new to forum and all grain

[HighCountry]

For those with gravity fed set ups, do you just open the valve on your HLT and take 5-10 minutes for all of your initial strike water to fill the MLT?

Something like that, depending on the size of the brew and the volume of strike water. I usually heat the strike water to near boiling, dump that into the mash tun (a converted 100 qt. cooler) and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. This allows the cooler to absorb some of the heat from the strike water and reach an equilibrium. By this point I'm usually a little bit above my strike temp. I stir the water to lose more heat until I hit the strike temp and then dough in. I rarely lose even a degree during the mash using this process.

[TheDarkSide]

I started off fly sparging and switched to Batch sparging about 2 years ago. I'm happy I did. Here's a link to a great homebrewer and batch sparger, Denny Conn. He outlines how to do it with minimal equipment.

Denny Conn

For me, batch sparging is the way to go. Here's the link to the Sunday Session Denny was on ( just listened to it the other day ).

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Sunday-Session/The-Sunday-Session-08-13-06-Batch-Sparging-with-Denny-Conn

Welcome to the forum.

[Junket]

I used a system like yours (5 & 8.5 gal pots, 10 gal igloo mash tun) for years, though I have been slowly upgrading since I started brewing more frequently.

Most equipment upgrades serve only to make brewing 1) easier or 2) cooler.

For instance, my motorized grain mill barely saves me any time, but now I get to spend 3 minutes standing there admiring my automation rather than crouching holding a drill.

My HERMS system now causes me to stand for 30 minutes between my HLT and MT checking dual thermometers and balancing my MT and pump valves to keep the grant from overflowing. Before HERMS, I would go for a jog during the sacc rest. But at least now I have a pump, heat stick, and grant that are fun to play with. I'm not sure that my temperatures are any more stable than in the past, and the HERMS is too slow to independently raise temp for a step mash.

My 10 gallon Blichmann brew kettle with sight glass and thermometer is sweet, but the sight glass is useless during the boil, when it would be the most useful, and the thermometer isn't really necessary on a BOIL kettle. But at least I don't get the boil overs that I used to get in an 8.5 gallon pot.

None of these items have made my beer any better, but I enjoy using them, and they allow me some minor advantages/conveniences that my beginner equipment didn't have.

The items that HAVE made my beer better are:
1) temperature controllers/dedicated fermentation fridge/heat belt
2) Reverse Osmosis filter
3) pH meter

and, of these, #2 and #3 have cheap alternatives (buying RO water and trusting a water spreadsheet)

[Bruck]

Like many of the previous posts, I agree that you don't need the HERMS or RIMS systems. Not saying that I would not LOVE to have them, but here is the deal. I started out in all grain (after an extract phase of course) with an enamel pot, cooler MLT, and bucket fermentors. Since I have upgraded to a keggle pot and MLT along with carboy fermentors. My beer is great either way. Granted, I like my upgrades and would love to upgrade more, but I also love my family, my Jeep, my Gin and my other hobbies too. All grain is easy...You don't need the other shit!

[log]

Thanks all. I feel more confident and I am ready to brew!

[EagleDude]

I have to agree with everyone else's posts. My initial all grain setup didn't even include the cooler. For years, I used one burner, one converted keg, several buckets, and a 3-gallon SS pot (from extract days). I would fill the keg with the mash water, heat to temp ~170, and add the grains, resulting in a mash of about 150. While I was mashing, I would boil water in the smaller pot, dump it in a bucket, and start the sparge when the mash was done. The sparge when slow enough that I could get another three gallons boiling before I ran out of sparge water in the bucket. Granted it was a bit dangerous pouring 3-gallons of near boiling water into a bucket 8 feet off the ground, but it worked (Note: a brewing buddy of mine did sustain 2nd degree burns using this method). The wort would run into additional fermentation buckets that I had marked on the side for volumes. Once the sparge was done, I would clean out the keg, pour in the buckets of wort, and start the boil.

Basically, if you can figure out a way that you can hit the main steps in an all-grain process (a container to hold the mash, a way to have hot sparge water, and something to collect the wort in) go for it ... the switch equates to HOURS more of brewing enjoyment.