Finally fulfilling my dream

[moonunit]

Looking for a start-up kit, $500 max for Christmas. I have been researching for the past 6 months. Any suggestions from the experienced brewer; such as additional supplies I should throw in my cart, items/tips that you wish you had known about or items that I should have more than 1 of? And since I like all beers, please share your choice or a link of what is easy to brew for a first timer? I will also browse other threads to do my own research, but if you'd like, please help as little or much as you would care to share. I love all beers, both light and dark, and everything in between. But now I am ready to make my own. I have no experience in brewing, except I helped a friend once with a $70 Midwest starter kit from a garage sale and a pre-made ingredients kit, and together we brewed our first batch and did it all, even peeling labels and re-using store bought beers. I plan on using kits until I polish up on my skills and learn the common terminology. I have had the dream of home brewing for 10 years, but finally ready to commit to it because I just bought a home and won't constantly be moving. I also hope to find a local club that I can meet with to further my brewing experience. I live south of Salt Lake City UT.

 

[ChuBru]

Well im glad to her tht you are getting into brewing..its the best hobby and it never gets dull every time you brew its like the first time in terms of fun...i think getting started in partial mash is your best bet..for 500 bucks you can get a sick little set up...get a 10 gallon ss kettle,a nice turkey fryer,a hydrometer,some fermenting buckets or carboys,stir plate and flask for yeast starters,some tubing,airlocks,star san,pbw cleaner..def get a keg system,a chest freezer and temp controller and the kit of your choice..you will be the coolest dude on the block..cheers if you have any questions dont hesitate to ask

 

[aggiejason]

I can't say that I'm experienced but I've been brewing for about a year and was in your shoes about a year ago. I made some purchases I was happy with and others I might have changed. The hard part is anticipating where you plan to take your hobby. For about a hundred bucks you can get all new gear with enough to make tasty beer at your house. I spent about 400 on my first setup and even in just a year I've already changed a few things based on what I learned about where I want to head.

Every basic kit is going to have a fermenting bucket, hydrometer, thermometer, carboy, racking cane, and airlocks. All critical (although I own several thermometers now).

I bought a brew pot from my LHB and I wish I had waited for that. It's a nice pot, but it won't scale up with me. I want a pot with a valve, thermometers, etc, and due to the pot style I'm going to have to start over. If I had it to do over again I'd have bought a $20 pot from Wally World and waited until I knew what I wanted.

Assuming you are bottling, buy the bottling bucket. It makes life easier. The hand capper I bought was the cheapest they had but it works great. One of the most fun parts of getting started was trying to quickly empty a bunch of bottles

My LHB recommended and supplied oxy clean for everything. While it works great, I think star San is easier to use and more cost effective in the long run. I keep a bucket of it mixed up always and a spray bottle on hand.

Get a wine thief. It helps keep your hydrometer measurements more consistent.

Since my original investment I've now built an igloo mash tun and about to add a wort chiller so I can move up to all grain. I have a bunch more buckets ... Between bottle washing etc I can never seem to have enough. I acquired an old freezer that I now use for temp controlled fermentation. After the all grain move I'm going do a keezer conversion and move to kegs. I find that I seem to add a new element each time I brew.

You brewing indoors or outside ? Plan that into your equation.

All that is to say that my recommendation is to start with the minimum and hold some of your money back until you know what you really want. Everybody is a little different and there's no right or wrong answer.

I haven't made a beer yet that wasn't drinkable and "above average " when compared to commercial brews and I've had a couple that were downright fantastic. That doesn't mean I'm a great homebrewer btw ... It just means that it's not as hard as you'd think to make a good beer.

Welcome to a great hobby!

 

[madcore]

I must admit I'm new and just ordered my gear from Amazon was the best deal!!! For under $500 I bought all I need including a 8gallon pot and a duel keg setup (the wife and I don't enjoy bottle beer as much as draft) the dealer was homebrewstuff. I didn't think looking in amazon till me local store would give me a quota for the gear i wanted.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Welcome to the hobby!

$500 is a hefty budget to get started.

First thing I would do, is get a basic equipment kit. All the major online retailers sell em. I would go for the "deluxe" option if they have it, and make absolutely sure that your equipment kit comes with an "auto siphon".

Next, I would get a big enough kettle. 7.5 gallons minimum, ideally closer to 10 gallons. Starting with extract kits, you won't necessarily need to do a full boil, but if you catch the fever like we all have, you'll want to upgrade eventually anyway, so do it from the start. And get yourself an outdoor propane burner (turkey fryer burner, or the like).

I would also buy a vinator. It'll make sanitizing bottles on bottling day really easy.

