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Newest all-grain brewer

  • Spidey
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Newest all-grain brewer
« on: December 29, 2009, 09:38:16 AM »
You guys won't believe it, but it looks like I may finally be brewing all-grain. I think I almost have all the equipment I need.  I was pretty happy about the barley crusher I made from the pasta maker, and I'm working on making it into a motorized (drill-powered) crusher with a large hopper and capture bucket.  For Christmas, I received a 60qt cube cooler (which has now been converted into a mash tun) and a 32qt pot (brew kettle).  The last extract beer I made was a baltic porter that had a boat-load of LME and DME.  It took me FOREVER to get all that syrup out of the bag and dissolved in the wort; I might as well have been mashing.  It probably would have been faster.  Now, now, don't get too excited. I still have several extract brews to make that I've already bought the ingredients for. Hopefully one of these will make it to the club-only AHA competition in May 2010.  But I'd venture a guess that by April, you guys will be trying some of my first all-grain brews.  I'm pretty psyched.
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  • Jamey
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Re: Newest all-grain brewer
« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2009, 11:18:19 AM »
Congrats, Spidey.

I'll never put down extract brewing because I have more than a few of those batches under my belt and they were all great.  But I think you'll be happy with the new possibilities and flexibility that all-grain will give you.

You pasta crusher is very cool bit of genius, but I don't think I'd use that for your base malt.  That'll add a lot of time and wear 'n tear to your brewday for nothing. Fermentation Trap, Northern Brewer, etc will crush your grains for you or you can borrow from me or (the other) Greg.

I'm looking forward to some Spidey all-grain already. 
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  • Care For A Pint
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Re: Newest all-grain brewer
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2009, 11:28:00 AM »
Yea, congrats! All grain is much more fun!

For what it's worth...I love my Barley Crusher. Worth every penny!
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  • Tom
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Re: Newest all-grain brewer
« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2009, 10:48:16 PM »
Congrats, Greg.  You can certainly make top-notch beer with extract, but you get a lot more flexibility with recipe formulation with all-grain brewing.  I hope it works out well for you and don't hesitate to post any questions or problems you might have here.  I am sure the club can provide you with answers, even if they are incorrect   Wink
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Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale | Homebrewing | All Grain Brewing | Newest all-grain brewer
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