Buying my first beer brewing starter kit!

[Sneakyy]

Dear homebrew-fellows,

Recently I have been fascinated and inspired by this whole homebrewing world and (after reading John Palmer's book) would like to order a good starter kit. After doing some research, I ended up with this kit that can either be bought at their own website or via Amazon. However, I'm struggling with shipment to my address because the supplier does not ship outside the US. Is there any way I can (cheaply) circumvent this chain and get it delivered to my home here in The Netherlands? If not, are there any good alternatives in terms of kits?

Since I'm very new to this whole brewing process - every recommendation, feedback or advice is more than welcome. I'm eager to learn more about homebrewing!

 

[mongoose33]

I've done a lot of business with morebeer; on their shipping page they note that they do ship internationally. I don't know any more details, you might contact them for specifics. Here's their shipping page:

https://www.morebeer.com/content/shipping_policy

I started brewing 2 1/2 years ago, but I still remember what it was like to be a newbie at this. If I were to go back and do it all over again, I'd order this kit:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/premium-homebrew-starter-kit.html

Yeah, it's $229.99, which is more than double what you were looking at with the Northern Brewer kit, but this one has everything you need, except a heat source and bottles. It has a hydrometer, long spoon, immersion chiller, an 8.5-gallon kettle, sanitizer--none of which typically comes with a starter brewing kit--and it includes an extract kit so you don't even have to make the decisions about recipe the first time (which IMO is a good thing).

Now, I have no idea what the shipping would be, perhaps it's prohibitive. But I spent well in excess of $400 on my first brewing hardware/kit, and if I were to do it all over again, I'd be on this kit from Morebeer and wouldn't look back.

Anyway, good luck, and I hope you find a way that works for you.

 

[philly224]

You can always find a site that will ship it you and piece together your own kit.

What size batches do you want to do??

 

[mongoose33]

BTW, forgot to include this, when I went to the Morebeer site to look at that kit, there was a 15-percent off special on it (code: START15D). That would make the price about $195, which is stupidly cheap for what you get.

 

[whiskeyjack]

Can you buy stuff from here https://www.brouwmarkt.nl?

 

[kh54s10]

I don't know about shipping. I am surprised that there isn't a European equivalent to NB or Morebeer.

And yes it is disappointing that Northern Brewer took items out of their beginner kits. It no longer has a hydrometer which IMO, is an item that you have to include. When I started it was in the NB kit.

The only thing that I don't like about the Morebeer kit is the 8.5 gallon kettle. It is too big for extract batches and too small for full boil 5 gallon batches, IMO. It would work but would have to be watched very carefully at the beginning of the boil to stop boil overs

 

[mongoose33]

I don't know about shipping. I am surprised that there isn't a European equivalent to NB or Morebeer.

And yes it is disappointing that Northern Brewer took items out of their beginner kits. It no longer has a hydrometer which IMO, is an item that you have to include. When I started it was in the NB kit.

The only thing that I don't like about the Morebeer kit is the 8.5 gallon kettle. It is too big for extract batches and too small for full boil 5 gallon batches, IMO. It would work but would have to be watched very carefully at the beginning of the boil to stop boil overs

Well, I'd have to disagree about the kettle. I started with my 8-gallon kettle from NB, and had no issues with it doing extract, nor with all-grain batches.

Since you're going to have 5+ gallons of boiling wort with extract, an 8.5-gallon kettle is actually ideal.

And as far as boilovers go, there are two easy ways to manage that. One is to have a spray bottle of water at the ready to cool the foam that develops; the other is to use a couple drops of Fermcap-S to reduce foam. An 8.5-gallon kettle is actually better than the one I got from NB, and I didn't have any trouble with that one.

And for the overall price, well, it's a stunningly good deal.

