Which of these is the better kit?

[AmericanCheese]

I'm looking to start home brewing, and there are several different options for kits. Of these ones I am looking at, which of these is the best bang for my buck? I want something that is going to be a little future proof as I'm hoping this is a hobby I can continue to do for a while. Also, are there any other accessories that I would need to flesh these out, and if so could you post a link? If none of these are quite what you would go with, can you link what you would go with? Amazon only though as I have a ton of gift cards there. Thanks for your help.

Kit 1
Kit 2
Kit 3
Kit 4
Kit 5

 

[PantherCity]

I would go with # 3 because I like the better bottles. Just save the bottles from all the new beers you will want to try while reading Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff & John Palmer and How to Brew by John Palmer. Which you also need to get. And read.

 

[whiskey_pickle]

I would check out Northern Brewer .com for you first kit.. I am not employed or know anyone that is employed there, just a very satisfied customer. I have been ordering there for 7 years and these guys are great. super cheap shipping as well! for a beginner kit, I would suggest their Cream Ale as a starter and go from there. Also, read every post on this forum; as I could not have perfected my hobby/happiness without HBT to help me along the way... Cheers!

 

[JohnTheBrewist]

The problem with buying any of those kits is that they'll either have things you don't need (like a 5 gallon secondary fermenter) or inferior products (like a cheap wing capper). Most of them don't include an ingredient kit either.

I think you could put together a kit that would serve you well by buying the various components from Amazon individually. If you tell me how much you have to spend, I'd be willing try to help you make a shopping list.

If you're really thinking of doing this for the long haul, then you might be wiser to spend your Amazon gift cards on a brew pot (unless you already have an 8 gallon pot).

Moose

 

[MNester80]

Sure #2 comes with bottles, but its a one-and-done kit. You won't go wrong w #5 if you want to do it "right". I't doesn't come with a one-step sanitizer, though. I got a kit for xmas and have my 2nd batch in the primary now. I recieved a Brewers Best deluxe kit, and it came with absoluely everything I needed but caps (which comes with the extract kit from BB), bottles and a pot to brew in.
I will be investing in a 2nd glass carboy soon, though.

Do you have a local homebrew store? Go talk to them if so, they will be more than happy to listen to your plans/needs and will advise you wisely!

Btw i do not work for Brewers Best, I am just very happy with their kit.

Cheers!

 

[ACbrewer]

Well here are a few questions for you. Are you after an ingredient kit along with your equipement kit? Or do you want to by your equipment then your ingredients. Amazon has other ingredients kits.

Kit 1 and 2 come with ingredients. Yeah that's cool cause you get 'dinner' with your 'fry pan'. But do you care?

Kit 3 4 and 5 have no ingredients, so you have to by an ingredient kit.

There are a lot of threads here or in one of the other groups here that detail "x vs y vs z" here is a very quick breakdown.

Plastic buckets (and better bottles) might get scratched- a sanitizing problem, begin to aquire a stain, smells (mine smells like the last beer I made), etc. But they are durable and forgiving of being dropped. Buckets are easier to clean because you can get your hand in, but make a poor 2ndary fermentor because most of the time you rack to a 2ndary you have finished fermentation, and risk exposing the beer to oxygen. Most buckets will leave you will a lot of headspace and that increases the chance of oxygen screwing with your beer.

Glass Carboys are imune to all of the above, but can break if miss handled.

All have brushes and such for cleaning, and the tools you need to brew like hydrometer. the major differences seem to be the fermentation containers.

Here is what I'd recommend.
2 fermenting containers. 1 as a carboy or better bottle and one as a bucket, - that scratches kit 1 and 2 (the 2 that ship with ingredients).

Hydrometer
Syphon tubing,
bottle filler
Auto-syphon (non auto syphons stink on ice and everywhere else)
cleaning brushes

That said, all 5 kits have that.

Kits 3, and 5 also come with 3 containers, not 2. That means you could actauly have 2 in the pipe instead of just 1. I feel that it is easiest if you have 1 more fermentor than you have beers (or wine) going. Wine is another reason to get kit 3. Most wines are 6 gallon kits so the 3rd one gives the option of doing them.

If I were buying a kit from scratch, I'd get #3. But that might not be your reasoning.

I like to get stuff off of Craigslist. I've gotten 1 Wine kit (7.8 bucket and 1 6 gal carboy) and 2 - 2bucket beer kits and 4 carboys (2 5's and 2 6's) all of them were good deals. And I got other stuff.

