Help Me Spend My Dough!

[Damian44]

Hey, im looking to get all the equipment to go from K&K to all grain. I have a budget of $600. What would you purchase? I have all the K&K stuff and a fridgemate. BIAB is an option im willing to take, but i have an 80 litre esky i could convert. I would like to be able to do double batches. I can get an 80 litre alloy pot for $125, and am considering the Barley Crusher from G&G while its 20% off (end today).
TYVVM

 

[trevc]

That $600 will go quick

Start with an Italian spiral burner and adjustable regulator. Perhaps leave the mill till last.

 

[newguy]

The things that I find essential (for me):

- CFC wort chiller. Not an issue if you no chill. You can also make your own immersion chiller if you're so inclined. Just buy a 25' (8m) roll of 3/8" ID copper tubing and all the fittings to be able to hook it up to the outdoor tap.
- Big ass propane burner.
- Pot with tap (kettle).
- Grain mill.
- Refractometer.
- Stir plate (home made).

Hope this helps.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

You will be able to do it for $600...

Just make some wise purchases and DONT purchase the shiniest things you see first. Just about all AG brewers start out simple and gradually build up their rigs. There would not be many brewers who have never boiled a kettle a 3 ring burner supported by bricks on the garage floor..

You are going to need the following...

Gas burner... A 3 ring cast iron job will do fine...no need to go NASA/Turkey burners just yet..

A 40ltr pot with a tap. ( A keg is a good choice....but not very legal )

A 26ltr esky with either a false bottom or manifold

A wort chiller.. (or you could go no-chill , there is pleny of discussion on this...)

A 20ltr pot or urn or kettle to supply hot water for mashing & sparging

A mill if you cant get it crushed for you...barley crushers are OK...but something like MashMasters mill will outlast a barley crusher by about 500yrs

If you know someone who can weld, then you will be in front, as they can make up some simple stands for you .

If you are good with your hands then a manifold or false bottom is not hard to make. Go to a plumbing supply.. ( or Bunning$ )and look for various fittings. Be creative and you make a good settup very cheaply.


Plenty of bling does not mean you will make better beer.... B)

 

[Adamt]

Newguy: Where do you mash with your bare essentials?

Damian: With $600, I'd skip BIAB and not look back.

I'd get that cooler converted, pick up a false bottom, Beerbelly ones are perfect for rectangular coolers, around $70ish I think. You'll need a valve and fittings and stuff too. ~$120?

80L Ally pot will do the job for double batches, you'll need fittings and stuff as well, pickup tubes are very handy as is a hop stopper. ~$200?

Burner and regulator... depends on what you go for, the NASA is fairly cheap and packs a load of grunt, Italian spirals are just sexy (but more expensive).. regulator depends on the burner as well. Probably looking around $120-180? Lets say $150.

You'll also need a good thermometer and hosing, say $50.

That leaves you about $80.

With that you could get a refractometer, or a 20-plate chiller, though I think the chiller is a better investment.

I think a mill is not worth it if you have a decent HBS.

 

[Damian44]

Thanks Guys. The LHBS is abit of a hike, so i think ill purchase the Barley Crusher today. So far here's what im gonna get....

Barley Crusher $180
80 litre ally pot $125
Italian spiral burner $95
Med regulator $65
Beerbelly Complete Esky Mashtun Conversion kit $145

So my main concern now is im $10 over budget and have no way to transfere the boiling wort to the fermenter for no-chill. The way i see it i could......
A. Swap the Italian burner for a NASA (they dont look to stable) and install a tap on my pot.
B. Convert the esky with a piece of braid (even though im a complete tool when it comes to things like that) and install a tap.
C. Wait for the Marga mill to come back into stock at Craft brewer and install a tap.

So what would be the best option A, B or C

What would be the cheapest way to install a tap on a ally pot?
Im just reading up on pickup tubes and hop stopper.

TYVVM

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

probably A.

Being an ally pot, you wont be able to weld a threaded outlet as easy as if where a stainless pot..

This is why the Keg option is a better choice....just dont get caught, cause none of us will bail you out...but we may send soap :lol:

 

[newguy]

Newguy: Where do you mash with your bare essentials?

In my HERMS. I would have been over budget if I had suggested it.

It's pretty easy to make a pick up or filter or false bottom for an esky. For years I mashed in an esky with a slotted copper manifold that I made myself. Way cheaper than buying a kit too.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I'll take a different tack -

I think the very first thing you should do is get a kegging system. I would say the best thing you can do for your beer is fermentation temp control, but you have that already, after that - I reckon a kegging system is prior to going AG on the list of priorities.

