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speedy4x4

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My name is Michael,
Never brewed anything in my life but have always wanted to.
So I figured I'd start here and get my facts and info before gathering all the wrong equipment.

I figure I'll start with what I like.
This is an extremely short list in no particular order.
Dead Guy Ale
Guiness extra stout
Black Butte by Desutes river brewery
I'm crazy about almost all IPA's lately
Double dead guy ale
Haven't had a stout I didn't love yet.

I really can't think right now.
Guess I'm too excited.
Anyways I would love to be pointed in the right direction.
From Oregon by the way.
 
Thanks for the link.
Seems like a great source.
I'll have to read it more when I get home.
 
Find a local home brew supply store near you, call them, let them know you want to get into brewing, but need a little information. Ask them what times they are not busy and go in to speak with someone in person. Purchase their beginner's equipment kit (at least their mid-grade...not the cheap-o one). Pick a beer known as "extract with specialty grain". This is mid way up the beginner brewing ladder, but worth jumping to.

Right away, you will have to decide which size kettle you want...5 gallons if you want to brew on your stove (costco has cheap aluminum ones), or 8-10 if you have a propane burner. A good starting place is to buy a turkey fryer from Home Depot or Lowes...it will come with the burner and a 7 or 8 gallon kettle (aluminum pot is okay) for under $100.00.

You'll get a better idea what else you want to buy as you brew...whatever pisses you off will direct you, for instance...chilling 5 gallons of wort is a pain in the butt without a chiller...unless you are patient enough to let it cool overnight. If this is the case for you, buy an immersion chiller by your 2nd or 3rd batch.

Just my suggestions :)
 
Second How to Brew! I'd go a step further and suggest actually buying a copy of it though. A few things have been updated in the book that aren't online and it's just a great reference to have lying around the house.

Bobbrewedit made some good points as well. Most importantly I think is starting with an extract with specialty grains beer kit. Excellent beer can be made this way. Check out Northern Brewer's extract kits. All of their instructions are spot on and so long as you can read you can follow their steps.

Most important step for starting I think is avoiding infections so cleaning and sanitizing is a must. Buy a big bottle of starsan and read up about how to use it. Clean everything first, rinse it, then sanitize with Starsan and do not rinse off the foam.
 
If you like stouts or IPA either of those are good starting points because they have enough flavor going on to mask any imperfections in your process. Pick a kit of one of those with lower gravity (1.050-1.060: you'll learn what that means).
 
JP's How to Brew is probably the best source of information for beginners. BUT find the newest version and not the 1st edition (which is still on the site I believe). There's a lot of old material in there that JP doesn't agree with anymore.

Here's what I started with:
6.5gal plastic fermenter with airlock
5gal stainless pot
Large mesh bag
Thermometer
Hydrometer
Big plastic RubberMaid storage bucket (swamp cooler)
A heaping helping of excitement

I agree that you would probably want to jump straight into extract with steeping grains instead of extract only. I was never satisfied with any of my all extract beers when I first started. I think I only did 2 or 3 before I moved up.
 
Welcome aboard!
Please read John Palmer's How to Brew, free online or updated bound edition kept on nearby brewing shelf.
Find your LHBS and get to know them.
Join a club/Find a mentor and brew a couple of batches together.
Join HBT - you've done this, good start!
 
Ok I will get the printed book for sure.

If I get a mid grade kit will I be able to upgrade it or if I want to go more advanced will I have to replace everything?
 
speedy4x4 said:
Ok I will get the printed book for sure.

If I get a mid grade kit will I be able to upgrade it or if I want to go more advanced will I have to replace everything?
Click to expand...

It will be more obvious when he shows it to you. It will have a fermenter, bottling bucket, tubes, cleaning brushes, cleaner, sanitizer, brewing spoon, and other nick nacks you will need to get going. Usually the upgrades from there will include glass fermenter instead of a bucket, that sort of thing.
 
