Equipment list

[cwwillmon]

Hello guys - New here and was wondering a first setup that would be effective for a couple of home brews. I get confused with all the buckets and carboys. I need a basic setup that I can brew a couple of IPA or Amber beer types. Any info would help or directions to some stickies that make sense to a beginner.

Cheers in advance!

 

[FireManDan]

Youtube and Morebeer should get you setup. Morebeer has alot of good info on the products you'd need. Youtube will give you the rest.

 

[microbusbrewery]

If you have a local homebrew shop, go in and tell them you're new to the hobby and are looking for a starter kit. They should be able to show you all the equipment. Most shops will sell a basic starter kit and an advanced starter kit. I usually tell people to start off with the basic, then if they enjoy the hobby they can add more equipment later.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

If you live in a metro area, you can often find good deals on used equipment on Craigslist. The problem is you need to know what you need first. The problem with what you need is that it depends on what you wind up doing.

I started brewing in February. I did my first batch with extract on a turkey fryer with an aluminium pot. My second and third batch was all-grain with a 10 gallon cooler mash tun and the same aluminium pot. My fourth batch was a 10-gallon split batch saison (one with one type of yeast, another with a yeast/brett blend). My next batch is going to be a parti-gyle clone of pliny the elder with a daughter batch of low-abv pale ale.

In short, I fell down the rabbit hole. HARD. And there are some things I wasted money on in the interim. So the question is harder to answer than it appears.

At a basic level, the following would probably get you a solid start:
1) 7-8 gallon pot - a turkey fryer kit works okay.
2) Hydrometer
3) Bucket fermenter with spigot for bottling
4) Bottling wand
5) tubing
6) thermometer
7) auto-siphon is probably a good idea

******
A carboy is a glass or plastic bottle (think an office water cooler bottle). It limits air expose to beer by limiting the surface area exposed to air. Personally, I think glass carboys have a very small risk of breakage in the event of an accident, but the damage that accident can do can be bad or fatal, so I personally prefer plastic fermenters.

A fermenting bucket is cheap, easy to clean, but has much more headspace than a carboy. It is also easier to carry.

 

[Sailingeric]

Don't forget Starsans. You want to sanitize your post boil wort touching equipment.

 

[mongoose33]

Youtube and Morebeer should get you setup. Morebeer has alot of good info on the products you'd need. Youtube will give you the rest.

Here's the setup I think is the best starter kit out there (and no, I didn't buy it, I had something else):

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

There is nothing there you don't need, and virtually everything you do need. It doesn't include a burner to boil your wort, and it doesn't include bottles.

It *does* include a kit for the first brew, which relieves you of the decision about what to brew.

If i were starting over again, this is what I'd buy. It has the widemouth fermonster fermenter, which IMO is far better than glass carboys, which are both more difficult to clean and potentially very dangerous.

Unlike other kits, it includes Star-San for sanitizing, tablets to clean up with, capper, hydrometer, a chiller, a big enough kettle for brewing 5-gallon batches....

If you compare it to other kits, subtract the value of the recipe kit included and see how it stacks up. Few other, if any, starter kits include a chiller or a stainless kettle with a ball-valve plus a port into which you can install a thermometer later if you so choose.

If nothing else, this list is pretty comprehensive. Morebeer has free shipping on orders $59 or more, so the price you see is what you pay.

 

[Sailingeric]

Here's the setup I think is the best starter kit out there (and no, I didn't buy it, I had something else):

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

There is nothing there you don't need, and virtually everything you do need. It doesn't include a burner to boil your wort, and it doesn't include bottles.

It *does* include a kit for the first brew, which relieves you of the decision about what to brew.

If i were starting over again, this is what I'd buy. It has the widemouth fermonster fermenter, which IMO is far better than glass carboys, which are both more difficult to clean and potentially very dangerous.

Unlike other kits, it includes Star-San for sanitizing, tablets to clean up with, capper, hydrometer, a chiller, a big enough kettle for brewing 5-gallon batches....

If you compare it to other kits, subtract the value of the recipe kit included and see how it stacks up. Few other, if any, starter kits include a chiller or a stainless kettle with a ball-valve plus a port into which you can install a thermometer later if you so choose.

If nothing else, this list is pretty comprehensive. Morebeer has free shipping on orders $59 or more, so the price you see is what you pay.

That is a good set up. Just need a burner and a propane tank and a way to control the temp and you are good to go.

 

[cwwillmon]

Hey thanks guys, I appreciate the info. I will look in those directions.