Getting something for husband

I have no cule on what to get, what he would need, or anything. I'm lost he loves beer and is intrested in homebrewing but we just havent had the $$. Now that we do have the $$ i want to get him a kit i know that there are other costs. I would like to know how much it would be total to start as well as long term for him to make beer regularly also i dont know what kind of beer to get him he likes Flat tire, Alaskan amber,Red stripe very dark beers. where can i get dark beer at any ideas on beers he might like?TIA

Kara

I started brewing last year with the Coopers kit from makebeer.net I quickly outgrew the kit but it was a good quick education and a pretty much no fail drinkable beer. $100 or so .

The good thing is that the fermenter is a pretty useful piece of equipment and I now use it as a backup when I want to do two beers at once. You could source most of the kit separately and save a few dollars if you had the time and knowledge.

Hard to say how much more money will be poured into the hobby.

Do you have any local homebrewing stores? They would be able to help you with a lot of the information. Your best bet is to start with a basic kit (Most places sell them with supplies for your first beer) and then he can grow into more equipment/supplies as needed.

My SWMB... err... My wife purchased a starter kit for me a couple years ago and it's one of the best gifts I ever received.


There are also several places online that sell starter kits.

Starter kits are great, but If I could do it over again I would get the following...

10 Gallon Stock Pot, Stainless Steel or Aluminum(less expensive)
Propane Burner & Tank
Hydrometer
Floating Thermometer
Big metal Spoon
2-6.5 Gallon fermenter buckets with lids & Airlocks
5 Gal bottling bucket
Bottle Filler
Racking Cane
Auto Siphon
Tubing for Siphoning
Iodophor or Starsan
Bottles & Caps
Bottle Capper
Small Scale
Immersion Chiller

Of course this is using hindsight and knowing that I would be in it for the long haul. This would all cost considerably more than a starter kit, so it may not be exactly practical for someone starting out. Off the top of my head, I figure this would cost around $300-$350. Anyhow, hope that helps a little.

My girlfriend got me a brewer's best kit with 6 gallon glass carboy.
She just walked into a home brew store and asked what I would
need to start brewing at home.

All I needed to purchase was a $8 autosiphon (optional but very useful)
a $10 thermometer, a $1 heat resistant spoon and a $20 brewing kettle
(20 qt aluminum pot)

Certainly one of the best gifts I've ever gotten

I just bought my first kit a few months ago from williamsbrewing.com. It was about $120 shipped with the equipment and ingredients to make 5 gallons. Like a lot of other brewing places, they have various ingredient kits to choose from. Just about the only thing extra you'd need is bottles to bottle the beer when it's done fermenting, and a large brewing pot.

I am thinking that something like this is pretty all inclusive for a new brewer. It seems to have everything and is pretty reasonable for you are getting.
The Brew Hut Ultra Brewing Kit

zman said:

I am thinking that something like this is pretty all inclusive for a new brewer. It seems to have everything and is pretty reasonable for you are getting.
The Brew Hut Ultra Brewing Kit

Click to expand...

Nice setup. As long as you already own a pot that can hold 3+ gallons you'll be able to make some good beer that way.

You could additionally get him a premium membership to this site... I've learned more from here than I could have from 50 books on the subject.

+1 on finding a starter kit.

http://morebeer.com/view_product/15910/102142/Personal_Home_Brewery_#2_-_Deluxe

In addition to the kit, you then really only need a kettle and some bottles (50-55 of them).

Get your kettle (16qt) from WalMar-Target-etc on the cheap.

Start saving your beer bottles for your first batch.

If my wife is the OP -

Brew-Magic by Sabco

Fermenator

Get me this one please!

Home wine making supply and home brew supply available on-line at Midwest Homebrewing Supplies. Search for wine recipes and beer recipes has some great beginner kits and can be as simple or elaborate as you would like. It just depends on what you want to spend. They even have a starter kit that includes a kegging system. They are cheap, have great customer service, and don't rape you on shipping.

GuateBrewer said:

If my wife is the OP -

Brew-Magic by Sabco

Fermenator

Get me this one please!

Click to expand...

That's quite a starter kit

Sorry to go against some of the other posters here, but i would not start at a local homebrew store. Some are great, some are terrible, if you don't know anything about the subject, then you will not recognize bad advice if you are in a bad store.

I would suggest buying a starter kit online, and taking guidance from this forum. We are not trying to sell you stuff (Unless we are noted as vendors) like a store is.

When hubby has more knowledge of brewing, then he will be able to judge the quality of his local homebrew store for himself.....And if it is a good one, hopefully support it

A good place, IMO to buy a starter kit online is midwest supplies