The kettle I got when I first started was this Winware Stainless Steel Stock Pot if you'd prefer stainless to aluminum. You can get an 8 gallon stainless pot for <$100 and they're quite sturdy and good quality. I would strongly recommend you get a pot big enough to do full volume boils (it makes a significant difference for hop utilization), which means at least a 7 gallon kettle (if you're doing 5 gallon batches). I will say this, only because I wish someone had told me before I bought my pot, but if you are ever planning to do Brew In A Bag all-grain (a simple and inexpensive method for all-grain brewing), get at least a 10 gallon kettle. I didn't and now I'm going to have to buy a bigger kettle.

I'll agree with what everyone else has said that a decent midgrade kit is a good place to start. Definitely start with extract + specialty grains kits, since they require no more real "work" on your part and will typically produce a better product than pure extract kits. And read How To Brew. :)

Don't feel compelled to buy a carboy or second bucket for a secondary fermenter, e.g. if that's the upgrade between the "basic" and "mid-grade." While historically it's been said that secondary fermentation produces better beer, the prevailing belief (at least on this forum) is that it's typically not necessary (and indeed can be detrimental), unless adding fruit/dry hopping (and even then, it's optional). It's hotly debated and you'll hear more than you ever care to on the topic, but you might as well save the money until you make up your mind. I personally am a member of the no-secondary school of thought.

The most important thing to remember as a new brewer is time. Don't rush your beer, give it a few weeks in the fermenter and a few weeks in the bottles to carbonate. Sometimes (at least in my experience), kit instructions will encourage you to rush your beer into bottles. We're all familiar with the temptation of having 5 gallons of tasty, tasty beer in the closet, but your beer really will benefit from giving it some time.

If your kit instructions don't mention it, please be aware about avoiding oxidation after fermentation is complete. Mine didn't and my first two batches suffered accordingly.

If you haven't already, please go read the FAQ.

I'm in the Portland area, so if you'd like LHBS recommendations or have questions (I would consider myself an intermediate brewer; not claiming to be an expert by any means, but I can give the experts a break at answering the typical early questions) feel free to PM me.

Cheers, and welcome to the community! :mug:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Before you buy anything, try testing your patience. Patience is the key to brewing good beer. Sanitation is well up there on the list. You do realize that your first batch will take a minimum of 5-6 weeks?

If I had it to do over, I would start with a basic IPA extract recipe. Find a home brew store near you, buy 6lbs of pale liquid malt extract, .5lbs of Crystal or Caramel 20 (C20 for short), .5lbs of honey malt, 1 oz of magnum pellet hops, 1 oz of Centennial pellet hops, and a vial of WYEAST 1272. Make sure they crush your grains. Buy a grain sock also. This shop would also have a midrange kit with all the equipment needed to ferment and bottle your first batch. Buy an 8oz bottle of iodopher. Don't forget to buy Palmer's book. Stop at Wal-Mart on your way home and get a tamale steamer pot. They are cheap. Go home, lock the door, turn off the phone, DO NOT TURN ON THE TV! Read the book. You will be brewing the next day. Sure, a Porter or Stout would mask a lot of off flavors but they may take longer to finish out or age.

Start brewing. The starter kit is not of great significance. If you get bitten by this bug, you will definately be adding to your equipment as you progress. BTW, get a couple of cases of Sierra Nevada. Save the bottles for your first batch. Good luck and welcome to the machine.
 
maddad said:
Before you buy anything, try testing your patience. Patience is the key to brewing good beer. Sanitation is well up there on the list. You do realize that your first batch will take a minimum of 5-6 weeks?

If I had it to do over, I would start with a basic IPA extract recipe. Find a home brew store near you, buy 6lbs of pale liquid malt extract, .5lbs of Crystal or Caramel 20 (C20 for short), .5lbs of honey malt, 1 oz of magnum pellet hops, 1 oz of Centennial pellet hops, and a vial of WYEAST 1272. Make sure they crush your grains. Buy a grain sock also. This shop would also have a midrange kit with all the equipment needed to ferment and bottle your first batch. Buy an 8oz bottle of iodopher. Don't forget to buy Palmer's book. Stop at Wal-Mart on your way home and get a tamale steamer pot. They are cheap. Go home, lock the door, turn off the phone, DO NOT TURN ON THE TV! Read the book. You will be brewing the next day. Sure, a Porter or Stout would mask a lot of off flavors but they may take longer to finish out or age.

