Must have accessories

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epistrummer

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I've got the basic beer making kit and plan to brew frequently, so now I want to know from the experienced guys, what are the best must-have accessories for homebrewing?
 
A wort chiller. Seriously I wish I had gotten one earlier back when I began brewing. Getting the temp from boiling to pitching in 15 to 20 minutes instead of an hour or two was really nice.

If you're not doing a full boil it isn't as important, so then I'd reccomend a larger brew pot so you can do full boils!

Also, if you don't have an area that stays cool for your fermentation you'll want to work something out for that. Cheapest way to do that is a swamp cooler. Search swamp cooler on this site and you'll find some great instructions on this cheap way to keep your fermentation temps down.
 
Is the swamp cooler intended for brewing lagers? if so, I am not doing any lagers yet...if you think I should use a swamp cooler for ales, I have a spare bedroom that stays 65-68 year round that I can use.

Also, I am ordering a wort chiller today. I'll need it for my next batch.
 
68 isn't cool enough for ambient temperature. Fermentation can easily make the temps in the fermenter raise by 10 degrees (though I had one shoot up to 78 degrees in a 63 degree room). Some strains are more forgiving of this, but if you are using a British style strain it will turn out darn nasty lol.

Do you have an ice chest that will accommodate a carboy? You can just use this, and fill it with water around the carboy. This will go a long ways toward controlling ferm temps.
 
#1 hydrometer or refractometer to determine final gravity has been reached.
#2 fermentation temperature control
#3 Stir plate: at least make starters when using liquid yeast and pitch proper amounts
#4 Turkey fryer or some other method with a large pot (at least 30qts.) to do full boils. Preferably somewhere other than the stove.

There is plenty of other stuff you will want as you progress.
 
68 isn't cool enough for ambient temperature. Fermentation can easily make the temps in the fermenter raise by 10 degrees (though I had one shoot up to 78 degrees in a 63 degree room). Some strains are more forgiving of this, but if you are using a British style strain it will turn out darn nasty lol.

Do you have an ice chest that will accommodate a carboy? You can just use this, and fill it with water around the carboy. This will go a long ways toward controlling ferm temps.

I lowered the temp in that room down to 63. hope that works until I decide on a more reliable method.
 
I lowered the temp in that room down to 63. hope that works until I decide on a more reliable method.

If you can put it in a relatively large volume of water in that room you will have pretty good control. The water helps draw the heat away and also buffers the temperature changes in the room very nicely.

Your ale will ferment very well in the mid 60's
 
Going to disagree with the "chiller as #1" folks.

When I was doing partial boils, I would pull all the water bottles out of the recycling (about 10-15 bottles) the night before I brewed, filled them with water, and stuck them in the freezer. Adding these to 3 gallons of water in a big bucket, I was able to chill the wort in minimal time. Not as fast a wort chiller, but not slowly enough to necessitate a wort chiller. IMO, you don't need a chiller until you're doing full boils. Which means a chiller is behind both an 8+ gallon pot and a kerosene burner (if you don't already have full boil capability).
 
TarVolon said:
a chiller is behind both an 8+ gallon pot and a kerosene burner (if you don't already have full boil capability).

Agreed. I've never even thought of trying to brew on the stovetop so that didn't occur to me immediately. Getting out of the kitchen is #1.
 
I won't mind brewing in the kitchen for my first couple batches but I agree I need to get setup for brewing outside. I saw a wort chiller in action before so I know I want one as well, no reason to wait hours before I can pitch yeast.
 
I won't mind brewing in the kitchen for my first couple batches but I agree I need to get setup for brewing outside. I saw a wort chiller in action before so I know I want one as well, no reason to wait hours before I can pitch yeast.

If you're using extract and doing partial boils, you should have no issues brewing in the kitchen. If/when you switch to all grain is when you'll need an outside setup. Before that, you should be able to cool wort in a half hour just with an ice bath. Afterwards, the same ice bath will take 60-80 minutes. . . that's when you lose lots of time.
 
#1: Any large SS kettle that is large enough for full batch boils (depends on what size of batches you brew) AND an effecient way of boiling (large enough stove or propane stove for outdoors).
#2: Hydrometer/refractometer (pretty much a necessity)
#3: Bottling bucket. If you plan on bottling, a bottling bucket with a spigot is soooo handy to have (I have just recently learned this myself).
 
I will have to agree that a chiller is very important to have. Depending on your batch size and how you are going to brew, will depend on which chiller method will suit your needs better.
 
#2: Hydrometer/refractometer (pretty much a necessity)
#3: Bottling bucket. If you plan on bottling, a bottling bucket with a spigot is soooo handy to have (I have just recently learned this myself).

Yeah, I assumed these things would be in the kit, but if you don't have them, GET THEM
 
I used to swear by my Auto siphon until it started to fail to hold a siphon. There is a thread on this forum that describes how to make your own easy siphon with a hose barb tee. I tried it and works great.

one more "accessory" to have: STAR-SAN!!!

The greatest tool a homebrewer can have is a place like this forum whose members are always helpful and have been "around the block" a few times to point you in the right direction.
 
I'd recommend starting with a fermentation freezer and temperature controller. If you later decide to brew lagers, you may need two, and if you brew a lot of lagers, you may need three. In my case, my single freezer improved the quality of my beers more than any other single item.
Next thing would be to step up to full boils. You will need a kettle about 5g bigger than the largest batch you want to brew. You will also probably need a propane burner, and a wort chiller. The propane burner will mean brewing outside, and I don't know how well that would work out in Montana in the winter.
Then you could consider going all grain. It takes longer, but can save a bunch of money per brew once you have the equipment. You will need a MLT (and possibly a HLT), and I would get a grain mill ASAP as buying in bulk saves a great deal of cash.
Then. of course, you may want to consider kegging. I brew lots of English bitters, and the bottled versions just aren't the same, besides which, I love the time saving.

-a.
 
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