Since it sounds like you've already got an all-grain brew under your belt and you feel that it's a lot of work I recommend that you give BIAB (Brew In A Bag) a try. It's not much harder than doing the extracts, A LOT less mess than traditional AG and you still get all the benefits of AG with being able to select the grains you're going to use and the amounts of each.
Thanks for the advice, I may need to give that a try.
Has anyone used a 5 gallon ingredient kit and split it between two LBC fermenters? I'm just thinking for down the road. I really don't have the space of a large 5 gallon fermenter or carboy, but I could find 2 different places for the two LBC fermenters.
Doug, Welcome the the BeerBorg. As you have already witnessed this is a great bunch of brewers here and always willing to help. The answer to your question is yes, in fact I just brewed a 5 gallon AG BIAB batch on Thanks giving and since my other two fermenters were full I used my 2 BrewDemon LBCs to ferment this batch. I also used this as an opportunity to experiment with different yeasts in each fermenter. Most 5 gallon recipes can easily be split between smaller fermenters no matter if they are AG, Partial Mash or extract recipes. I hope that helped and I'm glad you found us!
Worrying can spoil the taste of beer more then anything else! ~ Charles Papazian
DougFam wrote:
Has anyone used a 5 gallon ingredient kit and split it between two LBC fermenters? I'm just thinking for down the road. I really don't have the space of a large 5 gallon fermenter or carboy, but I could find 2 different places for the two LBC fermenters.
All the time. I use two Mr. Beer LBKs, fill them with 2.5 gallons each. Works great, same with the LBCs. I don't use kits, I buy the ingredients, but no different. If you make the full 5 gallons in the pot (versus 3 or so gallons and a gallon of cold water in each LBC), make sure you cool the wort to pitching temp before you pour it.
If you cool ~ 3 gallons to 95-100 and split it into two LBKs/LBCs that have a gallon of refrigerated water in them, then top off with another 1/2 gallon or so, you'll end up right around 62 degrees.
I have over 9,000 posts on "another forum", which means absolutely nothing. Mr. Beer January 2014 Brewer of the Month with all the pomp and circumstance that comes with it...
Certificate in Brewing and Distillation Technology
Beers I regularly brew:
Bell's Best Brown clone
Irish Hills Red - I call this "Ann Arbor Red"
Mackinac Island Red - I call this "Michigan Red"
Oatmeal Stout - I call this Not Fat, Stout - Oatmeal Stout
Bottled 5 gallons of Ann Arbor Red on 4/18/17. Bottled 5 gallons of Michigan Red on 5/8/17.
Brewed in 2017 - 22.13 gallons (19.91 in 2012, 48.06 in 2013, 61.39 in 2014, 84.26 in 2015,46.39 in 2016)
Brewed in lifetime - 282.14 gallons
Drinkable beer on hand - 13.58 cases, with 6.11 cases ready in May and early June.
Average cost per 12 pack through all beer brewed - $6.27(ingredients only)
Thanks everyone. In the future I think I will go the two LBC route. I really don't want to deal with the weight and space of a 5 gallon carboy. I'm sure I will eventually get to the point of buying my own ingredients instead of the kits, but I'm not quit confident with buying the right stuff right now, esp... the yeast.
I have no idea what to buy. I find the recipe on a site and buy what it says.
I have over 9,000 posts on "another forum", which means absolutely nothing. Mr. Beer January 2014 Brewer of the Month with all the pomp and circumstance that comes with it...
Certificate in Brewing and Distillation Technology
Beers I regularly brew:
Bell's Best Brown clone
Irish Hills Red - I call this "Ann Arbor Red"
Mackinac Island Red - I call this "Michigan Red"
Oatmeal Stout - I call this Not Fat, Stout - Oatmeal Stout
Bottled 5 gallons of Ann Arbor Red on 4/18/17. Bottled 5 gallons of Michigan Red on 5/8/17.
Brewed in 2017 - 22.13 gallons (19.91 in 2012, 48.06 in 2013, 61.39 in 2014, 84.26 in 2015,46.39 in 2016)
Brewed in lifetime - 282.14 gallons
Drinkable beer on hand - 13.58 cases, with 6.11 cases ready in May and early June.
