Just Getting Started...Brew Kit Suggestions?

I want to get into home brewing, but am not sure where to start. What is the best kit to start with? I want to keep it as affordable as possible, but want to get a kit that will be good and have all the essentials that I need. Thanks for any advice!

I'd probably check out some of the kits offered at your LBS (local brew shop), or try one from either Williams Brewing, Northern Brewer or Midwest Supplies. For an absolute beginner, nothing beats a pre-hopped malt extract kit that comes complete with everything you need and requires very little effort on your part.

Kits like this are designed for newbie brewers or for people that want to save time and energy and like a particular style of beer. Try to pick out one that matches a beer you really like. For example, if you like a nice pale ale, go with that. If you like IPA's, find a nice IPA kit. Just bear in mind that ale beers really brew best at temperatures in the 60's and lagers require colder temepratures below 50 degrees to brew well without funky flavors.

I'm assuming that you have all of your brewing and bottling/kegging supplies, too. If not, there are some great equipment kits for reasonable prices that include almost everything you need but a brew pot. Comparably, they're not that expensive and you'll only need to purchase them once.

I would highly recommend that you find a copy of the New Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papizan. It is a great resource to learn a lot about the basics of home brewing right straight through advanced brewing techniques such as harvesting yeasts, building your own mash tun and doing all grain beers.

You don't necessarily have to go with pre-hopped canned kits. As far as styles, I'd stay away from a lager or a high alcohol beer (if for no other reason than they take longer to be ready).

A stout is a great first kit if you like the style. It has enough flavor to cover up a lot of esters, and you don't have to worry about color or clarity. Norther brewer has an Irish Red that would work. The problem with online is you have to pay shipping..but you could order two.

I'd probably stick with dry yeast the first time to avoid having to make a starter.

I started with a kit from Midwest supplies and a turkey fryer I got on eBay for around $60. I think the Midwest kit was around $70 or so, and it came with a brew bucket, bottling bucket, airlock, hydrometer, bottling wand, and a few other odds and ends. It worked out pretty good for me. I still use all of it, I've just added to it. Take a look at their site, and you'll at least get an idea of what it will take to get you going. I don't know about the pre-hopped kits. Midwest sells extract kits with specialty grains and hops that you add yourself. Makes it more fun I think. Closer to making beer than using water and syrup IMO.

If you're talking equipment kits, either check locally to avoid paying shipping, or Northern Brewer has some pretty good kits in the $100 range.

If you're talking beer ingredient kits, I've had good luck from Austin Homebrew, but you might have a good dealer closer to you. A lot of LHBS's carry pretty good ingredient kits, too.

I'm actually using an all grain kit I picked up on sale for $18. It's a 1 gal IPA made by a company in Brooklyn: Brooklyn Brew Shop. On their website, they charge $40 for any of around 10 kits of various beer styles. It comes with around 2 lbs of grain for mash (not sure what kinds), along with 2 vac-sealed hop pellet packets. With a 1 gal glass carboy, a length of tubing, an airlock, a racking cane, and a packet of c-brite, it basically gives you everything you need besides a strainer and a couple pots for the mash and the boil. From the stuff I've read here, the All Grain technique seems to be reserved for slightly more experienced brewers, but the website's instruction were fairly easy to follow and I have a batch almost a week into fermentation.

The process felt a little more "authentic" than I imagine the extract method would, though I don't have the necessary experience to be definitive. Either way, if you read the wiki outlining the basic steps for brewing, and follow the manufacturer's instructions, you shouldn't have any problems.

These kits don't seem to be very popular, or even readily available, but I really enjoyed the process. If you choose to start with one, and enjoy it, I'd like to hear about your experience with it.

Perceived downside: small carboy limits batch size
Upsides: you can usually brew a batch with what you have around the house. The size of the carboy lends itself to future experimentation on recipes: small, quick batches that don't cost much and don't waste much when/if they go south. Plus, you get a gallon of beer and the experience for relatively cheap. You can always buy more equipment to upgrade later, but why drop all that money at the front end, when all the equipment you get in this kit will be useful as you progress further into the hobby.

Get this starter kit on GroupOn from Midwest Supply. Great deal that won't break the bank.

Here

(You dont need to be from Cincinnati to buy it)

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm currently debating between the Northern and Midwest kit...ill let you know how it goes...I'm sure ill have many more questions along the way!