Benefits of a full mash grain brew?

[BrewStew]

after reading through the many threads while bored at work this week, i'm seriously considering going full mash so i may replicate a few of the finest commercial beers , especially Hoegarrden, Spitfire, ESB and the like

so what are the benefits compared to kit brewing?

is it cheaper? (i mean in the long run after purchasing equipment)

what do i need to get started?
boiler?
method of cooling?
etc etc?

how much cash can i expect to spend from buying everything i need?

[steve_flack]

You could spend as much as you wanted really. If you don't mind building your own stuff you could do it pretty cheaply.

You need a mush tun, a boiler, a fermenter, a dispense vessel and ideally a wort cooler (this is optional but it's a good idea to use one).

DaaB has a good site on basic all-grain kit

http://www.18000feet.com/equipment/equipment.htm

The main advantage that all-grain has is that you can make almost anything you wanted.

[Jimberbob]

I have quite a basic kit, 14 gallon bucket from H&G converted into a boiler, e.g element and copper hop strainer fitted to tap.
My mash tun is a 5 gallon bucket with tap and copper strainer, I then insulate it with the red hot water tank lagging you can get from B&Q, just tied on with string. My sparge water , I heat up in the boiler whilst mashing and pour into a 5 gallon bucket, occasionally topping up the heat with boiled water from a kettle. At the moment, I cover the top of my mashed grains with Tin foil with lots of holes poked through, I then jug my sparge water on top of that so as not to disturb the grains to much. I do want a sparging arm soon though as i'm sure it will be more efficient.
After boiling, I let settle, run off , then stand the bucket in the bath full of cold water, occasionally stirring.

[bitter_dave]

is it cheaper? (i mean in the long run after purchasing equipment)

Much cheaper - will vary depending where you buy your stuff, and the quantities you buy, but I guess I probably spend £7 for 5 galon batch of 4% bitter (excluding electricity)

[bconnery]

The benefits?
Better beer, better satisfaction, and yes, setup aside, it is cheaper.
I am a recent all grainer after spending a few years as an all grainer trapped in an extract/mini masher's setup.
I am very quick to defend extract and kit brewing against what I call the 'glassy eyed all grainers'. I produced award winning beers (at least at a small local level) using this setup, and believe very strongly that you can do so.
The question you really have to ask yourself is what do you want from this obsession/hobby.
All grain is more effort, but for greater reward, if you get it right.
I love this hobby so for me all grain was an inevitability, it just took time, but you can produce great beers from extract and if aren't interested in the total ins and outs of brewing then that's probably as far as you want to go.
Equipment is an open ended book really but the stuff mentioned earlier here is pretty much the go. You need a mash tun and something to boil enough water in as an absolute minimum, on top of what you woudl already have as a brewer.
Range is another big one. Some beers are impossible to come close to using extract. Hoegaarden is a big one. I liked my exctract wit, but if didn't have the pale colour of a true wit. Spitfire you could easily come close to with an extract brew.
It's a personal choice. Ask yourself what you want out of this hobby.
Are you willing to invest the extra time and effort? If the answer is yes, you are unlikely to be disappointed!

[BarrowBoy]

Hop & Grape, for example, do a 10 gallon starter kit (and I'd recommend 10 gall even if you plan only 5 gall brews) for £137.50 - includes everything you need to get going (except the raw materials).

It's more or less what I did and I reckon I've already got my money back with a handful of brews.

But understand - it won't stop there. You'll be drawn in by shiny things and you'll want to spend more money

[Ianb]

I decided to take the plunge to go AG earlier this year. I chose the ebay route, picking up two cheap "baby burco" boilers and modifying them with off the shelf plumbing fittings, one as boiler and one as an HLT (I always envisaged a vertical setup as I didn't fancy lugging bucket of hot or boiling liquid about). I bought a cheap 30 ltr cool box from Argos and modified that as a mash tun. I reckon my whole setup stands me at less than £100, £130 if you include the plate heat exchanger and pump I use for chilling - again, ebay purchases.

All the advice you need can be found here on the forum. I'd urge you to think about where you could want to go in the future. After four months I'm already thinking about upgrading from a five gallon plant to ten or maybe even twenty. If I'd realised how much I was going to enjoy AG brewing (and consuming the product ) I would have started at ten gallons.

I always enjoyed kit brewing, and had good results, but AG is a completely different animal. With AG there is no reason you can't make beer at least as good as the commercial brewers, and in the majority of cases better!

[bitter_dave]

.... another benefit of AG brewing over kits - you seem to be less likely to get beers sticking on you (i.e. finishing fermening early).

[gizmo]

Just go for it, it took me some time to take the plunge, but if you keep it simple at first then grow at your own speed, you will have beer to be proud of. Ianb I notice you come from HX, it's nice to know there is somebody local, i'm just down the road at the land of 2cv's and yellow wellies, Hebden

[BrewStew]

in all honesty i feel like i've cheated when i put my kit brew in my 'brewing cupboard' to ferment after only 20 mins of work in the kitchen. and every night when i get back from work i pour a pint of wherry and sit and think "i didnt make this really, now did i?". So i guess you could say i'm not entirely satisfied and i also cant take credit when complimented by friends. so yeah, the satisfaction of an all grainer is probably what i need

Content deleted in accordance with forum rules. I now have built my own mini-bar with taps that's co2 regulated, i now own 6 cornie kegs, 2 fermentor buckets and 2 pressure barrels... would you say that i've possibly caught the brewers bug in a big way heh, i've forked out this much already, what's another £100 for kit to go all grain

looks like i might throw myself into the deep end come the end of august when i get paid

[delboy]

in all honesty i feel like i've cheated when i put my kit brew in my 'brewing cupboard' to ferment after only 20 mins of work in the kitchen. and every night when i get back from work i pour a pint of wherry and sit and think "i didnt make this really, now did i?". So i guess you could say i'm not entirely satisfied and i also cant take credit when complimented by friends. so yeah, the satisfaction of an all grainer is probably what i need

Content deleted in accordance with forum rules. I now have built my own mini-bar with taps that's co2 regulated, i now own 6 cornie kegs, 2 fermentor buckets and 2 pressure barrels... would you say that i've possibly caught the brewers bug in a big way heh, i've forked out this much already, what's another £100 for kit to go all grain

looks like i might throw myself into the deep end come the end of august when i get paid

On that equiment list alone I would say its a safe bet that you are going to be brewing for quite a while, get on the AG bandwagon

[BrewStew]

hehe yeah, i'm not normally an impulse buyer.... but couldn't resist the shiny stuff

i've wanted to try home brewing for years even though i'm only 25, but having lived in flats/apartments there's never been room, so now with the recent move into a house i can

[Matt]

This is the UK spiritual home of all grain brewing BS. Heck you can even post a query mid-brew and someone in the know will likely be on hand to help out.

So your next question will be …

I'd go for either the Styrian Stunner recipe, Phil's Hefe, or DRB's Bramling Beauty

Matt

[Frothy]

AG Benefits -
100% recipe flexibility, the ability fo adjust & modify recipes. Completely customize beer to your own tastes. There is a lot of learning involved and a good book in addition to advice on this site is a great way to get going.

Frothy
P.S. Yes it can be cheap @ 15p-30p a pint compared to 50p a pint for kits, the quality is on your own head though

[anomalous_result]

As far as I can see, beyond the attraction of drinking stuff you make from raw ingredients (how cool is that?), is the fact that you can make stuff better than that you get in a pub, as you don't need to bow to commercial restraints such as appealing to a mass market. The market is you! so you can make your perfect brew. This though is coming from someone who isn't AG enabled.