$1000 available for home brewing setup...

I've been looking at getting into home brewing for a while, and soon the factors that have kept me from doing it will no longer be an issue.

Midwest Supplies is less than 10 miles from home and I have about $1000 I'm willing to spend on equipment. I intend to get into AG as soon as I get a couple batches under my belt and I prefer the idea of kegging over bottling.

Having said that, what would you buy for start up? Keep in mind that I don't feel like I NEED to spend the whole $1000, that's just what I have set aside since I assume it will become an obsession.

Cheers!

kegging can be expensive, so explore those costs before you get too far. especially multiple tap systems, plus the cost of a freezer....2-3 tap system could easily eat up half your budget.

otherwise, a big brew pot (10-15 gal) is the major purchase. don't skimp there. remember, it'll last forever.

What size batches? How handy are you at DIY?

Get yourself a basic 2 bucket kit (one with spigot for bottling). It should come with a hydrometer, thermometer, bottle capper, bottling wand, auto siphon, sanitizer and various other goodies. You'll need most, if not all of these things regardless of going all grain, kegging, etc. Get yourself a pot that's big enough to do a full 5 gallon boil (if you decide you hate brewing in a few months at least you'll have something to make a party size batch of chili). Then do a couple of partial mash batches and make sure that you not only have the desire, but the time, space, and patience to make it happen.

After that you can start piecing together your AG setup, and you'll know everything you need if you keep following along here during that time.

For kegging, find yourself a good cheap (or free) Craig's list fridge/freezer, and take advantage of the holiday deals at one of this site's many supporting vendors to get yourself a basic kit.

Buy used.

I just had a look at my brewing journal, where I track expenses pretty religiously. With ingredients and equipment, I'm at $1199 and six batches in. That has included:

-Ultimate Starter Kit from Northern Brewer
-7 CF Holiday Freezer
-Temp Controller
-4-pack of used kegs and rebuild supplies
-Star-san and Keg Lube
-extra Glass Carboy
-all ingredients, a fill of CO2, etc.

What I don't have, that I wish I had:
-a big brew pot.
-Tap handles, shanks, CO2 distributor
-A collar on my keezer
-An immersion chiller
-equipment to make starters

If I had it to do over, I might have held off on the extra kegs and gotten a stir plate, flask, stoppers, etc. to make starters. I could have saved about 150 bucks by buying a used freezer, but I couldn't find one after a couple of months and gave up.

My plan is to get starter stuff next, then a big pot and chiller (probably a propane burner, too, since the 5 gallon full boil may be too much for my stove). I'll dip a toe into all-grain by trying BIAB, and at some point I just have to get my keezer sorted out.

If you don't count ingredients and consumables, my total is $872.

I'd second a big brew pot (15 gal), which will allow you to do 10 gal batches in the future. For all grain look for an Igloo Ice cube cooler. It will allow huge grain bill for 5 gal batch or 25-30 lb grain bill for 10 gal batches. I quickly went from single 5 gal batches last winter to 10 gal batches when I moved to a 20 gal brewpot. I have my old 10 gal brewpot and two propane burners and was able to do 2-10 gal batches for the first time a month ago (Belgian strong ale and IPA) in just 9 hours, including milling. It use to take 6 hours for 5 gal.

Buy slowly. Look forward to every purchase. Buy too much too fast and you are going to end up with a bunch of crap you won't use or of a quality you'll be ashamed of.

Grow little by little and yes, skip that bottling step and go to kegs.

I like Midwest supply they seem to have pretty good prices, and since you wont have to pay shipping thats even better. They do have some good start up kits you could look into with some add ons for a little extra, and you wont even scratch the surface of that $1000. I think thats were I would start.

Best of luck to you.

If I had that kind of cash I'd probably get the minimal amount of equipment to constitute a "nice" brew setup.

Probably some 15 gallon pots, a nice mash tun, a brew stand, wort chiller, etc. Middle-Class type setup if you get me.

