My equipment list! What am I missing?

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newbrewguy11

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Ok, finally ordered a bunch of stuff to get going.

Here's what I've got:

1) Starter Kit(Brewing Starter Kit)
• Instructional Homebrewing DVD
• 5 Gallon Glass Carboy
• 6.5 Gallon Plastic Fermenter with Lid
• 6.5 Gallon Bottling Bucket with Spigot
• 8 Oz. of Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser
• Drilled Universal Carboy Bung
• Airlock (Keeps air out of the fermenter)
• Hydrometer (Determines alcohol content)
• Bottle Brush
• Carboy Brush
• Black Beauty Bottle Capper
• Bottle Caps
• Liquid Crystal Thermometer
• Bottle Filler
• Fermtech AutoSiphon upgrade
• Siphon Tubing
• Shutoff clamp

2) Bayou 55 quart stainless kettle (Amazon.com: Bayou Classic 1036, 36-Qt. Stainless Fryer/Steamer with Vented Lid: Patio, Lawn & Garden)

3) 48 amber bottles
(2 x 12 oz Beer Bottles- AMBER- Case of 24)

4) Extra bottle caps

5) Bayou SQ14 (Camping Stove from Bayou Classic | The Home Depot - Model#: SQ14)

I will be ordering a recipe kit soon enough so I know I need that. What else am I missing to make my first brew go smoothly? :mug:

----
Added to my list:
1) Star san

2) Bottle Jet Washer

3) Wort Chiller

4) Blow off assembly

5) Wine thief

6) Test cylinder? Anyone have a link?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Make sure you know about your fermenting situation. If you are doing swamp cooler make sure you have gallon jugs or 2 liter bottles and a large enough container that won't bend with all the water weight.
 
That looks like a solid setup to get started with, its cool enough this time of year most places you wont need to worry about ferm temps for a bit probably.
 
Excellent! Thanks for the responses.

If I were to do a swamp cooler, what's the preferred tub for it? Something from walmart or?
 
some sort of test cylinder (doesn't need to be a graduated cylinder) but you want a long slender sample tube for your hydro samples. Needs to be deep and slender so you do not have to take a large sample for your hydro. On that note maybe a sample thief for less than 10$ would be helpful but that is also unnecessary.
 
DirtyDirty has a point. Find a sanitizer and cleaner you like to use and buy it in bulk. They can be costly but are a must have and run out quickly depending on how much you brew.
 
A chiller unless you are doing No-Chill brewing then just a 5-6gallon HDPE jerrichan
Thanks for the heads up. What's a jerrichan? I searched for jerrichan, but nothing came up? Do you have a link to what this looks like?

I would suggest a sanitizer. Starsan is my favorite. Although, I only used a cleanser on my first brew and it came out fine.
That's a good idea. After your first brew, what did you use for sanitizer?

some sort of test cylinder (doesn't need to be a graduated cylinder) but you want a long slender sample tube for your hydro samples. Needs to be deep and slender so you do not have to take a large sample for your hydro. On that note maybe a sample thief for less than 10$ would be helpful but that is also unnecessary.
Is a sample thief and a test cylinder the same thing? I found some beer thiefs online for around $10 as you mentioned.

Do you mean an immersion chiller (wound copper thing)? Is it worth making one myself or just buying one?


Thanks for all the replies!
 
Jerrican | Find a Jerrycan | Buy Plastic Jerry Cans | UN Rated Jerricans | Hazmat Jerricans | Hazardous Material Jugs | Dangerous Goods Jugs - Air Sea Containers, Inc.

The first two in the middle row are most like what I use but you can also search for Winpak and you should find what a lot of people use for No Chill. You transfer the still very hot (> 200F) into the cube, flip it on its side so the entire inside gets heat sanitized then you can let it cool over night, transfer to your fermenter the next morning, and pitch your yeast.

But a more traditional route would be to buy or make a Copper Immersion Chiller. They are the cheapest to make and buy but if money is not an issue you could look into a CFC (counter flow chiller), plate chiller, or therminator.

In the DIY section on this forum you can find some easy build for the first 2 chillers.

EDIT: I am not sure if the beer thief you are looking at is multipurpose and serves as a sampling tube or not but I believe they are usually different things.
 
