BEST PLACE to buy a brew kit?

I have been looking at this kit:

Advanced Brew Kit

Is this what I need, is it missing anything? Can you suggest a better deal?

I am also looking to do this outside ifo garage or patio so is:

http://store.homebrewheaven.com/shared/StoreFront/product_detail.asp?RowID=1480&CS=hombre&All=

the way to go?

Lastly, is investing is a:

Kegerator, Dual Faucet , Cornelius Style Kegs

a dumb thing to do this early on?

thanks in advance for the responses, and if you folks have alternate products you think would work better or save $, can you please throw it out there?

Thanks again

Since you don't have a location specified, I'll assume you're in the USA.

I'd look for a kit that has a 6.5 gallon primary bucket fermentor, a 5 gallon carboy for secondary, bottling bucket with spout, capper, hydrometer, bottling wand, tubing, racking tube and airlock. I'm not sure I'd get the kit you linked to because it doesn't mention if it has a separate fermentor and bottling bucket. Find out if you have a Local Homebrew Store (LHBS) and see if they have a kit available. Always try to support the LHBS. Most of the time it's a great resource for the new brewer.

As for the burner, your local Home Depot, Lowes, and WalMart will be stocking turkey fryer kits fairly soon that have the burner and a large pot. After Thanksgiving I've seen those being cleared out for $20 and under. Even if you don't want to wait, HD and Lowes have patio burners available at the same price or cheaper before you factor in shipping.

The kegerator would be cool but I wouldn't buy one before your first batch. A lot of people start brewing and end up quitting because of the time and effort involved. I'm not saying you will but wait on the kegging equipment until you are sure you're in this for the long haul.

Good luck!

I bought my kit for 59.95 at midwest supplies. Compare All Kits :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies A lot of people don't use a secondary (it increases the chance of contamination), and I personally would rather have a designated bottling bucket before a secondary. I like this kit because it gives you the basics for a cheap price and you can always buy a secondary later (for less than 40 mind you, especially if you buy another bucket). +1 on the kegging advice and I don't know much about burners as we just boil on the stove. Just my $.02

*edit* didn't see that it gave you an ingredient kit as well. It is a good deal if the ingredients are something you would like to make.

i would look to see if you have a local homebrew club and join it before you go off buying kegs and such. alot of my club had extras and just gave em to me when they heard i was talking about kegging. saved me alot of money there.

Using a secondary does not significantly increase your chance of an infection. Poor sanitizing will increase your chance of an infection.

The time that is most crucial is once the beer is cooled down and before the fermentation starts. Once the liquid has alcohol in it, it will take an uber strain to cause an infection.

I HIGHLY recommend a secondary fermenter for clarification. It will improve the quality of the beer because of the time spent in the secondary and the removal of sediment from the beer.

When you first start brewing, you want to share the beer with friends. There is nothing worst then poring them a glass that is cloudy and full of sediment.
Breweries use a secondary for a reason. Sometimes they release the sediment from the bottom, simulating using a secondary.

If you want your beer to be its optimum best use a secondary.

You can check out our beginner kits here: Austin Homebrew Supply

I think we have the best overall delivered deal. Let me know if you find a better deal. Price is not always the best way to go, if it is less money something is probably missing. Keep in mind that this small investment can be used for years and years and years so don't skimp.

Personally I always secondary my beers, unless it is something that is supposed to be cloudy like a Hefeweizen. Even then I let the beer sit in the bottling bucket overnight just in case there is any leftover trub in there. Plus the bottling wand I use is traps most of the particulate before it can get into the bottle.

Barring any chill haze most of my beers come out quite clear.

IMHO the one of the best places to buy your new brew rig is your LHBS....because it serves as a good introduction to the shop and they can be very valuable in dispensing advice, troubleshooting, tasting, ect...getting your efforts off the ground and good beer in your glass.

...if you don't have a decent LHBS, there are plenty of good starter kits online like you have seen..

First, get it from your local homebrew store if you can.

If not:

I highly recommend Midwest Supplies (Check here for their kits). I'd get the "Brewing Starter Kit with Better Bottle" for $79.95 it has almost everything you need (except a stock pot, bottles, ingredients, and a big spoon) and is a bit cheaper than the one you were looking at. Plus, Midwest doesn't add on any handling charges to their shipping, you pay what they pay (about $16.72 to your location).