Average cost per 12 pack through all beer brewed - $6.27(ingredients only)
DougFam wrote: I'm sure I will eventually get to the point of buying my own ingredients instead of the kits, but I'm not quit confident with buying the right stuff right now, esp... the yeast.
The nice thing about this hobby (other than the beer) is you can make it as simple or complex as you want to. We will be glad to answer any questions you think of.
Welcome.
Naked Cat Brewery On Tap
Yazoo Sue Smoked Porter
Octoberfest
Le Petite Saison
Czech Pale Lager
A Toast to Big Fuzzy Russian Imperial Stout at 10%
Belgian Blond
Flower Power IPA
4 Kilts Clueless Belgian Strong
One Wort Two Yeast with Wyeast 2206
One Wort Two Yeast with WLP940
Shipwreck Saison
Many time for "Big Box" kits I will download the recipe and bring it to my LHBS, possibly swapping out things I may have on hand like the hops where my freezer overfloweth. Its nice to start out with a known and assumed decent recipe, see how that turns out, and then tweak it next time to my tastes or convert extract<->AG. However, I do appreciate a nice and short brew day with a MrB or BD HME kit when I just dont have the hours to spend doing things from scratch.
Silverleaf Vineyard & Winery / Old Mission Hops Exchange / Porchside Vineyard / The North York Brewing Company
With my first AG, I didn't start till almost 8 pm. When my wife noticed I was starting the brew, she asked if it was a good idea to start so late in the evening. My response was a naive, "it shouldn't take too much longer than the first brew (which was a partial mash). Well, lets say I was up way later than I wanted to be that evening. Didn't help that my DIY false bottom on my mash tun clogged either.
Welcome to the Borg, Doug! The others pretty much covered it, ask if you have a question, answer one if you can! You need to be signed in to see the Members Only Deals.
Currently Conditioning:
Cherry Mead
California Moscato
Currently enjoying:
Hardly Apple Cider on tap
Hardly Cherry Lime-Aid on tap
Oktoberfestive-Ale on tap
PGA Cider (Pear, Ginger, Apple) on tap 3rd Founders Cup 2016 King Of The Mountain on tap
Bottoms Up Brown on tap GOLD 2016 Ohio Brew Week Silver 2016 Ohio State Fair Silver 2016 Son of Brewzilla, Silver 2015 Son of Brewzilla, Bronze 2015 King Of The Mountain on tap
NITWIT BELGIAN STRONG ALE Banjo-Dawg RCE bottled
DAWG LB PALE ALE bottled
CITRA SLAPPED AMBER ALE bottle
MO FREEDOM SMaSH bottle
HOP TO IT IMPERIAL IPA bottle
Hi Doug! This is a great place, you will like it here. I do a mix of AG (BIAB style as was mentioned above) as 2.5 gallon batches for my Brew Demon fermenters, as well as some partial mash / partial volume 5 gallon batches that I split between them, and also some extract + steeping grains and even doctored up kit can beers when I find those things on sale cheap enough for use when my pipeline is getting low and I don't have a lot of time to brew. So I'm all over the place. You will find many brewers here that do different things, and it's all good. I really like my Brew Demon fermenters, so I hope you have a lot of fun with them.
Jan 6th: HCCD Mod II
Jan 27th: Diablo IPA Mod
Feb 18th: Pilothouse Pilsner Mod II
Mar 13th: Witty Monk Witbier Mod II
Moved in June disupting my brewing and pipeline
July 19th: OVL Mod II
Late Aug: Bewitched Amber Ale Mod
Oct: High Country Canadian Mod III
Nov: St Pat's Irish Stout/Vanilla Porter Mod
Dec: Pilothouse Pilsner Mod III
As you have already witnessed this is a great bunch of brewers here and always willing to help. The answer to your question is yes, in fact I just brewed a 5 gallon AG BIAB batch on Thanks giving and since my other two fermenters were full I used my 2 BrewDemon LBCs to ferment this batch. I also used this as an opportunity to experiment with different yeasts in each fermenter. Most 5 gallon recipes can easily be split between smaller fermenters no matter if they are AG, Partial Mash or extract recipes. I hope that helped and I'm glad you found us!