Start brewing. The starter kit is not of great significance. If you get bitten by this bug, you will definately be adding to your equipment as you progress. BTW, get a couple of cases of Sierra Nevada. Save the bottles for your first batch. Good luck and welcome to the machine.
Click to expand...

I second the importance of patience (and sanitation).

I'd personally say to use a dry yeast for the very first batch (US-05 rather than WY1272), but if it's low enough OG that it can be direct pitched, I suppose it's no more effort.

Definitely start saving bottles now. Commercial beer bottles are easy to clean and delabel if you get them fresh (i.e. don't let them sit around with scum drying on), and you'll need about 54 x 12 oz bottles for a 5 gallon batch (give or take a few depending on losses and what not). If you're an avid beer drinker, it's very possible to never have to buy bottles, depending of course on how frequently you brew. That being said, bottles are cheap.
 
Man your from Oregon, a ton of the hops we love are from there, or Washington. My stepdad is from Oregon and from what I have heard Oregon is a huge homebrew state, and I believe it. So thumbs up and I am sure it will be super easy to find good info from the LHBS. Good luck bra....-Jake
 
I know I'll have to wait before I can drink anything.
I will buy the book A.S.A.P.
I have a few places that have been recommended.
One is just a few miles away so I'll start there.

Thank you everyone for helping me get started on the right foot.
So more on the bottles.
Do I save the bottle and cap?
Or just the bottle and buy caps?
 
speedy4x4 said:
Do I save the bottle and cap?
Or just the bottle and buy caps?
Click to expand...

Save the bottle; caps can't be reused and are super cheap. Of course you can't save twist-offs.

What I like to do is immediately rinse the bottle thoroughly and fill it up with water to let it sit for a while to soak. If you use soap or detergent or anything to clean, make certain they are washed thoroughly, since soap residue is not good in your beer. :)
 
If I open pour rinse will I need soap or cleaner?
Or will super hot water cut it?
Or a boil bath?
Should I stick with brown bottles? Guess so that's all I drink...
 
If nothing dries on, you are probably okay just with hot water. However, water alone won't eliminate organic or mineral deposits, so use of a cleaner like PBW is necessary if there are any buildups that could potentially harbor microbes.
 
speedy4x4 said:
Is it best to sanitize just before bottling?
Click to expand...

Yes. The only exception is if you dry heat sterilize in an oven with foiled bottles (in which case they'll keep). If the bottle is sitting open, any sanitization will be fairly quickly undone by microbes in the environment (e.g. dust falling in).
 
Sanitize anything the that cooled wort or beer comes in contact with. Fermenter, siphon, airlocks, tubing, bottling bucket, bottling wand, bottles, caps. Anything that touches it should be sanitized. Always better safe than sorry. Starsan every thing like that. And don't fear the foam!
 
Welcome!

Start saving bottles! Yes, darker the better, so brown is good. For a 5 gallon batch, you'll need at least 52-12 oz bottles, 28-22 oz or 36 17oz grolsch-style bottles. I wish I did this ahead of time, especially saving grolsch bottles.

After emptying my beer in a glass, I always put a few drops of Dawn inside the bottle and give a few shakes about halfway full of water/soap to clean. Then I give them a really good rinse so there's no residue. Then I dry them upside down the case, all enclosed so no dust gets in.

Then I sanitize with starsan on bottling day. The dishwasher makes a handy bottle rack! I've bottled about 5 batches over the years, and haven't had any problems.

Finally, your best decision so far was to join this forum. I can't tell you how many times I've used the Google search option (click the upside down ^ next to "search") at the top of the page) to find an answer to my question. I can almost guarantee others have had the same question answered on this forum previously.

Lastly, there are many ways to skin the cat. You'll eventually learn what methods you like best and suits your style.
 
Ok. Time to start gathering. I'm out on vacation now but when I get back I will drop by my LHBS and see if they got the book.
Then start my bottle collection.
And get a mid range kit.
And large kettle?
 
speedy4x4 said:
Ok. Time to start gathering. I'm out on vacation now but when I get back I will drop by my LHBS and see if they got the book.
Then start my bottle collection.
And get a mid range kit.
And large kettle?
Click to expand...

