Another approach you might try first is to do a partial mash, using some extract
to make the mash more manageable.

http://www.homebrewhq.com/Beer/PartialMash.aspx

other sites with information can be found by searching for "partial mash" on
Google, Bing, etc.

Clone Brews has recipes for all extract, partial mash, and all grain for each
clone brew, if I remember correctly.

Don

I am now set up for a very basic RIMS system but I also started with extract,
then partial-extract where most of my fermentables came from a batch-sparged,
infusion mash.  My mash tun was a 5-gallon round Igloo cooler with a false
bottom that I converted using some kit parts from a Homebrew Store.

If you have not seen it, check out this link http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

Denny Conn makes it really simple.

Also take a look thru the Brewing Network archives for the podcasts that
reference all-grain brewing and getting started.  Finally, I happen to like some
other forums in addition to this one including The Brewing Network Forum,
MoreBeer, Northern Brewer, and Homebrewtalk...

Good luck and Hoppy New Year!

--- In BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com, greenspider <wetstonze@...> wrote:
>
>
> I'm not a gadget freak but I do have physical impairments that limit my
abilities.

Considering that you deal with some impairments or disabilities, you might find
the BIAB (brew in a bag) process used by some Australians to be a useful way to
do a mash.

You can use pulleys or motors to winch the heavy grain bag out of the mash
vessel, which becomes your boiling vessel, I believe.

http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2009/04/14/brew-in-a-bag-biab-all-grain-beer-brewi\
ng/

and do a search for biab brewing on Google.

They also have a "no chill" method that doesn't require chilling equipment,
though you may have to do some adjustment in your hopping rate:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/06/06/australian-no-chill-brewing-technique-te\
sted/

(search for no chill brewing on Google)


I just thought I'd mention these techniques since, depending you your physical
limitations, they might work out well for you. Or not.

As for using electric heating elements like you mentioned that you have, you
might be able to use high wattage commercial light dimmers to control them
manually, or build an electronic control using triacs. You don't need automatic
control unless you really want to bother with that.

WARNING: Long post

--- In BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com, greenspider <wetstonze@...> wrote:

> http://www.listerma nn.com/Store/ WannaMash. asp

> Thanks, I'm reading the site as I type.
>

The setup I started with is at the Listermann store, but you can make your own
setup much cheaper.

I began with the Listermann rotating sparge arm, their mash tun with false
bottom, which is also used as the lauter tun, the other 5 gal bucket that came
with the set for the sparge water. I used the kitchen stove to heat my water and
do the full boil, using multiple pots to get me to about 6 gallons or so
capacity. If you do this, DON'T do it on top of a smooth top stove or you may
ruin the top. Something about sugars etching the ceramic top or something. I had
a gas stove at the time, so I just cleaned up the mess from small boilovers. :-)

Another thing, if you use your kitchen stove, especially with a high gravity
brew like a Russian imperial stout, expect to have to wait for some of the wort
to boil down before you add more of your unboiled wort since you won't likely
have the capacity to boil 6 or 7 gallons all at once. And make sure no one will
need to use the stove for cooking, or for that matter, the kitchen for anything.

I graduated to using a Rubbermaid picnic cooler (Igloos are fine, as are some
others) for my mash tun. I still use the Listermann lauter tun with the false
bottom, and the sparge arm. I transfer the mash to the lauter tun. It's a bit
messy, so I plan to build a slotted manifold out of PVC pipe and put it on the
bottom of the picnic cooler to avoid the need to transfer the mash to another
container. But my setup works well. You don't need a rotating sparge arm, though
I can set the flow just right and walk away for 5  minutes or more. You can use
a watering can (not galvanized) instead and save some money to rinse your
grains. This way you don't need to have another container of hot water above the
level of the grain bed with additional tubing and a flow control of some sort in
between.

