Purchasing a starter kit

I have yet to begin this journey! Does anyone have any recommendations on purchasing a beginner's brew kit? Where and how much should it cost? What different items should I look for beyond the carboy, brush, spoon, fermenter w/ lid, etc.

Also I'm not sure that my kitchen stove will be able to boil the wort, should I invest into a propane burner?

How about any books, or DVD's (I'm not much of a reader).

Happy that I have found this place, and I look forward to posting my progress!

Thanks,
Tom
:fro:

Welcome, I'm on batch 3 and 4, concurrently. My equipment kit came from Midwest. Good prices, even with shipping--check their website. Comes with a decent (not fantabulous) in-house produced instructional DVD. Beyond the basic equipment kit, I also bought an autosiphon ($11) and Star San, 2 cases of bottles ($12 / case). I already owned a 5 gal stainless steel pot (ironically enough I opposed my wife buying this years ago)

I have bought some other equipment since then, and find myself wanting more and more. This is addiciting. X-mas gifts will likely be gift certificates to Midwest, Austin Home Brew or Northern Brewer.

I like the Palmer book, "How to Brew". The 2nd ed. is available online (free) at
How to Brew - By John Palmer

Good luck!

Primary: Holiday Ale
Primary: Edwort's Apfelwein

Depending on what you get it can range from $75-$300. At minimum you'll need a fermenter, hydrometer and bottling equipment. Be sure to take into account whether it comes with an ingredient kit, they can run $25-$40. A secondary is nice, but not necessary. Austin homeberew, Northern brewer and midwest brewing supplies are good retailers to look into.

Your kitchen stove should be fine, you probably won't be boiling the entire volume at once so you don't need THAT much heat. Some electric cooktops are a bit weak, or thermostat controlled (which can hurt you with large boils) but you should be fine at least initially.

How to Brew is the best starting point, great read.

Is there a concise list of everything needed to get started brewing?

Like I know I need:

Airlock
Carboys (6.5 and 5 gallon)
Siphon
Hydrometer
Bottles (capper, caps, etc).

and the various grains/extracts/malts/whatever to support the method you're planning on using. What else?

Thanks for the great tips!

It looks like all the kits are the same for the most part. A few dollars here and there. I'm going to check out a local brew shop, to build good faith with my future ingredient providers.

That online book is awesome!

I'm on my first batch.
Purchased a kit from Midwest. Got the Starter kit with the Better Bottle.
Things I added was a wine/beer thief, long stir spoon, StarSan......think that was it.

I did a test boil on my flat top stove.....2.5 hours of waiting.....no boil on 2.5 or 3 gal.
So, I picked up a propane burner, worked great.

Oh, I also picked up a cheap-o 5 gal bucket from the local hardware store to use for the sanitizer.


Only thing that was a bit tricky was the cooling of the wort.........but I have some better ideas on what to do next time. I'm going to have my top off water nice and cold to use it too help cool when mixed.

Schoffleine said:

Is there a concise list of everything needed to get started brewing?

Like I know I need:

Airlock
Carboys (6.5 and 5 gallon)
Siphon
Hydrometer
Bottles (capper, caps, etc).

and the various grains/extracts/malts/whatever to support the method you're planning on using. What else?

Click to expand...

Cleaner--I use Oxyclean free or Powdered Brewery Wash. Midwest's kit comes with some cleaner I've never used
Sanitizer (Star San for me; iodophor, bleach?)
Bottle filler
Thermometer
Bottling bucket

well, i'm onto my 5th brew so i can still remember these purchasing questions... fwiw i ended up pricing a kit out at my local homebrew shop and i brew on an electric stovetop with good results

for the basic 1 brew on the cheap bare minimum (to see if you like it), i would recommend having on hand...

