new to brewing! Equipment suggestions?

Hey everyone. I am new to the homebrewing world. I bought John Palmer's book and have been reading that. I live in Charlotte, NC and there is a local homebrewing store, Alternative Beverage, http://ebrew.com/, locally. I am just looking for suggestions on equipment to buy. I dont want to break the bank, but I also don't want to buy a baby beginner kit and then have to pour money into it to upgrade once I gain some experience. Any suggestions on what I need to buy, and where good places to purchases cheaper and/or used equipment from. Should I buy a beginner kit or try and piece it together with used equipment. Thanks!

AJ

There are two ways to go here:

First, you should start doing extract kits IMO and to do that you really don't need anything other than a 3-4 gallon kettle, a fermentor (either bucket or carboy), a auto-syphon, bottling bucket and some bottles/caps/capper. You can do three gallon extract boils top them off to five gallons and make some decent beer this way.

But, if you're thinking of upgrading in the future you will need a bigger kettle to do full volume boils (about 6.5-7 gallons for a five gallon batch). So, option two; start off with a really nice kettle. I'd go stainless steel because it will last forever and you need a minimum of eight gallons. With that, you need a wort chiller to cool it and a burner of some kind to heat that much wort. This way you can do full boil extract kits and when you are ready to upgrade to all grain you already have the boil kettle.

Now, you can make good beer doing partial boil extract kits. It's less work, less time and less money. But if you have a strong hunch you may want to go the whole way with this hobby in the future you could go with option two.

inhousebrew said:

There are two ways to go here:

First, you should start doing extract kits IMO and to do that you really don't need anything other than a 3-4 gallon kettle, a fermentor (either bucket or carboy), a auto-syphon, bottling bucket and some bottles/caps/capper. You can do three gallon extract boils top them off to five gallons and make some decent beer this way.

But, if you're thinking of upgrading in the future you will need a bigger kettle to do full volume boils (about 6.5-7 gallons for a five gallon batch). So, option two; start off with a really nice kettle. I'd go stainless steel because it will last forever and you need a minimum of eight gallons. With that, you need a wort chiller to cool it and a burner of some kind to heat that much wort. This way you can do full boil extract kits and when you are ready to upgrade to all grain you already have the boil kettle.

Now, you can make good beer doing partial boil extract kits. It's less work, less time and less money. But if you have a strong hunch you may want to go the whole way with this hobby in the future you could go with option two.

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Thanks for the tips. Now I have read alot of things about two step fermentation process and all that jazz. Should I start with one fermentation bucket and as I start to get comfortable with what I am doing, switch to the two step? Also, do you recommend plastic or glass carboy? I have heard that glass ones are easier to sanitize and clean, but you also have the possible of breaking it easier. Thanks again!

I'd actually suggest doing all-grain from the get-go. But then again, the up front cost is higher. It will be a more exhausting day, as well, but you will feel like you crafted something from scratch. It will also be cheaper per batch cost.

You will want the following things (I'll try to remember it all):

5/10 gallon cooler, converted into a MLT
36qt or larger kettle (I bought SS, some use aluminum)
Propane burner - ring style
Fermenting bucket with a lid
Carboy if you want to secondary
Tubing
Mash paddle
Thermometer
Scale
Starsan
Oxiclean (powder)
Bottle caps and capper
Test tube
Auto siphon and the clip for it
Airlock (and a bung if you get a carboy)
Paint strainer bags if you like to filter pre-fermentation
Big funnel
Erlenmeyer flask (if you decide to make a beer that requires liquid yeast)
Hydrometer
$4-5 round plastic swamp cooler from Home Depot/Menards (they have rope handles)
Brew software (I use one that was $2, Brewpal)
Sugar - I recommend beet sugar/sucrose

Friends

There's not really a two step "fermentation" process. The primary serves as the fermentation vessel and a secondary is typically used for clearing, adding fruits or additional flavorings. Not much, if any, fermentation really happens in the secondary. It's probably closely split 50/50 on whether or not to even use a secondary, I for one do not. It's an extra step that can increase the chance of infection and unnecessary introduction of oxygen while you're racking over. But it's really your call. The plastic better bottles would be my recommendation, but glass has it's advantages too. Do a search for carboy accidents and you'll see some reasons why to not go that way, though those are not the norm.

unionrdr said:

Midwest has a basic brewing kit with everything you need,sans BK for $64. You can also add upgrades before ordering it.

