Basic All Grain Brewery
  • jlwjlw
    Posts: 16,454
    My brewery is pretty simple and hasn't really changed much since I converted to All Grain:

    10 gallon stainless steel boil kettle with ball valve
    10 gallon Igloo water cooler with a stainless steel false bottom
    Copper coil immersion chiller (20 feet in length)
    2 7 gallon fermentation buckets that double as bottling buckets
    4 five gallon glass carboy's. These were free or I would go with 6 gallons
    Ranco temp controller
    Thermowell stopper
    Ferm wrap

    I use a base from an old turkey fryer as my propane burner.
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    I am very similar, I have a keggle with a ball valve, a turkey fryer burner, and I mash in an igloo ice cube cooler with a braided manifold. I made a 50 foot ribcage chiller, and recently added a whirlpool pipe to the chiller to be used with my pump, I now add my flameout hop additions and start whirlpooling, after 20 min I bring the icebath online through the chiller and rapidly drop temp to pitching range. Fermentation is handled by a half dozen 6 gallon PET bottles in a temp controlled fridge, then it goes into kegs.

    jlwC_B
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    I am on the verge of switching to all-grain and am gathering equipment as I find it, very slow, but trying to limit the huge investment all at once. Also battling my wife telling me I am getting carried away. Switched to kegs recently and installed taps on the fridge, and she was very supportive, but as I am stockpiling kegs, she is starting to wonder where this all ends.

    I have two kegs, one I use as a keggle now, one I cut the top and am trying to figure out where to go next. I could use as a HLT or a MLT. I am leaning toward a 10g cooler as a MLT and use the extra keg I have as a hot liquor tank, then all I need is a ball valve on it.

    I don't have a three-tier and don't want to necessarily buy a pump now, what are you guys doing? How do you transfer? How many burners do you have? I was looking into a second, do I need 1 or 2? If I had a third keg, do I need a third burner?

    jlw
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    ok here is a pic of my system HLT top MT left and BK right


    it has 3 burners 1 pump for moving wort
    Picture.jpg
    1536 x 2048 - 1M

    jlw
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    All angle iron frame? Is that all off one propane tank w/hose and splitters? How much propane do you go through in one batch?
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    yes all angle iron on wheels

    1 tank 6 gal i think on splitters with seprate controls
    and i can brew 4 to 5 batches per tank

    i usually have only 2 burners going at once till i transfer to boil kettle than i run 1
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • jlwjlw
    Posts: 16,454
    Ben, my wife asking the same question. I honestly haven't done much to my brewery since I went all grain. I did get a kegerator and I bought a digital temp controller and a ferm wrap. That's about it. I would like a pump and plate chiller.
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    oh i have a Therminator™ Stainless Wort Chiller
    Chill 10 gal in 5 min!!
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • jlwjlw
    Posts: 16,454
    I'll try and take a pick of my set up soon and get that posted.
  • jlwjlw
    Posts: 16,454
    On the pump and chiller I'm not sure I'm reay to fork over 400 for both. May e I can find on clist
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    i got my pump discounted as used at my LHBS because it was returned as not working so they put a new pump head on it and discounted it for 120. and the therminator was 199.
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    not having to lift 10 gallons of wort to the next level or up on the counter is nice for gravity feed
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    Lothos said:

    oh i have a Therminator™ Stainless Wort Chiller
    Chill 10 gal in 5 min!!



    I have heard those are trouble with hops getting stuck in them, your experience?
  • jlwjlw
    Posts: 16,454
    I've been thinking about getting another coil of copper to make a pre-chiller.

    Also, anyone use a false bottom in the BK to filter out hops and trub?
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    no hop problem false bottom in BK and MT
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • jlwjlw
    Posts: 16,454
    Lothos said:

    no hop problem false bottom in BK and MT



    That may be my next purchase. I'm guessing with the false bottom there is no need to whirlpool, which doesn't seem to work for me anyway.
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    i use a whirlpool on MT when its ready to move to BK to block false bottom to keep any grain or hulls from getting through to boil kettle
    Ain't that a Bitch