Tax refund in my favor!!! What should I buy???

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twanger1994

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So this year for the first time ever in my life I will be getting a very nice refund from uncle sam!!!!!!!!!

A friend of mine just ventured into the homebrew scene. Goes with out saying but I loved the idea of making this a major hobby of mine....

My Question to all you Guru's is since I have this nice piece of change to spend:
is a list of all the equipment I will need. A killer list at that.

I know, ive seen all the starter kits, A good start just like many people probably my buddy outgrew it almost after his first batch. So I got the money to spend im looking for a killer list with everything needed. Im talking all the bells and whistles. My plan is to take sometime to find everything at the best possible price. thanx your fellow rookie brewer.

:mug: Cheers
 
Every one has different kit from different suppliers.
Here's my advice and list.

Most people learn how to make beer with extract kits ans quite a few eventually move to All Grain. I suggest getting a kit that will allow you to move up to the AG without having to reinvent the wheel.
Now it depends if you are talking about spending $1000s or $100s, if you want to brew indoo

I've based the list below on the $100s rather than $1000s option.

Option 1.

To learn how easy it is and get beer in a bottle a MR beer kit..........but after 1 or 2 brews you'll be hooked and want more.

Option 2.


Two plastic pails and a stove top pot for partial boils with extract kits.
Great if you don't want to move on. add a grain bag if you want to steep speciality grains. You'll need bottles and a capper

Option 3.

By this stage you'll be look looking at mini mashes, again you can do this with most of the kit you have but you'll be looking at better methods to mash and sparge so a small cooler of a bucket with many holes drilled in may added to the kit.

By this stage you'll probably be fed up of bottling and wanting kegs.

So you can go through all that or just jump in at

option 4.

Now you can spend what you want on this but lets say SWMBO says no.

Hot Liquor Tank.
Grain mill (Optional)
Mash/Lauter tun
Kettle
Primary Fermenter
Secondary Fermenter
Keg System

Hot liquor tank can be the kettle if you want to or a separate tank with spigot and it's own heater. I use a plastic pale with an immersion heater.
Mash Tun again a separate vessel with manifold, spigot and heater but a converted cooler is well suited to the job.
Kettle Ideally a converted keg with strainer and spigot with its own heat source.
Fermenters A choice of plastic pails, better bottles, glass carboys. either 6.5 and 5 gallon or 2x 6.5 gallon. Or the doggies dodaas,.. a SS conical.:D
Keg System at least 2 cornies, 1 CO2 bottle and regulator. You may want to look at a converted fridge/freezer for storing and serving.

Then of course from there there a integrated brew sculptures etc.

There's obviously a few sundries to go with this but you spot what you need later.


The sky's the limit. Lots of reading to do followed by lots of asking and listening. think twice buy once.

Good luck on you adventure.:mug:
 
Skip the Mr. Beer and go straight to extract. Here's the affordable essentials (debatable, i know):

Brewpot
6.5 gal plastic fermenter (primary)
5 gallon glass/BB carboy (secondary) w/cap
Hydrometer
Plastic/Metal Wort Spoon
5-6 gal. plastic Bottling Bucket w/ spigot
48-50 12oz. bottles
Bottle Capper
Siphoning Tubing
Fermentation Airlock
Bottle Caps
StarSan or other sanitizer
and ingredients (malt, corn sugar, yeast, hops, etc.)

Other items you may want later: liquid thermometer, autosiphon, ah, I could go on forever here...

This is a good kit for beginning: Basic Starter Kit $62.00
http://www.northernbrewer.com/starterkits.html
(I would just add the carboy, but even it isn't necessary, esp. for your first.)

cheers! :mug:
and welcome!
 
Depends on the nice piece of change. If I ran into a windfall and SWMBO didn't mind, I'd get one of these puppies. Only $1750 at Morebeer.com

1874.jpg
 
If you've got about $1K to spend, morebeer.com also has this cheaper 10 gal setup. I think I've seen a few guys around here that have these. I think this system even comes with the wort chiller. The only other stuff you would need would be the fermenters, hydro, racking cane, etc. that would come in a starter kit (~ $100).

