Now, THAT sounds like some interesting cider. Let me know how it goes! I'd love to do the same in the future. Ya know... kill two birds with one brew? hah
Mead requires less equipment than beer because you don’t boil mead. Other than honey, yeast, and nutrients you pretty much just need a fermenter and your bottling equipment.
Hello all.
I'm sure many have passed thru the Home Brew Talk forums foraging for the best beginner kit - but I am here again doing the same thingAs a beginner, I'd love to find the best beginner starter kit for brewing. I've been looking at Northern Brewers kits but have been wondering if you experienced folks have any suggestions on better kits!
Let me know down below.
THANKS! Have an awesome Monday.
I think there’s a little confusion about how the process works. With BIAB, the crushed grains are placed in a large mesh bag in your brew kettle after your brewing water is at the desired strike temperature to begin the mash. You allow the grains to mash for the appropriate time and temperature. Once the mash procedure is complete, you hoist out the bag and grain and let it drain into the kettle. While the bag is draining, you can be heating the wort to begin the boil process. All the hop additions are then done at the appropriate time during the boil. The bag is simply a large filter used to mash the grains and separate them from the wort.
I like the Anvil as well. If and when I decide to pull the trigger on a all in one setup, I think that will be the one.
Yeah, I figure that worst case is you have $25 invested into a 5-gallon pot that you can use for making large batches of pasta or for a shrimp boil (or repropose for heating sparge water, or use for small batches) and maybe a few buckets that you can use for storage, sanitizer, etc. If you only end up making two batches, that $190 for an equipment kit and a second recipe kit means you spent under $12 each for 16 six packs of beer (about the same price as Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada).
This is true. That could be a solid entry point for me. Maybe I'll give mead a go first. But I do like some of the complexities of beer. It feels more... "science-y" to me lol. Quite honestly, when I get my home brew up and running - I plan on fermenting something new every few weeks. I know that sounds insane but when I get involved in a hobby - I no-life it for a bit to get good at it.
Wow, @DollarStoreChili - thats actually really solid advice and honestly, I never even thought of this. I won't lie I have been leaning on the kits to give me everything I need. I admit that. I need to do more research the find out what I actually need. This way I can put together my own custom kit. Instead of blindly buying a starter kit.
You make a fair point. I don't want to bite off more than I can swallow. Starting small, recognizing pain points and buying items to advance my brew setup. Baby steps right? But I think that first brew experience should steer what I grab next for my set up.
I'm gonna look this method up on YouTube. I'm pretty confused and I apologize for my naivety.
I agree with both of you @redrocker652002 and @CascadesBrewer . The all-in-one may be something geared to folks who KNOW they like brewing and want a bit more streamlined set up. I do like the fact that with a good ole kettle I have to control the fire and all that stuff. It's an experience I don't necessarily want to miss out on. I could always go all-in-one in the future once I have a several batches under my belt.
For me, the least amount of cash outlay at first was the way I thought. And while those systems are nice, there is something about the process of bringing the water to temp, monitoring it and getting involved in the total process that is a bit more rewarding to me than just pressing a button and going. Heck, I still drive a manual shift 5 speed pickup truck and would take it over an automatic any day. LOL. But, the ease of just pushing a button and walking away is nice too.
No apology is needed, we were all there at one time. If you go back to my first few posts I can guarantee my questions were of the most idiotic of all. So, Rock On!!!!!!!!!!!
Just pouring the juice from the top of the fermenter is enough to get the yeast suspended and get some aeration. I do this pretty often. Remember that you'll get some hop and malt character when doing this (as opposed to starting with fresh yeast in a clean fv) so you should think about what the beer was like and what you want in your finished cider. Good luck!
My usual routine is at least one beer fermenting a month. Once I get my temp control figured out, and retire so I can dedicate to this more, I can see two batches fermenting and two to three taps running. But, that is a bit away. Do what you do to enjoy it, it is still a hobby. Rock On!!!!!!!
Good advice. I thought about that too. I am trying to hit something the wife and kids would enjoy, but we will see.Just pouring the juice from the top of the fermenter is enough to get the yeast suspended and get some aeration. I do this pretty often. Remember that you'll get some hop and malt character when doing this (as opposed to starting with fresh yeast in a clean fv) so you should think about what the beer was like and what you want in your finished cider. Good luck!
The biggest thing you want to consider is brew size. If you're doing a 5-gallon batch, you start with six to seven gal of water, depending on the recipe (lower amount with extract). Heating that amount of water on a stove, especially electric is difficult. I live in Maryland and we steam crabs. I have a propane burner in a low stand which worked great. We brewed outside. Only issue with doing it outside or in your garage is that you have to watch out for contamination, especially after the boil ends. At the end of the boil, we brought it inside to our laudry room where we have a utility sink I was able to hook the wort chiller up to. So I wasn't too concerned about contamination. Just be careful, the pot will be heavy and hot. We used two people to carry it in.WOW. That's a process. I'm trying to avoid having my wife help. If she helps, I have to help with her candle making hobby. That was our deal
Another option is Anvil's Carboy Cooling System - $115.00 - if you're going to start with a beer / yeast that requires a lower fermentation temp. Just check the stopper size of your Fermenter. The Cooling System comes with a #7 stopper. Mine uses a #10. I've been thinking about getting this, so I bought some Bung Hole Cutters for a few bucks off Amazon so that I can continue to use my Fermenter
Great book, I just got it myself.
