Punkin's Allgrain Brewery

[punkin]

Hoping i can show someone how simple it really is to set up for allgrain brewing. Luckily i had nearly all the gear i needed for my other hobbies and there was little i had to do besides some reading and a little work making manifolds and immersion chillers etc...

The end result is beer that is light years ahead of the Kit and Kilo i've been brewing for the last thirty years, for around the same price per keg. The only thing i regret is that i hadn't converted over years ago.

I start with a Brewmate recipe and brewday sheet. I convert the recipes from some of the database reicpes here (this ones a Smurto Golden) and just scale up with the software. This is so simple and tells you all the targets you have to meet, how much water at what temp for how long ect.

Then crack the malts with my Crankenstein mill...



18 odd kilos of grain for this batch fills a couple of twenty litre buckets..



I have a 50l beer keg on a 3 ring burner that i use for other projects. This is my hot water kettle. It helps with the water heating that i have run an insulated line from the solar hot water system before the temper valve into my brew shed. I start with water anywhere tween 65 and 90C...




I use graduated buckets and a floating thermometer to get my strike water right with near boiling water mixed with hot or cold water to extend the range of my 50l kettle...
In this case 3 x 15l's and an 8l has me dead on...

Add the water and grain to a large 120l esky that i had and made a manifold for using John Palmers calculations..



This shot is actually during the sparge where there's 75l of sparge water added, but you get the idea.




Then i drain back into the buckets (adding up the litres and recording as i go) and into my 160l pot (which i also just happened to already have) sitting on a 4 ring burner.



These burners really pack some heat when run on a HP regulator, so much so that the first runnings are boiling while the sparge is sitting.

 

[punkin]

After adding the sparge 15l at a time i'm up to 108l in the pot and it's fast coming up to the boil...

10mins or so later and time to add the first hops...



Hops are premeasured and the brewday page on the recipe is still guiding me...



After an hour and all the hop additions it's in with the immersion chiller and a bit of whirlpooling for an hour or so to below 30C and into the fermenter/s

I'm using a 140l blue drum atm to ferment this whole 88l batch at once for 4 kegs worth :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Phoney]

Hoping i can show someone how simple it really is to set up for allgrain brewing. Luckily i had nearly all the gear i needed for my other hobbies and there was little i had to do besides some reading and a little work making manifolds and immersion chillers etc...

No offense mate, but if I saw that as a kit & kilo brewer it would look anything but simple and easy and would probably turn me off even contemplating switching to AG! Your setup is great but if you really want simplicity without acquiring any elaborate gear or learning how to fabricate things out of metal you cant go past the ol' store bought BIAB bag and an urn.

 

[bum]

You saw that his post-boil output is 88L, right, phoneyhuh? Your bag-lifting arm must be very impressive indeed if you think your post useful to anyone.

First time I've noticed anyone directing n00bs to 3V in a while, punkin. Good job on making people aware that there are still options. Only real simplification I can think of would be looking at removing the bucket step in transfer from tun to kettle.

 

[Dazza88]

What were the other hobbies? To have the massive pots etc

 

[Maheel]

What were the other hobbies? To have the massive pots etc

making jam and cooking crabs ?

 

[punkin]

No offense mate, but if I saw that as a kit & kilo brewer it would look anything but simple and easy and would probably turn me off even contemplating switching to AG! Your setup is great but if you really want simplicity without acquiring any elaborate gear or learning how to fabricate things out of metal you cant go past the ol' store bought BIAB bag and an urn.

I looked at biab when i was setting up and rejected it for quite a few reasons. One of which was as bum said, the size of the batches i need to do to keep my beer supply up.

I just can't see how biab is superior or even simpler really, considering i already had this gear.



One of my other hobbies is mycology, so things like a 50l keg based pressure cooker and 160 litre steam injected pot are quite handy. The other hobby this gear is used for is taboo here. :icon_cheers:







I have a march pump i'm setting up for whirlpooling over my immersion chiller, but i still will be using the buckets for hot water and wort transfer. My esky sits in the middle of the shed and my fermenter is inside the house.
It also allows me to measure fairly accurately without using sightglasses etc and gives me a little bit of sorely needed excersize.

 

[d3vour3r]

how often do u brew to keep ur supply up?

 

[komodo]

Well done!

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I'm with phoneyhuh and (surprisingly) can see bum's POV as well.

I think the things is to differentiate that

1. Not every noob wants to know how to do 3V, some need to go the BIAB path, some don't. Some will see all that equipment and mentally go "too hard", even if it isn't. Nick_JD's thread (yes, bum, I know you hate each other, but bear with me) is a "hey kit brewer, look at this. AG isn't so hard."
2. Not everyone has the equipment punkin has, or the ability (or finances) to acquire it quickly, or wants to acquire that much equipment, whilst the fear of failure is fresh in their mind;
3. Not everyone needs to do 80-90L of beer in one go. Some just don't drink that much (like me). 20-25L is fine for some, for which 3V (or more importantly, the cost of it) is overkill, when BIAB can be done with a 19L pot (or 2 in my case) and a pillowcase (or 2) for $30-$40. Also, some (like me also) don't want 90L of the same beer. I have 3 kegs and I like variation, so I'll have a Roggenweiss sitting alongside an APA and a cider (or GF beer for my Gluten Intolerant mate, who's overjoyed at having "beer" again)

Great thread, great guide, great idea, I'd have just put a little caveat on it, 'tis all.

