Back after many years

[metlcutr55]

I brewed in the late 80's, around 10 extract batches and then (2) 2 gallon batches of all grain brown ale. stopped for 10 years. Then a couple friends got interested, so I helped them make a couple runs, then helped them build a simple 30 gal LME setup. I hope I never wash another Grolsch bottle again!
Lately the urge has struck again, since I have a fair amount of old equipment still, I've ordered Morebeers all grain red ale kit. I'll break it down into (2) 2.5 gallon batches, and do it with some friends for fun.
Searching the web for reasonably priced kits didn't yield the results I hoped for, Morebeer and AIH seem to dominate the web. So I'm looking for quality suppliers that have reasonable pricing. I may move forward after this, and need to source ingredients for recipes, crushed malt, hops, yeast, etc. Batches will not exceed 5 gal any time soon. Thank you for any guidance you may give and wish me luck!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I brewed in the late 80's, around 10 extract batches and then (2) 2 gallon batches of all grain brown ale. stopped for 10 years. Then a couple friends got interested, so I helped them make a couple runs, then helped them build a simple 30 gal LME setup. I hope I never wash another Grolsch bottle again!
Lately the urge has struck again, since I have a fair amount of old equipment still, I've ordered Morebeers all grain red ale kit. I'll break it down into (2) 2.5 gallon batches, and do it with some friends for fun.
Searching the web for reasonably priced kits didn't yield the results I hoped for, Morebeer and AIH seem to dominate the web. So I'm looking for quality suppliers that have reasonable pricing. I may move forward after this, and need to source ingredients for recipes, crushed malt, hops, yeast, etc. Batches will not exceed 5 gal any time soon. Thank you for any guidance you may give and wish me luck!

Welcome!

I buy most of my ingredients from Rite Brew. They are not a store front supplier but the owner, Neil, is an experienced brewer. He sells some equipment but not a lot.

It's local for me but lots of folks here mail order from him.

Perhaps there's a local place near you to explore too.

https://www.ritebrew.com

 

[Sammy86]

Perhaps there's a local place near you to explore too.

https://www.ritebrew.com/default.

Link doesn’t work FYI

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Link doesn’t work FYI

Yup, I see that now, bad copy I guess.

Just search Rite Brew, I guess.
Thanks for the note!

 

[Willy]

Yup, I see that now, bad copy I guess.

Just search Rite Brew, I guess.
Thanks for the note!

Here ya go
https://www.ritebrew.com/default.asp

I also use Ritebrew for grains. (Not equip). Also check and see if you have a malthouse nearby.

Welcome back to the Land of Wort !

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Here ya go
https://www.ritebrew.com/default.asp

I also use Ritebrew for grains. (Not equip). Also check and see if you have a malthouse nearby.

Welcome back to the Land of Wort !

Thanks for helping me!

 

[mashdar]

If you're in MA, you might look at brewhardware.com as a good small-business source for ingredients and equipment. They're in north Jersey.

Bobby, the owner, is a regular on the forum. They do custom fabrication (lathing, welding, etc), so some of their gear is unique. They also have very good quality and prices on ingredients. They stock all of the Weyermann Barke malts, which IMO is a big draw.

They don't do "free" shipping, but they're generally competitive with the "free" shipping guys. I would guess Boston is 2 day UPS shipping.

https://www.brewhardware.com/

edit: But for extract on a purely economic basis, I hear ritebrew is the way to go. I recommend you go all-DME; read up on current LME vs DME opinions if you haven't!

edit 2: I also order some stuff frome MoreBeer. Their order fulfillment and customer support is good. A lot of the other big names were bought up (AIH I think? Also NB/Midwest, Austin). I had a few bad experiences post-aquisition and wrote them off.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Kits are a great way to brew but if you start buying the necessary ingredients separately, look at bulk purchases to capture some savings.

When I buy dry yeast from Rite Brew there's a discount on ten packs. Same goes for ten plus pounds of grain. Bulk purchases makes sense for the base grains that you'll use.

I have seen other places doing the same.

 

[metlcutr55]

Thank you all. I will need small amounts of dme just to have it handy, but I really want to brew all grain. I will run a few 2.5 gal batches to see if I enjoy it as much as I hope. Brewhardware has good kit prices, shipping a little high. I know I can make the shipping more worthwhile by making a larger order. I don't see myself with any 55 lb bags of malt any time soon but a 10 lb bag of malt is a good start for a lot of brews, when I decide to explore recipes.
I chanced across Craft A Brews Catalyst plastic conical fermenter video. I really liked the video, and the concept of the system. I did some more looking, and found Delta having a stainless one for not a lot more of money.. Fun but I'm jumping the gun, if I am 10+ batches in and still loving it perhaps then.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Most of us started out using plastic buckets and some continued using them for years.

Investing in stainless steel is great when you know for sure this is your hobby and funds are available. You won't go wrong and the investment still holds value if you decide to sell. Still there are many options for fermenting.

 

[mashdar]

For inexpensive, functional gear, an Australian company called KegLand makes a bunch of PET stuff - fermenters rated 60psi (most stainless is limited to 15psi if pressure rated), very affordable PET kegs, and all kinds of other things.

Their brands are brewzilla (AIO brewery), fermzilla (fermenters), oxebar (kegs), duotight (PTC fittings), EVAbarrier (tubing), and KegLand (misc, e.g. stainless kegs).

edit: Also, there was a PET revolution in early 2000s - HDPE (white buckets) is a poor oxygen barrier, but PET is almost as good as glass/stainless. The gasket/bung/etc is the site of most O2 ingress with PET/glass/stainless. Glass carboys are basically not a thing any more, as they're more expensive, much more dangerous, and very limited upside.