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timg12

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Hi all!

Glad to join this forum, looks like a great resource!

I must admit that for most of my life I've been rather indifferent to beer. It wasn't until a trip to Oktoberfest that sparked a real passion for beer and now I want to make my own!

With that said, I've been researching beginner kits for a little while now and have been overwhelmed by all the options available to me and I need some guidance. I don't mind spending the extra buck for a quality kit that will have absolutely everything I will need. Also I've been reading a lot of negative things about bottling and am wondering whether you would recommend for me to just start off with a kegging kit?

Any pointers and suggestions in buying equipment from scratch are greatly appreciated.

Thank you and happy brewing!
 
Welcome to the site you will learn a lot and have a lot of fun. Invest in quality kit but remember there is some stuff you just wont use much. I bottled for about a year then my wife got tired of me making a mess in the kitchen so she bought off on me getting into keggs. Well worth it but it will limit transporting your beer so keep that in mind.
 
There are plenty of kits out there so I won't try to link "THE KIT". My advice is to not be fooled by thinking the price reflects quality... a glass carboy is twice the price of a better bottle which is a little more expensive than an ale pail but what you will find through plenty of reading on here a lot of it is all about preference. Example: the glass vs BB vs pail, one is cool but expensive, one is cool and a little cheaper, one is cheap and a ton easier to use. This is a good read https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/vs-pro-con-analysis-109318/

Other than that, I would also suggest not investing all the money required to get into kegging right away. Bottling might not be the most fun thing but if that is the only reason you want to quit brewing then you might need to work on your patience because this hobby requires a ton of it. Try the hobby out before you get a whole bunch of equipment that you will not make your money back on if you decide this hobby isn't for you.
 
Welcome to the hobby! I must say it's very addictive. I've only done 2 batches and I was hooked after the first one...
I just bottled my first batch and it wasn't that bad. I'll probably get into kegs at some point but for now it's bottles. Plus you can take bottles with you! Kegs are kind of hard to cart around.
I didn't buy a kit. I just saved and bought each piece a couple parts at a time from my LBS and else where. I'm still getting bits and pieces that I need but nothing that'll stop me from brewing and bottling.
Have fun!
 
I started at the beginning of the year with Mr. Beer kits, moved onto extracts from my LHBS, picked up kegging equipment a few weeks ago, and have been gearing up to do some all-grain batches.
It's an attractive hobby.

If you'd like to be able to put your own beers on tap in your house, and you have the space/funds for it, I'd definitely recommend going straight to kegging. Bottling is one of the most time consuming tasks, and allows for the least creativity in my mind (fancy labels excepted)
Though if you want to stash a few bottles aside from each batch, you can always bottle a sixer or more and put the rest in the keg. Hell, the keg won't even care if you're a bit short of the 5 gallon mark, but you can always up your batch size a little more to plan for the bottles.
 
I would bottle. My buddy just got a 2.5 gallon corny and after comparing bottles to keg on the same batch, he only kegs his "house" beer. Anything high gravity or more speciality he bottles all of it.
 
welcome timg12, jump in feet first!

It's a great hobby that you can do for a very long time and your friends will like it too! LOL
 
Thank you all for the quick response and great info. I think I'm going to go for kegging after all. As far as kits go, I found this kit:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/home...ts/master-brewers-kit-with-kegging-setup.html

But I have a feeling that I might be able to save a couple of bucks by buying these things separately?

Northern Brewer has a kegging kit with a new keg rather than a used one. Does it really matter?
 
New kegs are pricey- expect to pay $100 on the lowend for any new corny keg, $130 isn't unusual, and the 2.5/3 gallon kegs are nearly the same price as 5 gallons new (so often only a good idea if space is at a premium- like trying to fit one last keg on top of the compressor in your kegerator!)
Used kegs vary widely. Some are positively filthy and require an immense amount of maintenance, others have been well cleaned before you buy them. Then you also have the option for reconditioned, which means a used keg which has had it's tubes, o-rings, and sometimes lid and/or disconnects replaced with all new parts. Often only the body remains original.
Check the descriptions carefully on the kegs before you buy, or ask. If they can't tell you, or at least give you a pretty good idea of what most of their kegs are like, move on. If it's really dirty, don't pay full price. When you can get relatively clean kegs for $40-50, and reconditioned for $60-70, a filthy one really shouldn't run more than about $20, especially since you'll have to buy and replace so many parts yourself.
 
Thank you all for the quick response and great info. I think I'm going to go for kegging after all. As far as kits go, I found this kit:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/home...ts/master-brewers-kit-with-kegging-setup.html

But I have a feeling that I might be able to save a couple of bucks by buying these things separately?

Northern Brewer has a kegging kit with a new keg rather than a used one. Does it really matter?

Only problem I have with that kit are the 2 5 gallon carboys. If you are doing 5 gallon batches these are a pain to use for anything besides a secondary for beer you aren't adding anything too. Given how most view using a secondary for beer you aren't adding anything too as an unneeded risk I see having 2 of them as money that could go to something more useful. Just going from 5 gallon to 6.5 gallon opens them up to easier use as a primary while still being useful as a secondary.

Just my opinion since I am currently using my 5 gallon carboy as a fermenter and having to constantly check on my improvised blowoff setup because of it.
 
I concur. maybe call them and see if they would exchange the two carboys for two 6.5 gallon buckets. They may say no but the answer is always no if you don't ask right? Shoot I bought a kit from Midwest and I told them I needed This that and that so the switched it out and the kit ended up costing less.
 
You still want to have a capper and caps even if you keg. Some beers as well as meads and ciders may take a year or more of conditioning to reach their peak. You may not want them tying up an expensive keg or carboy that long.
 
my total overhead was 250$ got a brew pot(5 gallon stock pot) and a brewers best kit with 2 5gallon buckets and a 5 gallon carboy amongst many accessories. Welcome to the world of home brewing, I too am new to it but once your hooked its like a addiction making beer. Mr beer seems pretty cool for small batches,coopers kits seem like a easy way to make beer as well. you cant go wrong. depends on your price range and whether you want to do all extract,2 or 5 gallon brews partial grain,or all grain. bottle or keg or both? start small or blow the whole load at once? consider what it is you want to make? ales or lagers? Good luck hope to see you post here soon about your first brew!
 
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