Dont know what to brew.

[Iwannabrew]

Don't have a kit yet but when I finally get it I don't know what to brew. I like hoppy beers I know and I will have to do a extract kit too because I can't afford to do all grain yet. What are some good tasting extract kits to do for this?

 

[grimzella]

i liked brewers best american amber & thier Red Ale. i have an oktoberfest lagering at 35deg right now.. and i have a dunkelweizen i just bottled up last week. not sure how they taste yet tho. My next kit will be Northern Brewers Caribou Slobber . it just has way too many good reviews to pass up. So thats my next kit.

 

[bobbrews]

Try this, scale down if needed:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/simple-extract-ipa-329034/

 

[Iwannabrew]

Sweet lol, I like the names that some of the beers I see on here have. When I get my brew supplies I also want to build a fermentation chamber. That sounds like it will be fun too. There is just so many fun an interesting things about brewing that I like and then you have something to enjoy from your hobby when it's all over.

One of my favorite beers that I would like to brew something like is myrcenary. And summer shandy was always one of my favorites for kayaking, I'd like to do a beer like that too.

 

[Iwannabrew]

Try this, scale down if needed:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/simple-extract-ipa-329034/

That sounds like the one I'll try 😜it is driving me nuts how bad I want to start!

 

[RiffMagnum]

That sounds like the one I'll try 😜it is driving me nuts how bad I want to start!

Perfect your patience and waiting skills now, cuz once you do a boil it's gonna be another 3 weeks of waiting till you bottle it, then another couple weeks waiting for the beer to carbonate.
I'm starting to think patience is just as important for homebrewers as sanitation, quality ingredients, and yeast health/fermentation control.

 

[Iwannabrew]

Very true, I also thought about just getting a Boston homebrew kit to start.

 

[RiffMagnum]

Very true, I also thought about just getting a Boston homebrew kit to start.

Do you have any equipment?
Fermenter, kettle, siphon/hose, etc?

 

[Iwannabrew]

Do you have any equipment?
Fermenter, kettle, siphon/hose, etc?

Not a thing

 

[RiffMagnum]

Not a thing

What's your budget look like?
I can tell you you're gonna need between 200-300 bux to get going. Do you have a backyard, deck, basement, garage that you can brew in or are you gonna be going the stove top route?

 

[Iwannabrew]

What's your budget look like?
I can tell you you're gonna need between 200-300 bux to get going. Do you have a backyard, deck, basement, garage that you can brew in or are you gonna be going the stove top route?

I don't have that kind of money right now. But I'd have to do the stovetop route right now.

 

[RiffMagnum]

I don't have that kind of money right now. But I'd have to do the stovetop route right now.

I pieced mine together over several months. Just keep an eye on amazon for kettles. Just search "bayou classic." If you're doing partial boils on the stove you can get away with a 20 quart kettle.
I know alot of beginners on here wait for http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ to have a groupon coupon and have gotten pretty good deals on starter kits.
I'd also recommend www.austinhomebrew.com for equipment and beer kits. I use them all the time and they're great.
Good luck!!

 

[WesleyS]

What's your budget look like?
I can tell you you're gonna need between 200-300 bux to get going. Do you have a backyard, deck, basement, garage that you can brew in or are you gonna be going the stove top route?

You will not need that much money to get started, especially doing extract on a stovetop. I all grain brew and do full wort boils and have spent no where near that much money for my equipment. And you'll need a lot less for what your doing. So don't sweat it, you can brew even on a budget. Anyways, hope you find a kit that suits your tastes.

 

[CliffMongoloid]

I went the groupon route and just did the kit that came with it... i spaced it out over about 6 months and spent around 150 to start but it will just get worse... a trip to your lhbs will result in comments like "oh thats cool, imma buy that"

 

[RiffMagnum]

I went the groupon route and just did the kit that came with it... i spaced it out over about 6 months and spent around 150 to start but it will just get worse... a trip to your lhbs will result in comments like "oh thats cool, imma buy that"

Yeah, a beer thief here, some fermcap there, extra thermometer/stoppers/airlocks/siphon hose, starsan, wort chiller, etc.
You can get going for about $150, but by the time you settle down and buy a couple extract kits, you're pushing $300 easy.

 

[Iwannabrew]

Lol yeah, I went to my lhbs once already and almost bought everything right then. I did see a lot of stuff I wanted to get but I wanted to learn a little more so I bought a book on it

 

[bottlebomber]

I recommend contacting Northern Brewer and having them send you a catalogue. It is absolute eye candy for a new brewer, and it is very nicely organized so that you know exactly what you are getting. You can then get online and read customer reviews on their different brews to help you decide.

 

[Iwannabrew]

Awesome, I'll try that. I wish I still lived up in Missouri, I knew a few brewers there and I miss their homebrews. They were awesome. I wish they would send me some lol

 

[RiffMagnum]

You will not need that much money to get started, especially doing extract on a stovetop. I all grain brew and do full wort boils and have spent no where near that much money for my equipment. And you'll need a lot less for what your doing. So don't sweat it, you can brew even on a budget. Anyways, hope you find a kit that suits your tastes.

