What Stops You From All Grain Brewing?

[pablo_h]

First, when you are dealing in grains, you need to have a local supplier for grain (as the bags are heavy and too expensive to post/courier).
second, equipment (I bought a cheap thin 50L pot, an esky and materials for a mash tun), but now have no cash for a burner and stand, have no cash for mods, ie welded taps or other fittings etc for the 50L pot.
after all that, I still have to buy propane.
I'm working towards it, but god damn everyone gets a bit of loving on NYE, so there's too many birthdays in september!
It's so much simpler just to not spend $200 getting an AG setup with grain, and just to spend $20 for a kit beer (not that I've been able to even do a kit brew during the last 2 months)
I'm all for AG, I'm not happy with can or extract results, so it's AG or nothing for me, but so far 'nothing' is winning out, and I've got yeast dying in my fridge in the meantime as well
I like brewing, the whole process, the learning experience, the enjoyable hobby etc. I hope that I can convince friends and family to get into the hobby just so I can help out someone who actually has the funds to do it.
I'd love to have the funds to get into kegs, and give my bottles to a friend or family member just starting out too as the 12 brews I did this year proved how annoying bottles are, and I want consistant beer dammit! Worth doing? Worth doing right.
It's in my future, this AG and keg malarky, only a matter of time

 

[reviled]

I can personally understand the whole not being able to afford $200-$300 for the initial set up cost, even though over time you eventually save money by being able to make better beer for cheaper, but what I dont understand is how many people chose time as an option for preventing them AG'ing??? :huh:

I find that with the BIAB process, I actually have more time available for doing other things on brew day than when I was doing k&k or extracts.. I admit the whole process does take a while, but over that time you dont have to be watching like a hawk all the time, which is what I had to do when I was doing k&k in a fairly small pot on the stove...

So yeah, I just feel people should consider this before ruling out AG becuase of time restraints...

 

[Jazzafish]

Yeah, people say time is an issue... half a day to make how many litres of beer??? But you don't need to hang around the entire process. Lots of rests give you time for other things.

My brew day usually goes like this:

Night before (30mins to an hour max):
Put kids to bed
Measure and crush grain. Measure hops.
Fill up HLT and plug into timer

Day of:
7:30ish Wake up/woken up by kids. Change nappies etc...
8:00 Mash in (water at temp and grain ready to go)
8:10 Top up HLT and set thermostat to sparge temps. Set phone alarm for an hour later
8:15 family breakfast
8:30 start to mow the lawn/domestic duties/whatever needs doing
9:00 Recirculate and sparge. Let it slowly flow from the Mash into the kettle
9:15Continue the lawn/domestic duties/whatever needs doing
10:15ish Start the boil... This is the time I like to hang around, as the kettle will try and boil over. It must be stopped or you will have a mess!
11:00ish Add bittering hops after boil over is stopped and the wort is in a good rolling boil. Set alarm on phone for next hop additions/end of boil
11:15ish Continue the lawn/domestic duties/whatever needs doing
12:00ish Rack the beer into cube
12:30ish Clean up.
13:00ish Lunch time

 

[glenos]

never mind AG, I haven't brewed in over a year.

I lost interest for a while, had a heap of imported beer to drink (6 ctns) and now I don't have any time or space.

BUT, I am building a new shed (for my wife's business) once that's done I will get some time and space back, and am planning to do some brewing in about a month.

 

[Brewer_010]

mainly a lack of time for me to do AG (with set up cost a close second)...but I keep an eye open for people selling their brew rigs, just in case

I'm 90% happy with my beers at present, extracts and specialty grains with the odd FWK thrown in for variety.

 

[reviled]

Yeah, people say time is an issue... half a day to make how many litres of beer??? But you don't need to hang around the entire process. Lots of rests give you time for other things.

My brew day usually goes like this:

Night before (30mins to an hour max):
Put kids to bed
Measure and crush grain. Measure hops.
Fill up HLT and plug into timer

Day of:
7:30ish Wake up/woken up by kids. Change nappies etc...
8:00 Mash in (water at temp and grain ready to go)
8:10 Top up HLT and set thermostat to sparge temps. Set phone alarm for an hour later
8:15 family breakfast
8:30 start to mow the lawn/domestic duties/whatever needs doing
9:00 Recirculate and sparge. Let it slowly flow from the Mash into the kettle
9:15Continue the lawn/domestic duties/whatever needs doing
10:15ish Start the boil... This is the time I like to hang around, as the kettle will try and boil over. It must be stopped or you will have a mess!
11:00ish Add bittering hops after boil over is stopped and the wort is in a good rolling boil. Set alarm on phone for next hop additions/end of boil
11:15ish Continue the lawn/domestic duties/whatever needs doing
12:00ish Rack the beer into cube
12:30ish Clean up.
13:00ish Lunch time

That sums it up beautifully and hopefully will show some people how much spare time you can actually have on brew day :beerbang:

 

[Fents]

lazyness and the fact i want a 100L AG brewery built for me by someone else yesterday.

nah im getting there, kettles done, mash tuns being sorted now and next the 80L HLT. I just fear the frame will take the most amount of time to get someone to make up as i cant weld.

and its good i've kept all my old gear cause i can still make 40-60L batch's while this is all being built.