 

[Sneakyy]

I've done a lot of business with morebeer; on their shipping page they note that they do ship internationally. I don't know any more details, you might contact them for specifics. Here's their shipping page:

https://www.morebeer.com/content/shipping_policy

I started brewing 2 1/2 years ago, but I still remember what it was like to be a newbie at this. If I were to go back and do it all over again, I'd order this kit:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/premium-homebrew-starter-kit.html

Yeah, it's $229.99, which is more than double what you were looking at with the Northern Brewer kit, but this one has everything you need, except a heat source and bottles. It has a hydrometer, long spoon, immersion chiller, an 8.5-gallon kettle, sanitizer--none of which typically comes with a starter brewing kit--and it includes an extract kit so you don't even have to make the decisions about recipe the first time (which IMO is a good thing).

Now, I have no idea what the shipping would be, perhaps it's prohibitive. But I spent well in excess of $400 on my first brewing hardware/kit, and if I were to do it all over again, I'd be on this kit from Morebeer and wouldn't look back.

Anyway, good luck, and I hope you find a way that works for you.

Hey @Mongoose! Thanks a lot for your message, the kit you've just shared at MoreBeer is great. The price is not a problem at the moment as it will hopefully be for long-term use. The off-special is a nice addition!

I understand @kh54s10's concerns about the 8.5 gallon kettle but as I would like to produce 5 gallon in my first batch (here's your answer @philly224), I think this kettle will be sufficient. I also like the fact that the kettle allows me to add a thermometer + siphon to rack the wort into the fermenter.

@whiskeyjack, thanks for sharing this website - much appreciated. I definitely take a look at this whenever I decide to expand my brewer kit!

So far, the MoreBeer kit is the best alternative to the NB kit! If any of you have other tips, advice, recipes, books, materials and such to improve my beerbrewing skills, please share them with me!

 

[kh54s10]

Well, I'd have to disagree about the kettle. I started with my 8-gallon kettle from NB, and had no issues with it doing extract, nor with all-grain batches.

Since you're going to have 5+ gallons of boiling wort with extract, an 8.5-gallon kettle is actually ideal.

And as far as boilovers go, there are two easy ways to manage that. One is to have a spray bottle of water at the ready to cool the foam that develops; the other is to use a couple drops of Fermcap-S to reduce foam. An 8.5-gallon kettle is actually better than the one I got from NB, and I didn't have any trouble with that one.

And for the overall price, well, it's a stunningly good deal.

It is doable. And the price is good.

I used a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer pot a couple of times. Talk about having to watch over it!! There was only about 1 to 1.5 inches left after adding the wort.

It partially depends on your heat source. I have a ten gallon pot I have a boil off of almost 2 gallons in an hour so I need about 7.25 gallons preboil. I would guess about the same with that pot. My burner doesn't stay lit if turned too low. So for my burner it would only allow about 1.75 gallons of space for the foam.

My 5 gallon pot is perfect for extracts and my 10 gallon pot serves me best for 5 gallon batch full boils.

I stopped using fermcap when I had both boil overs and blow offs while using it and that the FDA recommends filtering it out of the beer. I know it settles to the bottom, but I would rather not have it in there at all.

 

[Sneakyy]

Yeah, it's $229.99, which is more than double what you were looking at with the Northern Brewer kit, but this one has everything you need, except a heat source and bottles.

Now, I have no idea what the shipping would be, perhaps it's prohibitive. But I spent well in excess of $400 on my first brewing hardware/kit, and if I were to do it all over again, I'd be on this kit from Morebeer and wouldn't look back.

Ok, I'll slightly have to rephrase my earlier sentence about price as the shipping costs are prohibitive, indeed. They add another $130 on top for shipping. I'm really surprised as well that there's no European equivalent of NB or HomeBeer to avoid these costs. Nevertheless, still inclined to buy this kit...

 

[mongoose33]

Let me suggest you start another thread under general homebrewing titled something like "Sources for Homebrewing Equipment in Europe?"

And then in the body of the message note specifically about The Netherlands. I seem to recall that there *are* places to buy this stuff in Europe, but I can't recall any specifics.

There are a lot of people here on HBT who are in England, so they must have some sources....

 

[Sneakyy]

Good suggestion, I have just opened this thread in the general discussion forum. This thread can be closed!
Thank you all for your contribution.