Enough to start?

So I live in a tiny apartment and want to start home brewing. I need the minimum amount of equipment to start. I am going to place my order and want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

10 Gallon pot
Large metal spoon
Thermometer
Sanitizing solution
Strainer
Funnel
Williams Brewing Fermenter bucket with airlock, spigot, and 4 feet of hose.
Williams Brewing Extract Kit

I will also be building a keggerator setup this weekend. I'm going to start off with ice water bath and them move up to a wort chiller later.

Cons brew with a plastic baggie...sounds like you are ahead of the game!!!



Racking cane helps but tubing works. Add a strainer and funnel to transfer your wort, and maybe secondary/serve in the keg and you are there! Hydrometer, who needs a hydrometer (you'll break it anyway)!



(When you say keggerator set up I presume you mean CO2, regulator, lines, tap, etc.)

If you've got the dough I would spring for a carboy or another bucket without a spigot to ferment in and save the spigot bucket for a bottling bucket.

Get an auto siphon too. It's easier get your wort into a fermentor without transferring the trub. A similar piece of equipment you should grab is a wine thief for taking hydrometer samples.

While we're at it another thing I would grab is a hydrometer.

You'll need a hydrometer with some sort of container to allow the hydrometer to float in. I suggest a Thief, its the easiest way to take a sample, and allows you to dump into a glass for a taste test.

You'll also need a keg or two, plus all the fittings, gauges, tank, and related hardware if you're kegging. But your beginners list looks good.

I think I've got a pretty good "minimum" requirements needed to home brew post on my blog. I setup a friend the other day for under $150 easy, especially if your going to collect your own bottles. But since you are doing kegs, that shouldn't be an issue.

Check it out, I try to explain what you need and why and what it does.

Getting Started Brewing My Own Beer

Let me know if you need any other help.

First of all, welcome to this hobby that turns into an obsession for menay, byt not me. Hehe.

I believe the best advice I can provide a new brewer is: Plan so you are not purchasing equipment twice.

You have a small apartment and seek advice from those that have small apartments. But plan for the day when you get a biger place. You will want to add to your brewery, not spend money to replace equipment already purchased.

The second piece of advice....Purchase a full stater kit like this one of these: http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits

There are other variations from reputable shops found at this site as well as maybe your home town.

Search around, read and learn. That is a big part of this hobby.

Good luck

Get the autosiphon, it's well worth it!

The reason I was going for a plastic bucket vs. a cartboy is I live in Korea and I don't want to ship it.

I was going to wait on the hydrometer as I will only be making premixed kits to start.


Yes, "(When you say keggerator set up I presume you mean CO2, regulator, lines, tap, etc.)"

wyzazz said:

Get the autosiphon, it's well worth it!

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If I have a plastic fermenter with spigot do I need an autosiphon?

Kunkemonster said:

If I have a plastic fermenter with spigot do I need an autosiphon?

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It depends.... are you going to be transferring the beer often? as in a transfer to a secondary fermentor and transfer to bottling bucket?

Any time you need to rack (siphon) your beer to another vessel of any kind, it's awesome to have an auto-siphon. just dumping right out the spigot on the bucket could potentially lead to excessive splashing if not done carefully which will oxidize your beer.

You will also be wanting to transfer your beer to a bottling bucket so you don't end up dumping excess sludge into your bottles at bottling time.

my two cents worth..... go for an auto siphon as it's relatively cheap and extraordinarily helpful!

Kunkemonster said:

If I have a plastic fermenter with spigot do I need an autosiphon?

Click to expand...

See my post further up.

Ideally a siphon makes getting your wort to the fermenter without transferring much of your trub easier. Trust me... As cheap as they are you won't regret purchasing one.

And if you ever want to transfer your beer to a secondary it's a necessity.

Also it is something you should be able to find locally in S Korea. Brewing isn't the only thing auto siphons are used for.

if you're in tight quarters, a 10-gallon brew kettle might be a bit much...you can get by with a 5-gallon one just fine for what you'll likely be doing.

Bottle filler... works great

Kunkemonster said:

I was going to wait on the hydrometer as I will only be making premixed kits to start.

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A hydrometer would still be a good idea, but not 100% necessary. You will have to be extra sure you are done with fermentation before bottling is all, but like you said, you are using premixed kits so that would help. Unlike higher gravity beers.

How are you planning to heat your water? Small apartment + 10 gal pot could equal forever and a day to get it hot, assuming you are planning on doing full boils. If you are planning on using your stove, I would recomend a smaller pot, but hang on to the big one for when you get back stateside and expand. If you have something along the lines of a turkey fryer burner, then nevermind.

I will be doing partial boils to start and working my way up to full 5 gallon boils. I was going for a 10 gallon pot when I decide to move into AG.

A 10gal pot should be OK for a 5gal BIAB batch.