Do I have all the necessary equipment to start brewing?

Alright,

So i have Read John Palmer's book and am ready to get into brewing my First Extract batch.

I have a budget of 250$ to get started and have done some research and price matching and think i will buy my supplies from Midwest. This is what i have in my cart.

1. 6.5 Gallon Glass carboy
2. Small universal Bung-Drilled
3. 3 Ft blow off tube
4. 6.5 Gallon Bottling Bucket with Spigot
5. Drilled Plastic Lid for bottling bucket
6. 1/2" bottle Filler(15" length)
7. 5/16" Auto Siphon
8. Dual Scale Liquid Thermometer
9. Hydrometer (triple scale)
10. 1lb of PBW
11. 16oz of star san
12.Carboy Brush
13. Jet Bottle Washer
14. The Brew hauler(to carry Carboy)
Totals-160$ (with shipping)

15.) On amazon.com CDN DTQ450X ProAccurate Quick-Read
(Digital thermometer http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0021AEAG2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 )
Total -22$

16.) I am making a wort chiller As we speak
Total -48$

Grand total- 230$

I ALREADY HAVE IN MY POSSESION!. 1.) a 15 gal pot, 2.) Propane burner 3.)Bottle capper, 4.) 60 bottle caps, 5.) 100+ bottles, 6.) 2x 5 gal carboys (will use for secondary if need be.)

So i know some of this equipment is NOT 100% necessary to brew beer. But i feel like with the money i have i got the necessary upgrades or things that will make the brewing/cleaning process easier.

I plan to do this for a long time and i have 2 buddies who are going to be with me on brew days and help me and learn the process with me.

My 2 buddies will always buy the ingredients for me as i am fitting the up front bill for all the equipment.

I feel like i have done a decent amount of research on what i need and or what will help make brew days easier. Mind you i have a temp controlled chest freezer that stays at 53 degrees right now and can be changed for lagering if needed. For all other beer’s i just have a closet that stays at 65-70 all year but am in the process of saving money to buy an used chest freezer off craigslist and make another temp control so i can have a fermentation chamber. As i think that’s the next step in making better beer.

So i plan on doing a few extract batches to get the process nailed down until i move on to all grain.
I also plan on using a blow off tube for all my batches as ive read those are the best way to go to avoid a mess. But if you think an airlock is the way to go by all means explain why!

So what i would like from the community here is to look over my list of stuff that is "IN my cart" right now and let me know if there are any items i am missing or items that i prob. won’t ever use.

I plan to purchase everything in about 2 days so please give any advice you can and let me know if my money is better spent on a different product than what’s in my cart!

Can't wait to start Home brewing! Thanks for any and all help!

 

Looks like you're all set and then some. I had maybe half that when I first got started - you just sort of find a way to make it work. No point in leaving any of it off though, once you get hooked you'll only be adding more equipment, not getting rid of any.

One item that isn't on there that you might consider, some sort of vessel for making yeast starters. Are you going to use dry yeast? If not, any old bottle that can hold up to about 2 liters will do you just fine at the beginning.

 

Can never have enough tubing and air-locks.
Funnel with a strainer would also be a great addition.

 

you don't have a complete siphoning setup that is all the same size.

 

Your list looks good.

Personally I would switch the glass carboy to a Better Bottle. You will break the glass one eventually, pray that you don't get injured.

Also get another fermenter and another ingredient kit ordered ASAP. You will be surprised how fast 5 gallons of homebrew will disappear. Brew often and get a pipeline established. I have 10 styles bottled at the moment.

Variety is the spice of life.

 

I just did my first batch a month or so ago and certainly didn't have all that! I bought a box of equipment from my LHBS.

 

You don't need an air-lock, but they are great to have. I always use a blowoff tube for the first few days to a week, but after fermentation has slowed down, I replace the blow off tube with an air lock. And keep in mind that air locks are cheap.

 

If you do go with a better bottle, throw your carboy brush away. You can't use them on better bottles. You can scratch the inside and then they are ruined as that is where bacteria will survive and ruin batches of beer.