What equipment, if any, do you already have? Assuming you have absolutely nothing, here is what I'd recomend in order:
1. Books on how to brew.
2. A turkey fryer, or at least the burner portion.
3. A good starter equipment kit. Not the biggest kit, not the smallest either.
4. A good stainless steel kettle. Preferably one big enough to do full boils (8 gals) at least.
5. A wort chiller, or the parts to make one yourself.
6. A cooler and parts for a mash tun (to do all grain batches).
7. A keg system/setup.

All of that would probably have you through most of that $1000 with possibly a little left over, especially with all the sales going on right now.

BendBrewer said:

Buy slowly. Look forward to every purchase. Buy too much too fast and you are going to end up with a bunch of crap you won't use or of a quality you'll be ashamed of.

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I agree. Speaking from experience, one day you will look back and think "what did I get this for?". I also think investing in a good brew pot is a great investment.

being fairly new myslef, it sounds really odd that you want to start out so big. you need to start small.

KMKsuburbannoise said:

being fairly new myslef, it sounds really odd that you want to start out so big. you need to start small.

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Just curious...

What do you consider small and why do you advocate this for a new brewer?

arturo7 said:

Just curious...

What do you consider small and why do you advocate this for a new brewer?

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I was just thinking that all you need is maybe $250 or $300 to buy some buckets, a brew pot, a carboy and other utensils along with a kit to start.

here is what I Have into my brewing set up thus far.

2 15 gallon 1/2 barrel kegs $50.00
SS couplings fittings to outfit keggles $80.00
tubing is for the for NG jet burner
23 tip burner $25.00
Turkey fryer $40.00 for stand I guess not using the pot or burner it came with

25 1/2" RUBBER AIR/VACCUM HOSE
1 1/2" MALE X BARB ADPT.
2 1/2 SS BALL VALVE
1 3/4X1/2 STD WELD REDUCER
304SS CONC BUTT WELD RED
6 1/2 316SS 150LB COUPLING
2 1/2XCL 316SS NIPPLE
THIS IS A HEX NIPPLE
1 1/2 MALE NPT X AIR KING SS

2 SSFTG 1/2 150# 304 TEE
1 1" SOCKET WELD 304 SS 150LB
COUPLING

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Freezer already had at home but picked up for $50.00
10 Cornie Kegs $100
BrewMasters Silver Kit $109
Hefeweizen Kit $20.00

so far im $474 into it and haven't even brewed a batch yet.

still need a CO2 kit and taps $175

SHHhhh don't tell SWMBO how much I have spent.


-=jason=-

I haven't seen anyone mention fermentation temperature control setup yet. Down in this subtropical sweatpit, that means a way to keep my fermentors cold. I use a plastic tub wrapped in blankets, water, and ice bottles. In your area, that might mean some way to keep the fermentor warmed up. Maybe someone from your area will chime in with better advice.

Oh, and I do 5 and 6 gal all grain batches, and the 8 1/4 gal kettle that I have isn't really big enough. I get by with it, but I really would like a 10 gal, at least. That way I could boil down some more for those really high gravity brews.

KMKsuburbannoise said:

I was just thinking that all you need is maybe $250 or $300 to buy some buckets, a brew pot, a carboy and other utensils along with a kit to start.

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Ah, I thought you were suggesting a small batch size, i.e. 2 or 3 gallon. Your suggestion of starting with a small system then adding bit by bit is a good one.

Spending also depends on weather or not you have some basic fabrication tools and/or skills.

Send me $1000 I'll set you up

phishfood said:

I haven't seen anyone mention fermentation temperature control setup yet.

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This is where I would sink some money. Maybe buy a used side by side frig/freezer for lagering. That is what I would go for next.

I originally bought a basic kits (one 7.5 gal bucket 6 gallon PET Carboy) capper brushes, hydrometer, star san, auto siphon etc...