 

[microbe]

lazyness and the fact i want a 100L AG brewery built for me by someone else yesterday.
~snip~

That's about the same for me too. Reasonably happy (mostly) with the results I get playing with kits and some grain & hops. Don't feel like change for the sake of change at this time.

Cheers,

microbe

 

[LexP]

Cost and time at the moment, I'm a poor third year uni student <_<
I'm slowly getting there though! Just need a couple more things and I'm there!

 

[braufrau]

But Braufrau - you can use the vacumn sealer too.........that makes it twice as useful

And given that he drinks your beer, I personally think that $250 spent on your beer (especially as you just took out some prizes !!) is $250 spent on him. So it should really be him asking you if he can buy you what you need to make even better beer, as he enjoys it and you clearly have a talent for making it............seems like a win win for both to me

So today is the big day and HWMBO was suitably grateful for his prezzie. We sealed a sponge .. because that's fun .. and then I resealed some beerbelly hops I'd opened and then I started thinking .. xmas prezzies .. chai tea .. I could seal that and biscuits .. and .. that magazine for auntie rosa, we could seal that and post it and if we ever get any decent harvests out of the garden they could go in the freezer and ...

so OK .. it was really a present for me!

 

[Bizier]

I have 20 kilos of LDME to get through before I go AG BIAB - I plan to do whatever I can with existing equipment for now, I will be going overseas soon enough for it to be stupid to buy a proper setup.

Apart from that time and social/relationship commitments are the main thing stopping me brewing.

Apart from that... space, I live in a share house in Sydney's innerwest... though flatmates are usually easy to get onside when there are freely flowing litres of chilled beer on a hot day.

 

[bouncingcastle]

Apart from that... space, I live in a share house in Sydney's innerwest... though flatmates are usually easy to get onside when there are freely flowing litres of chilled beer on a hot day.

You're telling me....

All my housemates couldn't care less about my brewing... till it's friday night!

 

[Swinging Beef]

Nothing.. started last month.
Was heaps easier and much less time intensive than I expected.
Contemplating still doing an extract brew at the same time as mashing, just to economise on time.

 

[petesbrew]

Space is definitely a big issue.
Man, I'd pay to have a brewshed with one of those shiny AG setups you guys keep posting!
But yes time is my main concern.

edit: but Jazza's post says it all. HLT on a timer the night before, and mashing in at 6am is the best way to start the day.

 

[Katherine]

BIAB takes up very little room... but yes bottles and fermenters so brewery would be nice.

But yes the six hours, I actually enjoy those six hours.

 

[petesbrew]

BIAB takes up very little room... but yes bottles and fermenters so brewery would be nice.

But yes the six hours, I actually enjoy those six hours.

Same!
I just don't enjoy the part where I have to keep closing the back door to keep the smells to a minimum.
A nice hoppy 60min boil doesn't appeal to a pregnant wife with a sensitive nose. :icon_vomit:

 

[Katherine]

A nice hoppy 60min boil doesn't appeal to a pregnant wife with a sensitive nose.

I can understand that...

Lucky she has a happy bloke whom is sensitive himself.

 

[superhero]

Hello Everyone,

Um, nothing. I've been all grain brewing for 6 years and I've never looked back.
Sure it costs a few hundred to set up initially and it takes more time and space than a
K & K or extract brew but the difference is that the beer is much, much better.
It's like the difference between instant coffee and brewed coffee. Those of you who
also like coffee will know what I mean.

I started my brewing career in a 1 bedroom flat. No room for all grain brewing
and besides I didn't have the skills yet so I did K & K, modified can kits (adding
malt extract instead of sugar) and extract brewing. So going to AG is a chance to learn
more about beer making. Recipes can be gleaned from brewing books or the Internet.

My 1st AG brew was a complete disaster and was
done in a 2 bedroom apartment. The spare room was mostly filled with brewing
equipment and the kitchen was off limits on brew day. Lucky my then girlfriend
liked beer! I got up to 50L capacity in that apartment so it can be done in a
limited space. I'm in a 2 bedroom house now with a shed so brewing is much
easier now. My car knows it's not allowed in the shed. It's my brewery.

Doing a yeast starter to make a Belgian Wit for the AHB Vic Xmas Case Swap.
I'd better get on with it

Hope some of this helps.

 

[MitchDudarko]

I'm all excited about going BIAB, but being in Kalgoorlie kinda limits me to one kind of grain. None. I'm a little confused, as there is so much info to get through, and i'm not completely full bottle on the equipment needed either.
I'll keep reading. lol
Mitch