Fermcap-S. That stuff is a lifesaver and only $2.

Oh, and a word of warning - starsan is awesome but, in its undiluted form, it will ruin countertops.
 
Oh, and a word of warning - starsan is awesome but, in its undiluted form, it will ruin countertops.

If left for too long will turn your nice clear vinyl into milky and nearly opaque.
 
-Sanitizer
-Immersion chiller
-Wine thief and/or test cylinder (not the same thing but you can float your hydrometer in the wine thief in a pinch, so you can get away with just that. The only issue is that you can't set the wine thief full of wort down, you have to empty it first. You'll encounter this when you want to let your sample either cool off or offgass co2 before taking a gravity reading. In that instance you just need to drain your sample into a small glass to let it sit, then pour back into your thief to take a reading. The other issue is that the thief is narrower than most test cylinders, so the hydrometer is more likely to stick to the side and give you a false reading. Just have to be conscious of that.)

-Jet carboy / bottle washer
-Blowoff assembly
-Gallon jug for yeast starters (not a necessity if you plan to stick to dry yeast for now. You can use a sanitized 2 liter soda bottle in a pinch, but a container with a bit more room than that is beneficial)
 
All right guys Steri San is now on the list (thanks for warning)
Jet Washer is on the list
I was thinking of getting this since it seems a way to dry the bottled would also be important:
Bottle Washer Kit
Is that plastic jet washer any good?

Fermcap-S is on the list if I can find it!

Chiller is on the list but I'm on the fence about making or buying. The price of copper is silly. For anyone that has bought recently to make your own, where did you get your copper from? That would take care of the need for a jerrican

Wine thief is on the list, what about this one:
Fermtech Wine Thief - Accessories & Other Testing - Measuring & Testing - Brewing Equipment

I can't find a link to a test cylinder if they are two different things. What am I looking for?

Not sure what a blow off assembly is used for?
I plan to stay with dry yeast to begin with so I'll hold off on the gallon jug for now.
I have plenty of propane :)

Many thanks!
 
All right guys Steri San is now on the list (thanks for warning)
Jet Washer is on the list
I was thinking of getting this since it seems a way to dry the bottled would also be important:
Bottle Washer Kit
Is that plastic jet washer any good?

Fermcap-S is on the list if I can find it!

Chiller is on the list but I'm on the fence about making or buying. The price of copper is silly. For anyone that has bought recently to make your own, where did you get your copper from? That would take care of the need for a jerrican

Wine thief is on the list, what about this one:
Fermtech Wine Thief - Accessories & Other Testing - Measuring & Testing - Brewing Equipment

Not sure what a blow off assembly is used for?
I plan to stay with dry yeast to begin with so I'll hold off on the gallon jug for now.
I have plenty of propane :)

Many thanks!

Not "steri san" but Star-san by the Five Star company. If you use distilled water to mix it, you can save it and reuse it. I keep a one gallon mix in an old jug under my counter and it keeps for months and months.

Get an extra airlock, as sometimes things disappear or break and they are cheap!

I like an autosiphon- you'll find it much easier to siphon with it, so you'll be glad you're getting it!
 
Thanks Yooper! I mistyped that :)

The beginner kit has an autosiphon so I think I'm good there.

Extra airlock seems like a good idea!
 
Most people seem to buy the copper from LOWES or HOME DEPOT but if you might be able to find it only cheaper somewhere (I did a few months ago).

A blow off assembly is used for the first few days of fermentation. It is as simple as shoving a hose inside your fermenter's bung hole or on the airlock and running that down into some boiled water or sanitizing solution. Although it is not necessary for all brews it is a good habit to get into (it is one of those things you usually don't see a need for until you come home and find beer all over your ceiling). It allows for the krausen to escape the carboy instead of clogging the airlock and shooting it out during an over active fermentation.
 
I can't find a link to a test cylinder if they are two different things. What am I looking for?

Not sure what a blow off assembly is used for?
I plan to stay with dry yeast to begin with so I'll hold off on the gallon jug for now.
I have plenty of propane :)

Many thanks!

I used the cylinder my hydrometer came in for a long time it worked great although it wouldn't stand up on it's own. Then I put hot wort into it once and the bottom melted out. ahh well. so I got a test cylinder from more beer for ~10.00.

