I think that’s a little bit optimistic.
Can I Mash It says that you need 95 qt to fit 60 lbs at 1.25 qt/lb. So, a 100 quart cooler would be okay for 25 gallons of medium gravity wort.
More like the difference between buying frozen dough and baking it or grinding the wheat berries into flour yourself and going from there.
Or like using off-the-shelf stock to make a soup, or boiling a carcass to produce your own fresh stock, seasoned how you like it 
I think a 70 or 100 qt blue cooler mash tun would be fine, and when you want to brew a bigger beer . . . second mash tun. You can probably get two 70 qt blue coleman extreme coolers for less than $100 (currently $43 each). If most of your beers are less than OG 1.060 I think a 70 qt cooler would be fine for getting 24 gallons. The second one could then be used to make a higher strength beer in the 12 gallon pot. Or if you wanted 24 gallons of bigger beer, both mash tuns can be run off into one pot. And for really really big beers (over 1.120 probably, standard by Fred’s measuring) then you can supplement with sugar or extract.
If you’re good you can make really good beer with extract, but for what it’s worth, in our recent competition the best extract brewer I know won three 3rd place ribbons.
Do it when you want to do it and when you perceive a benefit. After all, brewing is about fun and that’s for you to decide.
I was going to say that it would make you taller and better looking, independently wealthy, your teeth whiter, and you’ll be the big man on campus but everyone else has good feed back too.
;D
Paul
Truer words were never written.
Amen and amen.
One of the deciding factors when I finally took the plunge was that I finally moved into a space where I had an area I could devote spcifically to my brewing. No more scheduling use of the kitchen. LOL. It became a LOT more fun after that. (and I began doing a LOT more brewing, too).
My beer has tasted better since I went all-grain. I attribute this to more non-fermentables in extract. My extract FG’s were always around 1.020 and when I switched to all-grain my FG’s are around 1.010. I still have a lot to learn and I that’s what I love about this hobby.
It’s blue too!
Oh baby!
Just to add to all the good reasons posted, an all-grain batch can take 6+ hours, but it doesn’t have to.
If you plan ahead you can reduce the length of your brew day by getting your grain bill weighed out and ground the night before and your water ready (takes about 45-60 minutes of prep depending on how many beers you drink during prep). You can chop off 30-45 minutes heating water especially if you get yourself a bucket heater (or in your case maybe mroe than one) and timer. Your water can be ready to go when you roll out of bed and you can mash in immediately. 60 Minute Mash, 30-45 minutes to batch sparge and get the to a boil, 60 minute boil and 15-20 minute cool down with a quality chiller. You can knock out an all grain batch in 3.5 to 4 hours for a 6 gallon batch with clean up, wort oxygenated and pitched once you have your process down.
With the large batches you brew, there are things that may take you longer, but pretty much only adding a minimal amount of time to your process at a huge savings! I brewed a 6 gallon batch of 1.045 American Lager last year for $8.30!
How long does it take you to heat up all that water for a 25 gallon brew day?
Even if you don’t decide to go all-grain there are still things you can do to shave time from your brew day.
Thanks again for all the tips. I posted last night but it appears that a bunch of stuff from then was dropped off for some reason.
I like the idea of going with 2 70 gallon coolers for the large batches. That would give me a lot of flexibility. Never thought about splitting up the mash tun. I also have a 48 quart cooler that I may build a manifold for and give it a shot for my next 12 gallon batch. Was thinking a heffe would be good in June/July:-) That may be a candidate for my first go at all grain.
As to the question of time. My brew days usually run about 5 hours. From breaking out the equipment to cleaning up. I have 2 Blichmann burners and surprisingly, it doesn’t take much longer to heat up a 24 gallon batch over a 12. hauling the water is a different story:-)
All the feedback on here has given me a lot of perspective and convinced me that it is at least worth a try. I can always go back.
Thanks
Tristan - I have been using the bucket heater with the heavy duty timer, and that is one thing that I really like. Get out of bed and you are ready to mash in.
Check out the Cheap’n’Easy system…www.dennybrew.com .
…Because, it’ll put hair on your chest, give you Paul Bunyan muscles & make you a big hit with the ladies.
Seriously, though…I think my beer tastes better, my wife likes 'em more, my friends like them more…
I have a wider range of flavors & characters to create (vast amount of grains to choose from)…
I’m able to just make more intricate choices on flavor, body & the whole experience.
I did my first two all grain batches recently and I haven’t even tasted them yet and I’m itching to do more. The mashing process etc., is addictive, at least for now. If I had more fermenters, I’d have more beer in process and I certainly never felt this way about extracts.
Answer this:
Why extract brew? Just go buy some already made by a professional brewery and save all kinds of time and trouble.
When you can answer that then you will have your answer to why extract brewers convert over to all grain, little Grasshopper.
Do I still have to snatch the pebble from your hand Master?