after sitting in on a cousin's brew session over the holidays, I have decided to Jump in and give home brewing a try. I will start off with just a simple extract brew. I have done some research online and looked at numerous "starter Kits" from various suppliers. My questions are:
1. is there any one starter kit that you would recommend over another, and if so, why?? I have been looking hard at kits from Northern Brewer and Williams Brewing.
2. Glass or Plastic (better bottle) carboy?
3. what, if anything should i add to a basic kit.....a secondary, or wort chiller?
4. In the end, should i just ditch the idea of a starter kit, and piece one together myself from various suppliers?
Any insight would be of great assistance. Thank you all in advance.
1. This is the kit that I started with, and I am happy with it.
EVERYTHING + A CARBOY - Complete Brewing Equipment Kit #2
2. This topic has been debated AD NAUSEUM on this forum, and I'm sure you can find all the information you need with a quick search, but I'll share my thoughts. I like glass, for no other reason than the aesthetic appeal to it, and the fact that it 'feels' like quality. HOWEVER, after reading through this forum and hearing the stories people have shared regarding their glass carboy, whenever I'm carrying mine around, I become paranoid, especially if it is full. With that, whenever I buy a new carboy, I'll probably be going with a Better Bottle.
3. My initial impression is to advise that you go with a secondary. Not because you should secondary your beer (again, an overly debated topic on this forum). I am part of the school of thought that says that using a secondary is not very useful, USUALLY. I recommend getting a secondary so that you can use it as another fermenter. The faster you get a pipeline going, the easier it will become to be patient and give your beer the time it needs to condition. There is nothing worse than having to sit and stare at a fermenter for weeks with nothing else to do. A second fermenter will allow you to start on another project.
4. You can piece together your own. It really is a cost/benefit kind of thing. If you already have a big kettle, you know you don't need one of those. If you already have a 5 gallon, food-grade plastic bucket around the house for some reason, you know you won't need to get that. I recommend the kit that I did in the first bulletin for this reason, it has EVERYTHING you need for your first brew. You don't have to worry about getting your cooled wort in to the fermenter, only to realize you forgot to get yeast. Or get your fermented beer in the bottles before you realize you don't have bottle caps. If you get this kit, or a similar one, just make sure that the supplier provided everything they said they would, and I don't think you'll regret it.