A couple of questions

1. What is this: Wichita Falls Texas Home Brew Supply - Beer Brewing Equipment and Ingredients

2. I'm a total newb. What do I need to make some beer? I was told spend $100 on this from my local hombrew company. http://homebrewhq.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=1064

Is it missing anything? Do I get anything that is cheap, going to break or won't be usable when I advance in the hobby? I hate finding out later I should of done this or that.

Your first link is a tri-level "sculpture," for all-grain brewing. It's stacked like that to allow the use of gravity for transfering water and wort.

Of course you'll need a large pot to boil your wort in, empty bottles, cleaning supplies (Oxiclean!) and some sort of sanitizer. What you DON'T need with that kit is the carboy brush, in fact it will damage the Better Bottle and should not be used with it.

This is a pretty basic kit, most of us end up with a WHOLE LOT more equipment!

+1^^ the kit doesn't include a hydrometer, or a basic thermometer I would visit some other sites like austin home brew or midwest brewing.

Yep, you don't want to risk scratching the inside with that brush. i've seen better deals on more inclusive kits though.. If you can amass your own "kit" you may save some money, just use the kit list plus items above as a shopping list. I've also scored big off of Craigslist from people leaving the hobby (gasp! i can't even fathom!) Just be sure also that your buckets didn't hold chemicals at one point in their life and i heard pickle buckets are terrible as well. If you are really wondering if brewing is for you, I got my start with the $30 mr. beer kit. comes with everything to make about a case, including bottles. If you stick with it then you'll outgrow that kit after two batches, but it gives you a good idea of how the process works and makes good-ish beer.

Home Brewing Equipment Kit with Brew Beer Making DVD - eBay (item 350216758129 end time Aug-21-09 09:29:14 PDT)

Better kit, better price.

JebCkr said:

Home Brewing Equipment Kit with Brew Beer Making DVD - eBay (item 350216758129 end time Aug-21-09 09:29:14 PDT)

Better kit, better price.

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Where do I get the spaghetti pot and what kind of bottles do you need? I know you don't use twist offs, but are Heineken ok? Can you get a Heinken recipe too? Does it really taste similar?

You'll want to stick with Brown Glass, not Green as used with Heinekin. You can find clones for everything, just be aware, the American style light lagers are going to be some of the hardest beers to successfully reproduce. The light color and "light" flavor, leave little room for error. Not to emntion extra equipment to lager.

You'll find a lot of your questions can be answered here.

IrregularPulse said:

You'll want to stick with Brown Glass, not Green as used with Heinekin. You can find clones for everything, just be aware, the American style light lagers are going to be some of the hardest beers to successfully reproduce. The light color and "light" flavor, leave little room for error. Not to emntion extra equipment to lager.

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So what are some ideas for a first recipe? I was just throwing something out there that I like when I mentioned Heineken. I like Newcastle Brown Ale, Rolling Rock, Stella Artois, any Hefeweizen, etc.

Check out the recipes section on this site - there are a ton of great clones and original recipes there. Lots of them are extract recipes, but if you see an all grain recipe that looks good to you, google "converting all grain to extract" and you should be fine. Or post a question about converting here and someone will likely help you out. If your local homebrew store is any good, they can give you some direction, too - many have their own recipes.

Also, do some more searching around the HBT forums - you'll find that almost any question you might have has probably been answered before!

Good luck and enjoy!

Palefire said:

Check out the recipes section on this site - there are a ton of great clones and original recipes there. Lots of them are extract recipes, but if you see an all grain recipe that looks good to you, google "converting all grain to extract" and you should be fine. Or post a question about converting here and someone will likely help you out. If your local homebrew store is any good, they can give you some direction, too - many have their own recipes.

Also, do some more searching around the HBT forums - you'll find that almost any question you might have has probably been answered before!

Good luck and enjoy!

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I don't know a thing about brewing, but everyone knows that there are better recipes for things like cakes and other food. What is one of your favorites? I don't want to drink anything that tastes like that black death beer or something nastly like steel reserve? I forgot who makes it.

I made the Hank's Hefeweizen (from Midwest) for my first brew and it came out great. It's especially good during these summer months.
I also bought my starter kit from Midwest (got it through Ebay and saved a few bucks).

truckinusa said:

I like Newcastle Brown Ale, Rolling Rock, Stella Artois, any Hefeweizen, etc.

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Of those choices, I'd try a hefe. Easy and fast to brew, strong flavor, and intended to be consumed young. So if it's a style you like, it's a perfect first batch.

You can also just buy a kit from austinhomebrew or midwest - I haven't personally done that, but lots and lots of people seem to have had much success. Just go to one of those sites, read the descriptions of the recipes, and order one that sounds good to you. Those recipes are pretty well-designed to produce excellent beer.

Oh, and I doubt anyone here would direct you to a recipe that made something that tasted like Steel Reserve!

So is there any reason to just go straight to kegging instead? Am I going to grow tired of bottling if I just do this now and then? I don't drink beer every week or day, but maybe I would if I had a few waiting on me in the fridge.