Hello men

Well first off, my Name is Paul and I live in West Covina, CA and i love drinking beer. I have always admired people who brew their own beer because to be honest it just tasted better. Also I am currently in the U.S. Army so im sure you can figure out a lot of us military men enjoy our drinking lol. I haven been browsing around the internet at beer making kits for the past 2 months or so. My question is what beer making kit would be the best buy for someone like me. I love the more flavorful beer like Blue Moon and hef beers like that. Just like when i go out to eat and eat Mexican food its no comparison to my moms home cooked Mexican food. I want to make my own beer to put in time and work into it and end with a product that just taste better and has more of a frothy full fell and sense of accomplishment. If you guys can help me make my choice a lot easier of buying a kit that would be greatly appreciated.

I bought a kit from midwestsupplies.com. I spent $130 for everything a beginning brewer needs (except a brew pot and recipe ingredients). 2 carboys, plastic fermenter, bottling bucket, capper, spoon, siphon...etc. Thats probably going to be a typical price unless things have changed since then.

Couldn't agree with you more, Nekro. Heres the one I picked up this fall: http://morebeer.com/view_product/15909/102142/Personal_Home_Brewery_%231_-_Standard

its about half the price of the kit from the post above me, but it uses buckets instead of carboys. Depends on what you're looking for. I have no complaints about buckets, except for maybe they aren't much to look at. Watching fermentation can be kinda interesting the first few batches.

I started with the Coopers kit. Free 2 day shipping with Amazon when you sign up for the 30 day trial of Amazon Prime...go for it...just remember to cancel it LOL

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002F0O7W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

VERY easy kit to get started with and the items you get can be used during your whole brewing career.

Order this kit today or tomorrow and you will be brewing by Tuesday!!!

Cheer!!

I'd definitely go with one of the other two kits over the Cooper's kit. You're likely to get much better quality ingredients from Midwest or MoreBeer than from a Cooper's can that's been sitting in Amazon's warehouse for God know's how long. Just my 2 cents.

jbrookeiv said:

I'd definitely go with one of the other two kits over the Cooper's kit. You're likely to get much better quality ingredients from Midwest or MoreBeer than from a Cooper's can that's been sitting in Amazon's warehouse for God know's how long. Just my 2 cents.

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Have you tried the coopers kit? Just curious as where you get your facts about a solid kit for starters.

Nekro - Thank you for your service!

When does Yooper jump in about the title of this posting?

Check out this Beginners brew kit. I've had one for over a year and I love never having to siphon.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/HOME_BREWERY_WITHOUT_KIT_P680C73.cfm

NRS

there's a kit on midwestsupplies.com that costs 134 and includes everything you need, all equipment, an easy recipe kit (the irish red recipe kit they sell is really good) a brewpot bottles caps and a capper

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-equipment/equipment-kits/compare-all-kits.html?SID=ionndmls6tidk8tficmre9jqhn5et0ps

that would be the best bang for your buck in my opinion,

And also, thanks for your service, I admire all you guys in the service a lot.

Smokeater233 said:

When does Yooper jump in about the title of this posting?

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You know I actually thought the same thing but thought I'd let it slide...

zepolmot said:

Couldn't agree with you more, Nekro. Heres the one I picked up this fall: http://morebeer.com/view_product/15909/102142/Personal_Home_Brewery_%231_-_Standard

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Thanks for the morebeer link. Knew about the site just never got around to checking it out. $35 for a 5 gal SS brewpot... Not bad, might have to pick one of those up for my kitchen so we're not making turkey soup in my brew pot after Thanksgiving again next year.

Thanks for your service! I'm a former Marine, and yes - us servicemen do like to throw some back every now and then! I'm brewing 2 batches for my brother's 2-week R&R trip home from Afghanistan in April. I couldn't imagine a better cause to brew!

I started with a True Brew kit from my local home brew store. Amazon has this one, which is priced great considering it comes with a glass carboy:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Equipment-Gallon-Glass-Carboy/dp/B002BU7CVM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298028737&sr=8-1

I also used True Brew's kits for the first 3 batches - they came out great!

Good luck and thanks again for serving our country!

I guess you are in housing and not the barracks, Thanks for your service. I am an Army Vet myself and had been known to partake in a brewed beverage here and there. Got a love for real beer while stationed in Germany.

Welcome, and thanks for your service

There are a few women on this board, hence the questions about Yooper. She is on vacation, somewhere in Texas - so she's not on the board much these past weeks. She'll be back at it soon.

Nekro - many good sources here -
you'll want to look for an equipment kit, then pick up a beer kit in the style you want to make.

You don't have to buy both at the same place. You can find places around CA, or go online - google homebrew supply and many places will come up. Shop the equipment kits, shop the beer kits -- and buy what appeals to you. I'm on the eastern side of the continent, so I lean toward Northern Brewing and Brewmaster's Warehouse - both excellent companies.

Welcome to your new hobby. Do yourself a favor and read. Read. read. There are "sticky" threads at the top - read them. There are pages of Beginner threads. Read through several of them - you will gain an insight into temperature control, patience, yeast, etc -

And, what you can't find - ask away! we're all here for our love of beer, and while you're certain to get several answers that may even conflict, they will generally lead you to the path of better and better beer.

welcome!

