A long time coming

[Galena]

Hi
I have contemplated home brewing for many years, anyway now at last I am ready to take the plunge.
I know very little but reading and researching lots at the moment (plenty of time).
I am pretty certain I want to go down the All grain route and all things considered, seeing as how I am starting from scratch I think I want to go with an All in One system, the only problem is which one? The Grainmaster is rather costly and I have been looking at alternatives such as Robobrew, Brew Devil, Klarstein, Brewster, etc etc but most don't seem to be available at the moment.
I guess the above items have been discussed to death, but any ideas which way I should go or further reading/videos to improve my knowledge would be helpful.
Cheers

 

[Session]

Welcome!
The most useful thing to know would be your budget, followed by what you want your system to do.
Do you want to keg your beer?
Are you happy bottling?
Do you have a particular batch size you’re looking to make?
Are you just looking for a machine to make wort or do you also need a fermenter and all the associated bits to make beer (you may have these already)?Are there any restrictions specific to you or your environment? For example someone with a bad back may not be able to lift the malt pipe in the 70L GrainFather, but might be able to manage on the 30L, or could budget for an electric winch for example...
So many questions! The more info you can give us the more people will be able to help discuss options that may be right for you.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum thumb

 

[Galena]

Thank you, some good questions, I shall try and answer as best I can.
1) The only kegging I would envisage is those mini kegs you can buy at supermarkets with the red caps.
2) I think I will bottle it mostly at least initially and then maybe the aforementioned mini kegs and bottles.
3) Batch size, not sure of the best practical sizes but I think I would like to be able to experiment with some mini batches of maybe 10 litres in FV or up to 25 litres max.
I will need all the other kit, I think I would like a stainless FV (can you get them with temperature control I don't want to have to buy a separate fridge)?
I have plenty of space, enough in fact to setup a micro brewery (not that I intend to) so I could setup a winch but I don't want to go that big anyway, at the end of the day I have to drink the stuff :-0 .
Will I need to filter the water or is that just an option for improving the taste?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Best asking in the relevant forums as not all members view the introduction threads. thumb

 

[Gerryjo]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
As you already prefer to go AG why not take the time and experiment on a simple AG recipe to test the water as such. Basic equipment is all you need and most you'll find in your kitchen except ingredients. Have a go at simple AG

 

[Galena]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
As you already prefer to go AG why not take the time and experiment on a simple AG recipe to test the water as such. Basic equipment is all you need and most you'll find in your kitchen except ingredients. Have a go at simple AG

I was just reading that thread and may well have a go at that, although I would have to buy most if not all of the kit as I have no pans large enough.

 

[Gerryjo]

I was just reading that thread and may well have a go at that, although I would have to buy most if not all of the kit as I have no pans large enough.

Thermometer, hydrometer, largish pan and a couple of small pots for heating, a fermenter and that's it. But whatever you buy you will need regardless but will give you an insight to AG and the world of brewing. You can buy starter kits where all is supplied Brew Buddy Beer 40 Pints Home Brew Starter Kit:Amazon.co.uk:Kitchen & Home

 

[Galena]

Thermometer, hydrometer, largish pan and a couple of small pots for heating, a fermenter and that's it. But whatever you buy you will need regardless but will give you an insight to AG and the world of brewing. You can buy starter kits where all is supplied Brew Buddy Beer 40 Pints Home Brew Starter Kit:Amazon.co.uk:Kitchen & Home

Thats a very cheap starter kit, daft question, but how do you keep the FV at the right temperature? You are right I should probabnly start with something like this to get the hang of it first

 

[trueblue]

Where do you live? there may be someone in you area who would be happy for you to observe their brewday, social distancing of course. I have done this a few times. Better than any youtube video.

 

[stevey]

Hi welcome,
I have the grainfather and am very happy with it. I find it very easy to use and have had no problems yet.
At £339 the robobrew is a great price and is much the same as the grainfather, I believe. If I was buying now, I'd be looking at the robobrew, but I don't think I'd be able to wait until the end of August (at the earliest).