I want to brew lagers but at this point the temp control is my biggest hurdle.

So think of what you want to brew and gear yourself in that direction.

Make a plan and go for it.

I've got a mini fridge I'm going to convert into a fermentation box

-=Jason=-

I think your best bet is to start small. Having a bunch of fancy equipment does not make good beer, practice does. I would recomend that you buy a starter kit and do some 5 gal extract batches. Now i'm not saying that fancy equipment isn't nice, I love my kegging setup and AG equipment, but it didn't make my beer any better. There will be plenty of time later for you to sink money into the hobby like the rest of us have !

for me I like to go big. My first batch is going to be an extract kit, but I'd like to keg instead of bottling, hence why I need a kegging setup in the first place. well now I must build a keezer to house my newly kegged beer. and the temp in my garage goes from 30's in the morning to 50's in the afternoon so fermentation box is in order. inside the house its kept at a steady 68° a closed off closet might be cooler and suitable for fermentation I'll have to check.


kinda sucks I am wired that way and can't just buy the kit and bottle and be done with it, but thats just how I am.

-=Jason=-

Flomaster said:

kinda sucks I am wired that way and can't just buy the kit and bottle and be done with it, but thats just how I am.

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I'm the same way. I have no desire to play with bottles, caps, buckets with spigots, bottle trees, etc.

I started a little backwards compared to most people. I thought about how I wanted the beer to be served and built a keezer. I learned to balance the CO2 and temperature across multiple 1/6th and 1/2 kegs. At this very moment I have a shopping cart on learntobrew.com with 10 things totalling $100 and I'll only need to spend another $100 or so before I can brew and keg a 5 gallon batch. Think about the type of beer you would like to brew and purchase the required basic (quality) equipment to make it happen. Then slowly add fancy stuff as you learn/experiment more.

Spirk said:

I'm the same way. I have no desire to play with bottles, caps, buckets with spigots, bottle trees, etc.

I started a little backwards compared to most people. I thought about how I wanted the beer to be served and built a keezer. I learned to balance the CO2 and temperature across multiple 1/6th and 1/2 kegs. At this very moment I have a shopping cart on learntobrew.com with 10 things totalling $100 and I'll only need to spend another $100 or so before I can brew and keg a 5 gallon batch. Think about the type of beer you would like to brew and purchase the required basic (quality) equipment to make it happen. Then slowly add fancy stuff as you learn/experiment more.

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the kit was cheaper even coming with a capper, bottle filler, caps... I will bottle a 12 pack or so from each 5 gallon brew so its not wasted equipment. but I pieced out all items I'd need and it was much more than the "kits"

-=Jason=-

I agree with going small. If I were in your shoes (living in Minnesota) I'd do extract kits inside this winter & bottle. As the weeks go by, you'll be researching other aspects of the hobby here and you will get a clearer picture of how you'd like to expand your process.

Flomaster said:

kinda sucks I am wired that way and can't just buy the kit and bottle and be done with it, but thats just how I am.

-=Jason=-

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This mentality applies for probably 80% of the active posters here. At first $1000 sounds like a lot to put towards brewing, but you'll soon learn, especially with this mentality, that you're just scratching the surface.
If I was starting all over, I'd build a simple two keg mini fridge kegerator, and use the rest on a basic single tier, gas powered 1 pump brew stand with two 15G pots and a cooler mashtun. Then whatever money is left would go toward bucket fermenters.

The 2 keg fridge kegeratpor gives you ample room for future growth by making it easy to build into a bar setup by removing the door and making the cooled chamber large enough for multiple kegs. This all depends on DIY level of course.

I'm still pretty new to brewing, but I went to Midwest and bought their starter kit that came with an extract kit, and bottles. I also bought a 5 gal brew kettle. Ive since bought their yeast starter kit, a bottle tree, and the bottle squirter thing. For me, kegs are next because bottling sucks.