Time to step up from Mr Beer.

What are you folks recommended places to buy gear from? the Mr Beer bits will stay around and finish off the last half dozen mixes I have. But i'd like to get some real gear in time. with 440 coming to me for computer repairs i've got some funds to play with.

I fix PC's on the side for fun money.

I'd comparison shop your local homebrew store if you have one, as well as Brewmasters Warehouse, Austin Homebrew, Midwest Supplies and Northern Brewer.

You'll want, for a reasonably complete brewery:

1 6-gal Better Bottle
1 5-gal Better Bottle
2 medium Universal Carboy Bungs
1 Fermtech Auto-Siphon
5/16" Siphon Hose (5 feet or so)
Thermometers, hydrometer, a funnel, a large enough stockpot, 1-gal jugs for trial batches and yeast starters, three-piece and bubble airlocks
Fermtech Wine Thief
Some 5-gal paint strainer bags (from Home Depot/Lowes)
Oxyclean or PBW for cleaning
StarSan for sanitizing
Whirlfloc, finings, yeast nutrients, gypsum, calcium chloride, maybe some calcium carbonate
Some sort of wort chiller

If you bottle:
1 bottling bucket with spigot
Red Baron bottle capper (or a bench capper)
Vinator/Sulphiter
Bottle Tree
Bottling Wand (springless is better)
I also like the Fermtech bottle washer that sits in the bottom of the sink (it has two nozzles)

If you do partial mashes or all-grain, you'll want to build a mashtun sooner rather than later. Also pick up some 5.2 mash pH stabilizer

If you don't have a spare fridge, converting a picnic cooler into a fermentation chiller is also a good idea.

I have several "favorite" online brew shops but I think the intermediate kit at Midwest Supplies is hard to beat.

Brewing Intermediate Kit w/ Two 5 Gallon Better Bottles :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

No locals.

Ebay and craigslist. Glass fermenters and stainless pots. The rest is hoses and misc stuff you probably already have. Buy some copper make a wort cooler. Use the MrBeer barrels for Apfelwine. Or build a system like JKarp has https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/countertop-brutus-20-a-131411/#post1476569.


-OCD

99% of my brewing stuff came from Craigslist.

You might consider ale pails instead of the carboy's/better bottles as well (basically, they're 6 gallon paint buckets). Everyone else posted pretty complete lists.

boogyman said:

You might consider ale pails instead of the carboy's/better bottles as well (basically, they're 6 gallon paint buckets). Everyone else posted pretty complete lists.

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Or check with a local bakery. I hear tell they may have 6 gallon food-safe buckets that frosting comes in.

Another option is to continue to ferment in Mr. Beer kegs, but with better quality ingredients from an HBS. You can brew a 2 gallon extract batch with DME or LME, hops, good yeast and maybe steeping grains for half the cost of the MB stuff. Not to mention better tasting beer. Brewing in both 2 and 5 gallon batches offers added versatility.

BTW, a good word for the 6 gallon ported BetterBottle--It's a great product.

Thanks folks, I'll look into all of it.

Many others may disagree, and I understand why, but here is my 2 cents. Go AG immediately. If you're the type of person that fixes computers for spare work, I'd imagine you enjoy a good learning curve.

You can build a 10 gallon mash tun for 60 to 80 bucks, a wort chiller can be purchased or built for 50-90, a 32 qt (8 gal.) or more brewpot shouldn't be more than 40 bucks ( I bought my 15 gal one new shipped for 70), beersmith is 21 bucks, and your world will be altered. There are more AG recipes on here than not. You can get the starter fermentation kit for 80-100 bucks and ferment all the same. Here's the biggest (lie) thing about all-grain: If you do it right, you can and will save money. Instead of a 40 dollar extract all grain, you'll spend 20-30(high estimate) tops, per batch.

Just do it. I wish I had.

Baja_Brewer said:

Many others may disagree, and I understand why, but here is my 2 cents. Go AG immediately. If you're the type of person that fixes computers for spare work, I'd imagine you enjoy a good learning curve.

You can build a 10 gallon mash tun for 60 to 80 bucks, a wort chiller can be purchased or built for 50-90, a 32 qt (8 gal.) or more brewpot shouldn't be more than 40 bucks ( I bought my 15 gal one new shipped for 70), beersmith is 21 bucks, and your world will be altered. There are more AG recipes on here than not. You can get the starter fermentation kit for 80-100 bucks and ferment all the same. Here's the biggest (lie) thing about all-grain: If you do it right, you can and will save money. Instead of a 40 dollar extract all grain, you'll spend 20-30(high estimate) tops, per batch.

Just do it. I wish I had.

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"Just Do It"... who are you? Some Nike Salesman? . I'll look into AG as well. Mr. Beer is an extract based brew just a little more done than the traditional Extract.

I've done computers for 20 years now. While i primarly build houses. I do computer work for some folks on the side.

Nurmey said:

I have several "favorite" online brew shops but I think the intermediate kit at Midwest Supplies is hard to beat.

Brewing Intermediate Kit w/ Two 5 Gallon Better Bottles :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

Click to expand...

Wow! That is a really great deal. You could have three batches going at once.

Nova5 said:

"Just Do It"... who are you? Some Nike Salesman? . I'll look into AG as well. Mr. Beer is an extract based brew just a little more done than the traditional Extract.

I've done computers for 20 years now. While i primarly build houses. I do computer work for some folks on the side.

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Ha no but it would be great if they gave me a bunch of their gear for free!

It seems you have a fundamental understanding of brewing, and all grain is not as huge of a Challenge as ppl make it out to be... If you know any AG brewers try and sit in on one of their brew sessions, it's a bit of a lengthier process but the control and results it gives you is very worth it.

Nova5 said:

What are you folks recommended places to buy gear from? the Mr Beer bits will stay around and finish off the last half dozen mixes I have. But i'd like to get some real gear in time. with 440 coming to me for computer repairs i've got some funds to play with.

I fix PC's on the side for fun money.

Click to expand...

I am in the same situation.....


I started with a Mr Beer kit this Father's Day, as it was given to me as a gift. I was actually not really wanting that, as I wanted the kits that came with the buckets. I have made 2 kits so far with Mr Beer, and they both came out good.

I was able to get a couple of buckets, drilled holes in the top for an airlock, and the side, for a spigot, and will not go with 5 gallon batches. Unfortunately, those Mr Beer kits go fast at only 2 gallons!

Anyway, if you have a local home brew store, check there for supplies and prices. If not, I would check into Midwest, as they have good prices on equipment!