How is this for a cheap beginner setup?

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stevodenteufel

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Hey everyone, I recently setup some mead in a 1 gal container and it got me interested in making beer. Im presently working on a cheap setup so I can brew beer, here is a list of my stuff let me know what you think :

-3 gal Glass Carboy with airlock (going to be making 3 gal batches)
-3 gallon pot
-5 gal foodsafe bucket, need to drill it for an airlock
-Hygro/Temp combo
-tons of misc vinyl tubing (thanks to my Aquaria hobby lol)
-8 oz Starsan

I have a stove top so I opted not to buy a burner as the pot will easily fit on it. Is this the way to go?

What do you guys think? The idea is to ferment in the bucket, then transfer to the glass carboy, and from there bottle. Am I missing something? Keep in mind this setup is meant to be cheap for now
 
No need for glass carboy. They sure do look awsome but plastic buckets work perfect and are much easier to clean. You can get them free too. I would spring for a bottling wand. Get bottles free. 20 dollar brew pot all wallmart.... grain bag.... you good to go.
 
BlainD said:
No need for glass carboy. They sure do look awsome but plastic buckets work perfect and are much easier to clean. You can get them free too. I would spring for a bottling wand. Get bottles free. 20 dollar brew pot all wallmart.... grain bag.... you good to go.
Click to expand...

I actually have a brew pot, well its a big black pot. Do the materials matter? I know I see that people say aluminum and SS are the best (Im assuming this one is aluminum), but does it matter? A already got the carboy actually, I feel it'll store better (ie my dad not dumping it one day when he finds a bucket of yeasty brown water haha). If it messes with the flavor Ill go get a new one.

Do I need a bottling wand or will a vinyl tube and some suction work fine? And do I need to buy a grain bag from a homebrewer or would walmart or somebody having something similar I can use? I ask because Im not aware of any homebrew stores near me so everything I get is online.

Thanks for the input though! Really appreciate it :)
 
You should get yourself a 5 gallon kettle so you can do full boils and not have to worry about boilovers. 3 gallon kettles for 3 gallon batches will result in less final wort or potential messy boils.
 
malevolent said:
You should get yourself a 5 gallon kettle so you can do full boils and not have to worry about boilovers. 3 gallon kettles for 3 gallon batches will result in less final wort or potential messy boils.
Click to expand...


What are boilovers? And I have a 3 gal carboy for this, so wouldnt a 5 gal be too much? Sorry I dont know too much about all this yet haha
 
stevodenteufel said:
What are boilovers? And I have a 3 gal carboy for this, so wouldnt a 5 gal be too much? Sorry I dont know too much about all this yet haha
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http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter7-2.html

"A foam will start to rise and form a smooth surface. This is good. If the foam suddenly billows over the side, this is a boil-over (Bad). If it looks like it is going to boil over, either lower the heat or spray the surface with water from a spray bottle. The foam is caused by proteins in the wort that coagulate due to the rolling action of the boil. The wort will continue to foam until the protein clumps get heavy enough to sink back into the pot. You will see particles floating around in the wort. It may look like Egg Drop Soup. This is called the Hot break and may take 5-20 minutes to occur, depending on the amount of protein in your extract. Often the first hop addition triggers a great deal of foaming, especially if hop pellets are used. I recommend waiting until the Hot break occurs before doing your first Hop addition and timing the hour. The extra boiling time won't hurt."

In terms of your kettle size, you want it slightly oversized. During your boil you are going to boil-off some of your wort, so if you have a 3 gallon kettle, you can end up with 2 or less gallons of beer
 
Thanks! That site you linked looks like a pretty good resource. I have another question, I was looking around the forums as Ive been doing for a while and I was wondering how much clearance I should leave in the carboy? Should I use a blow off valve? It looks like a blow off valve is just a modified 3-piece airlock, am I right in assuming this?
Yet again, thanks for all the help everyone, sorry for all the questions guys, Ill try to get them out of my system early on hahaha
 
stevodenteufel said:
What are boilovers? And I have a 3 gal carboy for this, so wouldnt a 5 gal be too much? Sorry I dont know too much about all this yet haha
Click to expand...

Boil-overs are a gross sticky mess that take a lot of elbow grease to clean-up.

We've all done it!


Since you are so very new to all of this... I highly suggest you get in touch with one of these brew-groups in your area. It is good to have mentors. Since you are still not 21... according to your profile... spend time learning about brewing before investing money. It will be time well-worth spent.

http://clubs.homebrewtalk.com/State/Connecticut/

http://clubs.homebrewtalk.com/DB/Connecticut/Canton/Farmington_Valley_Br_167/
 
Chesterbelloc said:
Boil-overs are a gross sticky mess that take a lot of elbow grease to clean-up.

We've all done it!


Listen to these guys they know what they are talking about...
Click to expand...

Dont worry, Im taking note of what everyone is telling me. Hear to learn not to waste everyones time and then do my own thing haha. I may go take a look at the pot we have down here, if its not over 3 gal I'll just head over to wal mart and fork over the $20 or so for a big pot.
 
stevodenteufel said:
Dont worry, Im taking note of what everyone is telling me. Hear to learn not to waste everyones time and then do my own thing haha. I may go take a look at the pot we have down here, if its not over 3 gal I'll just head over to wal mart and fork over the $20 or so for a big pot.
Click to expand...