 

[stevey]

Thats a very cheap starter kit, daft question, but how do you keep the FV at the right temperature? You are right I should probabnly start with something like this to get the hang of it first

A lot of us use an old undercounter fridge, fitted with a tube heater and controlled by an inkbird 308. All reasonably cheap (especially compared to a stainless glycol fermenter, they are on all our dream lists). Or you could choose a yeast that will tolerate higher temps, kveik I believe is one. There are people on here that know a lot more about yeast than me.

 

[GerritT]

Thats a very cheap starter kit, daft question, but how do you keep the FV at the right temperature? You are right I should probabnly start with something like this to get the hang of it first

AND there is no shame is using extracts for the base malts, and only mash the special malts. Extract is more expensive than grain, but you get to focus on other parts of the proces. And it's less heavy lifting, and it saves time.
Have you already got a book? There are good books about brewing.

 

[Gerryjo]

Thats a very cheap starter kit, daft question, but how do you keep the FV at the right temperature? You are right I should probabnly start with something like this to get the hang of it first

Room temp is fine @20° as Ales and such ferment at a warmer temp than lagers. Remember let yourself get the hang of things first as the majority of your brewing will be cleaning and sanitisation, once that's under your belt whatever you brew will be drinkable.
As @GerritT says extract is quicker, partial which is extract and grains and AG, cider and whatever else you want ferment all have the basics in common which is about 75% of the process and let's face it we're cleaning all the time. No need to worry about fridges, fancy Fermenters and the like for all that expense to find out you eventually loose interest.

 

[Galena]

Where do you live? there may be someone in you area who would be happy for you to observe their brewday, social distancing of course. I have done this a few times. Better than any youtube video.

I agree, I live near Buxton in the Peak District

 

[Galena]

Hi welcome,
I have the grainfather and am very happy with it. I find it very easy to use and have had no problems yet.
At £339 the robobrew is a great price and is much the same as the grainfather, I believe. If I was buying now, I'd be looking at the robobrew, but I don't think I'd be able to wait until the end of August (at the earliest).

End of August, yes I can't wait that long unless I make do with cooker top brewing until then - hmmm

 

[Galena]

A lot of us use an old undercounter fridge, fitted with a tube heater and controlled by an inkbird 308. All reasonably cheap (especially compared to a stainless glycol fermenter, they are on all our dream lists). Or you could choose a yeast that will tolerate higher temps, kveik I believe is one. There are people on here that know a lot more about yeast than me.

So with a conical stainless fermenter, are they just used at room temperature? How would you keep the temperature in the desired range

 

[Galena]

AND there is no shame is using extracts for the base malts, and only mash the special malts. Extract is more expensive than grain, but you get to focus on other parts of the proces. And it's less heavy lifting, and it saves time.
Have you already got a book? There are good books about brewing.

Yes I need a book or three, I did have some years ago but they probably ended up in a charity shop

 

[Galena]

Room temp is fine @20° as Ales and such ferment at a warmer temp than lagers. Remember let yourself get the hang of things first as the majority of your brewing will be cleaning and sanitisation, once that's under your belt whatever you brew will be drinkable.
As @GerritT says extract is quicker, partial which is extract and grains and AG, cider and whatever else you want ferment all have the basics in common which is about 75% of the process and let's face it we're cleaning all the time. No need to worry about fridges, fancy Fermenters and the like for all that expense to find out you eventually loose interest.

Very true its quite possible to invest and then lose interest

 

[Andrew Elliott]

I agree, I live near Buxton in the Peak District

Hi Galena,

I live just north of Worksop and would be happy to show you around my kit once the worse of the lockdown is eased. I have an all in one system from Brewtools as well as a couple of fermenters. I think the most cost effective stainless fermenter option is something like a SS Brewtech Brewbucket in a fridge bought from either gumtree or Facebook Marketplace controlled by an Inkbird controller. If you pick up a fridge and an Inkbird a plastic bucket works just as well to get you going. I think temp control has a major impact on the finished product so is worth thinking about. As other members have said Kviek yeast is generally fermented hot but also works at lower temps so is much less sensitive to temp control.