Hope that helps.

 

[itsme6582]

I like 1 and 3. Pick up "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing," Papazian. If you want a second book get "How to Brew," Palmer. There is an old edition of "How to Brew" published online. There is some info in there is outdated and he no longer follows. Namely, racking to secondary. Just Google it. You need a brewpot too. Get at least a 5 gallon. The bigger the better. You are limited by your heat source though. I don't think a normal residential stove can handle much more than a 5 gallon pot.

1 - 99.65 - 2 6.5 gallon Buckets, 1 has spigot, wheat beer
I like this one because it has what you need to get started. I like buckets. It's nice to have a built in handle.

2 - 123.45 - 2 6.5 gallon Buckets, 1 has spigot, 48 bottles
This is basically the same as #1 but buying bottles is no good. If you don't return them you are stealing. Wait, oh, nevermind. Having to stock your own bottles is a very good research opportunity. They will take a bit of work but an overnight soak in some OxyClean and the labels will float right off. Although, Sierra Nevada labels have given me fits.

3 - 107.75 - 6 gallon BB, 5 gallon BB, 6.5 gallon bucket with spigot
I like this option the best. The Better Bottles are nice, although for the price of a BB you could buy a few buckets. It would be nice if this came with 2 6 gallon BB instead of a 6 and a fiver. If you go the BB or carboy route make sure you have a way to keep it out of the sun. The UVs will skunk your beer. Generally, the less of any light your beer will see, the better. I have a cardboard box with a hole cut in the top that fits over my carboy. I might take a picture later but I think I'm about to fall asleep.

4 - 78.99 - 5 gallon carboy, 6.5 gallon bucket with spigot
This is no good. You need a 6+ gallon container to ferment 5 gallons of wort.

5 - 144.99 - 6 gallon carboy, 5 gallon carboy, 6.5 gallon bucket with spigot
This is a carboy version of #3. I would go with the BBs before I picked this one. There's nothing quite as scary as a giant glass container slipping in your wet hands while your cleaning it.

Unless you have need for the larger fermenter, don't bother racking to secondary. Until you know why, you don't need to. Once you know why to rack, you'll understand why you don't need to.

 

[NorthRiverS]

AC,

Check out this one. It is totally siphonless. That is something that I love about it.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERY_WITH_BROWN_ALE_P2198C73.cfm

This kit also comes with the supplies to make 5 gal. of Brown Ale. Check it out.

NRS

 

[JohnTheBrewist]

Buckets are easier to clean because you can get your hand in, but make a poor 2ndary fermentor because most of the time you rack to a 2ndary you have finished fermentation, and risk exposing the beer to oxygen. Most buckets will leave you will a lot of headspace and that increases the chance of oxygen screwing with your beer.

This might have been true, except that there is no need to transfer to secondary. Leave your bucket alone for a month then transfer to bottles.

If I was going to spend $200 at Amazon, I'd want it to be for things that will actually make my beer better or the process easier. Glass carboys will not make better beer than plastic buckets. You can buy a bucket with spigot on amazon for $17, a hydrometer and jar for another $6, a good bench capper for $32. After that, I'd look to buy a pot that can do full boils and a wort chiller, both which will make your beer better.

Moose

 

[bovineblitz]

I vote #3.

 

[freakshow10mm]

What I would do is buy or rent (from the library) a brewing book. Palmer's book is good, so is Home Beermaking by Moore. Read a book first, learn about what is involved, then buy your kit based on your needs and budget.

 

[ruffdeezy]

I wouldn't buy a beer kit from amazon but they are perfectly fine. I'd buy from either northern brewer, Austin homebrew, Williams brewing or brewmasters warehouse. As a satisfied customer from each place I recommend them. I would go with what fits the budget now and you can and definitely will add to it later.

 

[ShakerD]

If you are going to buy a kit I like #3

But if you are a cheap SOB like me you might want to check out craiglist and kijiji in your area. Make sure if you do that you don't buy anything that is plastic and scratched at all. Ale pails are cheap from your LHBS.

If you can save a few bucks on equipment you can buy more ingredients/kits and have more beer!

 

[BlondIrishGuy]

I have nothing against internet brewing supply stores, but I am kind of partial to my local home brew store and here is why.

1. You are supporting a local business in your own home town.
2. You have a local person that can help you with questions and suggestions.
3. The taxes you pay provide revenue for your own home town.