You must've gotten lucky with used equipment then, or already had a turkey fryer and 10gal kettle.
Basic kit - $80
Stainless brew pot - $50
First extract kit - $40

Throw in a few accessories, odds and ends, cleaners and your at $200. Go full boil and you'll need a turkey fryer ($50), bigger pot($75-100), wort chiller ($50). So yeah, seems $200-300 is not an unreasonable range.

 

[Iwannabrew]

Dang

 

[WesleyS]

You must've gotten lucky with used equipment then, or already had a turkey fryer and 10gal kettle.
Basic kit - $80
Stainless brew pot - $50
First extract kit - $40

Throw in a few accessories, odds and ends, cleaners and your at $200. Go full boil and you'll need a turkey fryer ($50), bigger pot($75-100), wort chiller ($50). So yeah, seems $200-300 is not an unreasonable range.

I don't disagree with you. It really can add up fast. A couple things I did was look for cheaper options of things and built some of my own equipment. One big thing that saves money is avoiding buying things at the lhbs that you can get elsewhere for cheaper(hardware store buckets for fermenters for one example). And I guess maybe a little luck can't hurt sometimes.

 

[bottlebomber]

Again, while you CAN save money by all grain brewing in the log run (though I can say for sure that I am not) it will take a while to recover those costs unless you find a real steal on some equipment. I definitely recommend doing a few extract brews for a new brewer. What if it turns out you don't even like brewing, for example.

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

Don't get discouraged - you CAN do extract brews for a lot less than $200 or $300. Lots of people on here started with minimal or used equipment. Do your research before spending any money on an equipment kit. Most of the kits include things that are nice to have, but not necessarily required.

You don't NEED a large stainless steel pot for your first boil. I used a 4 gallon pot and did partial boils for my first couple of brews. Check Craigslist and thrift stores - aluminum pots are fine. Eventually, you will want a bigger pot, but you can brew beer without a 10 or 15 gallon pot.

You don't NEED to pay a LHBS $14 for a fermenting bucket or $30 for a carboy. I just picked up two more 6 gallon food grade buckets with lids and gaskets for $4 each on CL and cleaned them with $1 Oxy from the Dollar Tree. Air locks and drilled stoppers are about $1 each.

You don't NEED a wort chiller (although they are very nice). Cold water, with or without ice, and the kitchen sink will work. Thermometers, hydrometers and sanitizers are relatively cheap. CL is a good source for free bottles and Oxyclean makes removing labels a breeze. Try to find a bottle capper on CL. If you can't, you can probably find a new one for a little more than $20. Caps are $4.95 for 135 at my LHBS.

Ingredient kits are expensive. Check out what kind of kits your LHBS puts together and sells, rather than buying Coopers, etc. The ingredients will be fresher. My local store sells a number of kits for less than $40. Better yet, spends some time in HBT's recipe section and find a simple ale recipe for your first beer. Don't go overboard with 2 pounds of hops and exotic adjuncts. Use a dry yeast instead of a liquid one and you will spend less than $40 on ingredients.

You WILL eventually spend far more than $300 as your interest quickly goes from hobby to obsession , but you don't need to spend it all up front. Spend time reading HBT and learn what you need for the type of brewing you want to do and spend your limited funds wisely.

Good luck and happy brewing.

 

[Iwannabrew]

That sounds like a good idea, save as I go and slowly build up to better stuff. Thank you guys for all your input an ideas, it is awesome to be able to have the help of other brewers.

 

[kitchensqueen]

You know, if money is really tight and you just want to get some experience brewing under your belt, you can start with small batch brewing. I got everything I needed, brand-new for about $45.00 - 1 gallon glass jug, tubing, airlock, stopper, couple different grains, a few types of hops and some yeast. And I got enough ingredients to do two batches. I have a larger canning pot I'll use already. You'll only get 6-8 beers per batch, but it's the same process and it'll get you in the door. Plus, you can try a lot of different styles and see what you like best. You can always expand up by adding bigger pots, carboys, etc. and scale your recipes up as your budget permits.

 

[Iwannabrew]

Yeah I thought about that too. Like a kit from Brooklyn brewery and then after using their ingredients I could just order my own after that

 

[signpost]

There are a good number of ingredient kits from Northern Brewer that run $25 or less.

Wait for a Groupon deal on the Midwest starter kit. It is usually around $60 for everything you need to start brewing except for a brew pot. You can get a 5 gal. brew pot from Northern Brewer for $35 or go to Walmart/Kmart/whatever and pick up a pot for even less.

And that Groupon usually comes with an ingredient kit and a gift certificate towards another ingredient kit.

I assume you already drink beer. Start saving the bottles now. That way you won't have to buy bottles from your LHBS for almost as much as buying a 12-pack of beer.

Do some research. Find the deals. They are out there.

With what I've listed you'll spend about $100 and have 2 batches of beer in not all that long.