You can also get a spray bottle, fill it with cold water, and then when the foam starts to come up to the top, just spray a few squirts.

OR Get something called fermcap-s which actually eats away at the foam. Generally how I control boilovers.
 
stevodenteufel said:
Do I need a bottling wand or will a vinyl tube and some suction work fine?
Click to expand...

yeah that will work, But trust me don't get cheap there. Spend the 8 bucks. It will make bottling a hell of a lot easier and probably save you at least 1 beer in waste per batch (I know some of you probably don't use them and are season'd salty vets that disagree but this is advice for a noob).
 
malevolent said:
You can also get a spray bottle, fill it with cold water, and then when the foam starts to come up to the top, just spray a few squirts.

OR Get something called fermcap-s which actually eats away at the foam. Generally how I control boilovers.
Click to expand...

How about my question about tho carboy clearance and the blow off valve? I was actually reading on the site you linked about controlling it. Gonna probably read up on the site tomorrow since I have at the least 2 weeks before I get my first brew going, but realistically thinking maybe a month.
 
stevodenteufel said:
How about my question about tho carboy clearance and the blow off valve? I was actually reading on the site you linked about controlling it. Gonna probably read up on the site tomorrow since I have at the least 2 weeks before I get my first brew going, but realistically thinking maybe a month.
Click to expand...

you dont need a blow off tube for your carboy as you said you will be using the bucket as a primary if you are planning on using the carboy as a primary fermenter you are setting yourself up for a MESS! Blow off tube or not. you need head space in your fermenter. So, with a 3 gal fermenter you should limit batches to 2ish gal. but the 5 gal bucket will work perfect and then after a couple 2-3 or more weeks you can use the carboy as a 2ndary/brite tank for bulk aging, fruit additions, adding gelatin for further fining, etc.

as for your pot choice, I would make sure your pot is aluminium or stainless. If it is an enameled steel canning type pot you can sometimes get metallic flavors in your beer as these types of pots often chip leaving exposed metal to touch your precious hoppy liquor.

I would also recommend an auto siphon and bottling wand. they make life a lot easier. and I sometimes use my auto siphon as a thief for taking grav readings mid ferment. They are great to have around.

Most importantly, remember this is a hobby and have fun with it. in my opinion read up, watch you tube vids, don't skimp on sanitation, and let yourself be creative. it's hard to screw up a beer if you are clean/sanitary and understand the basic process. :mug:
 
fletchsj said:
you dont need a blow off tube for your carboy as you said you will be using the bucket as a primary if you are planning on using the carboy as a primary fermenter you are setting yourself up for a MESS! Blow off tube or not. you need head space in your fermenter. So, with a 3 gal fermenter you should limit batches to 2ish gal. but the 5 gal bucket will work perfect and then after a couple 2-3 or more weeks you can use the carboy as a 2ndary/brite tank for bulk aging, fruit additions, adding gelatin for further fining, etc.

as for your pot choice, I would make sure your pot is aluminium or stainless. If it is an enameled steel canning type pot you can sometimes get metallic flavors in your beer as these types of pots often chip leaving exposed metal to touch your precious hoppy liquor.

I would also recommend an auto siphon and bottling wand. they make life a lot easier. and I sometimes use my auto siphon as a thief for taking grav readings mid ferment. They are great to have around.

Most importantly, remember this is a hobby and have fun with it. in my opinion read up, watch you tube vids, don't skimp on sanitation, and let yourself be creative. it's hard to screw up a beer if you are clean/sanitary and understand the basic process. :mug:
Click to expand...

Im using the bucket for primary. I was assuming secondary needed some headroom as well but if not than thats good hahaha. Yeah carboy is strictly for secondary beer brewing, and maybe in the summer Ill use it to get some gooseberry wine going. Hmm, I'll be sure to go see what Wal Mart/Marshalls have as far as 5 gal pots go then. Yeah, Im pretty crazy with sanitation, Id hate to see a perfectly good drink (and all the money) go to waste cause of it. With my Mead I made sure to clean everything with a bleach solution, though for the beer Im gonna do a nice starsan wash to get everything clean and good to go.
 
stevodenteufel said:
Im using the bucket for primary. I was assuming secondary needed some headroom as well but if not than thats good hahaha. Yeah carboy is strictly for secondary beer brewing, and maybe in the summer Ill use it to get some gooseberry wine going. Hmm, I'll be sure to go see what Wal Mart/Marshalls have as far as 5 gal pots go then. Yeah, Im pretty crazy with sanitation, Id hate to see a perfectly good drink (and all the money) go to waste cause of it. With my Mead I made sure to clean everything with a bleach solution, though for the beer Im gonna do a nice starsan wash to get everything clean and good to go.
Click to expand...

the dollar store sells an off brand oxyclean chlorine free. works great for cleaning and they also have spray bottles for star san. i just put the star san in the spray bottle and spray everything down real well. works great and saves money on star san.
 

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