If you want to brew inside on your stove, 8 gallon may be the biggest you want to go. I think I've seen the guys from Northern Brewer use an 8 gallon kettle in their brew-in-a-bag video. My standard 5 gallon kettle still seems huge on the stove.

Most (all?) Extract kit instructions assume you're using a beginner 5 gallon kettle. With those recipes, you're boiling about 2.5-3 gallons, and adding water to the fermenting bucket later. Nothing wrong with that method, but as stated earlier, some (minor?) hop utilization, beer color (darker w/smaller boils) issues.

I'm no expert, but that's what I've learned.

My last few tips that I've learned over the years:
- If it's going to be boiled, don't worry about sanitizing it (kettle, stirring spoon, etc).
- Buy a couple spray bottles - one for water, and the other for santizer solution. The water spray helps beat down the foam to prevent boilovers on the stove during the hot break, and you'll always second-guess yourself w/sanitizing and want to re-sanitize things on brew day after you touch them.
- A stainless steel double-mesh 10" diameter strainer comes in handy when transferring your wort to the fermenting bucket. It helps filter out the trub and hop particles and helps oxygenate the wort (which is a good thing for this step, before fermentation - oxygen is bad after fermentation).

Feel free to PM with any beginner type questions! I'm happy to help. :mug:
 
speedy4x4 said:
Ok. Time to start gathering. I'm out on vacation now but when I get back I will drop by my LHBS and see if they got the book.
Then start my bottle collection.
And get a mid range kit.
And large kettle?
Click to expand...

For a first batch, you'll be good to go with that. The only other thing to consider is how you're going to cool your wort after boiling it. For most people, the first time this will be by placing the kettle in an ice water bath, so think about a bathtub or kiddie pool or something you can use for that. You'll be getting an immersion chiller later, but I say get a batch or two under you belt first before you start worrying about that. Don't go for my first batch method which was placing the kettle in a minifridge; it took 15 hours to cool. Thankfully, the batch was fine, which at least means my santization was good. :D

And yes, as Capn_Bill said, brown is good. As you probably know already, but just in case you don't, brown glass helps to protect beer from light (UV actually). UV light will turn the tasty compounds (isohumulone) you got out of your hops in the boil into something that smells rather foul.
 
Welcome I am mike too, IMHO don't rush out buying stuff. The kits often have something saying you can boil 3gallons then add 2more to top off the carboy/bucket. I think you should join a brew club, most of the time, it's one guy brewing and everyone else comes for the free beer. But at least one (if not all) of those guys will know everything and you can an idea of what kind of rig you are looking for.
 
Many of us like the banjo KAB6 type burner, or smaller BG-10 jet burner. keggle's don't fit will on some stands, FYI
 
(Oops! Sorry, this turned into a novel.)

Welcome to a great homebrewing sight! Quite a lot of good info already posted on the first recipe and kits. You are obviously starting this hobby out with a good head on your shoulders.. researching and reading ahead of time will help in the longrun. Here's a small look at some equipment you might not know about. Believe me, there is a whole new world out there when it comes to gear. If youre handy in the workshop, much of it you can make with stuff readily available and it won't break the bank.

I've attached some links for gear. Not so much as to say you should buy this stuff but just to give you an idea what is out there. Big dollars can be spent on brewing stuff but if you're half handy with a drill and a few basic tools you can make a lot of the gear, or modify equipment to make nice brew gear.

I'd recommend not going with a turkey fryer kit as your heat source and brewing vessel. They are great and decently priced, for around 70 dollars you can buy a burner with stand and 28-30 quart aluminum pot. This will be just fine if you stick with 5 gallon batches. Here' a link to them on Amazon.. price has gone up 50 bucks since I bought one 3 years ago.. maybe because of the holidays. I definitely would not pay this price for one now.

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-3066A-30-Quart-Outdoor/dp/B0000BXHL0

Next is an SQ-14 propane burner and stand from Amazon. I got a couple of these things, one for the hot water tank and another for the boil kettle. My boil kettle is a 15.5 gallon beer keg converted to a kettle, with 1/2 inch ball valve and a sight glass I bought from brewhardware.com.