 

Yes, Oxyclean soak over night, rinse well, then a gallon of hot water and a wash cloth - swirl it around - clean as a whistle! And easier than the brush anyway!

 

You look to be set quite well. If I could offer one change it would be this: Do not buy PBW and get some Oxyclean FREE from the grocery store. Use the savings to buy a brewhauler. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/the-brew-hauler.html

I was nervous about switching to glass carboys but I feel better once I installed bewhaulers. I put my arm through one of the handle loops and then grasp the neck of the carboy. This feels very secure when I am cleaning then.

 

If u check my original post you will see the last item on the list is a brew hauler!

But I will take the PBW off anyway and get me some oxyclean at the store! Thanks

 

This is down to personal taste but I don't use a bottling bucket. Maybe skip that and buy a fermentation bucket instead, and bottle from that. Then you have another vessel for future brews...because one carboy isn't going to cut it. I've been doing this for about 2 months and I already have two 5 gallon carboys, two 1 gallon growlers and five 7.5 gallon fermentation buckets.....and I need more!

 

I have wondered this myself. Why the bottling bucket? Seems like a lot of hassle to get everything from my fermentation bucket to the bottle bucket.

Is it just to keep all the sediment from getting into the bottle? :cross:

 

With a bottling bucket you have a spigot on the front. You can attach a hose to that, then a bottling wand to the hose and bottle direct without the need to use a syphon. When you bottle from a fermentation bucket you need to make use of the auto-syphon. I have had no issues with that approach. When I spoke to my LHBS they said they don't even use bottling buckets and I think that says a lot considering they talked themselves out of a sale.

EDIT : sorry, I am missing out a massive piece of information. PRIMING. When I bottle I rack to another vessel with the priming sugar solution in it. THEN I bottle from that. I have never tried adding my priming sugar solution to my fermentation bucket and bottling directly from that though. That might necessitate stirring and you want to keep oxygen out of your beer.

 

Do you have a scale to weigh hops and grain?

 

I weigh my grains in the store. I have a digital scale for my hops. I would say you need a scale for your hops since they come in standard packages and you don't always need multiple of 1 oz.

 

That was my question. Seems like if my fermentation bucket had a spigot, I could bottle from it and eliminate the whole siphoning thing. Bottle with the auto-siphon doesn't seem like much fun. Didn't think about the priming sugar thing. That is a good point.

 

The bottling wand makes bottling using the auto siphon piece of cake

 

Once the siphon is primed and has beer in all of the tubing, as long as you are lower than the bucket you won't have to keep siphoning. Gravity will take care of the rest. I usually only have to pump the siphon once during bottling. Plus the spigot is just another place to harbor bacteria or even worse leak the precious beer. Just get a 6.5 gallon plastic fermenter (w/o the spigot).

Plus as some one has already said, you'll have another fermenter.

*EDIT: My LHBS talked me out of my bottling bucket too.

 

I don't see a wine thief/turkey baster type device on there. You will want something convenient to check your gravity. Also a vessel to float your hydrometer in without wasting too much beer. You will also want some mesh sacks for steeping grains/partial mashing. These are also helpful for hops in your kettle-not necessary but it's nice to have the option.

I have never used a digital thermometer. Nice luxury, but definitely not essential.

Good call on the wort chiller. I only brewed once without one. Saves all kind of time.

 

Another thing to keep in mind....when you are bottling you don't want to splash your beer in the bottles. Bottling should be a very calm process to reduce your chances of oxygenating your beer....which you do not want!

In case you don't know what a bottling wand is, it's a plastic tube with a spring loaded "stopper" (for lack of a better term) on the bottom. You start your syphon with the wand open so that you can fill the tubing and wand with beer. Then you simply insert the wand into your bottle, push it gently against the bottom of the bottle to open the wand, let the beer flow into the bottle (nice and gently), wait until the beer reaches the top of your bottle, extract the wand which also closes the stopper and stops the flow of beer. When you take the wand out the bottle, the volume displaced by the wand will be replaced by air in the neck of the bottle (about 1.5" inches). Move onto the next bottle. I bottle my beer with my bottles in the case so I do 24 at a time. Then I cap them. It is possible for you to overflow the bottles a little bit but with practice you'll get it. The beer doesn't flow into the bottles that fast so it's not like you have to have amazing reaction time to avoid a spill.

