beginner about to start in alaska

[smileyak87]

So my uncle who lives in virginia and has been home brewing now for 18 years has gotten me hooked on this awesome hobby. I'm hoping to start as soon as I get my equipment.

Anyone know of homebrew websites with low shipping to alaska. The local home brew store is over an hour drive away and seems super expensive. Hoping to get my equipment online. Found some stuff on amazon so far but hooing to find some good sites to order stuff from

 

[duboman]

Have no idea about shipping to Alaska but here are some of the best online retailers I know of:
www.midwestsupplies.com
http://www.northernbrewer.com
Austin Homebrew
Adventures in Homebrewing
I'm sure there are more that others can chime in with as well, good luck and welcome to the obsession!

 

[unionrdr]

Try looking at Austin Hombrew Supply,or midwest & northern brewer. Or try finding some places in Oregon & Washington that'll ship your way.

 

[Drookit]

There's a homebrew supply in the Matsu valley a guy runs out of his garage. I think his business name is Alaska Homebrew supply.

Check out craigslist for brewing equipment, bottles, etc..... There's always ads.

Check the free section on C/L for bottles.

I've purchased some ingredients off amazon because of free shipping.

I've ordered from some of the homebrew supply companies in the L48 with mixed results.

The shipping cost is killer. If someone would package what they could using flat rate USPS boxes, it'd help us Alaskans out.

Welcome and enjoy the hobby.

 

[Bones_one]

It may be worth it to get amazon prime if you plan on ordering from amazon. The only hard thing is not all supplers use prime. I have order some items for my equipment and shipping is free not sure about Alaska. If I remember correctly I paid $80 for access.

 

[flars]

What a surprise. Not much home beer brewing going on in your part of the country.
http://www.eckraus.com/
http://hopdawgs.ca/index.php?route=common/home

 

[smileyak87]

How does this stuff look

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BTZZ5S/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005I5FO8K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I have a coworker who is going to sell me a few glass carboys and I'm still undecided on ingredient kits so far. Besides that kit and pot what else besides bottles and carboys do I need to get started? I have about 88 bottles so far

 

[unionrdr]

caps
bottle capper
floating thermometer
hydrometer
temp strips for fermenters
auto siphon
stoppers & airlocks for the carboys
bottling wand
long spoon or paddle,I prefer plastic,as it doesn't scratch & is non porous.
PBW cleaner
Starsan,sanitizer,no rinse stuff is great!
Extra food grade buckets,1 gallon jugs to store PBW & Starsan solutions.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[smileyak87]

caps
bottle capper
floating thermometer
hydrometer
temp strips for fermenters
auto siphon
stoppers & airlocks for the carboys
bottling wand
long spoon or paddle,I prefer plastic,as it doesn't scratch & is non porous.
PBW cleaner
Starsan,sanitizer,no rinse stuff is great!
Extra food grade buckets,1 gallon jugs to store PBW & Starsan solutions.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

So I need all this stuff plus the kiti posted from amazon?

 

[unionrdr]

That's pretty much bare bones,yeah. I have more stuff that makes the job of brewing & bottling easier. But these will get you going with a good process.

 

[smileyak87]

Here's what the LHBS has that's in anchorage which is about an hour drive from my house but may be worth it


Deluxe Beer Making Kit- Our most popular kit! This kit contains the little extras that make homebrewing a breeze. It includes: A 6 gallon GLASS primary fermenter with stopper and airlock; a 5 gallon glass secondary fermenter (carboy), with stopper and airlock; The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing book by Charlie Papazian; a can of hopped malt extract beer kit with 2 pounds of Malt Extract "kicker;" a hydrometer and test jar; a floating thermometer; siphoning (racking) cane; tubing and tubing clamp; a bottle filler, bottle and carboy brushes, 1 gross (144) bottle caps with a bench capper; 1 lb. of priming sugar; 1 lb. One-Step cleanser / sanitizer; and a large funnel

How does that look minus the bottles, kettle, and ingredient kit? Definitely going to be adding new things each month to make it more enjoyable and easier to do but would this kit be worth getting?

