First Timer Jumping into AG: checklist and some questions

I have already bought a 15 gallon brew kettle, and now I am spec-ing out the rest. Here is what I am thinking:

-digital thermometer (VWR 10-Memory Thermometer 4373) - overkill but why not?
-propane cooker (185,000 BTU)
-Aluminum crock pot (60 qt) - to be used for chilling the filtered wort
-immersion wort chiller (copper .5" X 50')
-funnel
-mash paddle

-3 better bottle (6 gallon ported with dry air lock and racking attachment)
-CO2 tank (20lb)
-CO2 regulator
-Bev-Seal Tubing (1/4" ID) - for racking and to attach to airlock to CO2 when bottling/kegging from 2nd fermenter
-Chest freezer (still looking on Craiglist, but above 15 ft^3)
-Analog Temperature Controller

I was wondering if this would a valid setup? I plan to make top and bottom fermenting yeast. My first brews will be Beligan abby ales and English barely wine.

Also, when is an airlock pefered over a hose? The hose cost less and completes the same task. Is it the brew recipe that determines which one you use?

Then my next step is to decide between bottling and kegging. Is it better to bottle some beers vs kegging for conditioning?

Cheers

What are you mashing in? You probably need some type of cooler.

Not sure what you mean by you "plan to make top and bottom fermenting yeast". Does that mean you will make lagers and ales?

IMO an airlock is just easier to use that a blowoff tube going to a cup of sanitized liquid. If you need to move the carboy for any reason, you dont have to lug all that crap around. That being said, a blowoff will be necessary sometimes.

Read up on bottling vs kegging. There are advantages/disadvantages to both. I would suggest starting with bottling since its cheaper. If (when) you get tired of bottling, then look into kegging. I am not sure why you need the C02 tank right now btw?

IMHO, the ported better bottles are a huge ripoff. I'd rather save the bucks on plain bottles and get ONE 1/2" autosiphon.

What are you mashing in?

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I'm using the 15 gallon brew kettle for mashing and the aluminum crock pot for chilling the drained wort.

Yes,

top and bottom fermenting yeast

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does mean that I would be making lagers and ales, sorry I could have made that more clear.

Why CO2?

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For racking and transferring? I was planning to pump CO2 on top of the beer in the fermenter as I bottle the beer. This would be to stop oxidation and contamination inside the fermenter. (See picture later)

To Bobby M
My reasoning was that I did not want O2 in the secondary fermentation. I was planning to charge the secondary vessel with CO2 and put CO2 into the dry airlock while racking into the secondary vessel. Better-bottle has a picture on it:

I dont know of anyone that charges their fermenter to rack to the bottling bucket. I believe that may stirr up sediment and make your beer cloudy. Eferybody I've heard from siphons quietly, letting gravity do all the work.

Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are trying to do with the CO2 as it pertains to bottling.... but it seems like a lot of work trying prevent any oxygen touching your beer when oxygen is going to touch your beer anyway as you fill up a bottle.

/edit

whoops... you were talking about filling your secondary with CO2. I am still not sure it is worth it. Racking to secondary will release some trapped CO2 and in my experience with secondary...has started up a very tiny bit of fermentation just from being mixed up.

I don't brew really big beers, so I'm not sure about the barleywine, but for the most part, a secondary is unnecessary. A cheaper way to keep it under CO2 until bottling would be to just keep it in the primary until you're ready to package.

And I'm a little confused by this one:
"-Aluminum crock pot (60 qt) - to be used for chilling the filtered wort"

I assume you mean stock pot, but if you're going to be using an immersion chiller, just stick it directly in the boil kettle. There's no sense in transferring boiling hot wort if you don't have to. You'll need a pot to use as a HLT, of course, but if you buy your burner as part of a "turkey fryer" kit, the cheapo pot it comes with works just fine.

Since you want to buy a CO2 system. Instead of the plastic carboys, you may want to consider corney kegs. Use them for your fermenter, lagering vessel, etc,. You'll get more use out of the CO2 system with the corneys.

VladOfTrub said:

Since you want to buy a CO2 system. Instead of the plastic carboys, you may want to consider corney kegs. Use them for your fermenter, lagering vessel, etc,. You'll get more use out of the CO2 system with the corneys.

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A 5 gallon corny would not be a very good thing to ferment in. Not only is it not big enough, but then you have to deal with the pressure issues.

aperk, you should look further in depth on the all grain process. Your missing the boiling step or you didn't include it in your post. I'd recommend a 10 gallon gatorade cooler instead of the 15 gal kettle for mashing, it will hold temps more consistently.