Please click on an FAQ link below to view information regarding that question.   Question: What's the big deal about all-grain brewing? Just how hard is it?   Answer: Brewing all-grain is much easier than most people think. It basically involves two additional steps: Mashing and Sparging. After these two steps are completed, the boiling process is exactly the same as when extract brewing. Mashing: When starches are converted to sugars. The simplest way to mash is by the single-infusion method. Mashing starts with bringing your brewing liquor (water) to a temperature that will activate enzymes within the grain when it is added. This temperature will typically be in the 156º to 168º range. When the grain is added to the brewing liquor, the temperature will drop 8 to ten degrees, bringing the mash temperature down to 148 to 158 degrees. This is the temperature that a saccharification rest should occur at. This is when the sugars are extracted from the grains. Depending on the recipe, this oatmeal-like mixture will sit at this temperature for thirty to sixty minutes. Sparging: When the sweet wort is rinsed from the crushed grains. This is accomplished by sprinkling 170º water over the mash and allowing it to seep through. This dissolves the sugar into solution, and it is then carried to the bottom of the mash tun, where it exits through the outlet valve and into your boiling kettle. The easiest way to do this is with a sparge arm. A sparge arm allows you to sprinkle the hot liquor evenly and constantly over the mash, which will yield higher extraction rates than sparging without a sparge arm. Boiling: Simply brew as you did before. When brewing all-grain, you will collect and boil 6 to 7 gallons of wort for a five gallon batch. As mentioned earlier, you may need to purchase a larger boiling kettle to do this. Other than this, the process is exactly the same as brewing an extract batch. Add your bittering hops, boil for an hour, and make any other additions as called for in your recipe. Cool the wort and pitch the yeast.   Question: What is a protein rest? When do I need to use it? What temperature is a protein rest at? How long should I do a protein rest?   Answer: A protein rest is done before a saccharification rest (resting your mash in the 148-158°F range for ~30-60 minutes) by bringing your mash to 122-131°F for ~20 minutes. Most malts do not require the use of a protein rest, as they have been well modified (a high degree of of breakdown during malting of the protein-starch matrix in the malted grain). Undermodified barley malt, or grists with a large percent (more than 25%)of wheat, oatmeal, unmalted grain, flaked barley, or rye, will benefit from a protein rest. It will break down proteins and make the starches more accessible for conversion as well as making for a more effective runoff by breaking the large, gelatinous proteins into smaller chains. It also reduces chill haze causing albumins and creates amino acids the yeast can use for their growth and development. Using a protein rest on a grist that does not require one (with well modified malts) , will contribute to a thin, watery beer. You can perform a protein rest a couple different ways. If your mashtun can be direct heated, you can apply heat to move the mash from the initial protein rest to the saccharification rest, but be sure to stir the mash as you do so to prevent scorching. The other way to do this multi-rest mashing is to start with a thicker mash, giving yourself room to add a small amount of boiling water to raise the mash temperature to the desired saccharification rest temperature.