New brewer

I retired 7 weeks ago. I love beer. Now I want to brew my own, but most kits are five gallons, too much beer for me. Looking at a two gallon kit from brew demon. Am I being stupid?

 

No you're not being stupid, people brew the quantity they want based on their consumption. Most people brew 5 gallons, but some brew 10 or 1, it all depends. What you will probably find though, is after the homebrewing bug bites you, you may find yourself drinking more and therefore brewing more. Northern Brewer has 1 gallon starter kits as well: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...er-kits/1-gallon-small-batch-starter-kit.html
One of the biggest benefits to starting small is that you won't have to buy much new equipment so it's a good way to get your feet wet.

 

Not stupid there are plenty of people who make smaller batches.

But, if it were me, I would get the 5 gallon kit. You still have the option of making smaller batches, but can make larger if you so desire. Also you may find yourself drinking a bit more and friends or family will be sure to drink some of your tasty brews as well. Good luck, have fun

 

I have a 5 gallon kit (actually, I have 3 fermenters) and brew a lot of 2 1/2 gallon batches. Easy to do because it's just half of everything in the 5 gallon kit or recipe. They ferment out just fine in the bigger fermenter and when I do want a bigger batch, I have the capacity.

 

The problem with brewing small batches is that its the same amount of effort that it takes to brew a 5 gallon batch. Then you just run out quicker.

It's not bad to start small, but don't be surprised if you end up doing 5 gallon batches soon.

Congrats on retiring. Imagine having all that time to brew!

 

The brew demons look okay, but I've never used them. I use my Mr. Beer fermenters and they work just fine. The brew demons actually look better but at $35 per they are more expensive than the $10 Mr. Beer kegs.

You'll want to expand your equipment. For example: although the brew demon has a spigot so you can bottle directly from the fermentor (by added sugar to each bottle) you're going to want to buy tubing (70 cents a foot at the hardware store) and a bottling wand for better control less oxidation, and you'll want a bottling vessel (perhaps a second brew demon???) for batch priming (that is, transfering the beer to a temporary vessel and adding priming sugar as a batch and then bottling).

 

If you have a lot of time (since you're recently retired I guess you have) and have family and friends that like beer you should go for the 5 gallon kit with the option to make smaller batches.

I don't think a drink half the beer I brew. A lot of people come over to try the lastest batch and 5 gallons tend to just vanish

Also, if you're thinking you might get kegs in time they usually are 5 gallons.

And, as mentioned before, it takes as much time and effort to make 5 gallons as 2 gallons.
If you have the storage you can always store the beer that isn't consumed. IF you have a lot in store, brew something the takes time to get finished.
When I have a lot in store I tend to brew a Barley Wine or something that takes 1 year to finish.

 

Half the fun of brewing is giving beer away. Plus, once you get involved in brewing, I would highly recommend that you seek out and get involved with a homebrew club. Hanging around like minded beer-centered folks is a real plus in improving and honing your newfound brewing skills. All this in saying, you will likely end up brewing 5 gallon batches eventually. Buy your equipment to brew in at least 5 gallon increments. At the very least, it will be easy to sell later on if you decide to upgrade or, God forbid, bag brewing altogether.

For now, brewing smaller batches is a good way to get your feet wet and get used to the brewing process. No harm in this at all. Other than running out of beer sooner than you think.

 

Check out brooklynbrewshop.com. They sell 1 gallon kits that include everything you need to brew (except for a boiling pot) and an ingredient kit that you can choose for $40. It's a fairly cheap option to get you started and if you like the smaller batches, you can order their ingredient kits for around $15, or gather your ingredients from wherever else you like. Those will yield about 10 12 oz. bottles. Thats a small investment to make to get you going until you decide to move up to 5 gallon batches.