I agree. I feel like that's exactly where I should be as a beginner. Learning the basics. Controlling temps. "babying" my brew if you will. This is totally a weekend ordeal and I want to experience every bit of this process manually. I'll think about the electric set up, but I def leaning to the premium or deluxe starter kits. Everyone here in this post tells me they still use all or most parts of the kit and just upgrade from there.
Yeah, I think at first one ferm a month would be good for me. I would LOVVVEEE to have a full keg system with 2 or 3 beers on tap. Have friends over, drink some of MY beers. I can't wait til I'm at that point. I'm really excited to get to all-grain though. I feel like that's when my creativity will thrive. I'll need to do a BUNCH of research on how to put together recipes but I think I may start with other folks recipes first... Then slowly change them and add my twist to it.
Yeah, I noticed most of the folks that have the deluxe/premium starter kit from Morebeer still use most of it. Another reason why I am leaning to go with one of these versus the premium electric starter kit. I want to be able to upgrade to all-grain fairly easy. How do you like all-grain/BIAB vs extracts? Obviously, it's more of the process but do you make your own recipes?
See this is my biggest dilemma. I don't have a water source out in my garage except for outside of the garage (a garden hose). So I need to think if a garden hose would be sanitary enough to attach to my wort chiller (I'm leaning towards no). Chance are I'll have to do something similar to you. Boil in the garage, and then move it in side for the wort chilling process and fermenter loading.
I'll check out that cooling system and do a bit of research into it today. I also bought this book. I'll be diving into it this weekend.
The water that circulates through a wort chiller never touches the wort… some guys with swimming pools use a pond pump and circulate their pool water through it to chill. A garden hose and an outdoor/garage faucet are just fine.
I am the same way with thinking of having multiple taps going. Bad thing is, you have to clean and sanitise them lol. But, my end game is the same as yours, have a few on tap so that when folks come over they can enjoy something that may not be readily available commercially if that makes sense.
I was getting ready to say the same thing. Rock On!!!!!!
Running a propane burner inside a garage as long a the door is open and there’s ample fresh air is no problem. Just make sure there are no flammables nearby (oily rags, boxes, gas cans, etc.)
I think lots of folks brew in their garages.
Right but I figured being sanitary is massive and I didn't know if that portion that connects to the hose would be a good idea. Especially if my house outside all day. lol So is this what most folks that do garage brewing who don't have utility sinks do?
But I figured since extract is pretty "set in stone" there isn't room for creativity. PLEASE correct me if im wrong. I figured all-grain is when you can really fine-tune the recipe.
Yeahhh, I'm just a bit frightened by propane. Always been afraid the flame would some how back fill through the hose and blow me up. I know... silly fear but I'll be waiting on propane for a bit. Plus I bought a house in a HOA neighborhood (first time homebuyer, thought it was the best way to go lol) and they may freak out if I fire off a propane tank in my garage.
Like every other brewing process, there are countless ways to do it and achieve the same end result. You’ll have to decide what’s best for your situation.
I don’t mean to be uptight here, but chances are you’re not really qualified to judge whether airflow is good enough to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s an unnecessary risk. I could see deciding to take on that risk myself, but talking to folks online … don’t do it.
You’re right. Ultimately, it’s up to the individual to make that decision and outdoors would be the ideal location. I do, however, work for a propane distribution company and as long as the door is OPEN, and there is adequate ventilation, there SHOULD be no problem. “Door is open” is the key phrase here. If a person chooses to do it, and they are concerned about the risk, installing a carbon monoxide detector in the immediate area would be a good idea.
I've been brewing with propane in the garage for 6+ years now. I've done it with as little as just a side door open (in the Winter), but I mostly have the garage door all the way up. I'd be much less concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning than I would be about lighting flammables on fire. Sometimes I have a fan running, other times not.
When I did extract, I used Morebeer's already done recipes. I am sure you can tweak with Extract as well, as the hops are where most of the flavor and bitterness come from and you can play around with the specialty grains to add malty flavor, color and sweetness I am guessing. I will let the pro's answer it for sure, but I am sure you can buy the extract and add whatever hops and other grains you want to get a distinct recipe.
This is pretty accurate… the only significant difference between extract brewing and all grain is that the process of mashing has already been done for you (LME or DME). A good extract kit will include a pale base extract and specialty grains to steep to get a suitable wort for the style you’re brewing. Hops and other boil additions are the same no matter which method you choose. You can definitely create good recipes for extract brewing if you want to. Most of the big online suppliers offer great kits that don’t need much adjustment. Take MoreBeer for example (they list the ingredients for all their kits)… look up one of their extract kits, then look at the same all grain kit… usually the only difference you’ll see is the substitution of about 6 pounds of extract for around 10 pounds of base malt grain. Everything else is typically the same, including the specialty grains.
You don't need to worry about the water going into the wort chiller - it never touches the beer. You hook it up to a water source - sink or hose, and it runs through the copper tube and out the other end, through the plastic (polypropelene?) tube and back into the sink or on to the ground. Once I had my wort chilled to pitching temp, I just moved the boil kettle from the laundry room to the kitchen island, put the fermenter on the floor and drained the wort in.
The contamination I was refering to was from the air outside or in the garage - dust, tree dirt, anything floating around outside or in the garage. Once the wort gets down below sanitization temps if anything "falls in" you could end up with a contamination problem. You can cover it up with aluminum foil for added protection.
