I'm just wondering whats the best bang for your buck starter packages to get into home brewing. I was looking at the midwest supplies sets, they seem to be better than the northern brewer sets. Thanks.
Quality is pretty standard across the board, just look for the cheapest one that comes with:
Ale Pail (fermenter)
Bottling bucket
Red "wing capper"
Autosiphon
bottle filler
airlock
hydrometer
and some vinyl tubing
Check out craigslist too, I didnt think to do that when i was buying mine but once in a while someone throws the towel in after a couple batches and you can capitalize on that.
when getting a set up initially, would it be best to go ahead and get one that comes with the secondary already? I just wanna try some extract brews initially.
I bought a Midwest setup that came with a fermenting pail, a bottling bucket and TWO 5 gallon Better Bottles. Had I known when I ordered, I would have substituted a 6 gallon bb for one of the 5 gallon. In the future, I plan on using the bb for primary fermenting, and the "ale pail" will simply be another pail.
when getting a set up initially, would it be best to go ahead and get one that comes with the secondary already? I just wanna try some extract brews initially.
No the secondary is not needed. I would not recommend using one.
A big pot (8 gallon) and a immersion chiller are very nice to have.
I looked at the kits when I went to buy and I even opened one up. I realized quickly that the picture on the box was not necessarily what was inside. There were things that I wanted to buy up front like an auto siphon and a wine thief. So I grabbed a 6.5 glass carboy and filled the cart up with everything I needed. I made my own kit and it didnt cost that much more than a kit with a carboy and I got the "better" pieces that I wanted. I later picked up a 5 gallon carboy for a secondary. Except for the glass the small parts and pieces were really not that expensive.
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Single Vessel BIAB is all I need....Until we figure out the no vessel technique.
Whichever kit you end up getting, I haven't seen any with star-san, a vinator or a bottle-filling wand. I'd highly recommend adding those if the kit doesn't include them. Just bottled my first batch and they were invaluable, made the process very smooth and enjoyable.
I purchased a kit from Williams Brewing that came with the usual stuff plus 8 gal bk, wort chiller, and recipe kit for just over $200. Pretty pleased with it so far. Will be bottling first batch (eng. IPA) in two days. They seemed to have the best deal if you need a bk and shipping was very reasonable.
Best starter equipment package?
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