So you are ready to jump into all grain brewing!!. A BIG congrats and welcome to a great adventure!
There are a lot of reasons to become an all grain brewer… the following are just a few of them:
- Brewing the beer is cheaper as you can buy your ingredients in bulk.
- The beer you brew is yours. You make all decisions about what goes into your beer.
- You can fine tune the recipe from one batch to the next creating your perfect beer.
- The beer does taste better then beers made by extract kits.
- You get to become an expert brewer.
- If you are moving up from extract brewing to all grain brewing you also already have a lot of the equipment you are going to need so it will not be a big jump for you.
So let’s get you started…
Decision Time
First you have to decide which method of All Grain Brewing you want to do…
There are a few popular ways to get into all grain brewing.
- BIAB or Brew in a Bag
- With a 2 Vessel System
- With a 3 Vessel System
To learn about the differences you can check these posts out:
How to brew with Brew in a Bag
How to brew on a 2 Vessel System
How to brew on a 3 Vessel System
Equipment Needed
Ok so now you know which method you are going to use to brew your all grain beers, it is time to get the equipment you need.
For the Brew in a Bag Equipment you CLICK HERE to get everything you need.
To Brew on a 2 Vessel System you are going to need
- A Mash Tun (#1 below in recommended equipment list)
- A Boil Kettle (#3 below in recommended equipment list)
- A Turkey Fryer (see below under additional equipment section)
See the Recommend Equipment Listed Below
To Brew on a 3 Vessel System you are going to need
- The Mash Tun and Hot Liquor Combo (#2 below in recommended equipment list)
- A Boil Kettle (#3 below in recommended equipment list)
- A Turkey Fryer (see below under additional equipment section)
See the Recommended Equipment List Below.
Recommended Equipment List
#1) Mash Tun (MT) – This is where you mix the hot water with the grains to get the fermentable sugars that the yeast will turn into Alcohol.
You Can Click Here to order your own from More Beer
#2) Hot Liquor Tank (HLT) – You will use this for sparging after your mash is complete. Sparging is where you wash the remaining sugars from the grains into your boil kettle.
More Beer has an excellent combo package for a Mash Tun and Hot Liquor Tank.
You Can Click Here to order your own
#3) Brew Kettle (BK) – This is where all of the magic happens and you start brewing up some beer. You will need a Stainless steel kettle that is at a minimum able to hold 7.5 gallons. In reality you should pick up a kettle that is at least 9 – 15 gallons.
I recommend you take a look at picking up the Stainless Steel BrewBuilt Brewing Kettle from More Beer. It comes in both 10 & 15 gallon sizes and comes highly recommended.
You Can Click Here to check it out and order Your own
Additional Equipment
A Burner
You will need a method to heat your kettles as they will be to large to heat on your kitchen stove.
A turkey fryer (burner) with a propane tank is the best option.
(Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
A Wort Chiller
After you are done boiling your wort you will need to cool it down to the correct temperature to pitch your yeast.
This can be accomplished in a few different ways.
Click Here for a post that explains 5 ways of chilling your wort.
Click Here to see the Wort Chillers I recommend you use
Fermentation Equipment
If you are already brewed beer using Beer Extract Kits you should already have this equipment. If not then you will need to pick up the this equipment.
Click Here to check out and order the Fermentation Equipment I recommend you use.
Grain Mill
You do not need a grain mill as most home brew supply companies will mill the grains you order from them for you.
However having the ability to control the degree of the crush of the grain is important as you improve on your brewing skills. Also having a grain mill allows you to buy grains in bulk which means you save money.
Click Here to check out the Grain Mills we recommend.
Recipe and Ingredients
When it comes to what beer you should brew, I HIGHLY recommend that you start out with an All Grain Beer Kit.
The kits come with all of the ingredients and the recipe to follow.
Adventures in Homebrewing have some of the Best All Grain Beer kits I have come across.
The really great thing is that before you order the Kit you can read the review and see what other people think of the beer.
You can Click Here to see Adventures in Homebrewings selection of All Grain Beer Kits
That is it my friend…
Now if you have any questions at all about getting the equipment you need to get started do not hesitate to ask in the comments section below, I will be sure to reply to you.
Happy Brewing… Big Robb is ouuutt!