So for mine I would say -

Kegging system for lets say $300.00
80L Ally pot with tap - say $150.00
3 ring burner - $50 (I'll assume you already have a BBQ bottle and reg)
Accurate thermometer - $20.00
Two 20L NC cubes - $30 (ish)
Enough Material for a BiaB bag and the cost of getting it sewed - $25.00

And $25.00 saved up towards a mill

The 25 bucks for BiaB bag and the 25 spare will pretty much get you a workable mashtun if the BiaB thing really doesn't float your boat. But I maintain my recommendation that BiaB is the ideal way to take your first step into AG. With everything that I now know about brewing - its the way I wish I had started out. I might even still be doing it that way if I had.

I suppose if you have already bought the Barley Crusher - then the budget is blown as far as the kegging system is concerned. But that just makes me even more sure that you should go the cheap and easy route for the AG part (BiaB in the first instance, but a braid mash tun if you insist) then you will be brewing AG and will have enough leftover cash that you will be halfway to the kegging system anyway.

Just my thoughts

Thirsty

 

[Darren]

I would go the other way. Buy the mill before the kegging system. The amount you will save by buying your malt in bulk you will be able to afford the kegging system in no time.

cheers

Darren

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I read somewhere that you're not a real brewer until you own a March pump. Seems like a couple of hundred dollars well spent to me. Then, you will need some sort of grant, a few metres of silicon hose and some triclover fittings.

If you have purchased a grain mill, you have also committed yourself to all the other bits that you will need to make it work, like a handle or a motor, some sort of housing, a hopper and a collection bucket. Then you'll need some scales and another bucket. Two of this site's sponsors will do all that this equipment does for you for free. I own a mill, but I cannot claim it makes economic sense.

 

[Damian44]

Thanks heaps everyone. Ive swung back to BIAB (again). I havnt purchased the mill yet, but doesnt the Barley Crusher come with all the extras except a collection bucket? The kegging idea is deffinatly worth thought though. Now my only dilema is should i install a tap or get a SS syphon.
Thanks again everyone.

 

[Effect]

$600??

I am going to save up $1000 to buy all my gear - but I am starting from scratch and you already have a lot of equipment (from K&K)...

 

[kook]

Not meaning to move business away from our retailers - but those esky conversion kits can be made for half the price if you source the parts individually from hydraulics & fasteners suppliers, and use braid rather than a false bottom.

 

[Fents]

^^ true kook and i've already done that route but unfortuantly for me braid in a 55L esky only gets me 65% eff maybe 68% max (could be anything from my sparge technique or what not but still..). Now usually im not one to give a **** about spending a couple of extra dollars on grain to make my OG but my thing is im building a proper 100L system and i reckon those SS esky false bottoms beer belly sells are worth their weight in gold. 80%+ eff and eskys are a much used choice becuse they insulate so well.

 

[Fents]

Oh and 600 hundy hmmm...

1 x 80L Pot fitted with tap and hopscreen - $200 (mines ally with thread welded in - it can be done)
1 x 80L esky conversion - $150 ?
1 x 50L HLT - (keg h34r: ) 2400w element with tap and sight gauge - $250max if you do it yourself

then save for a march pump $259
then weld a frame $200?

edit - 8th pot. :lol:

 

[Weizguy]

at the risk of sounding like an advertisement, MHB has Chinese spiral burners for about $30. I have one and am quite happy with it. You could prob buy an adjustable HP reg from there too for, about $55.
Might be worthwhile to see if he has any S/S 80 litre kegs (with tap) left.
Just a thought for the budget.

 

[Damian44]

Thanks again guys. Im definatly going to give BIAB a bash. I do like the idea of cleaning one vessle as well.
Les the Weizguy whats MHB stand for?
TYVM

 

[Darren]

Two of this site's sponsors will do all that this equipment does for you for free. I own a mill, but I cannot claim it makes economic sense.

I reckon we need one of those smileys where a poster is kneeling in front of a retailer bobbing up and down making humming sounds

A bag of malt uncrushed (25 kg) costs $50. Buy it crushed from a retailer ($4.00/kg) will only set you back $100!!!

Sure sounds like good economic sense to me :huh:

Actually looks like three bags of malt pays for your mill.

cheers

darren

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I reckon we need one of those smileys where a poster is kneeling in front of a retailer bobbing up and down making humming sounds

A bag of malt uncrushed (25 kg) costs $50. Buy it crushed from a retailer ($4.00/kg) will only set you back $100!!!

Sure sounds like good economic sense to me :huh:

Actually looks like three bags of malt pays for your mill.

cheers

darren

So - you find that you are unable to comment on an issue without calling a fellow AHB member a **********

You have just without a doubt, removing any confusion that anyone might have had, absolutely confirmed for everybody - just exactly what sort of a person you are, and what your opinions are likely to be worth.

Thanks for that, there previously existed a danger that people might have taken you seriously. Not so much anymore.