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Depending on your time frame, Midwest puts out a groupon fairly regularly for an equipment kit plus a first extract kit. That's the setup I still use and I've made great beer so far.

twistr25 said:

There's not really a two step "fermentation" process. The primary serves as the fermentation vessel and a secondary is typically used for clearing, adding fruits or additional flavorings. Not much, if any, fermentation really happens in the secondary. It's probably closely split 50/50 on whether or not to even use a secondary, I for one do not. It's an extra step that can increase the chance of infection and unnecessary introduction of oxygen while you're racking over. But it's really your call. The plastic better bottles would be my recommendation, but glass has it's advantages too. Do a search for carboy accidents and you'll see some reasons why to not go that way, though those are not the norm.

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Thanks for your help. I think to start off, I want to do a few simple batches and get comfortable and then broaden my horizons. I would rather not try to transfer to a secondary bucket when first starting, so Im glad to hear that its not a necessity. Is it cheaper to peice work your equipment together or to just buy a beginners kit?

twistr25 said:

There's not really a two step "fermentation" process. The primary serves as the fermentation vessel and a secondary is typically used for clearing, adding fruits or additional flavorings. Not much, if any, fermentation really happens in the secondary. It's probably closely split 50/50 on whether or not to even use a secondary, I for one do not. It's an extra step that can increase the chance of infection and unnecessary introduction of oxygen while you're racking over. But it's really your call. The plastic better bottles would be my recommendation, but glass has it's advantages too. Do a search for carboy accidents and you'll see some reasons why to not go that way, though those are not the norm.

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This.

I like to secondary most but not all beers. I find that my results are more aesthetically pleasing, but I've had good results just allowing the beer to sit for 3 weeks. Beers with a lot of whole hops added, coffee grinds, cocoa nibs, etc, might be well served with a secondary vessel. It at least keeps more trub out of your bottles.

I would also recommend one of the starter kits from a company like Northern Brewer or Midwest. A lot of that gear you will end up using if you decide to expand into larger batches or all-grain. I would really recommend not going with glass carboys but going with either buckets or better bottles. The plastics are cheaper, easier to lift, and do not have the safety issues that glass carboys do. I would also recommend picking up a cheap stock pot (Bass pro shops, camping stores, etc) and using that as your kettle for now. If you decide you really like the hobby, then you could move on to more expensive kettle.

Also don't ignore your yeast! Temperature control and pitching rates is critical!

ajebeyr said:

Thanks for your help. I think to start off, I want to do a few simple batches and get comfortable and then broaden my horizons. I would rather not try to transfer to a secondary bucket when first starting, so Im glad to hear that its not a necessity. Is it cheaper to peice work your equipment together or to just buy a beginners kit?

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If you buy used,it may be cheaper. I'd rather have new stuff,& $64 dollars isn't much more than peicemeal would cost in the end.

Darwin18 said:

I would also recommend one of the starter kits from a company like Northern Brewer or Midwest. A lot of that gear you will end up using if you decide to expand into larger batches or all-grain. I would really recommend not going with glass carboys but going with either buckets or better bottles. The plastics are cheaper, easier to lift, and do not have the safety issues that glass carboys do. I would also recommend picking up a cheap stock pot (Bass pro shops, camping stores, etc) and using that as your kettle for now. If you decide you really like the hobby, then you could move on to more expensive kettle.

Also don't ignore your yeast! Temperature control and pitching rates is critical!

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Found this on amazon. Doesnt have bottle caps, but those are dirt cheap. Does this cover all my basic needs?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QGI5RS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I started with the Midwest kit, ($64 Groupon) gets you started with a kit plus $25 coupon. Then maybe pick up a Tamale Pot, cheap at most markets. Most of all have fun with it!

ajebeyr said:

Found this on amazon. Doesnt have bottle caps, but those are dirt cheap. Does this cover all my basic needs?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QGI5RS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

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You will still need a brew kettle and a burner strong enough to do a full boil, unless you decide to do partial boil. Both can produce good results. Do you plan on brewing indoors on your stovetop or outside on a propane burner?

JordanThomas said:

You will still need a brew kettle and a burner strong enough to do a full boil, unless you decide to do partial boil. Both can produce good results. Do you plan on brewing indoors on your stovetop or outside on a propane burner?

