Advice on All Grain equipment

[RedBeardBrewer]

G'day Brewers!

I'm looking to make the leap from extract brewing to all grain brewing as well as increasing the overall volume that I'm brewing and I'm looking for some advice on the right kind of brewing gear to get.

I think I've got a handle on the fermenters and the fermentation process as that's something I've been working on a lot with extract brewing, though I'm unsure if I should go with something like the Guten from Keg King, the BrewZilla or Digiboil from Kegland, or whatever else is out there when it comes to brewing all grain.

In terms of kegging, I've got 2 kegerators and both can fit 3 19L corny kegs in them, though if I'm looking to scale things up, what kind of kegging system should I be looking at? My initial thoughts were just using a daisy-chain, but would it be better to invest in larger kegs?

Looking forward to reading everyone's thoughts on this.

Cheers,

 

[duncbrewer]

I started with a 35 l robobrew then scaled up to a Guten 70 litre. Very happy with the larger batch or higher gravity options it gives me. Variety in the beers suits me so I'd rather have 3 twenty litre kegs than one 60 litre keg.
I tend to brew about 30litres into each fermentasaurus. This means always get a full keg some to drink straightaway and some to bottle.
I don't think the big brewzilla has a drain hole in the bottom, the guten does and so perhaps you can get more wort out of the vessel at the end. N

No doubt going all grain has improved my beer.
Which is best, they are all similar and different unless you make the leap to much more expensive options such a braumeister or brewtools. Are they x times better because they cost x times more, I'm not sure.

 

[RedBeardBrewer]

I started with a 35 l robobrew then scaled up to a Guten 70 litre. Very happy with the larger batch or higher gravity options it gives me. Variety in the beers suits me so I'd rather have 3 twenty litre kegs than one 60 litre keg.
I tend to brew about 30litres into each fermentasaurus. This means always get a full keg some to drink straightaway and some to bottle.

No doubt going all grain has improved my beer.

Thanks for that Duncbrewer!

I'm leaning towards the Guten 70L at this point. I'll need to upgrade an outlet to 15A but that's no big deal.

 

[duncbrewer]

Thanks for that Duncbrewer!

I'm leaning towards the Guten 70L at this point. I'll need to upgrade an outlet to 15A but that's no big deal.

Have to say really happy with my 70 litre Guten. Did a lot of reading on the US forum about the Brewzilla 65 after getting my Guten and I think Guten has advantages.

I don't use the hop spider because I made a trubtrapper for it and this seems to work well with the whirlpool modification I cobbled together. I get very little kettle loss this way. I don't use the tap to transfer just the pump , can't see how the tap is any use at all no way to have it high enough up to go into a fermentasaurus and lift malt pipe sparge etc. Hence I use it as access in reverse for the whirlpool.

I was lucky the laundry room had a dedicated 15 amp spur with RCD on it for the washing machine. All I had to do was swap from a 10amp socket to a 15 amp one.

 

[mynameisrodney]

Have to say really happy with my 70 litre Guten. Did a lot of reading on the US forum about the Brewzilla 65 after getting my Guten and I think Guten has advantages.

I don't use the hop spider because I made a trubtrapper for it and this seems to work well with the whirlpool modification I cobbled together. I get very little kettle loss this way. I don't use the tap to transfer just the pump , can't see how the tap is any use at all no way to have it high enough up to go into a fermentasaurus and lift malt pipe sparge etc. Hence I use it as access in reverse for the whirlpool.

View attachment 120664

I was lucky the laundry room had a dedicated 15 amp spur with RCD on it for the washing machine. All I had to do was swap from a 10amp socket to a 15 amp one.

Any more details on the trub trapper? Not sure exactly what I'm looking at there.

I also just use the pump for transfers. Interesting idea with whirlpooling through the tap. Does this work better for you than the whirlpool arm?

 

[duncbrewer]

Any more details on the trub trapper? Not sure exactly what I'm looking at there.

I also just use the pump for transfers. Interesting idea with whirlpooling through the tap. Does this work better for you than the whirlpool arm?

Well the inner ring was made from stainless steel mesh stands about 6 cm high and has a finer mesh on the inside. I made this for the robobrew as it was smaller diameter. Once I got the guten wanted something a bit bigger.
Bought some mesh from hardware store same it was coarser than for hop spider but finer than the one I had originally bought for the first trup trapper and then folded and it over an 8mm stainless steel bar and rolled the top over. Then bentit into a circle which was very difficult. The bottom edge has silicone edging strip on it so that it sits flat on the kettle base, this is really important. The hops and trub catch in the middle one and the escapees are caught by the other ring, but I'm sure the outer would do the job but as i have both i use them.
Really good for hops but cant stop all the trub I think there was finer mesh available though and I didn't get it, better than nothing though.

I just fitted an elbow to the inside of the tap bulkhead with a piece of stainless steel tube in a cap for the jet of the whirlpool.
I can't say if better than the whirlpool arm as not tried that, but I pump out of the recirc tube through the coolossus and then thru the whirlpool on my system.

I will be upgrading to a 3 way ball valve fitted to the stainless steel upright leading to the recirc tube and then spur the coolossus and onto whirlpool with a 1/2 inch ball valve replacing the tap. Awaiting these parts from china. Will be using cam locks so that I can swap coolossus in and out or bypass it direct to whirlpool.
I'm pretty happy with it.
Will get some pictures of side views later of the bigger one.
Really it's a copy of the trubtrapper discussed on the portly gentleman website ( now not in production or available in NZ ) and the bigger trubinator




edit removed double copy and put in the correct link