The stand is built like a Sherman tank and easily supports the weight of the boil kettle full (15G) of water, or somewhere around 150 pounds. It's a 55,000 BTU burner. Small by some standards of homebrewers burners but I've found it does the job just fine on even 11 gallon batches, which means I'm starting with around 13-14 gallons of liquid. It is not the only option out there so do some searching and reading up before you commit.

http://www.casa.com/p/bayou-classic...083191&utm_content=pla&adtype=pla&cagpspn=pla

Brew pots can get pretty expensive. Blichman makes some really nice ones, they also cost a ton of money. If money is not a show stopper go with them. If I had and extra grand to blow on some brew stuff I'd buy 3 of them, they are very nice. But it would probably cost more than a grand as I'd get at least a 15 gallon boill kettle and two ten gallon pots, one for the mash and another for the hot water (HLT)http://www.store.homebrew4less.com/prodinfo.asp?number=BE10GAL&variation=&gclid=CMq-3P6R9rMCFcN_QgodvVEAZQ

If you want stainless steel, it is pretty, you could check out Amazon again. They sell good stainless steel pots and won't break the bank. A ten gallon pot will easily handle 7 gallon batches. If you decide to go brew in a bag someday (all grain) it is big enough for a 5 gallon batch. Here's an example

11G - $68. Many reviews on this pot from homebrewers who had mostly good things to say about it.
http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1044-44-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXHKMC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354257476&sr=8-1&keywords=44+qt+stainless+steel+pot

You'll need a way to cool the nearly boiling hot wort. An ice bath will work but is not optimal. A copper immersion wort chiller is a good thing to have but depending on ground water temp can be pretty wasteful of water. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM3261035602P?sid=IDx20110310x00001i&srccode=cii_184425893&cpncode=32-199996966-2 It will cool your wort to about 20 degrees above ground water temp in maybe 20 minutes and then take forever to get anywhere near the ground water temperature. I've found they use quite a lot of water though but most homebrewers have clever ways of using the waste water, watering the yard, use some for laundry, use the very hot water that comes out in the beginning for cleaning brewing equipment. You can buy the copper and make one or just buy one. They also make them in stainless steel. The disadvantage of stainless is it doesn't transfer heat as quickly as the copper. The advantage is they don't corrode. I had a 50' 1/2" diameter stainless immersion chiller once but sold it. I regret that now. What I should have done was convert it into a counter flow chiller.

What I've done during summers when ground water temp is pretty warm is just cool the wort down to around 100F and then let it sit, covered, in the boil kettle until the next day. Then rack it to the fermenter, aerate the wort and pitch yeast.

Also, there is a another train of thought and method out there, I've used it and it worked okay. Just cover the pot at the end of the boil and let it cool to pitching temperature overnight or however long it takes. There are arguments against this method but if I understand correctly guys in Australia have been doing this for years. I do think they transfer the hot wort to a plastic container first. They squeeze out the air in the container after wort is added and I think the latent heat pasteurizes the wort.


As far as counter flow chillers CFCs here's a quick youtube video of one a guy made with a garden hose, some copper tubing and fittings. I made one, they're pretty neat.

I've bored you enough. Didn't mean for this to be so long.

Cheers and happy brewing!

Dan
 
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I would say you should watch some youtube video's. I would still read up, but there is something to be said for seeing things done also.
As for what to start with, I would say a simple pale ale. Maybe an IPA. The reason is because it's simple and will finnish out quicker than some beers.
After you run through that process one time, don't even wait for it to be ready. Get yourself a batch of Black Butte clone going!! There are some good extract recipes out there.
You listed it as one of the beers you like and making something with that much going on, so much flavor and one of your favorites will really help get you hooked on the process.

The first time I made a Black Butte clone I had some friends over and bought some black butte to compare. We split up one bottle of the Black Butte then everyone wanted to drink my home made draft instead of the store bought.
 
