New Brewery!

[levain]

OK, if you're already doing extracts, you already have some of what you need.

For years, I had a 5 gal. bucket that I wrapped an old blanket around for insulation. False bottom was a phils phalse bottom. They're cheap and work great. It was duct taped on so well that I could spray it down, no biggie.
2 SS pots. One 5 gal. One 8 gallon. random hoses..

I would do the mash in the 5 gal. pot. stabilize temp., and, put it into a lightly heated oven to maintain temp. You could also take a box, use some styrofoam to insulate.

After the mash, put pot on stove to heat up for a mash out.

Transfer to the insulated bucket for runoff/sparge. Sparging is rinsing the grain with water. Once runoff, you're at the same place you would be with an extract brew. All told, it adds 2.5-3 hrs. to the brewday.

Ultimately, all you need to do to switch from extract to all grain is mix the grains with water. Stabilize at 150 for 90 min. run it off. That's it. I've never had a problem with conversion. It's really as basic as that. When you're ready to learn more, it is never ending. If that's all you want to learn, that's all you need to know.

Some people use a converted cooler for the mash. The cooler helps maintain temps, but, I'm not a big fan of it, because the only way to heat it up, and, you will need to, is to add really hot water, which dilutes the mash, and adds a step. You'll need to heat it up if you don't hit your mash temp when you first add the water, or, if you choose to do a mash out, which I always do.

[HOT DAMN!]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Right on! Do some reading and hopefully, you have a decent homebrew shop local. If not, there are lots of great homebrew shops online. northernbrewer.com is one of my favorites...

Here's some shops in Indiana
http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/list...=IN&homebrew=Y

I have always loved beer but this brewing thing I can see myself getting into. There is a great place from your BA link in Crown Point that is about a half hour away. Has the makings for a nice bike ride this weekend.

Speaking of BA, just snatched my new issue out of the mailbox and enjoying a great brew.

[levain]

Originally Posted by HOT DAMN!

I have always loved beer but this brewing thing I can see myself getting into. There is a great place from your BA link in Crown Point that is about a half hour away. Has the makings for a nice bike ride this weekend.

Speaking of BA, just snatched my new issue out of the mailbox and enjoying a great brew.

It's a great hobby, and, as involved as you want it to be. I'll never forget the first beer I made. Trying to wait for it to be ready was really hard! I was popping a bottle daily for a week from anticipation!

There's alot of information out there, and, you really can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. One warning, though; if you don't like to clean, you need to either get over it, or, not attempt brewing. The process is pretty forgiving, but, cleanliness is extremely important. Fortunately, you now have access to the same chemicals that breweries use. They are environmentally friendly, easy and safe to use. I use PBW for cleaning and Star San for sanitizing. brewing is about 90% cleaning. Pro brewers are glorified janitors

[levain]

Originally Posted by HOT DAMN!

IThere is a great place from your BA link in Crown Point that is about a half hour away.

That sounds like a really good shop. These places are very approachable. Just go in, tell the guy what you want to do, and, they'll steer you in the right direction. It's in their best interest for you to make good beer and come back for more stuff!

[Chaos-in-MT]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Here's a starter. This whole book is online, and, it's really good. John Palmer is highly respected in the homebrew community. I'll post back with the stuff I started all grain with, when I have a few minutes tonight...

http://howtobrew.com/

Also look at the Denny Brew sight "Cheap 'n' Easy Batch Sparge Brewing".
Just search on Denny Brew.
Batch sparging is a great way to get into all grain brewing and is less equipment intensive, easyer and faster. It also eliminated some compilations that a first time all grain brewer might not want to deal with such as PH and channeling. (Still check out Palmers sight I would suggest buying his book also).

Chaos

[dizave]

So, will I really notice the difference between a liquid yeast and a dry yeast, all other things being equal?

[Kinsman]

Originally Posted by dizave

So, will I really notice the difference between a liquid yeast and a dry yeast, all other things being equal?

Dry yeasts are really good these days. You will usually get much better results if you make a starter, whether you use dry or liquid.

For you Montana boys, I am in the Bitterroot. So don't be havin' a beer drinkin' party without me.

