Homebrewing beginner w/ equipment questions

Greetings -

I am currently in the process of acquiring all necessary equipment to start homebrewing! I found someone in my community who is selling a lot of his old equipment, so I see it as a good way to get started inexpensively. Here is the equipment I bought:

2 6 gallon Better bottles
1 7.5 gallon fermentation bucket
1 7.5 gallon bottling bucket
2 1 gallon glass jugs
1/2 inch Kettle screen with 3/8 thread(Bazooka Screen)
2 bottle cappers
2000ML Glass Flask for making starters
10-15 gallons worth of empty 12oz bottles(some are label free most need to be cleaned)
Auto siphon, racking cane, wine thief, bottle capper, sanitizer/test strips and other small items

I need to get a kettle. Any suggestions? Would I be better suited getting a 10 gal or 15 gal?

Any other suggestions, concerning either equipment or techniques, for a homebrewing beginner? Any advice would be helpful!

Many thanks, and cheers!

Collin

For doing all extract or mini mash brewing you can use as small as a 5 gallon kettle to brew in. Then when you move to all grain you will need a bigger pot depending on which method you decide to use to do all grain brewing if you move on to all grain brewing. Besides that the next thing I would do is make sure you acquire some form of a fermentation chamber.

If it were me, I would get a 10 gal kettle if this is your first go at homebrew. This will give you plenty of room to boil kit beers and enough room for an all-grain 5 gal batch down the road (where you typically boil 6-7 gals).

looks like quite the score! good luck!

For ~5 gallon batches, a 10 gallon kettle is a good size. If you plan on going to 10 gallon batches, then you'll want at least a 15 gallon kettle.

I put 6.5-7 gallons into primary, so that I can fill two 3 gallon corny kegs from each batch.

For the kettle, you have several options. If you're handy, you could build one yourself (done that). Or you could just buy one already set up. I have a Blichmann 10 gallon kettle right now that I use for my batches. When I go to 10 gallon batches, I'm thinking about converting a 1/2 barrel keg into a keggle. I already have the ball valve assembly, as well as a dip tube assembly. I'd just need to make the sight glass/tube for it (going a different route than what most sell there). I'll probably install a thermometer into the kettle too, since I really like having one in the Blichmann kettle. Makes it much easier when you know how close to a boil you are.

I would suggest either making, or buying, a stirplate, since you have a flask already. Means you can make much smaller starters for your batches.

I am just starting out myself but I went with 10 gal because I know I will move to AG soon. I also got a good deal.

Keep in mind if you are going to do full boils with a big kettle you will usually need a heat source (turkey fryer, propane burner), and I would recommend a wort chiller.

+1 on something for fermentation temp control, at the minimum a swamp cooler set up.

IMO, bigger is better. If you can get a 15.5 gallon keggle, do it. If not, get the biggest pot you can afford. Aluminum or stainless will work. Both have their pros and cons, and it's really just a matter of preference.

You'll also need to get a burner, so these two will depend on each other. Bigger batches in a bigger pot will require a bigger burner. I can boil 8 gallons in a 10 gallon pot on a 45k BTU burner without much problem.

Thanks all - great info! I have a turkey fryer and eye burner that we use quite often to create some delicious southern offerings. Also, I am planning on brewing in my crawlspace where the temp is relatively stable year round ~60-70 degrees. There is 6 ft of clearance inside, and it is my mancave, of sorts. A bit musty, but not too bad. Good/bad idea?

Ventilation may be a problem. Unless you can get some good cross breezes going, I wouldn't recommend that. A ventilation fan or a couple open windows might be enough, but I urge caution. You could always brew outside or in your garage, and then ferment in the crawlspace.

Depends on what the musty smell source is. If you're planning on fermenting in there, you'll want to eliminate any potential sources of mold and mildew (and such).

If you're using a propane burner, use it outside, or in an extremely well ventilated area. I use mine in a screened in porch (screen on two sides).

Keep in mind, you'll want to monitor the wort temperature. Depending on the yeast strain, this can be several degrees above ambient.

If you're thinking about converting the pot you use to fry turkey in, consider how much work it will be to remove all the oil traces from inside it. If it's not stainless steel, that can be a lot of work. You also don't want to use the brew kettle for anything else.