A blow off assembly is simply a large internal diameter hose, (external diameter such that it will fit snuggly in the whole that the bung with airlock goes in) They are used so that when your fermentation is really rocking it does not clog the airlock with spooge and cause a very messy explosion (not as bad as all that as the fermenter will probably not actually explode, just force the airlock and some quantity of beer out, up and all over your fermentation area)
 
newbrewguy11 said:
Chiller is on the list but I'm on the fence about making or buying. The price of copper is silly. For anyone that has bought recently to make your own, where did you get your copper from?

Many thanks!
50 feet should run you about 55-60 at home depot. Add 10 for the hose, clamps, and fittings, and you're still way under what you would spend online for a 25 foot premade chiller. If you want to do it right and ensure you don't have kinks, a pipe bending set is 8. Still way cheaper.

Also, it's star san, not steri san. Just to help u search for it better
 
I just had this happen. Is that tube useless? Sorry for the hijack

Heh. It JUST happened to me too a few days ago, I still used it for bottling that batch and unless it comes out infected (tasted friggen awesome when I sampled) I will continue to use it.
 
Thanks again. to everyone.

The blow off has been added, that sounds like money well spent.

Regarding copper:. The interesting thing is it says "For use where systems will not exceed 200 degrees Fahrenheit". Is this what people use even though it will be going into boiling liquid?

3x8 x 50' is @ HD for about $55
Homewerks Worldwide 3/8 In. X 50 Ft. Copper Refrigeration Coil (256897) from The Home Depot

For $50 plus shipping you can get a stainless steel wort chiller already made up with the fittings and all from Stainless Steel Immersion Wort Chiller
 
H-ost said:
Heh. It JUST happened to me too a few days ago, I still used it for bottling that batch and unless it comes out infected (tasted friggen awesome when I sampled) I will continue to use it.

It just happened to me on Saturday. Opened up my star San bucket to sanitize my fermentor and there it was. Totally forgot about it. Which means there's still oxyclean in a fermentor I was cleaning when I put the tubing in the starsan. Damn. Oh well.

Hey OP. don't leave your vinyl tubes in starsan.

It's 6pm here. Gonna start an all grain batch in about an hour or hour and a half. I'll try to take note of some stuff that I would recommend. Did a bare bones equipment extract batch at my parents house the other day, and most of that's been covered. I'll make note of the stuff that makes life easier on both types.

One to wet your palette...geek out on thermometers. I've got a Blichmann Brewmometer installed on the boil kettle ($26 at LHBS if I remember...awesome thermometer. Look it up), a digital probe thermometer ($7 at target), and a digital probe thermometer with timer and a long chord that allows the probe to be in the mash tun and the digital stuff to be outside ($27 at Viking).
 
Check out a CFC chiller build, it's really easy and fun (and pretty cheap) everyone that sees it wants to convert their Immersion Chiller.

I love StarSan

The jerry can I found at Walmart for $10 in the camping section to carry water.. It's a blue cube made in Canada at 7.5 gallons, a great fermenter !!

I used the hydrometer tube for 1.5 years !
 
I don't always bottle, but when I do I prefer The Vinator.

It makes for easy sanitation and a smoother bottling session.
 
RM-MN said:
For $50 plus shipping you can get a stainless steel wort chiller already made up with the fittings and all from Stainless Steel Immersion Wort Chiller

It's only 25 feet. Which aren't very effective in a full boil. It'll cool, but it'll take longer than a 50 foot. Plus, copper is a way better conductor. And they say copper is good nutrient for the yeast. So with a 50 foot copper one it cools better and quicker, and provides nutrient. Go with the copper
 
I didn't see mention of a thermometer for measuring the temperature of the wort while steeping grains. (sorry if it was there) If you don't steep grains initially you soon will.

Ask all your friends to save you bottles. Unless you keg you will soon need more. Saved ones are free. You will need 50-55 each batch. I have 3 batches conditioning right now and another to be bottled this week and another for next week.
 
Just wanted to say thanks again, this thread really helped me out a lot. I am still sifting through all the information and reading about each thing that was recommended.

I'm trying to find out what I really need and what I can get in the future to keep costs reasonable :)
 
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