Tell me how this equipment kit looks, and if I need anything else.

The kit comes from homebrewheaven.com, I can't seem to link the page but you can go to there main site, click beer brewing, click brewing equipmnet kits, it's the deluxe kit. This is what it includes for those who don't want to go there.


Includes 6-Gallon Primary Fermentor, 5-Gallon Glass Carboy, 2 Airlocks with Stoppers, 4-ft Siphon Hose, Racking Cane and Clip, Bottle Filler, BENCH Capper, Caps, Wort Chiller (your choice of indoor or outdoor model), Sanitizer, Cleaner, Thermometer,Hydrometer with Test Jar, Carboy Brush, Bottle Brush, Instructional Book & Video.

It cost's $168.00 but seems to include everything but the bottles and ingredients. Is this a good buy, is the website reputable?

If you can afford it, go for it. I spent about 1/2 of that on my kit. But I didn't get a carboy, chiller or a bench capper. I bought my carboy separately later for around 20 bucks. A wing capper works fine, but a bench is better. It all depends on how much you are willing to invest.

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I would try and get an autosiphon instead, just my opinion, but it should work fine without it albeit a bit more work. In general though, that seems like a good batch of gear for the price.

That's not bad. By the time I was done peace mealing all those "other" things I needed, it probably came out to more than that. 4 foot hose is cutting it pretty close IMO, but will work. It's just that you'll have have them really close to one another. Good call on getting a wort chiller for your first time, you'll definently be glad you did. Putting the wort in a ice bath and waiting really is a PITA and take a LONG time. Bottles should run you about 12-14 per case if you have a LHBS near-by and a brew package shouldn't cost more than 28 bucks. I'd recommend the Brewer's Best kits. They have the steeping grains, muslim disposable sack and bottle caps along with everything else you need. They also use DME out of the bag.

I don't understand it when companies skimp on the cheap stuff, but anyways, tubing is only like 50 cents a foot. So if four feet isn't enough, it doesn't cost alot to get more.

I also recommend the auto-siphon, you don't really need it, but its cheap, makes it easier, and can also be used as a wine thief.

The chiller and bench capper arn't really necessary and if you used a regular wing capper and cooled your wort in the sink, you could knock about 40-50 bucks off that price.

I might also recommend a funnel with a screen or a strainer that fits your fermenter. Depends on how you want to transfer the cooled wort to the fermenter. You could siphon or use the whirl pool method or what not, but using a strainer and dumping it in has the added benefit of aerating the wort.

ultraplop said:

The chiller and bench capper arn't really necessary and if you used a regular wing capper and cooled your wort in the sink, you could knock about 40-50 bucks off that price.

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GET THE CHILLER!!! It's worth every penny. If you don't get it now I guarantee you will later.

second the chiller... if/when you move to larger batches or full six plus gallons boil, you'll need one.

also, if you're gonna bottle, get the bench capper.

So can I just get more siphon hose from any hardware store or does it need to be a certain material? Also where can I get an auto-siphon?

I used a 10 dollar wing capper and was given a bench capper recently, but to be honest I don't find any difference in ease of use. Although there is a certain bottle that I have that the bench capper can cap that my wing capper can't and thats those really cool hobgoblin ale bottles. The wing capper can't get a grip on the side of the bottle because of the odd shape.

As far as thewort chiller goes, maybe its a lot more helpful for a full 5 or 6 gallon+ boil, but if you are doing extract and only boiling 2-3 gallons then the sink works pretty well. What I do is fill the sink with cold water, put a dishtowel over the open drain and set the hot pot on it. The towel allows the water to drain out slowly so that I can keep the faucet on to constantly circulate cold water around it. I put a small amount of ice in there too and it cools about as fast as a wort chiller would (about 10 minutes for 2 gallons).

You could probably get the tubing at a hardware store, but you will probably have hard time finding an autosiphon at any place other than a homebrew shop. Of course if you go to a homebrew shop or order online you can get the tubing at the same time and kill both birds with one stone. :cross:

I think that kit is expensive for what you get, even with the wort chiller. You can buy a wort chiller separately, and it is not very expensive if you choose carefully (I'll suggest one below). A wing capper works fine, you don't really need a bench capper for bottling a 5 or 10 gallon batch at a time. The instructional video is gravy if it is a good one, but with this forum, you can certainly get by without it. Plus there are plenty of beer brewing vids on YouTube.

A couple of kits I'd suggest

MidWest Brewing Intermediate Kit which has two Better Bottles and the fermenting pail, and an auto-siphon, which is not mentioned in that kit you listed. The text description there is strange because they just changed it from glass to Better Bottle (recommend you confirm with MidWest). And this kit has a instructional book and video or DVD too.

Norther Brewer Deluxe Starter Kit halfway down the page. Not quite the deal that the MidWest kit is, but it's the kit I bought and it is very nice. No instructional book or video/DVD and one less container (it doesn't have the 6.5 gallon plastic fermenter).

Then add a wort chiller from More Beer (free shipping on most items, including wort chillers):

Something like the WC20 or WC60 on the More Beer Wort Chiller page.

Basically, if you couple the $36 WC60 (best option IMO, ignore that they call it a pre-chiller as it makes no difference) or $44 WC20 (maybe less unwieldy for indoor use) from More Beer with the $109 kit from MidWest, it'll cost less in total, and you'll have two carboys (Better Bottle) instead of one (glass), and you'll have an autosiphon. Both kits have the plastic pail fermenter, bottling pail, etc.

The only real upgrade in the kit you listed is the bench capper, and that is a nit.

/\/\/\ Great advice, I will certainly check that out. I just want a good kit that will allow me to make any beer I want for a few years. After I feel that I have become a great homebrewer i'm going to move up to a kegging system.

Brewing and kegging are two different things. Think more along the lines of bottling versus kegging. No matter what kit you buy or what gear you use to brew and ferment with, you can always bottle or keg. Most people start with bottling because it does not require a large expense to get going. Most kits are set up for bottling for that same reason. When and if you ever decide to keg, you can keep on using the same brew gear to make your beer.