 

[jro238]

Step 1: Pitch Discovery/National Geographic a show called "Alaska's Frontier Yukon Doomsday Moonshining Homebrewers with GOLD."

Step 2: Make them buy all your equipment.

Step 3: Profit!

 

[smileyak87]

Step 1: Pitch Discovery/National Geographic a show called "Alaska's Frontier Yukon Doomsday Moonshining Homebrewers with GOLD."

Step 2: Make them buy all your equipment.

Step 3: Profit!

I like your idea. My coworker just brought me a list of what her husband wants to sell

Here's what my coworkers husband wants to sell me

Converted keg kettle $100

Propane burner $15.00

Wort chiller $25.00

Four 5 gallon kegs $100.00

Liquid and gas lines $15.00

10lb co2 bottle $40.00

Double gauge regulator $30.00

Picnic tap $12.00

Colona bench capper $20.00

Two 5 gallon carboys $40.00

Stuff for free

Zymurgy magazines with recipes

Lots of bottles in boxes

10 gallon igloo for mashing

Misc ingredients and caps

So I would still need cleaning supplies bottling bucket and bottling wand right? Or I could just keg right?

He wants 397 total which after looking online and at local shops seems like a steal to me. What does everyone think?

 

[oxpajama]

Smileyak,

hey fellow Alaskan! I have spent hundreds of dollars at Williams brewing, they have shipping rates where you can still spend less than you would at Arctic Brew supply... Don't tell Pete and Lisa, shhhhh.

and with Niko brew, you'll never want to get hops anywhere else, $5 shipping on any amount of hops.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com//Home-Brewing-C198.aspx

http://www.nikobrew.com/hops/

cheers

 

[Drookit]

I like your idea. My coworker just brought me a list of what her husband wants to sell

Here's what my coworkers husband wants to sell me

Converted keg kettle $100

Propane burner $15.00

Wort chiller $25.00

Four 5 gallon kegs $100.00

Liquid and gas lines $15.00

10lb co2 bottle $40.00

Double gauge regulator $30.00

Picnic tap $12.00

Colona bench capper $20.00

Two 5 gallon carboys $40.00

Stuff for free

Zymurgy magazines with recipes

Lots of bottles in boxes

10 gallon igloo for mashing

Misc ingredients and caps

So I would still need cleaning supplies bottling bucket and bottling wand right? Or I could just keg right?

He wants 397 total which after looking online and at local shops seems like a steal to me. What does everyone think?

Offer $300 cash and see if he'll take it.

And please, no more Alaska reality shows.

 

[autonomist3k]

I live in Kodiak and I usually have stuff shipped from www.alaskahomebrew.com
They're in Wasilla, the shipping is not bad at all, and there is also www.arcticbrewingsupply.com, their shipping isn't as great and their website sucks, but they have things that alaska homebrew doesn't have.

 

[autonomist3k]

If you're going to buy large things like carboys, mash tuns, large quantities of grain, you're probably better off going to the store if possible.

 

[highgravitybacon]

There's a homebrew supply in the Matsu valley a guy runs out of his garage. I think his business name is Alaska Homebrew supply.

Check out craigslist for brewing equipment, bottles, etc..... There's always ads.

Check the free section on C/L for bottles.

I've purchased some ingredients off amazon because of free shipping.

I've ordered from some of the homebrew supply companies in the L48 with mixed results.

The shipping cost is killer. If someone would package what they could using flat rate USPS boxes, it'd help us Alaskans out.

Welcome and enjoy the hobby.

Look at Missouri Malt Supply at www.momalt.com and ritebrew at www.ritebrew.com. Both use priority mail shipping in flat rate boxes. Not everything will ship in a priority mail box so you have to add items to the cart one at a time and see when it flips from priority mail to Fedex or UPS options.

 

[oxpajama]

FYI

Just started kegging and filled up at Simplex-Grinnel Gas. I know AK is spendy but feel I was ripped off, I didn't feel like pressing so I just paid and vowed never again.

Fred didn't give me a quote but said around $25 to fill my certified 10 lb tank. Upon pick up he handed me a printed quote charging $42. What does AirLiquide charge? On the plus side Simplex did indeed fill it with a little over ten lbs of co2.