About to buy 1st kit... Advice?

[saeroner]

I started doing those small Mr. Beer kits buy now i'm about to purchase a bigger/better kit.

I want to do 5 gal recipes. mosty IPA stuff.

I'm thinking getting this...
http://www.amazon.com/Brewing-Starte...ng+Starter+Kit

Also a buy 5 gal Stainless Steel Brewing Pot. Would this boil on my electric stove top? or do I need to buy something?

Any advice/tips?

I'm think i'm gonna do a clone recipe 1st. then if that goes well i might head to the local shop and create my own.

I've watched a bunch of youtube videos.

Thanks for any help

 

[roastquake]

The link didn't work for me, but most starter kits I've seen have all you need besides the kettle.

If you're doing a full 5 gallon boil on your stove, you may have to wait a while for the wort to start boiling, also, you may not even be able to get a good rolling boil going. My advice is to get a gas burner, I use the Bayou Classic and it only takes about 10 minutes to get a violent boil. Gotta watch those boilovers at hot break though, it gets a lot more dangerous with a cooker

Edit: get a bigger kettle than just 5 gallons if you're going full boil, an 8 gallon kettle would do, you need the headspace for those boilovers

 

[saeroner]

^ Thanks. So using a gas burner, would that mean I would have to boil outside for ventilation?

 

[rgilbert]

I moved from a Mr. Beer kit to a 5 gallon starter kit: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-kit.html
I was able to do these recipes on a stove (gas and electric) although it took awhile.

If you get a gas burner you will need to do it outside.

 

[masterfool101]

Hi Saeroner,
As with Roastquake, your link did not work for me either.

That being said, there are a lot of options out there for great brewing kits.

Personally, I recommend starting at a Local Home Brew Store (LHBS) near you. It's always good to support the local economy, and the shop owner will be a great resource to ask questions and point you in the right direction. Oftentimes, unless you get free shipping, the local store prices are quite comparable to online vendors. I would simply google a local store near you (or, if you post where you live, I'm sure you'll get plenty of recommendations).

If there isn't a LHBS near you, you can always go to one of the larger online retailers. Personally, I tend to shop from Midwest Supplies (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/). However, there are lots of options. Other popular options include (but are NOT limited to) Northern Brewer (www.northernbrewer.com/‎), MoreBeer (www.morebeer.com/‎) and Austin Homebrew (www.austinhomebrew.com/‎) Some of those shops offer free or reduced rate shipping on larger orders, which a beginners kit is likely to qualify for.

As Roastquake noted, you may wish to get a pot larger than 5 gallons for a full boil. 7.5 to 10 gallon pots tend to be the norm. However, don't be afraid of using a smaller pot and smaller boils on your first few brews. I ALWAYS advocate that you should try the hobby first before investing a ton of $$ into new equipment. If you have a 3 or 4 gallon stainless steel pot at home, you're good to go.

You asked if those would work on your electric stovetop .. . the answer is a hearty "it depends" . . . if you have a top of the line, high energy stove top, yes, they will work. If you're brewing on a lower grade electric stovetop (as most of us here own), you'll want to look into getting a different option for your brew IF you want to do full (6-8 gallon) boils. My personal preference runs to the good old Turkey Fryer. You can pick up a decent turkey fryer at Home Depot (or similar) store for under $50, and they usually come with a nice Aluminum Pot. Now, there are lots of opinions on here regarding the use of aluminum pots, and I'm not here to start a war (it'll happen anyhow) . .. but my view is, if you use it for NOTHING BUT BREWING BEER, and you keep it clean, with a proper oxide layer (many posts here to tell you how to do that . . . I generally advocate boiling water in a full pot for an hour), you're fine brewing in aluminum.

If you have other questions, feel free to come back. Welcome to the hobby!

 

[NickTheGreat]

My LHBS sells starter kits. Basically everything in one convenient box. Everything except the kettle, which you could buy there if you wanted.

But yeah, propane turkey fryer (and outside) is a good investment, and usually fairly cheap.

 

[Rockn_M]

You'll want to use a proprane burner outside for ventilation. If you'd prefer to brew inside you can get recipe kits from several places that use a smaller amount of water and then top it off to get your final gravity and final batch size. I tried doing an all grain brew inside and couldn't get that much water to boil.

 

[evrose]

^ Thanks. So using a gas burner, would that mean I would have to boil outside for ventilation?

Yes. An outdoor turkey fryer with a kettle was the best investment I made in brewing. When I started out, I bought a 5 gallon kettle and brewed in my kitchen.

After about 12 brews like that, I got one of THESE. The kettle is big enough for any 5 gallon batch. It heats water in a fraction of the time... and it's just easier setting up in the backyard. I pull up a lawchair, open a beer, and brew away from the kitchen. The wife likes this MUCH BETTER as well - so bonus there.

 

[fosaisu]

Lots of good advice here.

Just a word on pot size -- I would highly recommend going with a 10 gallon pot. I know it sounds huge, I thought the same thing when I was starting out, knowing that I'd never want to brew more than a 5 gallon batch. The thing is, though, if you ever want to do a full boil (i.e. not a concentrated boil where you top off with a few gallons of cold water in the fermenter) you'll be glad to have that extra room -- you pot will need to accomodate 6.5+ gallons of water (to allow for boil off and trub loss), plus extract, and then be able to handle foaming when the hops are tossed in. I do 5 gallon extract batches in my 10 gallon pot on a Bayou Classic propane burner outside, and I still get occasional boil overs.

Also I note you mentioned getting a stainless steel brew pot -- I won't try to convince you that aluminum is the better way to go, but if your budget allowed you to get only a 5 gallon stainless or a 10 gallon aluminum, I'd definitely recommend going with the 10 gallon pot. I went with a cheap aluminum 10 gallon pot from a kitchen supply store and have been very happy with it.

[EDIT: As noted below, you couldn't go wrong with a pot larger than 10 gallons (I've sometimes wished I'd gone with at 15 gallon), I'd just make that the minimum if you're going to have to buy a pot anyway]

 

[Rockn_M]

YES! 10 gallon would probably be the minimum size. I have a 10 gallon pot and wish I would have gone for a 15 or even 20 gallon pot.

 

[unionrdr]

If you have an electric stove with the old style coil heating elements,go to my profile. I have a link to some better ones,large & small that will go from mash temp to boiling of 3.5 gallons in a 5G SS kettle in about 18 minutes. I've used the same 5G SS stock pot from AE kit-n-kilo to PB/PM BIAB. bytw,the link no longer goes to a page they have...

 

[glick]

Assuming you are going to be making extract batches then stove top boiling will probably work. If you are going to be doing 5 gallon all grain batches then definately get the propane burner and 10 gallon pot