 

What would the funnel with strainer be used for? And is a plastic or metal(stainless steel) strainer better?

 

The only reason I was getting a bottling bucket is so I didn't have to siphon twice.. As I would siphon from the carboy into bottling bucket. The auto siphon would keep the turb out of my beer and then the bottling bucket would have my priming sugar in the bucket and then I would bottle from there.

But I guess it wouldn't really be that hard to siphon from carboy into fermentation bucket with priming sugar then siphon into bottles.

So would u all suggest a 6.5 fermentation bucket or a larger one?
Also should it have a drilled lid or not?

Also it sounds like I should look into purchasing another 6.5 gal carboy right?

Please let me know if anything I've said above is incorrect.

Thanks for all your help and keep the advice coming.

 

I've never used the funnel but I guess it would help getting wort into the carboy.

I used the strainer when straining wort into my fementation bucket IF I have tossed in loose hops.

 

I use 7.5 gallon buckets. That is:
markings up to 5 gallons
6 gallons up to first rim
7.5 gallons all the way to the top

That works for me as it gives me a lot of headspace.

Drilled lid for blow off tube and / or airlock - unless you are open fermenting.
More carboys? Yeah, you'll always need more of them. I actually have more buckets than carboys : 5 vs 2.

 

I do have (and used) a bottling wand. I guess I was just more curious why I didn't bottle directly out of my fermentation bucket. But I think I've gotten everything straightened out now.

Sorry about the threadjack, OP

 

Though not essential I suggest a bottle tree

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-equipment/bottling/bottling-tools-accessories.html

And a Sulfiter

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/bottle-rinser-sulfiter.html

 

I agree with the bottle tree, and a 21" stainless spoon is nice to have too.

 

+1

My kit came with a plastic mash paddle which is nice but it's not steel and can melt. I don't leave it in the pan but even just stirring my wort is enough to cause the blade of the paddle to melt / deform a little.

 

1. 6.5 Gallon Glass carboy
2. Small universal Bung-Drilled
3. 3 Ft blow off tube
4.Was (6.5 Gallon Bottling Bucket with Spigot) NOW = 7.9 Gallon Plastic fermenter with lid
5. WAS (Drilled Plastic Lid for bottling bucket) NOW = 3 piece Air lock
6. WAS (1/2" bottle Filler(15" length)) NOW= 5/16” bottle Filler (13” length)
7. 5/16" Auto Siphon
8. Dual Scale Liquid Thermometer
9. Hydrometer (triple scale)
10. WAS (1lb of PBW) Now = will buy Oxyclean at my supermarket
11. 16oz of star san
12.Carboy Brush
13. Jet Bottle Washer
14. The Brew hauler(to carry Carboy)
15. NEW= Bottle Rinser(sulfiter)
16. NEW= 45 Bottle Drying Tree
17. NEW = Graduated Cylinder
Totals-190$ (with shipping)

18.) On amazon.com CDN DTQ450X ProAccurate Quick-Read
(Digital thermometer
Amazon)

Total -22$

19.) I am making a wort chiller As we speak
Total -48$

Grand total- 260$

I think i will order my supplies tomorrow unless anyone has any other suggestions. Thanks soo far for all your help.. I know i have way more than i need to start brewing but since i had the money to spend on it i decided i might as well make the process as easy for me as i can.

BTW as stated before my 2 friends are buying the ingredients and my one friend has a digital scale and a 21" metal spoon for stirring!

Please let me know before tomorrow if there is anything else you would add or take away.

IF not thanks again for all the help.. Can't wait to post how my first beer went in a month or so. The community here is GREAT

 

I forgot to include I also have