Another good place is Austin Homebrew. They have a similar kit for $113.98 with a better bottle. It doesn't include a bottling bucket, but it has some extras llike a big spoon in case you don't have one and a grain bag in case you get a kit that doesn't have one, or you decide to do partial mash kits. An advantage of Austin Homebrew is you'll pay just $6.99 for shipping.

Shop around, there are many great vendors out there. I've used Austin Homebrew and Midwest and they both have great service. I bought my first starter kit from Austin Homebrew and am very happy with it. I also ordered a stock pot from them (the kind with the aluminum core) and it works great on my weak little apartment stove.

I've also purchased equipment from Midwest (for kegging) and their service is great. Everything arrived quickly and accurately. They even switched out one of the kegs for a different color at my request. I also like that it only takes two days for shipping from them to my location.

Not something I've looked at much (I'm equipped) but in paging through some catalogs, the "kits" always seem to come with the double-lever (wing) cappers, and (without making an exhaustive search, since I'm equipped) I've never even seen an option to delete the double lever and upgrade to a bench capper - which is is more than worth the roughly 2x cost for the capper, IMHO. Has to be a part of why so many people "hate" bottling.

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Deficiencies in the kit posted:

No large fermenter. a 5 gallon carboy is fine for secondary on a 5 gallon batch, but you want a 6.5 gallon primary - bucket/pail is the cheap and effective option. Perhaps they want you to primary in the bottling bucket? Some people do that, but I'd still look for a 6.5 over a 6. And if you use the bottling bucket as a primary, then you can't have two batches going at once - so a dedicated primary bucket and a dedicated bottling bucket would be better.

That stupid wing capper.

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Other things usually not in any kit you ought to have:

Jet carboy and bottlewasher.

Extra airlock(s) - at least one more than the number of fermenters/secondaries you have. That way you can yank one that's full of crud and replace it with a unit that's pre-sanitized and ready to go, and you can have a batch in primary AND a batch in secondary AT THE SAME TIME. I actually have a few more than that (they are cheap) as I like to use 3-piece units (mine are full-bore on the tube - I gather some have a restriction/obstruction, but it can be broken out?) on primary, and triple-bubble on secondary.

Adequate/extra stoppers and/or grommets.

Blow-off tube.

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Stuff you probably don't need, and thus don't need to find storage space for:

Carboy brush - between PBW or oxy-clean and the Jet washer, no need.

"Includes all the ingredients for your first batch of beer!" - evidently without you getting to choose what that first batch of beer is...sheesh.

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Price things out individually, and shop around extensively. While there are sometimes "buy as a kit" savings, if the kit has stuff that's a waste of money (IMHO the wing capper .vs. getting a bench capper, for instance) it's not saving to pay for a poor tool and either have to live with it, or spend full price for a good tool anyway on top of the "kit".

Lot's of good stuff there Ecnerwal, thanks. I didn't think about asking to upgrade to a bench capper. Sounds like a good idea. And the extra airlocks too. That would prevent some panic if my first batch clogs up on me.

Lots of great info!
Thanks again guys!

I'd second the sentiments that you should go to your LHBS. Most kits are roughly the same price and you save on shipping, but more importantly, you get to meet and ask questions of the local brewing congoscenti which is an invaluable relationship when you start brewing.

I bought my equipment kit online (LHBS was selling the same thing minus DVD for $80) and bought my ingredients at the LHBS. They were very helpful and told me to bring some beer back into the store and they would tell me what I did wrong and such. We haven't brought any beer back yet, but it seems that they will be a great resource.

how about this kit - Costco - Brewcraft USA Home Brewing Equipment Kit

for $104.99 (s/h included)

