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nate4g63

nate4g63

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I've been lookin at stuff online for a while now and need some input. My buddy, who I intend to and hopefully learn from has the typical homebrewer starting kit. He loves it, it works great, and awesome brew comes from it. I was wondering if it would be in my best interest to start with a similar kit or get some upgraded items like the following:


-Heavy duty brew kettles with built-in thermometers, are theses really worth having?

-Conical fermenters. I like the idea of having one but don't understand why there are 6.5 and 8 gallon units available. Also any concerns or issues with going this route?

Not to say I'm too good for the bucket kits or anything. I just intend for this to be a very long lasting and fun hobby so I would like to start out with great items.
 
Even if you have a conical, it is still worthwhile to have a bucket or two. This will allow you the flexibility to ferment more than one batch at a time.

Thermometers on your pots are nice, but not absolutely necessary. Although it's good to have one on the mash tun, you can get by without it.

As for the heavy-duty kettles, if you want to drop the cash do it. Many homebrewers make fine beer with aluminum pots or converted kegs. A fancy pot will not make better beer than a cheepo.

Also, welcome to HBT!
 
There are 2 schools of thought on this. One is to go ALL IN and buy all the new and greatest equipment.

The other is to start small and let you system evolve organically over time.

I suggest starting small and growing into the hobby. You'll acquire the knowledge of the equipment and purchase exactly what you want when you need it.

The ALL IN option lends itself to purchasing things you don't need or want or of a quality that you end up being sorry for down the road.

Life is long. Enjoy the Ride!
 
- 15 gallon pot (don't go 5, 8, or 10. You can make due but will wish you had gone larger) built-in thermometers, ball valves, etc are nice but not necessary.
- Propane burner
- Termperature control, ...... let me repeat .......temperature control (freezer + temp controller)..... obviously this does you no good if you go the conical route but they are expensive and I don't personally know anyone who has one.
- You could buy a starter kit to get all the little basic stuff (thermometer, tubing, carboy, capper, etc.) or you can piece it together yourself.

The list could go on and on. Welcome to the obsession. Prepare to have your house overrun with beer and brewing equipment. You will have 5 different thermometers, multiple pots, different types of fermenting vessels, various lengths of tubing, bulk grain, and a freezer full of hops before you know it.
 
I think if you got info from people on these forums you'd find out that quality of beer is not necessarily related to quality of brewpots and fermenters. I've seen posts from long time brewers that brew great beers and just use the pot that came with their turkey fryer. Other brewers make great beers and spent a lot of money on a brewpot. I would guess, based on the time I've spent on these forums, that 97% of brewers on here use buckets and carboys, and that might even be a low guess. I don't personally see myself ever getting a conical or expensive brewpot.

I would echo yeast_infection and say that if you want to spend extra money beyond the starter kit, spend it on temperature control.

Are you planning on starting with extract or all grain?
 
arturo7 - I kinda figured a pot is a pot no matter how ya look at it. Seems like capacity is the real issue to decide on.

BendBrewer - After spending some time with my buddy and helping him I'll get a better idea of what's needed. I'm not planning on buying stuff this week or anything.

yeast_infection - I'll keep the idea of the larger pot in mind. I do have an old propane burner it looks like its from a turkey fryer or for a large pot, I'm thinking it'll do. Yeah my girlfriend is getting worried with all my "equipment" talk, I keep telling her it'll be fine. LOL.

slowbie - Definitely starting with extract. I just found out we have a homebrewshop not too far away so I'll be hitting that place up for Q and A.


Thanks for all the suggestions it's definitely giving me some things to think about.
 
The only things you really need to get going are a stainless steel pot 16qt or larger, a 6.5 gal or larger bucket with a lid that has an airlock hole drilled in it, an airlock, a rubber stopper that will fit in the hole in your bucket lid, a thermometer, and long handled spoon, and about 5ft of 1/2" vinyl tubing. Beyong that, I would recommend a bottling bucket, a bottling wand, and possibly a hydometer.

Anything beyond this is really just personal preference and convenience. Before stepping up to a conical or a fancy brew kettle, I would definitely brew with your friend for a little while to get familiar with the processes, and to see if you really want to brew beer as a hobby.

I'll admit, I have a fair amount more equipment now than when I started, but I acquired it over time, and I know that I want to be brewing beer for many years to come.
 
Yeah you can make due with a very minimal amount of equipment. I started with a 5 gallon pot doing partial boils on the stove and extract kits.

That being said .......... Unless you already have a 5 gallon pot (free) then go larger.

After 6 months or so of brewing extract kits I moved to all grain. The 5 gallon pot hasn't seen any action in ...................... i don't even remember.

I went with the 10 gallon megapot (just the pot, no bells and whistles). The pot itself is great. Having used the 10 for about a year now, if i were purchasing a pot today i would buy the 15. The 10 is pretty full pre-boil (when they say it hold's ten gallons, well they mean it holds ten gallons and not a drop more lol). So for brewing 5 or 6 gallon batches I am starting with 7.5 or 8.5 gallons pre-boil (that is about an inch and half to 2 inches from overflowing).

I feel like I am lobbying for big pots but it's just my two cents if you are thinking long-term.
 
The only real issue with large pots is the boil off if they are too wide.

This is why a keggle is excellent, even for 5 gallon batches, because it is tall and thin compared with most pots.
 
