How to Make All-Grain

Beer making; The all grain method:

The first thing you will need is an 8 Gallon pot and a 5 gallon pot. One for boiling six gallons of wort and one to hold 4 gallons of sparge water.

The next thing you need to consider is how you are going to sparge. There are many ways to do this. You need to consider your available space and skill set in designing your sparge vessel.Sparging is the process of pouring 168 degree water over the converted grains to rinse the sugars from the barley. Think of it as a large colander for grains. This does not need to be a perfectly sanitary setup. you will be boiling the wort after the sparge, but make sure your system can be cleaned easily for storage.

I recommend you “mash” on your stovetop so you can easily change temperature for the different stages of starch conversion. More on this later, but consider this when designing your brewery.

Some sparge setups:

1) Double bucket method: This is probably the easiest and most common method for beginner all grainers. The 2 buckets that fit snugly together and drill about sixty 1/8” holes in the bottom of one bucket and a 1/2” hole on the side, about 1” above the bottom of the second bucket. affix a hose and stopper in the half inch hole and a clamp to regulate the flow of wort.

2) Phil’s Phalse bottom This is a handy item that lets you use just one bucket with a 1/2” hole and stopper. It sits on the bottom of a cooler or bucket and filters the grains from the wort.

3) Stainless steel supply hose: Go to a plumbing supply store and get a supply hose and a “T” connector. Cut off the ends of the supply hose and pull out the plastic insert, so that you are left with only the outer steel tube, then attach it to the “T” and connect a hose and clamp to go outside the bucket/cooler. Like this:

4) PVC or copper pipe: Make a circle or square configuration of 1/2” pipe and drill 1/8” holes or make small cuts in the tube and attach to a valve outside of the bucket.