At the very least, we've all added to the debate and an interested kit brewer will go "hey what's this BIAB", and be able to compare the two methods. More power to the brewer, and forums are there for the dissemination of information and knowledge and this is the best 3V thread I've seen.

I'll still stick with my method, though. Won't get that purchase (much as I'd like) past the Minister of War & Finance.

Goomba

 

[Malted]

Punkin has showed us a simple big batch 3 vessell brewery; well done :kooi: .
Big batch (on a homebrewing scale) all grain 3V brewing can be simple - isn't that the story?


This is not a 3V is better than BIAB thread. I am totally with Bum and Punkin on this. Comparing this system to BIAB is akin to comparing apples and oranges.


Should you be considering brewing 80-90L batches of all grain beer, here is a thread that demonstrates that it may not be as complex as you might think.

 

[Phoney]

I looked at biab when i was setting up and rejected it for quite a few reasons. One of which was as bum said, the size of the batches i need to do to keep my beer supply up.

I just can't see how biab is superior or even simpler really, considering i already had this gear.

Oh don't get me wrong, I completely agree you've got a setup which perfectly suits your needs right there. Upgrade my BIAB system to a 3V HERMS is going to be one of my new years resolutions for 2012, for double batches to big batches...

A great as an example of 3 vessel brewing this may be, I only disagreed with showcasing your system as to how simple switching to AG can be for n00bs. Because most ordinary people don't have metal working or plumbing skills, and certainly virtually no-one that I've ever met has any of that gear lying around in their back sheds.

 

[MarkBastard]

I love it!

I can see myself in the future having a setup like this as well as a 20L batch setup for doing 'specialty' beers.

I would love nothing more than having 20 kegs and doing batches like this and just having an endless supply of 'house' beers. If a keg runs out chuck another one on. With a buffer of 3 kegs you brew another batch when on your second last one. Too easy.

 

[punkin]

how often do u brew to keep ur supply up?

If i do 44l batches i need to brew every w'end. And it only takes a couple of mates to drop round for a beer on a sat and a few arvo visits after work and i'm going backwards.



I have eleven kegs and as soon as craftbrewer starty the 4 keg deal again i will be buying some more. I like to have 4 beers on tap too, so having a few of each type ready to go is good for me.

It's not meant to be a debate for or against whatever method anyone chooses and i think you guys are just dragging the thread off track.

It's only a pictorial on how my brewery is setup, if it helps one person decide to switch from whatever they're doing now to allgrain brewing i'll be glad.



This is how i stepped from tipping cans and dextrose into fermenters to allgrain, so it's certainly possible :icon_cheers:

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I reckon the more brewery set up pictures the better

Take mine fore example - Linky

Sure it's over kill - I usually only make 19L batches - but I think putting stuff together and reconfiguring is half the fun of brewing

I always like looking at brew setups and thinking that's cool I'm gonna nick that idea

Top work Punkin

Cheers

 

[Lachlan]

Nice work punkin, i also like checking out others set ups for ideas.

You will always have critics though.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

It's not meant to be a debate for or against whatever method anyone chooses and i think you guys are just dragging the thread off track.

Nice work punkin, i also like checking out others set ups for ideas.

You will always have critics though.

I honestly don't think anyone has criticised it or tried to throw it off thread.

My apologies if my post appears to have indicated that it was critical - it certainly wasn't intended to be.

I think it's fantastic and the more pics the better. I've appended my (now partly superceded) process on another thread with pics and I think it's great that punkin's done it as well

Because the thing is - we are all (AGers) trying to extract sugaz from grain, and make it into beer.

Our equipment, budgets, ability to fabricate, and the like are all different, and to put all this info out there (even if it mildly throws a thread off topic), helps any newb research and make a decision about their entry point, which is likely different to mine, punkin's, Nick_JD's, RdeVjun's, BribieG's, etc.

In the end, putting all the info out there and especially piccies - fantastic.

As I said before great thread - I really enjoyed it.

 

[Malted]

I'd be keen to see pictures of your blue fermenter. In particular details/pictures of temperature control if you use it.

 

[punkin]

The fermenter is just a blue poly drum, the type with the black lid and the clamp that goes around. I've put a tank fitting in the bottom and a 3/4 ball valve. I have a fair few of the olive type drums as fermenters too, from 80l ones up to 220l ones. They work quite well for the type of ferments i do.

I have no temp control other than being allowed to keep one fermenter in the house, all the rest have to stay in the brew shed. The house is airconditioned during the summer and i use an electric blanket to maintain constnat temp duing the winter.

I can't justify using a fridge for fermentation, our power bill is massive as is.

 

[spudfarmerboy]

Because most ordinary people don't have metal working or plumbing skills, and certainly virtually no-one that I've ever met has any of that gear lying around in their back sheds.

Speak for yourself. Most ordinary people I know have plenty of handyman,plumbing and metal working skills. I don't know what you do for a living phoneyhuh, I am a tradesman/farmer, and plenty of people and other brewers I know have the skills to build their own set up. Maybe you work in IT or something similiar. If you do, I suppose you wouldnt meet many people with the above skills.