I personally went the "all-in" route and I'm glad I did. The first thing I got was a Craigslist stand up freezer, then a temperature controller. I bought the 8 Gal kettle with a threaded fitting for a thermometer, and after one batch holding the metal thermometer in myself I sprung for the fancy one. I researched and thought a lot about the hobby before I jumped into it, and decided I didn't want to buy anything twice. Some stuff I think you can be flexible on (buckets vs. Carboys) but stuff like the brewpot I'd say splurge on

Edit: Thread inspired me indirectly to buy a Bayou Classic Burner. I can't tell if this is a good or a bad thing.
 
There is an AWESOME brew shop in Portersville, PA. Porterhouse Brew Shop. It is 1 hour from Oil City. They are very knowledgeable and helpful and they won't try to sell you something you don't want or need. on the web @ www.porterhousebrewshop.com.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I see a few of you have mentioned temp control and freezers. Alot of what I read seems to leave this part out. Are you referencing this to cool the wort or temp control during fermentation? Temp for me is a big issue in my living conditions. My apt. is above a garage and summer temps reach 80 to 85 inside easily on just a warm day. Most likely when I start I'll be using moms basement, she just doesnt know this yet.



Thanks for the link, work sucks today already so I'm gonna have a look at their site. Only being an hour away is definitely worth checkin out. I have to drive that far just for decent 6 pack shops.
 
nate4g63 said:
Are you referencing this to cool the wort or temp control during fermentation?
Click to expand...

So far everyone has been talking about temp control during fermentation. I have not yet been able to get temp control for myself (I just have the basic starter set plus a boiling pot and grain bag). However, it is a high priority and something that I will work on getting as soon as I move. I have seen a lot of brewers say that the single biggest increase in quality of their beer was getting temperature control.

However, if you are doing full boils then you should definitely look into getting or making an immersion chiller (or just borrow one from your friend on brewdays if he has one).

Lastly, even though everyone is throwing a lot of ideas at you, don't get overwhelmed. If you get a basic starter kit, a pot to boil in, and a place to ferment that's in the mid 50s to low 70s, you will be able to make good beer. I can only speak for myself on this, but I offered temp control as a suggestion because you can buy a freezer/fridge and temp control along with the basic starter kit and a good brew kettle for a lot less than you would spend on a conical and fancy brew kettle.
 
Thanks again for the suggestions. I decided I'm gonna pick up a kit from the link TheHunk gave me. It's their Deluxe kit and I think it's exactly what I need to get started.
 
Look into the Anvil Foundry 6.5 I started decades ago extract on the stove with 5 gal buckets. I took many years off and returned doing small batch BIAB on the stove. I loved it and all grain was a lot easier than I thought. 2.5 gallon batches was perfect for me. That’s 20 pints and I stole my son’s s mini fridge after college to make a kegerator for 2.5 gal kegs. I then got another mini fridge off Craig’s list an that became my fermentation chamber (useful for summer brewing and lagers) using a $30 plastic conical fermenter (I also have a 3gal plastic bucket that I put a spigot and an airlock hole for about $10).
Then I got the Anvil and looking back, IMO, the Anvil Foundry is a geat way to start. It starter instructions are super easy to make good beer. It can be used for extract brewing As well. it cleans easy and you can brew indoors (5 gal propane folks can’t brew inside ).

Small batch brewing is gaining in popularity for good reasons and the market keeps rolling out products for us. I suspect 5 gallons was the benchmark because that’s the size of the original soda kegs and that a lot of beer was shared at home brew clubs, I like to brew, tweak a recipe and try new styles. I find 5 gallons makes for too long a period in between brews for me. (my kegerator has just one tap).

The 6.5 Gallon Anvil Foundry is well suited for smaller batches and with some Moderately advanced brew steps can make a decent 5 gal batch of medium bodied beer.

This might not be for you but based on my experiences, if I had to do it all over again, and in your price rage, this is how I would do it from the start, and so I deemed worth sharing.
 
NSMikeD said:
Look into the Anvil Foundry 6.5 I started decades ago extract on the stove with 5 gal buckets. I took many years off and returned doing small batch BIAB on the stove. I loved it and all grain was a lot easier than I thought. 2.5 gallon batches was perfect for me. That’s 20 pints and I stole my son’s s mini fridge after college to make a kegerator for 2.5 gal kegs. I then got another mini fridge off Craig’s list an that became my fermentation chamber (useful for summer brewing and lagers) using a $30 plastic conical fermenter (I also have a 3gal plastic bucket that I put a spigot and an airlock hole for about $10).
Then I got the Anvil and looking back, IMO, the Anvil Foundry is a geat way to start. It starter instructions are super easy to make good beer. It can be used for extract brewing As well. it cleans easy and you can brew indoors (5 gal propane folks can’t brew inside ).

Small batch brewing is gaining in popularity for good reasons and the market keeps rolling out products for us. I suspect 5 gallons was the benchmark because that’s the size of the original soda kegs and that a lot of beer was shared at home brew clubs, I like to brew, tweak a recipe and try new styles. I find 5 gallons makes for too long a period in between brews for me. (my kegerator has just one tap).

The 6.5 Gallon Anvil Foundry is well suited for smaller batches and with some Moderately advanced brew steps can make a decent 5 gal batch of medium bodied beer.

This might not be for you but based on my experiences, if I had to do it all over again, and in your price rage, this is how I would do it from the start, and so I deemed worth sharing.
Click to expand...

This is a 10-year old thread. I think that by this time the OP is either all set or gave up trying to brew.
 

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