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I will most likely start by brewing indoors. I dont want to buy a burner system yet. If i buy a 5 gallon stainless steel kettle, can a stove top handle that size of a batch

ajebeyr said:

I will most likely start by brewing indoors. I dont want to buy a burner system yet. If i buy a 5 gallon stainless steel kettle, can a stove top handle that size of a batch

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With a five gallon kettle you can boil about four gallons total which after a boil will end you at roughly three gallons before adding an additional two gallons of water to get to a full five gallon batch. Four gallons on my stovetop is pushing it and that is straddling two burners at once, I normally do three at most but it depends on your stove I guess.

unionrdr said:

You'll also need a long plastic spoon or paddle to stir with,& at least a 4 gallon (16qt) brew kettle for partial boils. I have a 5 gallon (20qt) SS stock pot that I use. The midwest basic equipment kit comes with a few more things the one on amazon doesn't. like easyclean,bottle filler wand,bottle caps,LCD thermometer,hydrometer,& an instructional DVD. Def a better value.

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I agree with the Midwest Kit here, you'll NEED all the extras that were pointed out, may as well get them in one fell swoop.

I brew indoors on my apartment stove. I also do full boils, takes about an hour to get it to boil. Really not that big of a deal. I do have to put the lid about half on to get a decent rolling boil, but I always get enough to evaporate. I got my BK from Amazon for $60 or so and it's a 7.5 or 8 gallon. I would recommend going for a kettle you can do full boils with even if you only plan on doing partial boils to start.

I'm new too, and recently purchased/upgraded equipment and there are a couple of things I would have done different:
Don't brew indoors... it makes a mess, and takes up the kitchen for the entire duration of the brew.
Buy a turkey fryer with stainless pot and strainer in the 10 gallon range. It's big enough to move up to BIAB all grain brews, and small enough to do extracts too. I got mine for around $100 at Cabelas.
You'll need a chiller. Immersion chillers work really well for 5 gallon batches.
Unless you're set on bottling, skip all the bottling equipment and go straight to the corny (or others) kegging system. I never bottle anymore, and all my bottles, bottle tree, washers, etc. are just taking up floor space, not to mention the initial cost.
Go with a 6-1/2 gallon glass carboy with the S shaped air lock and a plastic bottling bucket for the secondary. The larger carboy will give you plenty of headspace, and the bottling bucket is much easier to draw from than a carboy.
Plan on collecting yeast from the very first transfer... it will save you money on future brews.

I don't know how handy you are, but there's a lot of home-projects that you can do to save money:
Keezer/kegerator build
Immersion chiller
brew stand
fermentation chamber
stir plate

You're doing the right thing... figure out exactly what you want, then work towards it, hopefully without wasting money and effort along the way.
Good luck!

I've done well getting kits off craigslist. HOWEVER that can be hit or miss. I've picked up all my fermentors that way (4 buckets and 7 carboys which is funny because I prefer buckets, but I also do wine which is better in carboys for clearing). I got 2 hydrometers and some other bits with them. Most often you find someone who got the kit, did it once and decided that they didn't like it.

With that said, it was a matter of taking the Midwest kit or similar and going 'ok this craiglisting has all those parts I'll get that'. And I knew a little bit about what I wanted. I don't yet have a chiller, I brew 3 gallons (max) on the stove in a 4 gallon pot - about $20 from the store for a 4 gallon pot. To do a 5 gallon full boil, you need a gas stove, 2 pots on 2 electric burners or to go outside and boil. If you do 1 pot with 5 to 6 gallons of wort in it (about 1 gallon will evaporate/boil off) you need a pot that is 7.5 to 8 gallons. I then top off to about 5 gallons from my 3 gallons

My advice if you are not totally confident on going the craigslist route is to buy new from someone like midwest, get a 4 gallon pot(if needed) from walmart or similar (we have a store that carries the extra inventory of places and is marked down. I got my pot there, I think it was a Ross). After a few brews, upgrade to a serious pot and external heat like a turkey frier if you want. If you decide you need more fermentors, take a look at craigslist from time to time. People put all sorts of Homebrew deals on there.

acidrain said:

I'm new too, and recently purchased/upgraded equipment and there are a couple of things I would have done different:
Don't brew indoors... it makes a mess, and takes up the kitchen for the entire duration of the brew.
Buy a turkey fryer with stainless pot and strainer in the 10 gallon range. It's big enough to move up to BIAB all grain brews, and small enough to do extracts too. I got mine for around $100 at Cabelas.
You'll need a chiller. Immersion chillers work really well for 5 gallon batches.
Unless you're set on bottling, skip all the bottling equipment and go straight to the corny (or others) kegging system. I never bottle anymore, and all my bottles, bottle tree, washers, etc. are just taking up floor space, not to mention the initial cost.
Go with a 6-1/2 gallon glass carboy with the S shaped air lock and a plastic bottling bucket for the secondary. The larger carboy will give you plenty of headspace, and the bottling bucket is much easier to draw from than a carboy.
Plan on collecting yeast from the very first transfer... it will save you money on future brews.

I don't know how handy you are, but there's a lot of home-projects that you can do to save money:
Keezer/kegerator build
Immersion chiller
brew stand
fermentation chamber
stir plate

You're doing the right thing... figure out exactly what you want, then work towards it, hopefully without wasting money and effort along the way.
Good luck!

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While an immersion chiller is nice, you definitely don't NEED it. They actually can be the cause of infections if you forget to throw it in your boil for the last 10 minutes. Spinning my kettle in an ice bath takes about 40 minutes to cool to 70. That's what I typically do, and I'm not sure I want to change now.

Things I have learned from my kit purchase:

If you can wait 30 days for primary, a secondary isn't really needed. I now have a 5 gallon secondary glass carboy collecting dust :/

A wort chiller is worth the money. I spent a lot of my time switching out ice and water in my sink and just waiting for wort to cool. Get a chiller.

Invest in a good capper if you are bottling. Something that holds itself up. You'll spend 3 times as much as a cheap one but it is worth it.

Buy lots of towels. For me at least I brew in my kitchen and water/Star San gets everywhere. Because being careful is time consuming. I bought towels for brewing only.

Trokair said:

Things I have learned from my kit purchase:

If you can wait 30 days for primary, a secondary isn't really needed. I now have a 5 gallon secondary glass carboy collecting dust :/

A wort chiller is worth the money. I spent a lot of my time switching out ice and water in my sink and just waiting for wort to cool. Get a chiller.

Invest in a good capper if you are bottling. Something that holds itself up. You'll spend 3 times as much as a cheap one but it is worth it.

Buy lots of towels. For me at least I brew in my kitchen and water/Star San gets everywhere. Because being careful is time consuming. I bought towels for brewing only.

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SO TRUE! I forgot about that.

Start with a pot that you can do full size boils in. If you do want to get more complex, you'll appreciate already having the bigger kettle.

ACbrewer said:

I'

With that said, it was a matter of taking the Midwest kit or similar and going 'ok this craiglisting has all those parts I'll get that'. And I knew a little bit about what I wanted. I don't yet have a chiller, I brew 3 gallons (max) on the stove in a 4 gallon pot - about $20 from the store for a 4 gallon pot. To do a 5 gallon full boil, you need a gas stove, 2 pots on 2 electric burners or to go outside and boil. If you do 1 pot with 5 to 6 gallons of wort in it (about 1 gallon will evaporate/boil off) you need a pot that is 7.5 to 8 gallons. I then top off to about 5 gallons from my 3 gallons

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I actually do full boils just fine on my POS apartment electric stove in one pot, only takes about an hour to heat up. If you're drinking while brewing, time flies by. Definitely not a necessity to have a gas stove or to split into 2 pots.

I started off with a basic 5gal kit. Had I known then what I know now.

Specific Gravity tester
Carboy with Brew Hauler
Spare air locks
Auto siphon
Bottle drying tree or something equivalent for cleaning and sanitizing bottles
Immersion chiller, even better if you can afford a decent 120v pump to cycle ice water through it.

I bought a 50$ turkey frier kit from Walmart, with a 7.5 gallon pot and a burner. Brewing with grains is as simple as getting a mesh bag. Just look up biab. Other than thatthe most basic kit will supply everything else. Keep an eye out for a groupon deal from Midwest on a kit.

ajebeyr said:

.......I am just looking for suggestions on equipment to buy. I dont want to break the bank, but I also don't want to buy a baby beginner kit and then have to pour money into it to upgrade once I gain some experience............