1. 1x 6.5 gallon or greater plastic fermenter with lid!
2. 1x airlock (i like the 3 piece airlock, you can actually clean it)
3. 1x bottle capper
4. 24x 22oz bottles (or ~48 12oz bottles)
5. a brewing kit like brewer's best...
6. thermometer (be sure it can read down in the 70-80 F
7. a big pot, a least 2 gallons
8. some iodophor or star san sanitizer!
9. tubing (for siphoning)

thermometer (5-10 bucks at local walmart/target)
plastic fermenter + lid (20 bucks)
airlock (1-2 bucks)
bottlecapper (15 bucks retail, i think)
brewer's best kit (~40 bucks depending on variety/brand)
iodophor (small one is 4-5 bucks)
tubing (3-4 bucks)

scrounge some bottles and assuming you have a big pasta pot, you're ready to rumble!

so that bare minimum runs you ~100 bucks including a brewer's best ingredient kit, not bad.

i'm finding out that more and more people do only a primary fermentation for 2-3 weeks then straight to bottle. i've since adopted this practice but i did buy a secondary better bottle carboy. instead of having it empty all the time, it is now a dedicated apfelwein maker

i'd say, get the minimum equipment and spend the extra dough on the brew ingredients. that way you'll find out what equipment you'd like to have along the way.

if you're committed to the hobby, i'd suggest adding an auto siphon and a thief. another item that everyone says is indispensable is a wort chiller. i'll let you know how indispensable that is once i get mine in 5 days

enjoy!

Since this is a beginner thread, and a basic question, I'm gonna pose it here instead of starting a new thread.

I read Dave Miller's homebrewing guide : everything you need to know to make great-tasting beer, I felt it was too advanced for me so I briefly skimmed it and focused in on the beginner parts. I'm gonna check out Palmer's book next.

What is the best method for filtering? I haven't seen it discussed on here and can't seem to find an answer. Obviously, I'm just not looking in the right places. Do many of you filter? I do not like a bottom layer of yeast, am I just being anal about it?

The yeast on the bottom of your bottle is normal for any bottle conditioned beer. Adding priming sugar when you bottle gives the yeasties the food they need to carbonate the beer. The side effect is you get more yeast in the bottle (which eventually settle out to the bottom).
I've heard of folks with kegging systems force carbonating their beer in a keg and then dispensing it to bottles and capping. I believe BierMuncher posted a how-to on this. (I'm too lazy/druck to go looking right now) Somebody who has done it can step in and correct me, but I believe you could run your beer through filters before the force carbing to get a beer with no sediment in the bottle. I don't know if it's really worth it though. I've made some nice clear beers without all that bother. The sediment will stay in the bottle if you're careful about your pour.

Terje

Another tip I would add is that when you mix up your sanitizer for your brew day get an empty spray bottle and pour some in there. Having a spray bottle of sanitizer has come in handy for me quite a few times, especially when I have to stir the beer or take a sample.

I just grab my utensil, spray it down with a no-rinse sanitizer and away I go.

For force carbonating I would recommend looking into the Tap A Draft system - it's only around $50 and works with two 10 gram C02 cartridges that you can use to force carbonate and dispense beer with.

I haven't actually used it myself yet but I am looking at picking one up after the holidays are over.

Auto siphons are incredibly useful but if you don't have one you can get by with clamping one end of the hose and filling the hose with water. Just run this water out into a cup and when beer begins to flow pinch off the tube and move to where you want the beer to go.

A Spray Bottle Filled With Water!!!!!!!!!!!

You'll find this often overlooked piece of equipment a reall life saver in avoiding boil overs. AND BOIL OVERS ARE NASTY

got my first kit from William's and it came with a book, dvd, choice of one style beer, hydrometer and beaker thing, capper, caps, spoon, bottle brush, fermenter, priming bucket, airlocks. i think thats pretty much it. im happy with it but ive since bought an extra fermenter more caps and about 4 cases of bottles.....oh and a wort chiller.....oh and a brewpot.....and a fermentation chiller chamber.....lol it keeps getting longer.

adamd said:

What is the best method for filtering?

I do not like a bottom layer of yeast, am I just being anal about it?

Click to expand...

The best method of "filtering" is to let the yeast settle and pour carefully.

Yes. If it's a huge issue for you, retailers are standing by to take your money, and it will be a fairly big chunk, as you'll need a keg system for force carbing as well as whatever filter you settle on. Wine stuff is more prone to having filters at the home scale than beer, so you might look there at the online shops.