You will want some sort of a mash paddle. I bought something suitable at a
restaurant supply store for about $5 or $6, made out of a hard wood. You can
make your own or buy one, but if you can find one in a restaurant supply store,
it's probably worth getting.  I bought mine at Smith's restaurant supply in
Syracuse, NY, while visiting family there. It's not in their online catalog,
though. They also sell some homebrewing supplies there. (They opened another
store in Watertown, NY, also.) Mine looks like the long one pictured in this
ebay auction:

<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360175756706&rvr_id=&crlp=1_\
263602_263622&UA=%3F*F%3F&GUID=6dccada31250a02681222232ffb8a806&itemid=360175756\
706&ff4=263602_263622>

or type in the auction # in ebay search and see it that way if the link above is
broken: 360175756706

That one will cost you about $23 even with the free shipping. I paid a lot less
for mine and it looks like the one I got. If you take a picture with you of that
one to a restaurant supply store they will probably have the same thing for a
lot less money. There are plastic ones, too. Here's a site that explains hot to
make one version of a paddle, and it has pictures of plastic ones available,
too, already made:

http://www.homebrew.com/articles/article08300201.shtml

I now do my boil outside with an outdoor burner. I recommend a ring  burner
instead of the jet type, but either will work. The jet type is cheaper and often
part of a turkey cooker outfit, which comes with its own large pot. I bought a
used heavy (thick) Polarware 10 gallon stainless steel pot with lid. You want a
lid of some sort, and if your setup doesn't have one, you can fashion one out of
a pizza pan and something to use as a handle, perhaps a wooden thread spool with
a bolt through it and the pan. The large pot allows me to boil up to 7 or so
gallons with a safety margin for boil overs.

Don't worry about the aluminum vs. stainless issue. The link between aluminum
and Alzheimer's has been disproven, and aluminum won't affect the taste of your
beer. It does had disadvantages, though. It bends more easily and requires a bit
more care, but if you clean it well, you probably won't end up with a pitted
pot. (I don't like aluminum for cooking, though, for that reason--certain foods
seem to corrode the metal and eventually you need to toss the pan and buy
another one.)

You'll want a good thermometer, one with a long probe to get into the middle of
the mash. (You may want to avoid glass for obvious reasons, though they will
work as long as you don't break them and ruin your mash or brew.) Digital is
fine but a dial type will work also. If you buy one, check all of them in the
store and see what the average reading is (they will often vary a bit). Get one
in the middle of the readings (ignore any obvious "outliers" that deviate a lot
from the batch) and you will probably be within 1 degree of being accurate
(close enough).

You can buy your grains pre-crushed, but if you're ordering by mail, make sure
they'll do that for you unless you already have a grain crusher. For a grain
crusher, don't even bother trying to use a rolling pin. I did that--once--and
I'll never repeat that messy operation. If you know for sure you will want a
crusher, get a good one like the Schmidling malt mill, one of Listermann's
mills, a used Valley mill (they no longer make them but they might be the best
ever made, and I love mine), a Crankenstein mill, or any of several others
available.

Even a used Corona grain mill can do an acceptable job. I used one for years
with great success. It takes some fiddling to get the correct spacing between
the plates since it was designed to make flour, not crack grains open without
making flour, but it will work, is much cheaper, can be motorized with a drill
and a cut-off bolt in place of using the handle, and works just fine.

Just get your grains pre-crushed for now and see if you want to make that jump.
Crushing your own grains allows you to store the grains for a while without
losing the freshness. Crushed grains should be used within a few weeks, assuming
that they are stored in a plastic bag or container. You also can take advantage
of the savings of buying your grains in bulk and crushing them as needed.

These are just my thoughts that might be useful to someone about to make the
transition to all grain brewing. Don't turn your nose up at extract brewing,
though. You can make most styles of beers with extracts and specialty grains,
and it's a good way to save a few hours of your brew day. All grain brewing
takes longer, but you have more control over the process since you're making
your own extract.

Don

--- In BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com, "wetstonze" <wetstonze@...> wrote:
>
> I just get overwhelmed reading about the different systems and can't decide
which would be best for me.

Why not do as another member here suggested--start with a simple infusion mash?

Here's the article that got me started:

http://www.listermann.com/Store/WannaMash.asp

while the article mentions 30-45 minutes for starch conversion to take place,
give it about 90 minutes to be safe, and you don't need to do the iodine test.
It's just interesting to see that the starch has been converted with the test.
If you do use iodine just to see how the process went, make sure you take out
only a liquid sample. Grain particles in your sample may turn black even after
all of the starch in solution has converted to sugars.

After doing single infusion mashes, you can do multi-step infusion mashes,
decoction mashes, and you can experiment with different types of sparging
methods if you wish also.

Then, when you've got a handle on the process, go ahead and build (or buy) your
RIMS or HERMS setup.

Don

The oxygen is a new one on me.
What's the story behind it?
How when is it used?