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A good question to ask is "What's your budget?" This will give the brewing gurus here a better idea of what to get first as far as necessities vs luxuries go.

IMO, I think you could probably piece together a good equipment setup if you're willing to take the time to put it all together. At the same time, kits from Midwest, Northern Brewer, etc. give you the basic items to get you going with out having to do a lot of hunting and scavenging of individual pieces. All you would have to do is add the other things like the kettle, bottles, and other items.


Another option to think about if you're on a small budget is a smaller scaled equipment setup. Northern Brewer offers 1 gallon kits and places like Brooklyn Brewshop and Small Batch Homebrew are exclusive to the small batch brewer. The good things about small batch brewing is the price, plus you can have some variety (ex: five different one gallon bottled brew vs the same amount of bottles for one 5 gallon flavor). Another advantage, price wise, is things like a stand alone burner (plus the propane tank if you don't have one) and immersion chillers aren't really needed.

Another thing with small batch brew is you'll "have" to brew more often since these aren't typical 5 gallon recipes. That's good as the more you brew, the more experience you'll have. Hope this helps.

My brother brews in North Carolina too. The big issues he had to address to get good beer were temperature control when fermenting and finding a good hardness of brewing water. His tap water is very hard and tends to also have a high chlorination level. A water filter to remove the residual chlorine and mixing the brewing water with a portion of distilled water may be neccesary to dial in some of your brews. A simple 'swamp cooler' is a cheap way to keep your fermentation from getting too warm.

What nobody ever told me was you pretty much need a garage for all the equipment, and to brew when it's rainy outside!

BreezyBrew said:

What nobody ever told me was you pretty much need a garage for all the equipment, and to brew when it's rainy outside!

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This is one reason why I've not gone to all grain brewing - I don't have a garage to keep my equipment in.

ACbrewer said:

This is one reason why I've not gone to all grain brewing - I don't have a garage to keep my equipment in.

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Yea, I'm lucky I have a basement for storage. It is filled with spiders... classic old Michigan house basement, but it works.

If I were starting today, I would buy one of the starter kits and a turkey fryer from CL (which the op has quite a few in their area) and I would go the BIAB route to start.

Yesfan said:

A good question to ask is "What's your budget?" This will give the brewing gurus here a better idea of what to get first as far as necessities vs luxuries go.

IMO, I think you could probably piece together a good equipment setup if you're willing to take the time to put it all together. At the same time, kits from Midwest, Northern Brewer, etc. give you the basic items to get you going with out having to do a lot of hunting and scavenging of individual pieces. All you would have to do is add the other things like the kettle, bottles, and other items.


Another option to think about if you're on a small budget is a smaller scaled equipment setup. Northern Brewer offers 1 gallon kits and places like Brooklyn Brewshop and Small Batch Homebrew are exclusive to the small batch brewer. The good things about small batch brewing is the price, plus you can have some variety (ex: five different one gallon bottled brew vs the same amount of bottles for one 5 gallon flavor). Another advantage, price wise, is things like a stand alone burner (plus the propane tank if you don't have one) and immersion chillers aren't really needed.

Another thing with small batch brew is you'll "have" to brew more often since these aren't typical 5 gallon recipes. That's good as the more you brew, the more experience you'll have. Hope this helps.

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I would probably say my budget is anywhere from $75-150. I want to make sure I am actually going to continously brew, and not just do it one time before I buy more equipment. It shouldnt be a problem with a 5 gal beginner kit. I have no problem buy one piece of equipment at a time, but if its easier to get everything I need in a kit, then that is probably easier. I just dont want to but a kit, and not have to use a lot of the stuff and waste my money on unnneccesary items.

ajbeyer said:

I would probably say my budget is anywhere from $75-150. I want to make sure I am actually going to continously brew, and not just do it one time before I buy more equipment. It shouldnt be a problem with a 5 gal beginner kit. I have no problem buy one piece of equipment at a time, but if its easier to get everything I need in a kit, then that is probably easier. I just dont want to but a kit, and not have to use a lot of the stuff and waste my money on unnneccesary items.

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Just saying from experience, that's why I recommend the Midwest Kit. I have only added additional elements to it, there is not one thing in it I do not use. I would consider it high end bare bones. If you want to price shop, look for kits with a similar setup as the Midwest one.