Getting Started - Tips & Suggestions Please

[Nrbelex]

Hi, I'm looking to get started with some home brewing and am looking for suggestions. A few friends and I hope to make about 100 (edit: 50) beers a week and we're willing to drop $100 on equipment and supplies to get started. I took a look at the FAQ and the guide it links to and am starting to understand how the process works. I also looked at Mr. Beer but that's clearly nowhere near the scale we hope to be doing this at. So... I'm wondering if there's a "kit", a group of products or a specific website I should check out to find the right supplies at the right sizes. I started off looking at the Vores Øl recipe but it seems too difficult to find the ingredients they list and I'm looking for something a bit more pre-packaged. Any advice is appreciated.

~ Brett

 

[Walker]

Hi, I'm looking to get started with some home brewing and am looking for suggestions. A few friends and I hope to make about 100 beers a week and we're willing to drop $100 on equipment and supplies to get started. I took a look at the FAQ and the guide it links to and am starting to understand how the process works. I also looked at Mr. Beer but that's clearly nowhere near the scale we hope to be doing this at. So... I'm wondering if there's a "kit", a group of products or a specific website I should check out to find the right supplies at the right sizes. I started off looking at the Vores Øl recipe but it seems too difficult to find the ingredients they list and I'm looking for something a bit more pre-packaged. Any advice is appreciated.

~ Brett

100 beers a week? $100 is going to be cutting it tight to get started w/ gear because you're going to need at least 4 fermenters, a kettle, siphon, and other misc parts.

Many places sell starter equipment kits, and you'd just need to add additional fermenters for the capacity you want.

Ingrediemt kits can vary in price quite a bit, but they typically make 5 gallons of beer. I think a fair quote for a kit is about $30, so ingredients alone are going to cost you $60 a week.

Check out austin homebrew's website: www.austinhomebrew.com

and check out www.howtobrew.com

 

[Blender]

A fairly good starter kit will cost at least a $100.00. If you have a local shop that is always a preferred place to but because you may be able to get personalized service. If you want to go online then I would suggest Northern Brewer, Midwest Homebrewing Supply, Austin Homebrew and Morebeer.

 

[Nrbelex]

Ok, 100 does seem a bit excessive to begin with, especially since I'm not quite sure what I'm doing yet. So let's say... 50ish - would a kit like this be about right? If I'm not yet looking to do anything fancy and am looking for a simple, decent beer, what good to start with?

Thanks a lot!
~ Brett

 

[umbrellajack]

I'm also planning on brewing with nrbelex(Brett). Is the double fermentation suitible for a first-timer, or is it a bit too difficult?

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Uh, 100 beers of what size? 10 Gallons a week is not that far fetched an idea. Go small on the first couple of weeks. 5 Gallons to get you oriented.

Then drop a few bucks on some 10 Gallon carboys. Or you could just go to a place that makes wine on premises (Uvin) and see if they have any 6 gallon buckets they are getting rid of. (A lot of high quailty wine kits come in 6 gallon food grade buckets). I scored 20 of them locally. I'm using a bunch to store my grains in as well.