Will you spend more on gear in the future? Most likely, but there is no reason to spend a ton right off the bat for gear that you don't absolutely need. Just get what you need in order to make beer. The main thing you need is attention to details and an interest in drinking beer that YOU made.

 

[turvis]

Dirty duck said it is ok to use aluminum pots I would not recommend it. Aluminum reacts with boiling wort and will give you off flavors. Use stainless steel.

 

[FlatcapBrew]

Dirty duck said it is ok to use aluminum pots I would not recommend it. Aluminum reacts with boiling wort and will give you off flavors. Use stainless steel.

This is wrong there is nothing bad about brewing with aluminum and its a lot cheaper than stainless

 

[bottlebomber]

Dirty duck said it is ok to use aluminum pots I would not recommend it. Aluminum reacts with boiling wort and will give you off flavors. Use stainless steel.

There are thousands of brewers on here using aluminum keggles to make great beer. You are incorrect sir.

 

[Biobrewer]

There are thousands of brewers on here using aluminum keggles to make great beer. You are incorrect sir.

Pretty sure all kegs are stainless. Not sure where you would find an aluminum keg.

Also, wort does react with aluminum (via low pH), and I would neither mash nor boil in it. People might do it, but that doesn't mean its the best way to do it.

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

Dirty duck said it is ok to use aluminum pots I would not recommend it. Aluminum reacts with boiling wort and will give you off flavors. Use stainless steel.

Not true.

 

[billyf111]

Another option is maybe try to find a friend that wants to brew also and split potential start up costs. My brother and I live a block away and decided we wanted to start brewing. We went straight for the top of the line stuff and had three batches brewing for $150.00 each.

If we split the costs of a groupon deal and some kits we could have EASILY brewed our first couple batches plus startup equipment for $65 each.

Plus it makes it a little easier to pass the time during a 60 minute boil with someone else there!

 

[BrewerBear]

Dirty duck said it is ok to use aluminum pots I would not recommend it. Aluminum reacts with boiling wort and will give you off flavors. Use stainless steel.

I've used aluminum turkey pot for every batch so far(gettting ready to order bigger so may go stainless,don't know yet) with no issues or off flavors. You need to boil water in it for about 30 minutes to build up a layer of oxidation.

Also if money is very tight you could buy a fermenter and a beer kit, then next pay day pick up the stuff to bottle it.May cost more in the long run that way,but you would get started and after it's in the fermenter you have incentive to buy the rest of the stuff to finish it.

 

[RiffMagnum]

Another option is maybe try to find a friend that wants to brew also and split potential start up costs. My brother and I live a block away and decided we wanted to start brewing. We went straight for the top of the line stuff and had three batches brewing for $150.00 each.

If we split the costs of a groupon deal and some kits we could have EASILY brewed our first couple batches plus startup equipment for $65 each.

Plus it makes it a little easier to pass the time during a 60 minute boil with someone else there!

This is a great idea if it's an option for you. A friend of mine wants to get into it and i told him since i have most of the stuff already, he could just buy a couple fermenters on his own and we can split the cost of propane and ingredients. Although, most people are just blowing smoke when it comes to this sort of thing and end up flaking out.

 

[Draken]

Dirty duck said it is ok to use aluminum pots I would not recommend it. Aluminum reacts with boiling wort and will give you off flavors. Use stainless steel.

Pretty sure all kegs are stainless. Not sure where you would find an aluminum keg.

Also, wort does react with aluminum (via low pH), and I would neither mash nor boil in it. People might do it, but that doesn't mean its the best way to do it.

This is wrong. If you oxidize the pot prior to use, by either boiling water in it for an hour or sticking it in a 300f oven for an hour (time and temp are a guess do a search cause I don't recall offhand) you will not have an issue with off flavor. Additionally extract brews do not have a low enough ph to extract flavor from the metal. You only run into an issue with partial mash and all grain brews. I have used an oxidized pot for mashing and brewing with no issue at all. The inert layer caused by oxidizing the pot keeps liquids from even touching the aluminum.

Also look at BIAB if you want to go all grain on the cheap. I hit 75% efficiency plus with every brew.

 

[Iwannabrew]

Will you spend more on gear in the future? Most likely, but there is no reason to spend a ton right off the bat for gear that you don't absolutely need. Just get what you need in order to make beer. The main thing you need is attention to details and an interest in drinking beer that YOU made.

I will definitely get more equipment and slowly build my way to all grain. All grain is what I want to work towards because of more control and more to expirment with

 

[Draken]

I will definitely get more equipment and slowly build my way to all grain. All grain is what I want to work towards because of more control and more to expire meant with

BIAB.... Requires a big bag... No more additional equipment. Good cheap way to try out all grain.

 

[Iwannabrew]

I was gonna ask about what kind of pot to use and everybody seems to disagree on things about that

 

[Draken]

I was gonna ask about what kind of pot to use and everybody seems to disagree on things about that

I use an aluminum pot I got off amazon. It was half the price of a stainless steel job. There is a sticky somewhere with the cons/pros of aluminum vs stainless just do a search.