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WeretheBrews

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http://www.northernbrewer.com/starterkits.html

I am thinking about buying the glass starter kit. here is what it comes with:

CONTAINS:
Six gallon glass carboy
Six gallon bottling bucket with spigot
Funnel
Blowoff hose
Fermentation lock and bung
Siphon tubing
AutoSiphon
Bottle filler
Bottle brush
Carboy brush
Bottle capper
144 bottle caps
Beer thief
Thermometer
Hydrometer
8 oz One-Step Sanitizer
Complete instructions

Can I use the plastic bucket for primary and bottling? and use hte glass as secondary?
 
You can use the plastic bucket for primary but I don't see a lid and airlock for it. If you can go another $40.00 the all glass kit looks nice.
 
Okay, I already just posted, but I have a question about some kits. Some people are suggesting the beenmanmicrobrewery or the beermachine. Neither involve boiling water. To me, this appears like adding water to beer powder to dissolve. Not sure it's any good. One has CO2 cartridges and the other has drops. Does this method make good beer? Otherwise, some people recommended the morebeer one. Looks pretty good to me. Boiling involved, but I don't understand what the carbonation method is...can anyone help? I am looking for something fun and somewhat easy-that doesn't take up too much room in my 2 BR apt. I don't want to go with the lame MrBeer however. Thanks!!
 
I don't know if you have one yet or not, but maybe you should start looking for a nice kettle and wort chiller also.
 
Both of those kits look good. NB does not appear to have a book with the kit. The kit at MW looks like you get a few more stuff and has a book, but I have it..... your going to want a better one if you dont already have one. I have no idea where you are shipping it to, but you also might want to consider shipping costs. Austin has free shipping after $60, but there kits are a few more dollars.
 
veggiess said:
Okay, I already just posted, but I have a question about some kits. Some people are suggesting the beenmanmicrobrewery or the beermachine. Neither involve boiling water. To me, this appears like adding water to beer powder to dissolve. Not sure it's any good. One has CO2 cartridges and the other has drops. Does this method make good beer? Otherwise, some people recommended the morebeer one. Looks pretty good to me. Boiling involved, but I don't understand what the carbonation method is...can anyone help? I am looking for something fun and somewhat easy-that doesn't take up too much room in my 2 BR apt. I don't want to go with the lame MrBeer however. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

The Mr. Beer (I have used that system with great success for nearly two years) sounds like the perfect setup for you yet you have written it off. It provides a much more fundamentally sound brewing experience than the Beer Machine which I believe has you drink the beer directly off the bed of used yeast. I am not sure on the beerman setup as I have never seen it. I highly encourage you to relook Mr. Beer. I believe homebrew adventures used to offer a mini-kit similar to a standard 5 gallon setup as well.
 
I dismissed the kit because I was told that bottling from the primary is a huge mess. The other kits I'm looking at don't do that. However, I have seen good reviews for Mr. Beer, so is bottling from the primary not really an issue??

If I decide to go with something that has only a primary and no bottling bucket, I'll probably get the Cooper's Microbrewery Kit, or the BeerMan Microbrewery Kit because they both hold 5 gal. I think 2 gal (Mr. Beer) is too little.

:fro:
 
I've used Mr. Beer a lot and I think it can make some great beer. I don't think bottling off the primary is too bad, unless you're trying to make a style of beer that needs a lot of conditioning time. Bitters, pale ales, Hefs...all styles of beer that finish quickly and go well with a simple brewing setup. Plus, a mistake with 2 gallons is much less frustrating than one with 5. I still use my Mr. Beer kegermentor for experiments.
The only other issue would be clarity. Your Mr. Beer brew will not be as clear as one that spent a week or two in the secondary.
 
veggiess said:
I dismissed the kit because I was told that bottling from the primary is a huge mess. The other kits I'm looking at don't do that. However, I have seen good reviews for Mr. Beer, so is bottling from the primary not really an issue??

If I decide to go with something that has only a primary and no bottling bucket, I'll probably get the Cooper's Microbrewery Kit, or the BeerMan Microbrewery Kit because they both hold 5 gal. I think 2 gal (Mr. Beer) is too little.

:fro:
Click to expand...

The Mr. Beer has a sizeable collection "tray" area in the bottom that makes bottling from the spicket pretty easy. Papazian states in his book that as long as you bottle an ale within 3 weeks, there is no real reason to do a secondary to prevent off flavors, and I have never had a bad batch from my Mr. Beer.
 
I just recently got the beermanmicrobrewery setup. I wanted my first foray into brewing to be simple (hopefully foolproof) I decided to go with a no boil kit. I did however find a local store and purchased a 6 gal carboy and some flip-top bottles to add to the beerman kit. So right now my first batch of Pilsner has been racked into the carboy to settle/age for bottling. As to the questions asked about the kit, it uses liquid malt extracts that are mixed with hot water then added to cold water in the fermentor. The "tablets" are actually dextrose pellets that are added to the bottles prior to filling.
 

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