New Kit

[T35t3r]

Hello all, i am looking into brewing and have been doing a.lot of reading. Having a difficult time figuring out which kit to purchase, any suggestions as to a great starter kit. I am sticking to extracts for now, if i need equipment in the future for AG, ill look into that when the time comes. The two kits, i was looking at are:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/platinum-pro-beer-brewing-starter-kit.html

And

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/beer-equipment-starter-kits/essential-brewing-starter-kit

Any other suggestions? Tha

 

[marckw]

Difference is you get a 5gal kettle with Midwest, and 2 extra recipes from NB. While both are good kits, I think it comes down to the kettle; do you need a kettle and if so, are you okay with the 5gal kettle or prefer another one?

 

[T35t3r]

Would i have issues with boil overs due to the size of that pot? Should i look into a 6 gallon instead?

Would you recommend the deluxe kit from NB over these or is it a bit overkill to start off?
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/deluxe-brewing-starter-kit

 

[T35t3r]

Is there a quality difference between NB and Midwest?

 

[d3track]

They are the same company. If you have a pot, or are wanting a bigger one, get the NB. No pot? The Midwest one is a nice choice.

 

[Takuie]

One thing I have learned about this hobby is when it comes to equipment, ALWAYS get bigger/larger than what you think you need. It will only save you tons down the road.

 

[kh54s10]

The 5 gallon pot is fine for extract brews. You should not have problems with boil overs unless you try to do full volume boils, then the pot is not big enough anyway. If you plan to go to all grain or full boils a 30 qt pot is minimum. 10 gallons is better. I started with a 5 gallon pot and still use it occasionally (extract brews) and more often cooking stews etc.

I bought Northern Brewer's deluxe kit when I started. It had a little different list of items then. I got a 6 gallon Better Bottle primary fermenter and a 5 gallon Better Bottle for secondary. I very rarely use the 5 gallon one anymore (I rarely do a secondary.)

BTW the Norther Brewer gives you a choice of ONE of the 3 kits.

 

[T35t3r]

Yeah, if it wasn't for the shipping i would jump on the deluxe kit right away. Is the glass necessary at all. Does it make much more of a difference. How does it compare to something like this:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-equipment/fermenting-equipment/big-mouth-bubbler/siphonless-big-mouth-bubbler-ported-6-5-gallon?icn=NBHomepage&ici=Siphonless-Big-Mouth

 

[kh54s10]

I originally opted for plastic because of the weight of glass. I have since been glad of the choice after reading threads about serious injuries caused by breaking carboys.

Plastic is somewhat gas permeable. IMO there are few beers that would need to stay in a fermenter long enough that this would be an issue. Others will disagree.

 

[unionrdr]

The Midwest kit with the 5 gallon kettle would serve you well up through pb/pm biab, as I've been doing for about 2 years now. I'm using the same 5 gallon (20qt) SS kettle I started with. My partial mashes have gone up to about 8lbs of grains in the bag with 2 1/4-2 1/2 gallons of spring water for the mash. I had originally bought a set of 4 nested SS stock pots, using the smaller ones for dunk sparge or smaller mashes. So the 5 gallon kettle can work fine for all extract to partial mash, in my experiences thus far. It's nice that Midwest gives a beer kit with it now too, which in all, is a great value at 99 bucks, with that 50 bucks off!
* As a point of interest, NB & Midwest share a common warehouse, but it's my understanding that they're still a separate businesses?