Hi everyone!
My wife got me a $50 brew-at-home kit from a local cranberry festival (It's a Cranberry cream ale) cheap little kit... plastic carboy, basic ingredients, you know how it goes.
Anyway, I just bottled yesterday, will be chilling it tomorrow. While bottling, I took a sip and other than it being flat & warm, it actually wasn't too bad! I was impressed considering the quality of the kit. It's not going to win any medals, but I was impressed nonetheless.
I really enjoyed making it, and I think I may want to step it up to an official hobby. Now, being a woodworker, a welder, and a filmmaker, I know *full well* that you need halfway decent equipment if you want a halfway decent result.
Since I'm just starting out, I don't want to invest thousands, but I'm willing to throw down a couple of hundred to get going. I talked to the wife and she agreed to let me allocate my old workshop (which I relocated to the garage) in the basement and turn it into a little brewery, which is good! For those of you married, you know how it goes... Happy wife, happy life.
Anyway, I started looking for starter kits on various websites, including Amazon, and was instantly overwhelmed. I don't have a clue what to get!! So here I am, doing what I should be doing, asking the experts.
From what I've gleaned so far, I'm definitely going to want a glass carboy, a decent kettle, an electric boiler for the kettle, and a wort chiller. Blowover was a problem for me in my first batch (and it made a hell of a mess on the kitchen counter) so I was thinking about using clear plastic tubing from Home Depot and an airlock system to avoid that problem in the future.
So my questions to you (and I'm sure you get this a lot) are as follows:
1. Are there any GOOD starter kits out there, or would I be better off buying individual components?
2. What additional items are recommended?
3. Should I invest in a brewer's cleaning agent, or is hot water & vinegar good enough to clean everything?
4. Any other recommendations to get up and running??
I appreciate your responses in advance, and I'm glad to meet all of you! Thanks!
~Brian
My wife got me a $50 brew-at-home kit from a local cranberry festival (It's a Cranberry cream ale) cheap little kit... plastic carboy, basic ingredients, you know how it goes.
Anyway, I just bottled yesterday, will be chilling it tomorrow. While bottling, I took a sip and other than it being flat & warm, it actually wasn't too bad! I was impressed considering the quality of the kit. It's not going to win any medals, but I was impressed nonetheless.
I really enjoyed making it, and I think I may want to step it up to an official hobby. Now, being a woodworker, a welder, and a filmmaker, I know *full well* that you need halfway decent equipment if you want a halfway decent result.
Since I'm just starting out, I don't want to invest thousands, but I'm willing to throw down a couple of hundred to get going. I talked to the wife and she agreed to let me allocate my old workshop (which I relocated to the garage) in the basement and turn it into a little brewery, which is good! For those of you married, you know how it goes... Happy wife, happy life.
Anyway, I started looking for starter kits on various websites, including Amazon, and was instantly overwhelmed. I don't have a clue what to get!! So here I am, doing what I should be doing, asking the experts.
From what I've gleaned so far, I'm definitely going to want a glass carboy, a decent kettle, an electric boiler for the kettle, and a wort chiller. Blowover was a problem for me in my first batch (and it made a hell of a mess on the kitchen counter) so I was thinking about using clear plastic tubing from Home Depot and an airlock system to avoid that problem in the future.
So my questions to you (and I'm sure you get this a lot) are as follows:
1. Are there any GOOD starter kits out there, or would I be better off buying individual components?
2. What additional items are recommended?
3. Should I invest in a brewer's cleaning agent, or is hot water & vinegar good enough to clean everything?
4. Any other recommendations to get up and running??
I appreciate your responses in advance, and I'm glad to meet all of you! Thanks!
~Brian