First, allow me to take a moment to introduce myself.
I'm a happy Canuck who has been wanting to take on a home brew setup for quite some time, but have never had room for it. SWMBO and I have recently moved into a new house, and we're in the process of finishing our basement, in which I'll have room for a Wet Bar/Brew Station including Refrigerator/Sink/Slate Work Surface and storage that resides at a comfy and reasonably stable 69 degrees.
The Wet Bar/ Brew Station will be an against the wall affair, kind of like a mini kitchen, and we'll have about 8' of counter run (including the sink) with some uppers including a custom Carboy Rack Ill hand-build for fermenting/gravity-siphoning with some special safety features such as a heavy-duty lever operated swing-up holder to eliminate lifting and pushing heavy/full carboys onto a high shelf. We'll have a slate or stone countertop and backsplash, so we can use a burner to boil wort right on the counter (if desired - and with some safety precautions).
We'll have the capacity to store up to 4 5g carboys or demijohns for fermenting and plan to have a 6.5g primary with several 5g secondarys on the go in light controlled conditions at any one time. (I like a variety of beers, so the ability to have some pale/reds/fruity/unusual beer on the go at any one time will be a nice side benefit.)
I've been looking at "Kits" and starters and whatnot, but think I want to personalize my setup with equipment chosen by me.
Based on the very good information on these forums, I've decided to start with extract brews and work toward partial mash or all grain at some future point.
To these ends, I think the following shopping list will allow me to begin my brew odyssey and really experience the joys of creating my own.
I'd be happy to listen to any feedback on my parts-list and/or tips from the community here. Everyone seems like good folks, and there's never a bad time to talk about beer, or help others enjoy their own beer, IMHO.
From morebeer.com:
BE300 Boiling Kettle 5g ~$34.95
FE330 Glass Carboy 6.5g ~$22.00
2x FE505 Carboy Hood (6.5 G) ~$2.50ea
2x FE510 Carboy Handle (6.5g) ~5.50ea
2x FE320 Glass Carboy 5g ~$18.50ea
2x FE500 Rubber Carboy Hood (5gallon) ~$2.50ea
2x FE510 Carboy Handle ~4.50ez
2xBE450 Carboy Drainer ~$6.75ea
2x R375 :Racking Cane, Stainless 3/8" x 26" ~$10.95 ea
~10-15' of 3/8" ID tubing ~$5.00
R410 Plastic Ball Valve (3/8" ID) x2 ~$2.25 ea
2xFE370 3 Piece Airlock ~$1.00 ea
Y410 500 ML Erlinmeyer Flask ~$5.95
MT380 Thermometer ~$7.95
For 1 6.5g and 1 5g carboy ~$144.00
For Complete List ~$185.00
Upgrade Wishlist:
FE550 Fermentap (Turn a carboy upside down into a pseudo-conical) ~$24.50
A burner/Stand to use with the kettle (May go to a camp equipment store for this) ?
Subtotal with wishlist ~$210+
Now to make it go:
KIT05: Light Ale Extract $18.00
KIT115: MId Brown Extract $18.00
KIT118 Berry Beer - Extract $24.00
KIT 145: Irish Red Ale - Extract $24.00
KIT605 Thanksgiving Ale - Extract (pumpkin) $21.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$113
For $~325 get All brewing equipment, ability to brew ~10 gallons at one time, and 25 gal worth of a variety of beers.
Note: Ill get bottling supplies as I go along so as to alleviate the initial expense, and so as to possibly alternate bottle colours for different beer types. I may also look at some sort of 1 g solution as a mini keg or beer-pig sorta deal for in the fridge, on-tap.
I'm a happy Canuck who has been wanting to take on a home brew setup for quite some time, but have never had room for it. SWMBO and I have recently moved into a new house, and we're in the process of finishing our basement, in which I'll have room for a Wet Bar/Brew Station including Refrigerator/Sink/Slate Work Surface and storage that resides at a comfy and reasonably stable 69 degrees.
The Wet Bar/ Brew Station will be an against the wall affair, kind of like a mini kitchen, and we'll have about 8' of counter run (including the sink) with some uppers including a custom Carboy Rack Ill hand-build for fermenting/gravity-siphoning with some special safety features such as a heavy-duty lever operated swing-up holder to eliminate lifting and pushing heavy/full carboys onto a high shelf. We'll have a slate or stone countertop and backsplash, so we can use a burner to boil wort right on the counter (if desired - and with some safety precautions).
We'll have the capacity to store up to 4 5g carboys or demijohns for fermenting and plan to have a 6.5g primary with several 5g secondarys on the go in light controlled conditions at any one time. (I like a variety of beers, so the ability to have some pale/reds/fruity/unusual beer on the go at any one time will be a nice side benefit.)
I've been looking at "Kits" and starters and whatnot, but think I want to personalize my setup with equipment chosen by me.
Based on the very good information on these forums, I've decided to start with extract brews and work toward partial mash or all grain at some future point.
To these ends, I think the following shopping list will allow me to begin my brew odyssey and really experience the joys of creating my own.
I'd be happy to listen to any feedback on my parts-list and/or tips from the community here. Everyone seems like good folks, and there's never a bad time to talk about beer, or help others enjoy their own beer, IMHO.
From morebeer.com:
BE300 Boiling Kettle 5g ~$34.95
FE330 Glass Carboy 6.5g ~$22.00
2x FE505 Carboy Hood (6.5 G) ~$2.50ea
2x FE510 Carboy Handle (6.5g) ~5.50ea
2x FE320 Glass Carboy 5g ~$18.50ea
2x FE500 Rubber Carboy Hood (5gallon) ~$2.50ea
2x FE510 Carboy Handle ~4.50ez
2xBE450 Carboy Drainer ~$6.75ea
2x R375 :Racking Cane, Stainless 3/8" x 26" ~$10.95 ea
~10-15' of 3/8" ID tubing ~$5.00
R410 Plastic Ball Valve (3/8" ID) x2 ~$2.25 ea
2xFE370 3 Piece Airlock ~$1.00 ea
Y410 500 ML Erlinmeyer Flask ~$5.95
MT380 Thermometer ~$7.95
For 1 6.5g and 1 5g carboy ~$144.00
For Complete List ~$185.00
Upgrade Wishlist:
FE550 Fermentap (Turn a carboy upside down into a pseudo-conical) ~$24.50
A burner/Stand to use with the kettle (May go to a camp equipment store for this) ?
Subtotal with wishlist ~$210+
Now to make it go:
KIT05: Light Ale Extract $18.00
KIT115: MId Brown Extract $18.00
KIT118 Berry Beer - Extract $24.00
KIT 145: Irish Red Ale - Extract $24.00
KIT605 Thanksgiving Ale - Extract (pumpkin) $21.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$113
For $~325 get All brewing equipment, ability to brew ~10 gallons at one time, and 25 gal worth of a variety of beers.
Note: Ill get bottling supplies as I go along so as to alleviate the initial expense, and so as to possibly alternate bottle colours for different beer types. I may also look at some sort of 1 g solution as a mini keg or beer-pig sorta deal for in the fridge, on-tap.