If you've still got left over, then you could look into setting up a kegerator.

1867.jpg
 
knipknup said:
I'm gonna buy a lower balance on my amex card with my rebate... :(

That is the smartest thing to do with a refund. Unless someone is already out of debt, then it should be invested. I'm discovering this way too late.
 
As others have said...how much $$$ will determine what you can get. But, if you are posting to *this* forum, then you are probably already thinking of brewing all-grain. In which case...

The suggestion above to check out Northern Brewer's kits is a good one. They have kits that cover the range, from simple extract-only beginners' kits to kits for those who are already looking into all-grain brewing. Get one of those. They're comprised of all very good equipment. The only foreseeable upgrade from that would be if you wanted to brew beyond five-gallon batches, and that would be a big upgrade. Many brewers do go that direction (if you have the right equipment, it's not really much more labor/time than brewing a five-gallon batch). But, some brewers like to brew, a lot, so they brew often in five-gallon batches. (I'm one of those.)

That said, look at either their Ultimate or Deluxe starter kits (decide if you want to get right into kegging or not--don't forget refrigerator space, though) and then, if you want all-grain capability, pick up their Deluxe All-Grain System (I'd strongly suggest the ten-gallon set-up, even if you will start off brewing in five-gallon batches; this capacity is for grain and water, which could potentially be quite a bit more than five gallons--I went for a ten-gallon mashing set-up based on advice given here, and I now know it was good advice!).

MoreBeer.com also has the full range of kits (and free shipping!), including that lusty scultpure EdWort posted above.

If you are a beginner, it's best to get a kit, and they have good quality, higher-end kits that will allow you to develop as a brewer. Most homebrewers start off with kits (has anyone not?) and upgrade a lot on along the way. So, if you can, why not get a kit that won't really require much upgrading?

Enjoy! Happy brewing!
 
Off topic a bit, but now's also a great time to adjust your W4 to fix whatever caused the big refund. Nothing like stuffing money under the mattress to lose to inflation or worse; letting the IRS use it all year.
 
Lil' Sparky said:
If you've got about $1K to spend, morebeer.com also has this cheaper 10 gal setup. I think I've seen a few guys around here that have these. I think this system even comes with the wort chiller. The only other stuff you would need would be the fermenters, hydro, racking cane, etc. that would come in a starter kit (~ $100).
If you've still got left over, then you could look into setting up a kegerator.

1867.jpg


I have about 500-600 the list im looking for is all the little odds and ends people would commonly forget. thnx guys nice responces. Very satisfied with the forum.

there is a hundred different stater kits out there which do ya think is the best bang for the buck.... happy brewing all!!!!
 
By the way I cant get into the syrups and all that. My belief is if your going to do it do it all the way. thats why im looking to get it all so after I blow the cash ill atleast have the beer and a great time killer.
 
I'm sure you'll get a lot of great responses regarding brewing equipment and such, so I won't add my own. But I would offer you this advice. Almost independent of where you live, you will probably want to control the temperature of your fermentation. It might not seem important to you now, but it made the biggest difference for me. So...

Buy a chest freezer or old refrig with some of your cash. And a johnson temp controller from Morebeer or some other place. That way, all year round, you can keep a carboy of beer fermenting at exactly the temp you want. You don't want to have a three tier brewing system and have to cool your carboy in the bathtub with 2-liter bottles of ice, right?

Any way you swing it, good luck to you. Have fun! Cheers!

monk
 
Twanger. First, where in NJ are you? I'm down in the Piscataway/New Brunswick area.

You also don't have to buy a kit if you don't want to. You can assemble everything you need in a big order. You have to decide if you want to boil on your stove or go outside. Do you have access to a natural gas line for your burner or will you get a propane tank. Once you move outside, you can go for bigger pots for full boils or even larger batches. There are so many factors that play into equipment selections so it's not a problem you can necessarily just throw money at. Well, you can if it's unlimitted.

If you're looking to do 5gal all grain batches, you'll need at least a 8-10gallon pot which will need to be fired on a turkey fryer style burner setup.

If you're local enough, you're welcome to come check out my setup.
 
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