I just get overwhelmed reading about the different systems and can't decide
which would be best for me.
I brew extract with specialties, BUT I do want to be able to brew AG when I feel
competent enough.
Besides that little desire, what else will help me focus and choose the correct
system for me?
How do I make the decision?
How did you decide which system to build?

----- Original Message -----

From: Tom Schmidlin

To: BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 1:00 PM

Subject: RE: [BrewEquip] Re: CO2 tank

 

Beer gas gives you the "nitro pour" that you see with Guinness. It will be considerably more expensive to set up, and isn't necessary for all beers (and even undesirable for some). It's great for the right beer though. You'll need a stout tap at least, and more hose. You'll probably need a nitro tank and gauges too, although depending on where you live you might be able to just use CO2 equipment (my local gas distributor will fill CO2 tanks with bev gas).

Anyway, the way to reduce foaming is to increase the resistance in the system, with longer or smaller diameter hoses.

I'd recommend starting with a CO2 setup and then adding nitro capabilities later.

Tom

Beer gas gives you the "nitro pour" that you see with Guinness.  It will be
considerably more expensive to set up, and isn't necessary for all beers (and
even undesirable for some).  It's great for the right beer though.  You'll need
a stout tap at least, and more hose.  You'll probably need a nitro tank and
gauges too, although depending on where you live you might be able to just use
CO2 equipment (my local gas distributor will fill CO2 tanks with bev gas).

Anyway, the way to reduce foaming is to increase the resistance in the system,
with longer or smaller diameter hoses.

I'd recommend starting with a CO2 setup and then adding nitro capabilities
later.

Tom



-----Original Message-----
From: Derek Sherman
Sent: Dec 30, 2009 1:16 PM
To: BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [BrewEquip] Re: CO2 tank


I’m still gathering my bits and pieces for a kegging setup, and this caught my
attention. Does using a beer gas mix instead of straight CO2 for pushing beer to
a tap result in less foaming or overcarbonation?

The more I learn about this stuff, the more I realize that there’s so much
more that I still need to learn.


Derek

> Our prices are similar.  I believe for CO2 it's $12 for 5lbs, $24 for
> 20lbs, and $35-40 for 20lbs beer gas. All cylinder exchanges.
>
> Bob O.

That's not that similar if 20lb are $35-40..  he said 20lb for less
than $20.

I get 20lb CO2 fills for $18 and swaps for $32.  I think 5lb go for
$16.

--
Dan

----- Original Message -----

From: w

To: BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 5:26 AM

Subject: [BrewEquip] Re: CO2 tank

What’s the difference between CO2 and beer gas?

 

Thanks

Warren

 

Our prices are similar.  I believe for CO2 it's $12 for 5lbs, $24 for
20lbs, and $35-40 for 20lbs beer gas. All cylinder exchanges.

Bob O.

--- In BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com, tschmidlin@... wrote:
>
> Wow, $29?!  More like $12 for us, even the 20 lb tanks are less than
$20.
>
> Tom
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Doug Rooney" drooney57@...
> Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:31:03
> To: BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: RE: [BrewEquip] Re: CO2 tank
>
> Depending on what you have near you, we have a gas supplier that just
swaps
> out empty for full, for like $29.
>
>
> Thank You
>
> -Doug Rooney
>
>
>
>
>   _____
>
> From: BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob
> Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 12:30 PM
> To: BrewingEquipment@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [BrewEquip] Re: CO2 tank
>
>
>
>
> It does sound like a 5 pound cylinder. When you take it in you may
also
> have to pay for a new hydro test depending on how old it is.
Relatively
> cheap when compared to how the cylinder cost you in the first place.
>
> Bob O.
>

It does sound like a 5 pound cylinder.  When you take it in you may also
have to pay for a new hydro test depending on how old it is.  Relatively
cheap when compared to how the cylinder cost you in the first place.

Bob O.

Sounds like a 5lb tank.  There should be a tare weight on it, stamped near the
top.  Is it steel or aluminum?  Places in my area swap tanks, so I would just go
swap it out - that way you have a known quantity of gas and quality of tank.

Tom

i finally found the old CO2 tank a friend gave me. how can i tell what capacity
it is? it is about 5" dia and 15" high to the threads.
  and more importantly, how can you tell if it's empty? it has no tare wt like on
a propane. it has some gas in it, but i can't tell how much.
bill keiser