Hi everyone!

Great forum here with a lot of good info. My names Kevin and I'm about to order my first home brew kit and start brewing!! I've wanted to get into this for a long time but stuff happens, ya know. I'm going to start with some ales. I would like to utilize a secondary carboy as well as a full boil setup.

I wanted to post the things I will be getting and maybe get some responses as to any additional equipment I might need. Any info to help get me started will be greatly appreciated.

Here we go.

-Deluxe brewing starter kit from northern brewer. - http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/deluxe-brewing-starter-kit.html

-Hydrometer.

-A couple different size steeping bags.

-32oz star san

-Aerator nozzle (to siphon into primary carboy)

-24" plastic spoon

-8 gal kettle

Also a total of 3 brewing kits. And I have been collecting empty bottles and cleaning them regularly.

P.S. I will be getting the duel glass carboys.

Thanks for reading and hope to hear back from you soon.

Take care,
Kevin.

Welcome to the site Kevin, looks like you're well on your way. The threads and wiki here have tons of useful information.

As to general observations, I'd say if you're doing a full 5 gal boil make sure that your kettle will comfortably hold at least 6.5 to 7 gallons, since that's how much liquid you'll need in the kettle in order to get 5 gallons into the fermenter. Typically you'll want at least an 8 gal. kettle to do full-size boils.

If you have any specific questions, search the threads and if you can't find what you're looking for, just ask. There are dozens of very experienced brewers here who can help.

Cheers!

Thanks a lot, I appreciate the info. I'm going to see what I can do with the 8 gal kettle. I'll boil what I can and if I'm not happy with my first results I'll make some changes as needed. I'm hopping I am making the right choice in equipment to start out. I have been reading non stop for weeks and read John Palmer's book and learned a lot, but I guess with this stuff your always learning.

I'm ordering tomorrow!!! Hope to be drinking my first brew in 6 weeks with another brew in the secondary and a fresh brew in the primary!!

That's the right way to do it. Always keep a couple in the pipeline, so you don't find yourself with your back to the wall and no homebrew to drink. That's the worst! If you need any help prior to or on brewday, send up a signal flare!

Welcome!

Welcome to HBT. Looking forward to hearing about your beer brewing adventures!

Cheers!

Dan

Thanks guys, I got my first of 4 packages yesterday. My 8 gal kettle that I got for $29 shipped!! Best deal I could find. I did a couple tests so far. Yesterday I wanted to see what my electric glass cooktop stove could do. I've heard bad stories about these but the test went well.

It boiled 5 gal easy. I kept it going for an hour and measured how much came out. It was 4 gal. 2nd test was today. I filled it with 6 and 1/2gal and it boiled it perfect and left me with just about 5 gal.

In addition to the equipment I posted up top, I ordered more bottle caps a better thermometer and a immersion style wort chiller. I was going to make my own being that I'm pretty handy but I found one for $39 so I just ordered it rather then waiting my time making one.

I use a glass cooktop also. I've never did a boil off test though. Hmmm....

Are u doing partial boils on it now?. My stove is a whirlpool and it's only like 3 yrs old. I was surprised at what it did.

Yeah just 2.5 gallons for extract then adding the other 2.5gallons in fermentor.

You should try it if you have a pot big enough to hold 5-6 1/2 gal of water. I started with my 5 gal pot and put about 4 1/2 gal in it. Just to see if it would boil and it did in about 20min. So I ordered my 8 gal pot for $29 shipped! Tried 5gal first, then 6 and a half and what do ya know, it boiled...

If you want a cheap pot I can give u the link I found on this site and ordered from.

From everything I've read and I'm sure u have too it's supposed to make a huge difference doing a whole boil. Worth a shot, right?

Is it a stainless steel pot? I have an 8 gallon aluminum but decided I wanted stainless.

It's an aluminum pot. It will heat up and cool down faster then stainless I believe. Give it a shot and see what happens.