Thanks you guys very much. All post have been very helpful. I will take into consideration every ones input and do more research into find the perfect kit for me, so i can hopefully start brewing my first batch by the beginning of next month.
I have also seen this kit that looks pretty good, but i want to check the others people have recommended

http://www.monsterbrew.com/Prod_NewBrewersCompleteHomebrewKitWithAutoSiphon.cfm

Also a quick question, I have seen some kits that has one or two fermentation buckets plus a glass carboy. Could you use either the bucket or carboy for fermentation? I would think using the carboy would be a bit easier to see the fermentation process, then transfer the brew into the bucket for bottling. Am I correct? Sorry for my ignorance, I am just trying to get all this information processed before I would start to brew and make things go a lot smoother.

jbrookeiv said:

You're likely to get much better quality ingredients from Midwest or MoreBeer than from a Cooper's can that's been sitting in Amazon's warehouse for God know's how long. Just my 2 cents.

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The Cooper's kits are not sitting in Amazon's warehouse, they come directly from Cooper's USA store:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002F0O7W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


I have two Cooper's kits and love them. Great way to get started and while the Cooper's can's and such aren't so hot you simply don't have to use them. You can brew any company's beer kits and your own recipe's with the Cooper's equipment.


Rev.

Nekro said:

Also a quick question, I have seen some kits that has one or two fermentation buckets plus a glass carboy. Could you use either the bucket or carboy for fermentation? I would think using the carboy would be a bit easier to see the fermentation process, then transfer the brew into the bucket for bottling. Am I correct? Sorry for my ignorance, I am just trying to get all this information processed before I would start to brew and make things go a lot smoother.

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any which way you want. no correct answer.
Some start in a carboy, transfer to bottling bucket. Some start in a bucket, secondary in a carboy, transfer to bottling bucket...

really doesn't matter. You kind of get used to your own method, and in this particular case, they are all correct. I did like watching the yeasties take off in my carboy, but since I've been better at temperature control - I don't get to watch it any more - pitch the yeast at 65, lock it up, throw away the key for 4 weeks -

so - yes, you should absolutely watch once or twice - and the carboy makes that fun, but eventually...

You can sit the carboy into a tub of water, thereby allowing a visual, while also helping to control temps (control the water-bath temp).

It's going to be great!

Alright cool, Iv been browsing kits and most of the ones im looking at have 2 buckets and a carboy. So ill just decide to primary ferment in a bucket or caboy when i get to that point. How long do you leave the the batch in the secondary after the 1st fermentation bucket

The kits that come with two buckets and a carboy; here's the deal:

One bucket (without the spigot) is the primary fermenter. It's sized for 7.5 gallons or so, to be big enough to hold the krausen (layer of foam), generated by an active primary fermentation, without overflowing the container all the time. The carboy will be a 5-gallon carboy that is used for a "secondary" fermentation period -- during this time the yeast is much calmer and the beer is simply absorbing flavors, clearing up, etc. The value of this step is very much in debate. The bucket with the spigot is the bottling bucket; you siphon the beer from the fermenter along with a boiled sugar solution into this bucket, and then into bottles through the spigot (different methods for doing this). The added sugar causes fermentation in the bottles that carbonates the beer.

Anyway, to answer your question, the carboy in such kits (5-gallon) is not generally recommended for primary fermentations. The reason it is so small is that when the beer is put in there to age or whatever, the level reaches up close to the neck so that less surface is exposed to potential oxygen (since at this point the yeast are no longer producing much CO2 to protect the head space of the container). You *will* have an overflow if you do primary fermentation in one of these. You don't always (I would even say you don't usually) have to do a secondary fermentation, but it's nice to have the carboy in case you want do some bulk aging or long term aging of a very strong beer, flavor additions, etc.

Rev2010 said:

The Cooper's kits are not sitting in Amazon's warehouse, they come directly from Cooper's USA store:

Video Link: http://www.amazon.com/Coopers-Brewery-Micro-Brew-Beer-Kit/dp/B0002F0O7W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298060289&sr=8-1

I have two Cooper's kits and love them. Great way to get started and while the Cooper's can's and such aren't so hot you simply don't have to use them. You can brew any company's beer kits and your own recipe's with the Cooper's equipment.

Rev.

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+1 love my coopers starter kit

Smokeater233 said:

When does Yooper jump in about the title of this posting?

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zepolmot said:

You know I actually thought the same thing but thought I'd let it slide...

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Well, he said, "Hello, men" so he obviously was ignoring all of us females so we're not answering!

You'd be surprised how many females are here on the forum, by the way! We're just not ones to say, "I'm a woman". We're brewers. That's why we're here. The fact that many of us are female is beside the point.

Interestingly enough (or not), I am a veteran of the US Army myself.

So, fishing, hunting, an Army vet, brewer. Female. Surprised?

Yooper said:

Interestingly enough (or not), I am a veteran of the US Army myself.

So, fishing, hunting, an Army vet, brewer. Female. Surprised?

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Yooper just keeps getting sexier everyday.

If your kit does not come with a book, I would be sure to get one. Maybe its just me, but I often find myself away from my computer thinking about brewing.

In the mean time here's a free on-line book. www.howtobrew.com

billf2112 said:

Yooper just keeps getting sexier everyday.

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I just spit out my coffee at that one. Thanks for the laugh!

When I started brewing, I found this online book to be the most helpful: http://howtobrew.com/intro.html

Some of us use only buckets, some use only carboys, and some use a mix of the two. I'd suggest starting with a bucket, an "ale pail" and an autosiphon to start, along with a couple of extra airlocks, and buy another bucket or carboy in the future. You'll need a bottling bucket, too, at the very beginning.