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No argument is being made for one over the other :mug: (unless you're arguing with yourself :D ) Just saying.... until YOU know how the new brewer is planning on making beer.. throwing out what he needs recommendations are more likely to confuse the OP and others that find this thread later...

I think it's worth asking before making suggestions...:mug: I started as a Partial mash... was not interested in mixing caned wort and water to ferment beer... So my limited experience .. more start out at least with steeping speciality grains and extract vs wort in a can or all extract. To...

Austin Homebrew Supply sells each of there kits in three varieties... All Grain, Partial Mash, All extract http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178_452_42 They build the "kits" in house, so your getting fresh off the shelf ingredients,, not a prepackaged kit that has been in a warehouse...

The larger carboy is fine for a 5 gal batch. The 5 gal one is a bit small for the reasons others have stated. And while it seems common on this forum to suggest secondary is not needed.. A 5 gal secondary IS useful to the new brewer with only two fermentation vessels...... Racking your beer...

Are you planning on doing just a basic extract recipe kit? Or a Extract and speciality grains recipe? Brew in a bag? something else? What size batches? 1 gal? 5 gal? bigger? How much room to you have to brew? store equipment? ferment?

I do both.. just depends on if I have enough bags on hand. I brewed today.. 5 muslin bags.. one large for fresh whole hops, 4 small bags for early and late hop additions using pellets. Sure makes moving wort to the fermentor though my bucket funnel and strainer. When i don't use muslin bags...

Another STC-1000 recommendation here. I have two freezers now controlled by these super inexpensive controllers, and both work great.

It might..... but I'd find a small ceramic heater with fan... 300~600 watts or so. The fan really helps keep an even temp in my ferm chamber...and the 450 watt heater, will warm the 13cuft freezer up from cold crash 34f to 62f fermentation temp very quickly, so I assume it would stave off...

I tried, I failed with about 50% of that batch.. bad day. Some sealed, most did not. That was with a wing capper. I broke the first twist off I tried to cap with my bench capper. I know when to submit.... I asked for pry off bottles from friends....... I now have several hundred on hand...

If you can before you buy... spend a brew day with him... Listen to what he talks about wanting, replacing, upgrading, changing... hint at kegging and see if it interest him. Kegging implies a refrigerated place to store the keg system.. from a simple picnic tap and all in an old fridge, to...

Have a hydrometer? if so, trust it to tell you when your beer is done, vs a book timeline that was written by someone that did not brew your beer, in your equipment with your process, method of yeast pitching, type of yeast, pitching temp, fermentation temp...

If you use a large glass or Pyrex measuring "cup" (I use two, 2 liter ones to hold up to 4 lbs of DME) for the DME, you pour from bag to "cup", then cup to pot... yes lots sticks in the cup as steam hits it.., but no worries, dip/ swish the glass cup in the wort and it all washes away...

5 gal of Texas Midnight ale brewing as I type

Have to wonder what the wort temp was for the first few days fermenting. What the pitch temp was. And, at a very short 7 days in primary... how did you determine it was done fermenting?

Nope it does not, but it does make beer .. Which was my point. As well as the best kit used poorly will make bad beer as well. The OP asked for info on which kit ( what items needed ) The links you provided are general in nature to dozens of kits from each place... Might help the OP if you...

Best depends on a lot of things.. Money available, space to store and brew, desired outcome now, and 6 months from now. You can make beer with a $40 Mr Beer kit.... You can produce undrinkable beer like stuff with a $300 kit... June of this year I started with a Kit from Austin Homebrew Supply...

Thanks for the $$$ numbers. The plastic sensor end on my three STC-1000's is .250" So not a great fit for a .250 thermowell. I use a Brewers Hardware 16" straight wall thermowell for my STC-1000 with black plastic sensor. http://www.brewershardware.com/16-Stainless-Steel-Thermowell.html...

You can just leave it in the primary for 4-6 weeks and be pretty sure it's done... But yes, if you want to KNOW it's done, take a SG reading. Yes, every time you gain access to the sealed container there is risk of infection, and oxidation.. but with just a bit of work it's mitigated risk...

I used a mix of twist off and pop top bottles on one batch.. of the 51 bottles, about 30 were twist off and most leaked. That was using a entry level wing capper, not a full bell bench type. Never the less, mistake recognized, and not repeated. So long as you plan ahead, pop top bottles are...

So tell us, what was the out the door cost on a complete set up using their products needed to cool three 5 gal fermentation buckets or carboys? Adding the pieces and part from there web site to do that...seems to support the prices mentioned.. But thats not "real" your purchase would be. Thanks