Dan said:
You'll need a way to cool the nearly boiling hot wort. An ice bath will work but is not optimal. A copper immersion wort chiller is a good thing to have but depending on ground water temp can be pretty wasteful of water. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM3261035602P?sid=IDx20110310x00001i&srccode=cii_184425893&cpncode=32-199996966-2 It will cool your wort to about 20 degrees above ground water temp in maybe 20 minutes and then take forever to get anywhere near the ground water temperature. I've found they use quite a lot of water though but most homebrewers have clever ways of using the waste water, watering the yard, use some for laundry, use the very hot water that comes out in the beginning for cleaning brewing equipment. You can buy the copper and make one or just buy one. They also make them in stainless steel. The disadvantage of stainless is it doesn't transfer heat as quickly as the copper. The advantage is they don't corrode. I had a 50' 1/2" diameter stainless immersion chiller once but sold it. I regret that now. What I should have done was convert it into a counter flow chiller.

What I've done during summers when ground water temp is pretty warm is just cool the wort down to around 100F and then let it sit, covered, in the boil kettle until the next day. Then rack it to the fermenter, aerate the wort and pitch yeast.

Also, there is a another train of thought and method out there, I've used it and it worked okay. Just cover the pot at the end of the boil and let it cool to pitching temperature overnight or however long it takes. There are arguments against this method but if I understand correctly guys in Australia have been doing this for years. I do think they transfer the hot wort to a plastic container first. They squeeze out the air in the container after wort is added and I think the latent heat pasteurizes the wort.
Click to expand...

While one can debate the merits of IC vs. CFC etc. I've never personally been convinced by concerns about the water usage of ICs. My setup will cool 5 gallons of wort from boiling to <70 F in ~15 minutes during the summer, and that's running a garden hose at maybe about 1/3rd of max flow. I suppose it's possible I just have especially cold water, but that amount of water is pretty negligible compared to the amount I needed every day to water my garden during the hot months. I just ran it onto my grass/garden and used it for irrigation. If you're going to do this, though, do put something in the way of the flow, because the first couple of minutes you'll be dumping boiling water, and you don't want a nice brown spot in your lawn. :D
 
I don't think I'll have cooling problems as my water comes from a very deep well that has ice cold water year round.

The underground river is fed mostly by snow melt by the way.

Can't do much right now though.
 
Dan said:
(Oops! Sorry, this turned into a novel.)

Welcome to a great homebrewing sight! Quite a lot of good info already posted on the first recipe and kits. You are obviously starting this hobby out with a good head on your shoulders.. researching and reading ahead of time will help in the longrun. Here's a small look at some equipment you might not know about. Believe me, there is a whole new world out there when it comes to gear. If youre handy in the workshop, much of it you can make with stuff readily available and it won't break the bank.

I've attached some links for gear. Not so much as to say you should buy this stuff but just to give you an idea what is out there. Big dollars can be spent on brewing stuff but if you're half handy with a drill and a few basic tools you can make a lot of the gear, or modify equipment to make nice brew gear.

I'd recommend not going with a turkey fryer kit as your heat source and brewing vessel. They are great and decently priced, for around 70 dollars you can buy a burner with stand and 28-30 quart aluminum pot. This will be just fine if you stick with 5 gallon batches. Here' a link to them on Amazon.. price has gone up 50 bucks since I bought one 3 years ago.. maybe because of the holidays. I definitely would not pay this price for one now.

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-3066A-30-Quart-Outdoor/dp/B0000BXHL0

Next is an SQ-14 propane burner and stand from Amazon. I got a couple of these things, one for the hot water tank and another for the boil kettle. My boil kettle is a 15.5 gallon beer keg converted to a kettle, with 1/2 inch ball valve and a sight glass I bought from brewhardware.com.

The stand is built like a Sherman tank and easily supports the weight of the boil kettle full (15G) of water, or somewhere around 150 pounds. It's a 55,000 BTU burner. Small by some standards of homebrewers burners but I've found it does the job just fine on even 11 gallon batches, which means I'm starting with around 13-14 gallons of liquid. It is not the only option out there so do some searching and reading up before you commit.

http://www.casa.com/p/bayou-classic...083191&utm_content=pla&adtype=pla&cagpspn=pla

