Homebrewing...
- Thread starter Stephen
- Start date
Ya, pretty much. I'll be there until about 4 tomorrow.
I agree with all of that, but you have to teach someone to drive on a dirt road before you can move them up to Pritchett Canyon
Pleasure was all mine Roger. I'm sorry if I was a bit distracted, I had an IT guy there trying to get my computers to work with a new accountant's server.
I agree with all of that, but you have to teach someone to drive on a dirt road before you can move them up to Pritchett Canyon
Maybe but all grain brewing is nowhere near the difficulty of Pritchett. Most books and even the guys at the home-brew stores always made it seem so hard. I was scared away from it, but as soon as someone actually showed me how easy it is, I never bought extract again. It takes twice as long but really is no harder and is much more rewarding.
I agree, and that is why we spend lots of time doing free demos and teaching classes for people to help demystify all grain brewing. But that being said, all grain brewing isn't for everyone. Some people have space/time/life constraints and just don't have time or desire to brew all grain. I hear the story almost every week, a new brewer has a buddy of a friend of a family member who's been brewing all grain for xx years and says it's impossible to make a half way decent beer from extract, and so they lose their enthusiasm because they think their beer is going to suck. This old school elitist mentality of all-grain-or-nothing is worse for the hobby than anything because it makes people think their beers aren't good enough--it would be akin to someone in rockcrawling saying they can't have any fun rockcrawling unless they have a v8, d60's, and a full tube chassis. The reality is, you can make great beer with extract, and with the availability of fresh extracts and specialty grains these days, the gap between extract and all grain has closed substantially. I can think of at least a half dozen extract or partial mash beers that placed in the top three of the Beehive Brewoff this year, and when I judge, more often than not I couldn't tell you if it was brewed all grain or extract.
I'm a good example of time/space limitations. When I first started all grain using coolers, it would take me 4.5-5 hours to brew a 5 gallon batch. That was fine for me then because I had novel things like days off and 40 hour work weeks so I had plenty of time. Now, I brew 10 gallons on a pump system that I can blast out in 3:45 minutes...and I can go back to back or partigyle to get 20 gallons out in 5-5.5 hours. I only have time to brew maybe once per month, so being able to fill 4 kegs at a time is awesome for me. If I didn't have that system to brew on, I would probably be brewing extract and partial mash because that's all I have time for while still running the shop and maintaining some semblance of a personal life.
I brew all grain because, like you, I enjoy the control and the science behind it, but I don't make people think that they have to brew like me in order to brew good beer. It can be a hobby for everyone who is passionate about beer, and everyone has their own tastes and their own time/space limitations. Because I'm passionate about beer, I want to share that passion with everyone who wants to learn. My job isn't to jump people to all grain as fast as possible because that's what I do, it's to find the style of brewing that best fits their time, desire, space, and expectations and help them make the best possible beer in that way whether that be extract kits, all grain, or 20 gallon RIMS systems.
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Thats awesome you can be done that fast. I would like to check out you rig sometime. I have been thinking of building a new setup and getting back into the hobby. It has been 4 or 5 years since I have made beer.
- Location
- Draper, UT
I'm no longer homebrewing and have the following for sale
20# CO2 cylinder (refurbished, but certs are current)$50 sold
Freezer temperature controller$30 sold
Immersion Wert Chiller (I bought this from Cody)$40 $35
6 gal glass carboy$15 sold
10 gal Heavy duty stock pot with domed lid$100 $80
Purchased here http://www.webstaurantstore.com/40-...0-heavy-duty-aluminum-stock-pot/92268640.html
20# CO2 cylinder (refurbished, but certs are current)
Freezer temperature controller
Immersion Wert Chiller (I bought this from Cody)
6 gal glass carboy
10 gal Heavy duty stock pot with domed lid
Purchased here http://www.webstaurantstore.com/40-...0-heavy-duty-aluminum-stock-pot/92268640.html
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- Location
- West Jordan
Does it take different equipment to make mead than it does to brew beer?
- Location
- Draper, UT
I don't think so, but I'll defer to Cody
- Location
- Draper, UT
The size of the brew pot was selected to do 5 gal. all-grain batches using the brew-in-bag method. I've already sold the kegs and regulators to a guy from work.
- Location
- Draper, UT
For the best extraction from grain you want the wert to be less concentrated. I would mash with about 8 gal then boil down to 5. For extract, the extraction has been done for you and you can use a smaller pot with high concentration then dilute to get 5 gal.
To do all grain, you would need a minimum of 30 quart kettle. To do 10 gallons, you would need 60-62 quart kettle. My 15.5 gallon kettles have a hard time controlling the hot break at the beginning of a boil. A typical soda keg is 5 gallons.