A beginner's equipment

[nevercominhome]

So I'm wanting to pull the trigger on purchasing this as my starting equipment. Any suggestions and/or comments. I'm fairly sure that this is a hobby I wish to pursue for some time. Should I go with a kit like this or downgrade somewhat....or upgrade for that matter?

 

[Kai]

Wow. That is a pretty solid startup set. It sounds like money's not a big deal for you - I put my kit together gradually, but except for my extra carboys, ingredients, and all-grain equipment, that's basically everything I have.

Some of it isn't what I'd recommend - floating thermometer etc - but as a bundle it looks really solid and complete. All I got in my starter kit was a bucket, carboy, syphon set, bottle filler, and some bleach sanitiser. I rented a capper when necessary and used my old 3-gallon stockpot for extract boils.

 

[goswell]

It looks like it comes with a twin lever bottle capper and for that money I wouldn't want anything but a bench capper. Plus, if you plan to brew all grain, you'll need a mash tun which will add cost. If you plan to brew with extract, the boil kettle you'll get is going to be huge to work with for only a 3 gallon boil.

Check this kit out, it doesn't have a kettle or the chiller but everything else is real good. At a minimum it would be good for comparison
http://www.brewngrowmn.com/detail.jsp?item=1504&category=0

 

[AFAJ Brew Guy]

It looks like it comes with a twin lever bottle capper and for that money I wouldn't want anything but a bench capper. Plus, if you plan to brew all grain, you'll need a mash tun which will add cost. If you plan to brew with extract, the boil kettle you'll get is going to be huge to work with for only a 3 gallon boil.

Bench cappers are nice, but if you are just starting out a wing capper will work just as well. I have used both and they do work.

As for the stock pot. I think 8 gal is good. You can also do full boil extracts, if you do that then the 8 is a must.

 

[MULE]

Uh, yeah. This startup kit looks great. I agree with the comment about the floating thermomenter. I would buy one that sticks to the carboy.

You should be good to go for while. Over time you'll learn your specific needs.

Pull the trigger and let the rounds fly down range.

 

[Surly]

You can compare a bit. Northern Brewery has a number of starter kits: http://www.northernbrewer.com/starterkits.html

Take into account any plans you may have for the future. Try not to purchase items twice. That 8 gallon kettle may work fine for extract brewing and then it can be used to heat your sparge water if you go all grain and get a larger kettle.

Spend a bit of time poking around this site and you will soon figure out what it is you need.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[paranode]

That's a pretty nice kit. The only thing I can think of is going with a cheaper kit with the bare necessities and using the extra money to start kegging.

 

[surfingpl]

That kit seems like a really good deal to me, but I am still a newbie too. It even comes with free shipping?

 

[Donasay]

If you have the cash, go with extra carboys, you will probably need them once you really get into the hobby... The backlog can be a bit taxing after a while... I myself have 8 6.5 gallon primaries and 12 5 gallon secondaries and a few kegs. I still have to be careful when racking and rotating beer to ensure I don't get a huge backlog.

 

[Limited Visibility]

Kit looks nice I bet you will have many fun nights with what you can make in that

 

[nevercominhome]

Thanks for all the advice. I woulda probably already bought this particular kit but one of the items is on backorder. AGHH! At least that gives me a little more time to weigh my options and make a decision. Unfortunately, it sets my 1st brew back by a few more days!

 

[nevercominhome]

20 February. They have finally received some of the backordered brew kettles! I just placed my order for the aforementioned beginner's kit. It should be here in 8-10 business days. Oh sweet brew! I can hardly wait.

 

[mullimat]

I just got my kit from http://www.homebrewers.com. Got the deluxe kit for 154 and spent the extra $80 for the kettle and two cases of bottles. This kit comes with an extra fermenter and a few more goodies such as an auto-syphon and "How to Brew" which comes as a highly recommended book around here. And they even give you a choice from several different beers with it. Check it out.

 

[bluedragon]

Congrats on the order.....I just got my basic brew kit from MoreBeer yesterday. I only live an hour away from their place so it only took two days to get here.

But, gotta wait for my broken arm to heal up before I start my brew.....DRATS...keep us posted, your kit looks awesome.

 

[nevercominhome]

It's here! I'm currently sitting here enjoying a Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale and opening my brand new home brewing equipment. Does it get any better? Plans for now are to get everything ready and tomorrow will be my first brew day! Oh the anticipation....