I have not started yet, still researching but had a few questions. I'm the process of gathering my equipment. Is there a difference between a stainless steel pot and the ones that are like dark blue or black and have the white specks in them? (I don't know what they are made of) There is a big price difference between them, so was wondering if one was better than the other for this particular hobby.
Also, those starter kits, like from midwest, are these worth it or what it be better in the long run to get the gear separately? It's been my experience when places have these "starter" kits, the stuff is usually the low end of the spectrum as far as gear is concerned and I end up having to buy additional stuff down the line.
And lastly, my wife and her family drink a lot of wine that comes in these big 4L bottles, which we save. Was wondering if the bottles are cleaned and sanitized, if I could use those after the batch is done instead of regular single bottles? That would allow us to pour all the glasses of beer from one chilled bottle and obviously save me time on doing the single bottle thing. The only downside I see on this so far is that if the whole bottle is not consumed after opening, whatever is left would go bad, but with the amount of people we have drinking the beer, I don't think that would be a problem. Am I missing something on this?
Thanks for any help....
Also, those starter kits, like from midwest, are these worth it or what it be better in the long run to get the gear separately? It's been my experience when places have these "starter" kits, the stuff is usually the low end of the spectrum as far as gear is concerned and I end up having to buy additional stuff down the line.
And lastly, my wife and her family drink a lot of wine that comes in these big 4L bottles, which we save. Was wondering if the bottles are cleaned and sanitized, if I could use those after the batch is done instead of regular single bottles? That would allow us to pour all the glasses of beer from one chilled bottle and obviously save me time on doing the single bottle thing. The only downside I see on this so far is that if the whole bottle is not consumed after opening, whatever is left would go bad, but with the amount of people we have drinking the beer, I don't think that would be a problem. Am I missing something on this?
Thanks for any help....