tenorposaune
New Member
Hi everyone,
I've been lurking here for quite some time (and learning a lot!) but thought it might be time to chime in to the conversation. When I first started brewing, I really didn't know what I was doing, so I went to my LHBS and bought their "deluxe kit" of equipment, which I was told was everything I would need. After having brewed a number of batches, I now feel qualified to say that I most definitely did not get everything I needed, but did get some things I didn't need. My goal of this post is to help newbies get what they need without wasting as much money and time as I did. I've put the items I think should be in a beginner's kit in bold face.
Here's what I got, with a brief reaction based on my experience:
8 gallon plastic fermentor bucket with a rubber stopper and airlock
This is the heart of the exercise; you definitely need a fermentor.
Sanitizer sample
Sanitizing all your stuff is necessary. For awhile I tried bleaching but sanitizer is easier. Go with it.
Capper and caps
Unless you're kegging, which you're probably not as a beginner, these are necessary.
Siphon hose, bottling wand, and racking cane
The hose and bottling wand are necessary. The racking cane, not so much. Siphoning the wort between containers is difficult, messy, and error-prone for beginners. I recommend spending the extra $10 and upgrading to an autosiphon right from the beginning. They're not too expensive, and they're worth every penny.
6 gallon glass carboy for secondary fermentation
Many experienced homebrewers don't rack to a secondary fermenter at all. This is completely unnecessary for a beginner, and it was by far the most expensive item in my kit. The store was just trying to find some way to take my money.
Extract kit and priming sugar
Yes, we all want to jump right into all-grain brewing from our own recipes, but it makes sense to start smaller. Go with the kit for your first batch.
I also bought 2 cases of bottles, but in hindsight, this was silly. Anyone who is brewing beer probably already consumes their fair share. Save the bottles you drink, wash them up, and don't spend more money. You'll need about 50 brown 12oz bottles (avoid the clear ones).
The big thing that is not mentioned in any of these kits is your brew kettle. Besides your fermentor, this is your most important piece of equipment. I bought a cheap 3 gallon aluminum pot, figuring that for extract batches, it was sufficient. That was not the case. The wort bubbles violently, and when it boils over, the sticky wort is a real pain to get off of your stove. You want something large enough to have plenty of head room above the wort to contain the mess. Instead of buying the expensive glass carboy, invest in an 8-gallon pot. This will handle your extract batches with ease and will grow with you as you scale up to a full boil.
Also, you will need a digital scale with sensitivity down to a tenth of an ounce. I had a cheap spring scale which was fine for weighing pounds of extract and grains. But, when it came to measuring hops, I had no way to weigh quantities less than an ounce.
The other consideration is a wort chiller. There are a lot of ways to cool your wort down after the boil, and I don't personally use an immersion chiller. But if you can't move your brewkettle to a sink/tub filled with ice water (either because of weight or size issues), a wort chiller is probably something you'll want to look at as your next purchase after the initial kit.
Happy brewing!
I've been lurking here for quite some time (and learning a lot!) but thought it might be time to chime in to the conversation. When I first started brewing, I really didn't know what I was doing, so I went to my LHBS and bought their "deluxe kit" of equipment, which I was told was everything I would need. After having brewed a number of batches, I now feel qualified to say that I most definitely did not get everything I needed, but did get some things I didn't need. My goal of this post is to help newbies get what they need without wasting as much money and time as I did. I've put the items I think should be in a beginner's kit in bold face.
Here's what I got, with a brief reaction based on my experience:
8 gallon plastic fermentor bucket with a rubber stopper and airlock
This is the heart of the exercise; you definitely need a fermentor.
Sanitizer sample
Sanitizing all your stuff is necessary. For awhile I tried bleaching but sanitizer is easier. Go with it.
Capper and caps
Unless you're kegging, which you're probably not as a beginner, these are necessary.
Siphon hose, bottling wand, and racking cane
The hose and bottling wand are necessary. The racking cane, not so much. Siphoning the wort between containers is difficult, messy, and error-prone for beginners. I recommend spending the extra $10 and upgrading to an autosiphon right from the beginning. They're not too expensive, and they're worth every penny.
6 gallon glass carboy for secondary fermentation
Many experienced homebrewers don't rack to a secondary fermenter at all. This is completely unnecessary for a beginner, and it was by far the most expensive item in my kit. The store was just trying to find some way to take my money.
Extract kit and priming sugar
Yes, we all want to jump right into all-grain brewing from our own recipes, but it makes sense to start smaller. Go with the kit for your first batch.
I also bought 2 cases of bottles, but in hindsight, this was silly. Anyone who is brewing beer probably already consumes their fair share. Save the bottles you drink, wash them up, and don't spend more money. You'll need about 50 brown 12oz bottles (avoid the clear ones).
The big thing that is not mentioned in any of these kits is your brew kettle. Besides your fermentor, this is your most important piece of equipment. I bought a cheap 3 gallon aluminum pot, figuring that for extract batches, it was sufficient. That was not the case. The wort bubbles violently, and when it boils over, the sticky wort is a real pain to get off of your stove. You want something large enough to have plenty of head room above the wort to contain the mess. Instead of buying the expensive glass carboy, invest in an 8-gallon pot. This will handle your extract batches with ease and will grow with you as you scale up to a full boil.
Also, you will need a digital scale with sensitivity down to a tenth of an ounce. I had a cheap spring scale which was fine for weighing pounds of extract and grains. But, when it came to measuring hops, I had no way to weigh quantities less than an ounce.
The other consideration is a wort chiller. There are a lot of ways to cool your wort down after the boil, and I don't personally use an immersion chiller. But if you can't move your brewkettle to a sink/tub filled with ice water (either because of weight or size issues), a wort chiller is probably something you'll want to look at as your next purchase after the initial kit.
Happy brewing!
