Good price for starting out or too much?

Went to a local home brew store today. Trying to get a nice set of essentials for my dad's christmas present.

Here's what I was looking at getting:

Brewer'S Best Deluxe Equipment Kit $140

BB Immersion Wort Chiller $90

20 qt stainless steel kettle $35

(2) 24 12 oz bottle case $15 ea

Recipe kit $30 +

Bottle caps $5

Thanks for all the advice !

The prices seem about average to me. I'd consider looking for a larger kettle if you are planning for 5 gal batches. If your dad gets into this, he'll want to do full boils, and you need at least an 8 gal kettle for that.

Yeah, I think you'll want a bigger kettle, plus that chiller seems way high. I paid around $50 for my SS chiller.

Rick

I paid $80 for my chiller at my local brew store.
$11 /case for bottles
the other prices are about the same.
PS: the pot size all depends on what the future will hold. The 20 qt is plenty if all he wants to brew are the extract partial boil kits.

You can build an immersion chiller much cheaper. Copper tubing, garden hose and hose clamps. Mine works great.

I'd go 40qt/10 gallon for 5 gallon batches. That way you can handle those (maybe) occasional heavy brews. Also, figure a bit more to add weldless fittings. A valve at the bottom of the kettle will come in handy.

Even if you don't buy it for him, a kettle that size will need a burner. You won't be able to do it on the stove for sure.

It's only about $18 more for 2 cases of bottles that are full and you can enjoy emptying them before bottling day.

Thanks guys.. I think I'm just gonna go with this kit from midwest:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-plus-kit.html

Come's with more for less shipped to my door.

Will he need a burner for that kettle? Or should the stove work fine ?

Brew4U said:

Thanks guys.. I think I'm just gonna go with this kit from midwest:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-plus-kit.html

Come's with more for less shipped to my door.

Will he need a burner for that kettle? Or should the stove work fine ?

Click to expand...

It depends on his stove! Mine takes a long time to come to a boil with 7 gallons, but then it boils perfectly. Some people can't boil two gallons of water on their stove. So, see if you can figure out how much water can come to a boil on his stove before investing in a pot (or go ahead and get the burner- which might be a waste if he doesn't take to brewing).

I wouldn't bother with a 5 gallon pot, though, unless you know that he can use it for something else. It's big enough for small batches, or for partial boils, but it's not really big enough for a 5 gallon batch. Yet it's too big for boiling corn and using in the kitchen.

What Yooper said. I can boil 7-8 gallons on my stove no problem. Just depends.


If you're going to stick with a small pot, I'd forget about the chiller for now. You can easily chill with an ice bath in the sink and by adding cold top-up water. But realistically, you won't regret starting with a larger pot. I'm on my 3rd and thinking about upsizing again. If you think there's at least a reasonable chance he'll stick with it, save some money by going at least 8 gal if not 10.

I have to give to opposing view. I bought the 7-1/2 gallon pot and then a 10 gallon pot.
I now am fully into 1 gallon batches and the only pot I use is my 5 gallon.
I have a microwave about my stove, my 2 large pots are too tall and wont fit on my stove.
Before you over buy make sure it is what he will want to use in the future.
Some people do partial boil extract kits and are perfectly happy only going that far into it.