Complete builds
The All-Grain Starter Setup
All-grain without buying an electric system: a cooler mash tun, a kettle and a burner.
All-grain brewing on a budget uses an insulated cooler as a mash tun and a separate kettle for the boil, which is considerably cheaper than a single vessel electric system.
It costs more time and one more vessel than extract brewing, and it gives you full control over the grain bill, the mash temperature and therefore the body of the finished beer.
The complete list below comes to $849.63 across 18 items.
Who this build is for: Somebody who has brewed a few extract batches and wants control over the mash without spending several hundred dollars on an electric system.
Mash
A cooler holds mash temperature for an hour with no power and no fiddling, which is exactly what a mash needs.
| Item | Why this one | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Learn To Brew 10 Gallon Igloo Mash Tun Learn To Brew Mash Tun | Insulated ten gallon tun with a false bottom and valve, ready to use. | $192.99 |
| CDN Waterproof Digital Thermometer (4.75 inch stem) CDN | Long stem reaches into the mash without soaking the housing. | $22.60 |
| Subtotal | $215.59 |
Boil
A ten gallon kettle handles the pre-boil volume a five gallon all-grain batch needs.
| Item | Why this one | Price |
|---|---|---|
| MRbrew 10 Gallon Brew Kettle with Thermometer MRbrew | Ten gallons with a built in thermometer at the lowest sensible price. | $138.99 |
| Concord Prairie 16 inch Banjo Jr Burner Concord | Enough output to bring seven gallons to a rolling boil outdoors. | $54.98 |
| FastRack 21 inch Stainless Brewing Spoon FastRack | Twenty one inches reaches the bottom of a ten gallon kettle. | $10.05 |
| TIZZE Hop Spider (300 micron) TIZZE | Keeps hop matter out of the wort, which makes transfer much cleaner. | $28.99 |
| Subtotal | $233.01 |
Chill
All-grain batches are full volume, so an ice bath stops being practical.
| Item | Why this one | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Coldbreak 25 Foot Immersion Wort Chiller Coldbreak | Twenty five feet of copper, sized for five gallon batches. | $99.99 |
| Subtotal | $99.99 |
Ferment
| Item | Why this one | Price |
|---|---|---|
| FastRack 6.5 Gallon Fermenting Buckets with Lids (2 pack) FastRack | Primary fermentation plus a bottling bucket. | $49.79 |
| Brewland 3 Piece Airlocks with Stoppers (6 pack) Brewland | Six airlocks is the right quantity once you run more than one fermenter. | $14.86 |
| Fermtech 24 inch Auto Siphon with Tubing Fermtech | The standard racking tool. | $19.99 |
| Fermentis Safale US-05 (8 pack, 11.5 g) Fermentis | Eight sachets is the cheapest way to pitch properly every time. | $27.92 |
| Subtotal | $112.56 |
Measure
All-grain makes efficiency matter, and efficiency is measured not assumed.
| Item | Why this one | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Brewer's Elite Hydrometer and Test Jar Brewer's Elite | Hydrometer and jar together, for gravity at every stage. | $21.99 |
| Digital Pocket Scale 200 g x 0.01 g Weigh Gram | Hundredth of a gram resolution for hop and salt additions. | $11.99 |
| Subtotal | $33.98 |
Water and cleaning
Chlorine and chloramine in tap water produce a distinctly medicinal off flavour.
| Item | Why this one | Price |
|---|---|---|
| TAPCRAFT Campden Tablets (potassium metabisulfite, 50 count) TAPCRAFT | Removes chlorine and chloramine from brewing water. | $8.90 |
| Five Star Star San (32 oz) STAR SAN | No rinse sanitiser. One ounce treats five gallons. | $28.98 |
| Five Star PBW (1 lb) Five Star | Alkaline wash that lifts baked on trub without scrubbing. | $11.97 |
| Subtotal | $49.85 |
Bottle
| Item | Why this one | Price |
|---|---|---|
| FastRack Amber Beer Bottles 12 oz (48 pack) FastRack | Amber glass protects hopped beer from light struck flavour. | $39.29 |
| FastRack Colt Strong Bench Bottle Capper FastRack | Bench capper, far less tiring than a hand capper across fifty bottles. | $65.36 |
| Subtotal | $104.65 |
Running total
| Group | Items | Subtotal |
|---|---|---|
| Mash | 2 | $215.59 |
| Boil | 4 | $233.01 |
| Chill | 1 | $99.99 |
| Ferment | 4 | $112.56 |
| Measure | 2 | $33.98 |
| Water and cleaning | 3 | $49.85 |
| Bottle | 2 | $104.65 |
| Total | 18 | $849.63 |
Prices are those returned when this page was last built and change often. Nothing here is a quote.
What you can skip
Telling you not to buy something is what makes the rest of this list worth trusting. None of the following are needed to finish a batch with this build.
- A grain mill, at first. Buy grain pre-crushed until you know you will keep brewing, then mill your own to control efficiency.
- A plate chiller. An immersion chiller is simpler to clean and cannot hide an infection inside a sealed plate stack.
- A pH meter. Water chemistry is refinement, and it only pays off once the rest of the process is consistent.
What to upgrade first
Once this build is working, these are the purchases that change the most per dollar.
- A grain mill. Crush is the single largest lever on brewhouse efficiency, and milling your own changes it more than any other purchase at this stage.
- Fermentation temperature control, which shapes the finished beer more than any hot side equipment.
Before you brew this
Propane burners are outdoor only, always, because they produce carbon monoxide. Never run one in a garage, a basement or any enclosed space, including a garage with the door open.
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the the all-grain starter setup cost in total?
- Adding every item on this page comes to $849.63 across 18 items at the prices returned when this page was last built. Prices change often, so treat that as a planning figure rather than a quote. You can also drop the items listed under what you can skip, which brings the real starting cost down.
- Do I have to buy everything at once?
- No, and most people should not. The items are grouped by function, so you can buy the fermentation and cleaning groups first and borrow or improvise the rest for a batch or two. What you cannot skip is a way to measure gravity and a way to sanitise, because without those you are guessing at both safety and quality.
- What should I upgrade first afterwards?
- A grain mill. Crush is the single largest lever on brewhouse efficiency, and milling your own changes it more than any other purchase at this stage.
Researched from published brewing formulas, manufacturer specifications and verified owner reviews. This is general guidance, not professional advice.