Sorachi Rye

yep, no worries mate I'll play around with it and stick the recipe up in a few hours!

Thx mate!! Ever since i started watching your vids on youtube and joining this site my homebrew has gone up a few levels thats for sure. Just got myself a brew fridge with temp controller and noticing a big difference. If you ever get time would u be able to tell me what u think i could do with $800 for starting on all grain. Thx for the help with the recipe mate!! Ant

$800 would get you into full all grain without a worry. Another thing we'll chat about... Usually I'd answer you right away, just tonight I have some friends over for the night, so I'll get back to you tomorrow. Cheers mate!

Yeh no dramas mate. No hurry - know u probably busy as. Have a good one mate. Ant

Ok here is a try at a 10L evrsion untested but looks about right!

Thanks Gash your a legend mate. Cheers Ant

Ignore the 'American Amber Ale' title

Gash wrote:

$800 would get you into full all grain without a worry. Another thing we'll chat about... Usually I'd answer you right away, just tonight I have some friends over for the night, so I'll get back to you tomorrow. Cheers mate!

Hi dazz075

I must warn you to take any of my suggestions with a huge grain of salt because I am very new to all grain. But even after my first I realised I could have made some better decisions, so perhaps you can learn a tiny bit from my stuff-ups, but certainly even more from Gash and the other waaaayyyy more experienced brewers.

The mash tun: I used what I had on hand as an esky. It's something like this one . Mistake number one. It works an absolute treat, but because the length is way bigger than the height, to get a decent grain bed depth for filtering the mash, I probably have to do a minimum brew volume of 40-45 litres in the end. If I had my way again I'd probably get something like this cube cooler (assuming it has decent insulation and a tap or hole already present to modify). I've also been told you can get circular ones about 30 litres or so that are really good, but I've never found them.

A lot of the decisions, like the mash tun, will depend on whether you're prepared and/or able to do some of the home handyman stuff yourself. I am a complete (and I mean absolutely total) novice, but after watching some Youtube videos and practising I managed it. So, I'm sure a rhesus monkey (and certainly you'd have no problems) would be able to do some brazing copper pipe, and threading some fittings from your local plumbing supply store. I've found that if you tell the experts what you want to do and why, and that it needs to be foodsafe and tolerate boiling water temperatures, they will steer you in the right direction.

The manifold and tap for the mash tun: I chose half inch copper pipe from Bunnings for my manifold (drain), but I seem to recall Gash has a video showing how to use PVC pipe which is easier. You'll need a ball valve (preferably steel) and locknuts/washers etc etc. But after watching a few videos you'll be amazed how easy it really is. Gash also shows a really inexpensive way to make washers out of silicone cake baking trays.

The Hot Lauter Tun and the Boil Kettle: is where you can spend some money. I stupidly bought a single 60 litre very high quality aluminium stock pot from a Kitchen Shop which is probably the most expensive way to go (I think it was $140). If I were do it again, I'd wait for specials or for Gumtree or similar and buy two 40 litre pots and often you'll get them in stainless steel for a cheaper price. Or you can convert a keg, or many other possibilities. Either way, it would be wise to fit ball valves on these as well.

Throw in some food grade clear hosing (probably half inch diameter or similar, an inexpensive "garden hose" from bunnings. some barbed fittings and a few hose clamps, and you will have the perfect customised setup for exactly your purposes. Then you merely need to decide whether you wish to go for gas or electric heating - and Gash has that pretty well covered in his videos too.

Welcome to the dark side.