*
1 Stainless Steel Stock Pot with Lid (20 Qts.)
*
1 S-Shape Airlock
*
3 ft. Clear Vinyl Tubing (5/16" I. D.)
*
1 Easy Auto Siphon Cane/Plunger unit
*
2 Six Gallon Plastic Pails (1 Lid included)
*
1 Beer Bottle Filler (Easy Flow)
*
1 Self-Adhesive Fermometer (38-78° F)
*
1 Triple Scale Wax & Shot Hydrometer
*
2 Brewcraft No Rinse Sterilizers
*
1 Grommet for Brewcraft Fermenter Lid
*
1 Nylon Bottle Brush
*
1 Red Plastic Emily Wing Capper (Caps not included)
*
1 American Wheat Recipe Pack
*
Instructions

From experience, although you can get away with fermenting batches in buckets, i would splurge on the 6.5 gal glass carboy because its deffinitly something your going to want down the road. A 5 gal glass carboy for secondary is also nice because it allows you to see whats going on. If you dont find a starter setup you like then i would just put togeather your own off of various websites. Buy the carboys at your local home brew store because shippings alot due to weight. AustinHomeBrew has flat rate 6.99 shipping and NorthernBrewer has 7.99 shipping. Your best bet overall is to look on craigslist for someone pawning off all there supplies. Good luck.

As for kegging setups i would wait and become an established hobbiest and get a few brews under your belt before hand. Theres nothing worse than losing interest later on after spending alot of money. Many of my freinds bailed because its alot of work to brew (but alot of fun...).

Edit:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11300955&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US&s=1
great deal.....nice find!

Pivzavod, personally I would pass on that kit for a couple reasons...I don't like the stock pot size included and it doesn't appear to have a ported bucket w/ spigot for bottling. I'd go with one of the Midwest or AHS kits over that one.

We use a larger than normal primary bucket so that you do not need a blow off tube. Our primary is a 7 gallon bucket while all the other stores use a smaller bucket.

If you have an auto syphon you don't need to spend extra on the bottling bucket. Just use the primary fermenter. Hook the hose to the auto syphon and the other end to the bottle filler. Give it one pump and you are good to go.

Forrest

Austinhomebrew said:

If you have an auto syphon you don't need to spend extra on the bottling bucket. Just use the primary fermenter. Hook the hose to the auto syphon and the other end to the bottle filler. Give it one pump and you are good to go.

Forrest

Click to expand...

FWIW, I have both a bottling bucket and an autosiphon and definitely pref the bucket w/ spigot over just using the autosiphon w/ the wand. Much more convenient from my POV. YMMV ect...

After listening to you guys the past 2 days I thought I would follow your advise and attempt to locate a local brew store nearby, unfortunately there are none in my county.

However, I did find a "Homebrew Group" called the Rufians, and after some detective work, located one of the group and was invited to their meeting on Wednesday!!!

I'm excited!

Here is an article

Rockland's Homebrewers-Still Crazy After All These Beers | lohud.com | The Journal News

Most likely you can get some stuff from people who have scaled up if you ask at the meeting. And there is always craigslist, since the people who have dropped out are probably not going to be at the meeting, and *all* their equipment is up for grabs...

We have bottling buckets available and some people prefer them. One advantage to having the bottling bucket is that it frees up your primary to make more beer before the other batch is finished.

The comparisons being made are on price and what they contain. If a store has the best price then something is missing. If nothing is missing then the price is too high.

I could add a bottling bucket to the kit but then the price would be more.

I also recommend going to your LHBS for the beginning kit. Just shop around first to know what you want.

Forrest

Hello,

I'm also looking to get started in the homebrew world and am looking for a starter kit. Online is my only option because I don't have a local brewstore in my area. I see three basic kits...

1. The cheap starter 1 fermenter bucket, 1 bottling bucket kit.
2. The upgrade 1 bottling bucket 1 carboy that is glass/plastic.
3. The upgrade 1 bottling, 1 fermenter, 1 carboy kit.

If I'm not looking to run multiple brews at once, should I go ahead and spring for the 2 bucket/carboy kit, or will one of the smaller kits be fine?

Either way, thanks in advance for the answers. It's great to see people knowledgable in brewing so willing to help newbies like me.

Watch Craigslist, Estate/Garage Sales and Ebay. I got a 6.5 gal glass carboy, 6.5 gal plastic bottling bucket, funnel, thermo, hydro, airlock, autosiphon, etc for $10 at an estaste sale. I got a 20Q SS pot at another for $3. And just scored a stand capper off ebay for $5.