So my suggestion would be to read up on brewing and figure out what you think you need. Check prices online for all the equipment you are considering. Go down to your local brewing supply store with your new found knowledege and run your ideas by the proprietor and get his/her feed back. If all their prices are inline with what you would pay online, buy all of your stuff there.

In a very short period, I have made friends with my local brew store owner and he and his wife have been very helpful. They have been very liberal about taking stuff back that I realized that I didn't need. They are very layed back and have not tried to up sell me anything and even when i have tried to buy stuff, they kind of shrug their shoulders and and say, "Well, you probably won't need it , but I'll sell it to you anyway." And when I have had an emergency question, they have been just a phone call away. Plus, I have found that their prices are comparable with internet sellers. So it's a win/win situation.

 

[BaldManBrew]

Do you already have bottles? If not I'd get the one that includes bottles. Do you plan on doing secondary fermentation? Scroll to bottom of my post to see online competitors pricing (just as a reference)

Bookmark these:

John Palmer book (Free to read online)
http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html

Great places to buy your equipment, first beer kit, and cleaning (PBW), and sterilizing (Star-San) solutions. Note: PBW and Starsan are recommendations, and agreed by many on HBT will work very well. There are other alternatives that might save you money, or clean in a different style. These are the two products many use, and are very simple, and produce great results.

http://midwestsupplies.com/
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing


Here are the latest prices for a Basic equipment kit plus shipping. The kits differ in sizes of primary buckets, but all will yield the common 5 gallon batch. Another small difference between the kits are the cleaners that come with it (didn't use the one that came with mine). Remember you will still need: Beer kit, Brew kettle, bottles, cleaning and sterilizing solutions. This is the equipment and shipping only...

_____ Basic kit + Shipping = Total
Midwest: $59.95 + $11.47 =$71.42
Austin hb $80.49 + $7.99 = $88.48
Northern: $79.99 + $7.99 = $87.98

 

[ACbrewer]

NorthRiverS Yeah I primary in my bottling bucket. That makes racking to a 2ndary easy. it is getting it out that is hard. I'd still need an auto syphon - or better bottles with spickets. I do wine and that needs to be degased so a carboy isvery handy.

 

[Baldy_Beer_Brewery]

things you don't need (like a 5 gallon secondary fermenter)

This might have been true, except that there is no need to transfer to secondary.

I dry hop nearly all my beers. My 5 gallon Better Bottle is excellent for this. Others like to bulk age in a secondary. Beers that I don't secondary, I let sit. But it secondary use still something that many do.

 

[wolverinebrewer]

Ok, so there you have it. You have gotten 15 responses and they are all different. Nobody is wrong. It's what works for each of them. My advice would be to not be in a hurry. Spend as much time as possible thinking about what you want to brew. Many styles require different equipment so figure out what brews you want to make and start out with the equipment gets you making your favorites. Also, read, read, and read some more before you lay down cash and end up buying stuff you don't end up using.
As far as fermenters, my choice is buckets. I thought I needed carboys when I started and now rarely use them. Glass carboys are expensive and require extreme care. I have two and probably will never buy another. I ferment in buckets. I dry hop in buckets. My buckets will never get scratched because I use them for nothing other than holding beer. The only thing that ever touches the plastic inside is a sponge. They are cheap and if care is taken will last a very long time.

 

[bmud0314]

I got this one (upgraded bucket to better bottle). http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/better-basic-starter-kit.html.

However, I like the deal with your number three. Two better bottles means you can have two beers going at once, which means you can combine orders and save on shipping (flat rate with NB and others).

One thing you might want to check is the cost plus shipping of getting the equipment kit and ingredient kit from two different sources, vs. everything at NB or Austin Homebrew where you can get the flat rate shipping. As far as the books/dvd to learn: 1: Homebrewtalk.com, 2: How to Brew is avail online for free, 3: youtube, 4: homebrewtalk.com

 

[freakshow10mm]

I have nothing against internet brewing supply stores, but I am kind of partial to my local home brew store and here is why.

1. You are supporting a local business in your own home town.
2. You have a local person that can help you with questions and suggestions.
3. The taxes you pay provide revenue for your own home town.

So my suggestion would be to read up on brewing and figure out what you think you need. Check prices online for all the equipment you are considering. Go down to your local brewing supply store with your new found knowledege and run your ideas by the proprietor and get his/her feed back. If all their prices are inline with what you would pay online, buy all of your stuff there.