Brew pots can get pretty expensive. Blichman makes some really nice ones, they also cost a ton of money. If money is not a show stopper go with them. If I had and extra grand to blow on some brew stuff I'd buy 3 of them, they are very nice. But it would probably cost more than a grand as I'd get at least a 15 gallon boill kettle and two ten gallon pots, one for the mash and another for the hot water (HLT)http://www.store.homebrew4less.com/prodinfo.asp?number=BE10GAL&variation=&gclid=CMq-3P6R9rMCFcN_QgodvVEAZQ

If you want stainless steel, it is pretty, you could check out Amazon again. They sell good stainless steel pots and won't break the bank. A ten gallon pot will easily handle 7 gallon batches. If you decide to go brew in a bag someday (all grain) it is big enough for a 5 gallon batch. Here's an example

11G - $68. Many reviews on this pot from homebrewers who had mostly good things to say about it.
http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1044-44-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXHKMC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354257476&sr=8-1&keywords=44+qt+stainless+steel+pot

You'll need a way to cool the nearly boiling hot wort. An ice bath will work but is not optimal. A copper immersion wort chiller is a good thing to have but depending on ground water temp can be pretty wasteful of water. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM3261035602P?sid=IDx20110310x00001i&srccode=cii_184425893&cpncode=32-199996966-2 It will cool your wort to about 20 degrees above ground water temp in maybe 20 minutes and then take forever to get anywhere near the ground water temperature. I've found they use quite a lot of water though but most homebrewers have clever ways of using the waste water, watering the yard, use some for laundry, use the very hot water that comes out in the beginning for cleaning brewing equipment. You can buy the copper and make one or just buy one. They also make them in stainless steel. The disadvantage of stainless is it doesn't transfer heat as quickly as the copper. The advantage is they don't corrode. I had a 50' 1/2" diameter stainless immersion chiller once but sold it. I regret that now. What I should have done was convert it into a counter flow chiller.

What I've done during summers when ground water temp is pretty warm is just cool the wort down to around 100F and then let it sit, covered, in the boil kettle until the next day. Then rack it to the fermenter, aerate the wort and pitch yeast.

Also, there is a another train of thought and method out there, I've used it and it worked okay. Just cover the pot at the end of the boil and let it cool to pitching temperature overnight or however long it takes. There are arguments against this method but if I understand correctly guys in Australia have been doing this for years. I do think they transfer the hot wort to a plastic container first. They squeeze out the air in the container after wort is added and I think the latent heat pasteurizes the wort.


As far as counter flow chillers CFCs here's a quick youtube video of one a guy made with a garden hose, some copper tubing and fittings. I made one, they're pretty neat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LEPKaikHhU

I've bored you enough. Didn't mean for this to be so long.

Cheers and happy brewing!

Dan
Click to expand...

+1 Dan the man. Don't waste your money in high tech gadgets and novelty equipment before you have a few batches under your belt. I bought a 20qt enamel steamer pot for around $15.00. That worked well for my extract brews. I started doing partial boil and topping off with water. Made good beer. I was proud of myself but it lead me down a path of which there is no return. I cooled my kettle in the sink to around 90 degrees. I cooled top off water before the brew day to get my wort temp to pitch rates. USE BOTTLED WATER. Once you've learned the basics and have repeated good results, then you should buy the farm. Once you get it together, scour Craigslist for deals. There is always someone getting out or upgrading, so deals are plenty. You are in Oregon, correct?:mug:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
maddad said:
+1 Dan the man. Don't waste your money in high tech gadgets and novelty equipment before you have a few batches under your belt. I bought a 20qt enamel steamer pot for around $15.00. That worked well for my extract brews. I started doing partial boil and topping off with water. Made good beer. I was proud of myself but it lead me down a path of which there is no return. I cooled my kettle in the sink to around 90 degrees. I cooled top off water before the brew day to get my wort temp to pitch rates. USE BOTTLED WATER. Once you've learned the basics and have repeated good results, then you should buy the farm. Once you get it together, scour Craigslist for deals. There is always someone getting out or upgrading, so deals are plenty. You are in Oregon, correct?:mug:
Click to expand...

Yes I'm in Oregon.
For the topping off with cool water, basicly just buy some bottled water and toss it in the fridge.
 
To clarify mikescooling's post, any water you add after the boil needs to be sanitized, and the easiest way to do that is just to boil it for 10-15 minutes.
 

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