out with a 5 gal. cooler setup, then moved to 10 gal cooler setup), I decided I wanted to have a little more room in my mashtun and do double batches when I have other brewers over for a brew session.
The coolers helped get me hooked on homebrewing… enough to want to take my brewing experience further.
+1 Dennybrew