In a very short period, I have made friends with my local brew store owner and he and his wife have been very helpful. They have been very liberal about taking stuff back that I realized that I didn't need. They are very layed back and have not tried to up sell me anything and even when i have tried to buy stuff, they kind of shrug their shoulders and and say, "Well, you probably won't need it , but I'll sell it to you anyway." And when I have had an emergency question, they have been just a phone call away. Plus, I have found that their prices are comparable with internet sellers. So it's a win/win situation.

That all depends on your local market. My local HBS is a tiny, tiny section of a co-op that has about a dozen beer kits, very small selection of grain, no hops, no priming sugar, some bottles, and a couple Better Bottle carboys. No one on staff brews their own beer. It's strictly "we have it, we sell it, but don't know much about it".

If I need to grab a carboy or two with blow off assembly, then I'll buy at the local "shop". I learn from this forum, another forum, the podcast in my signature, and my two co-workers that brew.

 

[AmericanCheese]

Thanks for all the info. I am planning on picking up a couple books mentioned with my order as well. I'm not too concerned with getting the packs with the kits, and I don't mind ordering them separately either from amazon or a specialty retailer.

The main reason I am choosing amazon is i recently discovered they take trade-ins on textbooks. So i got to clean out my closet and make about $250 bucks in the process.

There seems to be a pretty big split between carboys and buckets. Im worried about the better bottles though because they are not as cheap as buckets and still susceptible to the same scratching issues. After reading the Bucket vs BB vs Glass sticky i think im going to go with buckets since they cant break and are relatively cheap to replace. I just wish they were clear so i could watch it happen.

As far as a pot, I know i need to get one of those as well, and will probably tack that on to my order.

 

[itsme6582]

I think you'll be happy with the buckets. A buckets useful life isn't over if it does get scratched.

If you want to do full boils, I think the the standard is an 8 gallon pot. The problem with a pot that big is they don't have much of a useful life outside of brewing. I don't think you'll have much luck boiling a pot that large on a stove. If ever want to do bigger than 5 gallons you'll need an even bigger pot. Keggles are a hit for this. I have a 5 gallon pot and it's a good size to start with. I'm planning on stepping up to a keggle this summer. The 5er will most likely become a HLT but it could easily be used for cooking.

 

[jamnw]

#5 is the kit I just purchased. I got it straight from the merchant's web site. The shipping was free on their site.
I have just put my first batch into the primary. 4 days ago to be exact.

I am a noob, but it seems to be a good kit.
I thought it was a good price for everything it has.

*The wing capper seems to do a good job. Only used it on an empty bottle.

There were/are a few items that I was not 100% pleased with.

*The hydrometer comes in a cheap plastic tube that feels very fragile. I bought a glass one for it.
*The tubing for the siphon was a little short for my setup. I purchased some at Lowes.
*They forgot to pack the carboy brush. I haven't gotten one yet.

I bought this kit mainly for the glass carboys. I didn't want plastic buckets. I have two young boys, and they love to play with buckets. Last thing I wanted was a frog in my fermenting bucket.

I also purchased my beer kit from this site. Bavarian Hefeweisen.

 

[whiskey_pickle]

I have nothing against internet brewing supply stores, but I am kind of partial to my local home brew store and here is why.

I too am partial to my LHBS but the only one within 50 miles of me is only open on Fridays from around 11AM to 6PM and some days it is kinda hard to get there before or after work. I would love to do all of my shopping local, but until we get a shop that has regular business hours, I have no choice.

 

[dsilva]

I got kit 1 for Christmas and couldn't be happier. Mine came with an American Ale which I am drinking at the present and is happy with. I did just go to my LHBS though and picked up a Better Bottle as a nice little upgrade to make some Apfelwein. HomeBrewery.com has been where I've ordered my yeasts when I didn't have the time to drive an hour and a half to my LHBS. They ship small items for pennies on the dollar rather than flat rate shipping ($7 shipping for $1.50 pack of yeast at most other places)

Good luck and happy brewing!

 

[BWN]

I'm fairly new myself but I spent countless hours reading this forum before I bought a kit. I ended up buying the most basic kit from midwest and ordered an extra bucket with it plus a few other things I figured I would need. I was able to brew 2 kits right away. I think reading the books mentioned above is good. I read "The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and "How to Brew". Nothing compares to the info. you can get off of this forum though. Good luck