I would like to start brewing all grain. So i was looking at NB, and found the Fermenter’s Favorites® Essential All-Grain Brewing Starter Kit - 10 Gallon. I have a burner and a 20 gallon pot. What else would i need to get this started?
I can’t say what your needs are since I know little about you or where you want to go in home brewing except all-grain. 5 gallon or 10 gallon (or larger) batches? Batch spare or no spare? BIAB or traditional mash?
Is there a local home-brew club in your area? If so, connect with them—and join. Find someone in the club you can help brew a batch with.
Local home-brew supply shops many time has beginning classes. Ask if there are any in the near future. Or aks them for recommendations on equipment.
Learn to Home-brew Day is an AHA sponsored event. Look for one in your area.
Start with John Palmer’s book, How to Brew, if you haven’t bought it yet. https://www.amazon.com/How-Brew-Everything-Great-Every/dp/1938469356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496590068&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+brew
Those are some recommendations off the top of my head.
take a look at dennybrew.com
If you are interested in fly sparging, that kit is good. You pay a bit of a premium for it being pre-done.
If you want easy, a cooler tun similar to the one Denny linked to will work well. I’ve used a similar cooler for the past 8 or 9 years.
With your 20 gallon kettle you could easily do a 5 gallon BIAB batch with only buying a bag. There are a couple of sites that sell them to fit that size kettle. You would need a way to raise the bag (I use a ladder over the kettle with a pulley and move it when I start the boil) because it can be heavy/awkward. I went this route to avoid having more gear to store.
I agree, although I regularly brew 5-6 gallon batches with my 1 vessel BIAB system. You could probably do 10 gallon BIAB batches with your kettle if you’d like. I usually check my recipes with a calculator from the Green Bay Rackers to see how much volume a batch will take.
I agree with the previous posters though, a bit more info is needed. Anyway, there’s tons of ways to make great beer. I’ve used a 3 vessel system before, and it worked out well. I switched to BIAB because I found it easier, although every has their own definition of easy.
To answer your question, if you want to have a few vessels, and want to fly sparge and brew 10 gallon, this looks like everything you’d want for the most part.
- If you don’t have a way to crush your grain, you might want a grain mill. I bought a cheap corona mill for $20, but I had to modify to get good results. I followed http://www.instructables.com/id/Corona-Mill-Mods-for-All-Grain-Brewing/ I also made a mill cover, because I was too stupid to buy a mill that came with one:
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=29472.0 - Some grain storage. Once again, not a big deal if you have a great local homebrew shop. I have a hydroponics place that has decided to carry some stuff to avoid going out of business (I desperately try and support them to support competition), and a liquor store that sells malt for $3/lb. I’d recommend some buckets and gamma lids, or some vittles vaults. Petsmart has a nice sale right now for 65 lb containers, you can order online or they’ll pricematch in store. Other places may pricematch too.
- Bru’N Water Spreadsheet https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/
This is a fantastic way to make sure that you’re staying in the right water parameters. I don’t do a lot of water adjustments, but I do try and manage my pH. Probably pointless, as I don’t have a pH meter, but I feel better knowing I’m listening to a PHD about my water. Even if I can’t trust my local water report. - If your kettle doesn’t have volume markings, you can make your own. I did, and I love it.https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3113-etch-your-kettle-projects
- A chiller. It’s a great time saver, but you might already have one. I like my immersion chiller personally, for reasons Jamil Zainasheff outlines here:http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php
I can’t really think of anything else right now without more info, but those are my initial recommendations.
A bag may be a nice way to start since it’s a minimal investment over your current set-up. Brew Bag sells nice ones.
When making that jump to all-grain just make sure you’re paying attention to the mash as pH and water chemistry are important but don’t have to be complex.
I would pick up a cheap pH meter, some calibration solution, and download Brun Water (if you haven’t already).
If you have the big pot and burner you’re 90% there. Coleman coolers are great for converting to mash tuns. Denny likes the braid but I’ve made them with a bazooka screen and cooler bulkhead kit that they sell at most homebrew stores, and like that setup. Either way it’s a mash tun that you can use now and in the future if you increase to 10 gallons for a good price… check Walmart (I know) for end of season specials on coolers.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-62-Quart-Xtreme-5-Wheeled-Cooler/181351865
If you haven’t drilled your pot yet, you should. Siphoning or pouring out of a 20 gallon kettle is no fun. It’s easy and the $8 step drill bit I got on amazon worked wonders with nothing but cold hose water (no drilling oil) and the weldless bulkhead kits are great.
They got good info, thanks!