[levain]

Originally Posted by Kinsman

Dry yeasts are really good these days. You will usually get much better results if you make a starter, whether you use dry or liquid.

For you Montana boys, I am in the Bitterroot. So don't be havin' a beer drinkin' party without me.

It's true. Dry yeast is good these days. But, there are very few dry yeasts available compared to liquid. for that reason, I rarely use them.

I respectfully disagree about making a starter with dry yeast. It's so cheap, just throw in extra. For my normal 11 gal. batch, I've used 2 packs successfully. That's what? $1.98? Don't need to aerate either. That's done at the lab...

[ShadyRascal]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Some people use a converted cooler for the mash. The cooler helps maintain temps, but, I'm not a big fan of it, because the only way to heat it up, and, you will need to, is to add really hot water, which dilutes the mash, and adds a step. You'll need to heat it up if you don't hit your mash temp when you first add the water, or, if you choose to do a mash out, which I always do.

I was using a cooler for the mash, once you figure your strike water temps, and have the cooler pre-heated with some hot water, you're in business.

However, there have been times where I needed to heat the mash, and what I did was open the valve and run off some wort into a small stainless pot on my burner, bring it up above my desired mash temp, and dump it back in. Pain in the butt, however didn't dilute the mash that way.

[ShadyRascal]

Originally Posted by Kinsman

Dry yeasts are really good these days. You will usually get much better results if you make a starter, whether you use dry or liquid.

For you Montana boys, I am in the Bitterroot. So don't be havin' a beer drinkin' party without me.

Hey Kinsman, stop and talk to Paul at Bitterroot Brewing. I used to leave him a sanitized growler, and when they were fermenting, he'd pull me a big, fat yeast sample off and leave it for me, since the yeast gets tossed at the end anyway. So I got top quality yeast for free. I should have a KLR.

[Chaos-in-MT]

Originally Posted by Kinsman

Dry yeasts are really good these days. You will usually get much better results if you make a starter, whether you use dry or liquid.

For you Montana boys, I am in the Bitterroot. So don't be havin' a beer drinkin' party without me.

I use allot of dry yeast now days,(many more on the market now) I use liquid when I have to. I also grow 14 kinds of hops and supply the local homebrewers. (I am a KLR rider so I save a buck were I can).

I think we need to do something Brew\ride related in NW Montana.
Lets get something going. I live near Glacier and you guys in the Bitterroot it don't get any better.

May be even a brew-day at my place. I do have 20 plus years of homebrewing experience and a two story brewery at my place, plus lots of room to camp out.

What do you Montana boys think? Its time to start planing now.

Chaos

[ShadyRascal]

Originally Posted by Chaos-in-MT

I use allot of dry yeast now days,(many more on the market now) I use liquid when I have to. I also grow 14 kinds of hops and supply the local homebrewers. (I am a KLR rider so I save a buck were I can).

I think we need to do something Brew\ride related in NW Montana.
Lets get something going. I live near Glacier and you guys in the Bitterroot it don't get any better.

May be even a brew-day at my place. I do have 20 plus years of homebrewing experience and a two story brewery at my place, plus lots of room to camp out.

What do you Montana boys think? Its time to start planing now.

Chaos

Giddy.
Up.

[MooseKiller]

Originally Posted by Chaos-in-MT

I use allot of dry yeast now days,(many more on the market now) I use liquid when I have to. I also grow 14 kinds of hops and supply the local homebrewers. (I am a KLR rider so I save a buck were I can).

I think we need to do something Brew\ride related in NW Montana.
Lets get something going. I live near Glacier and you guys in the Bitterroot it don't get any better.

May be even a brew-day at my place. I do have 20 plus years of homebrewing experience and a two story brewery at my place, plus lots of room to camp out.

What do you Montana boys think? Its time to start planing now.

Chaos

Care to share pix???

Also, how hard is it to grow your own hops?

[levain]

Originally Posted by Chaos-in-MT

II do have 20 plus years of homebrewing experience and a two story brewery at my place, plus lots of room to camp out.

Show us some pictures!!

[dizave]

As long as you experienced guys are answering questions, will I be able to taste the difference between LME and DME, assuming I do the math to use the right amounts? Does one end up making a better tasting beer?

I know, I know, I should go to all grain. But I haven't yet.