All Grain DIY Kit

[BrewerRS]

Hi All,

I'm sure this has been discussed at length but prices in the past may be different to what they are now.

I've been brewing beer for a few years now but only from kits, tweaking here and there as you do.

My question is simple but the answer may be complex.

How much, in your opinion, could I put an AG equipment kit together for? I'm reasonably handy when it comes to making things myself. But I'm a complete beginner when it comes to making beer from scratch. What are the basic materials I need, i.e.mashtun, pan big enough for boil etc. I want to make 4-5 gallon batches.

Any advice you can give would be great. If this has been covered recently, please point me to the thread.

Thanks

 

[Redron]

I recently moved from kits to BIAB (brew in a bag) AG brewing.

You will need,
50L SS pot. £80
Grain bag. £20
Wort chiller £35

Two choices as to how you mash/boil your wort.
Either an electric boiler, or do as I do, use a propane gas burner in my (well ventilated) shed.

With BIAB you heat your mash water to 73deg or so, add your grains and mash for an hour or 90 mins, remove and drain bag and boil the wort adding your hops as you wish. When boiled for the hour rapidly cool with your wort chiller and add to you FV with your yeast.

A very simple method and less complicated than the 'three vessel' route, that said, not as efficient at extracting all thos lovely sugars from the grain, but grain is cheap so I add a bit more to get my desired og.

You will be amazed at the difference in taste....

 

[MyQul]

This starter kit is quite popular on the forum (haven't got ut myself though)

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk...iler-chiller-mashing-bag-mash-kit-p-2507.html

 

[Sonnal]

This starter kit is quite popular on the forum (haven't got ut myself though)

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk...iler-chiller-mashing-bag-mash-kit-p-2507.html

+1 for this kit. I've been using it extensively for the last 10 months or so. It's reasonably cheap and doesn't take up the space of a 3 vessel system.

 

[BrewerRS]

+1 for this kit. I've been using it extensively for the last 10 months or so. It's reasonably cheap and doesn't take up the space of a 3 vessel system.

So in this method of brewing, you get your water to the desired temperature, mash in and then just let the temp fall?

 

[Godsdog]

+1 for this kit. I've been using it extensively for the last 10 months or so. It's reasonably cheap and doesn't take up the space of a 3 vessel system.

Has this boiler got a thermostat control on it for the steeping of the mash?

 

[Sonnal]

There is no thermostat on this boiler so some people wrap in towels/duvet and leave to mash. I do it slightly differently as I split my total water and mash in half then do a dunk sparge in the other half. I do this because for a 23 litre batch it's difficult to get all the required water plus the grain in one go, especially if you have a large grain bill. Other people mash and then top up to the required volume during the boil.

My method, which involves transferring the mash water from the boiler to an old FV in a duvet lined box for the required mash time, gives me an average efficiency of around 80%. I heat my sparge water in the boiler whilst the mash is on and do a dunk sparge at about 78C. Then I drain, and mix the mash wort and the sparge wort together for the boil. I know "true" BIAB doesn't require a sparge but I really couldn't care less. It makes great beer.:grin:

 

[Wilfy]

I bought this when it was down to about 230 euro from the Irish site. With the exchange rate at the time, it worked out just over £180.

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/all-grain-starter-pack-for-5-gallon-batches-p-1127.html

Does the job.

 

[MickDundee]

I got a boiler, 3 grain bags, wort chiller, 25kg of lager malt and 10 whirfloc tablets (is that what they're called?) off Gumtree for £20. Boiler is pretty old but it does for now.

 

[Sonnal]

I got a boiler, 3 grain bags, wort chiller, 25kg of lager malt and 10 whirfloc tablets (is that what they're called?) off Gumtree for �£20. Boiler is pretty old but it does for now.

Bargain!:thumb:

 

[MickDundee]

Bargain!:thumb:

The grain was very old but the first brew I did with it turned out OK, and the second is fermenting now. I'll chuck it out after this brew though because I'm not planning on doing another until July.

 

[Leon103]

I have the HBC kit and it is very good value for money