kdixon

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I have no cule on what to get, what he would need, or anything. I'm lost he loves beer and is intrested in homebrewing but we just havent had the $$. Now that we do have the $$ i want to get him a kit i know that there are other costs. I would like to know how much it would be total to start as well as long term for him to make beer regularly also i dont know what kind of beer to get him he likes Flat tire, Alaskan amber,Red stripe very dark beers. where can i get dark beer at any ideas on beers he might like?TIA

Kara

samc

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I started brewing last year with the Coopers kit from makebeer.net I quickly outgrew the kit but it was a good quick education and a pretty much no fail drinkable beer. $100 or so .

The good thing is that the fermenter is a pretty useful piece of equipment and I now use it as a backup when I want to do two beers at once. You could source most of the kit separately and save a few dollars if you had the time and knowledge.

Hard to say how much more money will be poured into the hobby.

chumprock

Recipes 

Do you have any local homebrewing stores? They would be able to help you with a lot of the information. Your best bet is to start with a basic kit (Most places sell them with supplies for your first beer) and then he can grow into more equipment/supplies as needed.

My SWMB... err... My wife purchased a starter kit for me a couple years ago and it's one of the best gifts I ever received.


There are also several places online that sell starter kits.

Yankeehillbrewer

Recipes 

Starter kits are great, but If I could do it over again I would get the following...

10 Gallon Stock Pot, Stainless Steel or Aluminum(less expensive)
Propane Burner & Tank
Hydrometer
Floating Thermometer
Big metal Spoon
2-6.5 Gallon fermenter buckets with lids & Airlocks
5 Gal bottling bucket
Bottle Filler
Racking Cane
Auto Siphon
Tubing for Siphoning
Iodophor or Starsan
Bottles & Caps
Bottle Capper
Small Scale
Immersion Chiller

Of course this is using hindsight and knowing that I would be in it for the long haul. This would all cost considerably more than a starter kit, so it may not be exactly practical for someone starting out. Off the top of my head, I figure this would cost around $300-$350. Anyhow, hope that helps a little.

0202

Recipes 

My girlfriend got me a brewer's best kit with 6 gallon glass carboy.
She just walked into a home brew store and asked what I would
need to start brewing at home.

All I needed to purchase was a $8 autosiphon (optional but very useful)
a $10 thermometer, a $1 heat resistant spoon and a $20 brewing kettle
(20 qt aluminum pot)

Certainly one of the best gifts I've ever gotten

__________________
Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world!
- Kaiser Wilhelm

boogyman

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I just bought my first kit a few months ago from williamsbrewing.com. It was about $120 shipped with the equipment and ingredients to make 5 gallons. Like a lot of other brewing places, they have various ingredient kits to choose from. Just about the only thing extra you'd need is bottles to bottle the beer when it's done fermenting, and a large brewing pot.

zman

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I am thinking that something like this is pretty all inclusive for a new brewer. It seems to have everything and is pretty reasonable for you are getting.
The Brew Hut Ultra Brewing Kit

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conpewter

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Nice setup. As long as you already own a pot that can hold 3+ gallons you'll be able to make some good beer that way.

You could additionally get him a premium membership to this site... I've learned more from here than I could have from 50 books on the subject.

__________________
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V

Primary: Nothin
Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead
Kegged: Crappy infected mild
Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash

TommyBoy

Recipes 

+1 on finding a starter kit.

http://morebeer.com/view_product/15910/102142/Personal_Home_Brewery_%232_-_Deluxe

In addition to the kit, you then really only need a kettle and some bottles (50-55 of them).

Get your kettle (16qt) from WalMar-Target-etc on the cheap.

Start saving your beer bottles for your first batch.

GuateBrewer

Recipes 

If my wife is the OP -

Brew-Magic by Sabco

Fermenator

Get me this one please!