If you have an extra refriderator (or can get one cheap), buy an aftermarket thermostat for it to use as a fermentation control chamber.

You should be able to get it all (or even more) for about $500. And that'll get you off to a really good start.

 

[Doctor_M]

My LHB recommended and supplied oxy clean for everything. While it works great, I think star San is easier to use and more cost effective in the long run. I keep a bucket of it mixed up always and a spray bottle on hand.

Get a wine thief. It helps keep your hydrometer measurements more consistent.

Since my original investment I've now built an igloo mash tun and about to add a wort chiller so I can move up to all grain. I have a bunch more buckets ... Between bottle washing etc I can never seem to have enough. I acquired an old freezer that I now use for temp controlled fermentation. After the all grain move I'm going do a keezer conversion and move to kegs. I find that I seem to add a new element each time I brew.

You brewing indoors or outside ? Plan that into your equation.

All that is to say that my recommendation is to start with the minimum and hold some of your money back until you know what you really want.
Welcome to a great hobby![/QUOTE]

Everything about your post I agree with except the part in bold. That is not correct info as oxyclean is a cleaner, Starsan is a sanitizer. You still need to use a cleaner like oxyclean or PBW (what I use) and then you sanitize with Starsan/ iodophor. Otherwise your advice is sound

 

[Rhumbline]

Aggiejason hit it on the head. You should easily be able to get everything you need plus a few ingredient kits, bottles, and caps for less than your budget.

Welcome and good luck.

 

[oakbarn]

Use one of the sponsors of homebrew talk

This is a great deluxe startup set:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/COMPLETE-HOME-BREWERY-WITH-40-QUART-BREWKETTLE-C257.aspx.


I would brew an British Ale or IPA first. We started several years ago, Our first pot is now on our wall of honor along with several of the other pieces we started with. Almost all of that "starter kit" is now no longer used or broken. But you need to start somewhere.

You cannot buy that "kit" that you will be happy with in a year if you progress beyond a being a "newby". But you need to start somewhere. We all did.

 

[HornetSparky]

Things I have learned from both good and poor decisions:

-Get a propane burner and boil outdoors. Marital happiness is important and cleaning the stove sucks. Budget dependent, a craigslist turkey fryer is a $30 burner with a 7.5 gallon pot.

-A big enough pot is key. The $30 craigslist turkey fryer is a great starting solution but the 7.5 gal pot isn't as big as I'd like, so if you have the extra $$ look at a 15 gallon pot. Stainless is the right answer but may break your budget. A stainless 15 gallon half-barrel keg makes a great "keggle" as well but can be hard to track down legally and some construction is required.

-I hate hydrometers. Fragile, require a jar, relatively large sample size. Love my refractometer. $70 and measure sugar content from three drops any time you want. Requires a conversion (either the formula or one of many websites) but easily converts to specific gravity. BTW, can we just call it density? Pardon the digression.

-A bottling bucket makes priming and bottling easy.

-Counterpressure bottling wand is a must if you are bottling.

-The world's cheapest bottle capper has always worked well for me.

Enjoy.

 

[jtd_419]

I would go with a basic kit from any of the suppliers, add in an immersion chiller and a 10 gallon pot with a burner then decide what method you want to use. I use biab and wilserbrewer does great biab setups( on my phone or I'd get a link for you but look in the vendor section) this would put you at around 350 which would leave a fair amount for ingredients and supplies

 

[moonunit]

Thanks for all the support. I dream big and like all you, and I have to start somewhere. So I am taking bits and pieces of all your advice.
My goal is to eventually get a tap tower and kegerator. I would like to eventually get into all grain brewing as well, and now I see why I might need a 40qt pot to prevent boil over. And I like the ss pots with the spigot, but that gets pricey, $120+.
Also, I've seen some nice kits with an 8 gallon and wort chiller included (think I might get that). Again, gotta start somewhere. So for the price its reasonable, but eventually would need to upgrade the chiller, as we hit triple-digit days in Utah and need a good cooling. As much as I'd like my beer on tap, I will still bottle so I can "gift" beer to friends and family. I think I am going to start with an IPA or Pale Ale kit. My basement stays 63-68 degrees year round.
Suggestions Please?
Someone suggested I buy ("How to Brew", by John Palmer) so I did. Any suggestions on books?
Also, what refractometer did you get/suggest? I seen this one. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GG0TDK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Also, I see alot of "Bazooka Screens" for the kettle, is there anything else out there, or is this a good idea to get?
Thanks again for all the help, hope I can return the favor to you guys, or a newbie in a few years.