Recommendations - Best Comprehensive Equipment Kit

So I have dabbled in brewing in the past with friends and Mr. Beer etc. and have spent the last few months reading, researching, and planning. Now I am inclined to jump in with both feet. When it comes to buying gear I tend to be one of those people that like to do things the right way the first time rather then upgrading something in the near future.

Therefore I am looking for recommendations on comprehensive equipment kit, if the kit comes with a kettle I am looking for minimum of 8 gal + immersion chiller so I can jump straight into full boils. Will stick with extract and mini-mash as first though.

I have been leaning towards the morebeer.com deluxe kit but am open to suggestions.

I am also inclined to buy supplies in bulk so any suggestions on hops and mini-mash grains would certainly be appreciated as well. I already know I will lily get 50 lb bag of light DME.


Thanks in advance

It is not an easy question to answer without more details:

* do you plan on brewing 10gallon batches ?
* you say you want to purchase the right things now, but as you may have seen on the forum, some peolpe keep it simple with BIAB, or a simple bucket/carboy as fermenter. Some other people go way further with a brew sculpture, a conical fermenter, etc.
A $15 bucket and a pot will make beer. A blinchmann pot and a conical will also make beer.
* Do you want to bottle or keg ?

Anyway, some good starter kits are available from most suppliers. For gears like that, I tend to prefer midwest supplies.

Have fun purchasing your first kit!

Tom_FL said:

So I have dabbled in brewing in the past with friends and Mr. Beer etc. and have spent the last few months reading, researching, and planning. Now I am inclined to jump in with both feet. When it comes to buying gear I tend to be one of those people that like to do things the right way the first time rather then upgrading something in the near future.

Therefore I am looking for recommendations on comprehensive equipment kit, if the kit comes with a kettle I am looking for minimum of 8 gal + immersion chiller so I can jump straight into full boils. Will stick with extract and mini-mash as first though.

I have been leaning towards the morebeer.com deluxe kit but am open to suggestions.

I am also inclined to buy supplies in bulk so any suggestions on hops and mini-mash grains would certainly be appreciated as well. I already know I will lily get 50 lb bag of light DME.


Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

"I don't like to upgrade things."

Well...I suggest you find a different hobby, then.

the morebeer kits look very well though out. I assume the fermenter is a 6 gallon better bottle. Morebeer is a very good company.

You can buy hops in bulk on the internet. I get them by the pound from hops direct. I'd suggest you invest in a food saver to package the hops and keep them fresh.

More beer has amazing prices on LME. Basically they give you the bulk price for any quantity over 5 lbs.

Buy your yeast. steeping grains and other stuff locally. It's good to support the LHBS and the yeast does not ship well.

If it were me doing it again I would get the more beer kit with a keg. One thing you will find is equipment and process are subject to individual preferences which you will develop as you get more into brewing. But I don't see anything in the morebeer kit that wont be useful, even in a 10gal all grain setup.

Oh and buy local when possible, the lhbs is your best friend in brewing keep them afloat.

mperceau said:

It is not an easy question to answer without more details:

* do you plan on brewing 10gallon batches ?
* you say you want to purchase the right things now, but as you may have seen on the forum, some peolpe keep it simple with BIAB, or a simple bucket/carboy as fermenter. Some other people go way further with a brew sculpture, a conical fermenter, etc.
A $15 bucket and a pot will make beer. A blinchmann pot and a conical will also make beer.
* Do you want to bottle or keg ?

Anyway, some good starter kits are available from most suppliers. For gears like that, I tend to prefer midwest supplies.

Have fun purchasing your first kit!

Click to expand...

Thanks. I am not thinking 10 gal batches right now but it if the right kettle came along I could be convinced. At this point I am planning to start with bottling as I like to have multiple beers available to choose from but could see transition to bottle/keg mix in the future. For fermentation I will likely start with bucket carboy route.

I know I will upgrade overtime but want to make sure I don't go our and spend $40 buckets now when spending a little bit more would have gotten something that would be more useful.

Thanks to all for the input.

Thanks for the input. I am generally looking for the type of gear in that morebeer kit and was just wondering if anyone else had come across a gear kit they felt was really good. Most seem pretty much the same. This one stood out to me b/c it came with a large kettle and the immersion chiller.

If you don't want to be upgrading your pot in a year, then I suggest a 15G pot. If you ever want to do a 10G batch you can, if you ever want to go all grain (10G batch) you can. Which pot and which set up depends on your budget. I like Megapot (BK) and blichmann (MT) a lot.

As for the rest, I prefer glass 6.5G fermenters for 5g batches of beer (usually no need for blow off hose). you will want the largest sized auto-siphon as well.

IC is a great addition. However you can build a 50 1/2 inch IC for about $90 that will cool down a double batch of brew in 12-15 minutes. If you go with the 3/8, then up to double batches... you might find your self wanting to upgrade to 1/2''

CidahMastah said:

If you don't want to be upgrading your pot in a year, then I suggest a 15G pot. If you ever want to do a 10G batch you can, if you ever want to go all grain you can. Which pot and set up depends on your budget.

As for the rest, I prefer glass 6.5G fermenters for 5g batches of beer (usually no need for blow off hose). you will want the largest sized auto-siphon as well.

IC is a great addition. However you can build a 50 1/2 inch IC for about $90 that will cool down a double batch of brew in 12-15 minutes. If you go with the 3/8, then up to double batches... you might find your self wanting to upgrade to 1/2''

Click to expand...

I would only spend big money on a 15 gallon pot if you expect to upgrade to 10 gallon batches rather quickly. Most brewers stick with the standard 5 gallon batches for a while. So I think the morebeer kit makes more sense.

6.5 gallons is a great size for fermenters but I really don't like glass. It's heavy and fragile. I much prefer the plastic better bottles. If only they were slightly larger they would be perfect.

The 1/2" chiller is similar to the 15 gallon pot. Unless your gonna go to 10 gallon batches, the 3/8" will work fine. And with the more beer kit, you can be sure it will fit nicely in the pot. Some of the 50' x 1/2" models may not even fit in an 8 gallon pot.

I'd spend my money on fermentation temp control and stuff to make yeast starters WAY before I went all grain or 10 gallon batches. Fermentation is where great beer is made. Master the ferment and you will be a beer brewing god.:rockin: