Got a Mr. Brew the other day....

[SimpleMan]

And was thinking....any reason I couldn't buy extracts and ferment in my old 5 gallon water jugs?

Instead of buying a kit, couldn't I just use the bottles with a carboy cap?

5 bucks for some siphon hose and a couple carboy caps seems a little better than 80 bucks for a kit.......

Any reason that wouldn't work?

Never brewed before..except the Mr. Beer currently fermanting in my closet..

Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[doubleb]

Water jugs are a bad idea. I believe there is a sanitation issue. You don't want to go through the trouble of brewing/fermenting to find out you put your wort in an unsuitable vessle.

 

[MNBugeater]

I'm not sure what you mean by "kit". Most extract kits are $30-$50 depending on style.

As far as a water bottle and carboy cap. The water bottles I am familiar with for use in drinking bubblers are not desirable for long term fermentations. I would invest in a $20 carboy. You will be able to produce a good beer from an extract kit and ferment in a glass carboy for a very reasonable price. This is how most people get started in the hobby.

Hopefully others will chime in and provide some insight or disagree with my assessment.

MNBugeater

 

[BigKahuna]

You're probably going to try this before you decide it's a bad idea, but when you do Make sure that your bottles are either #1 or #2 PET type bottles. Search 'PET Bottles" in this forum, You'll find a whole big thread on the subject. I'd sure give a batch of Apfelwein a go in one...especially for a NooB.

Welcome to the madness!

 

[SimpleMan]

So you think I should sink the dough into the begginer kit?

 

[DUCCCC]

I don't think you're going to get many positive responses on using plastic water bottles. There's really differences in the grades of plastics used for containers, and using the wrong one can make your beer taste funny, or even leech harmful byproducts into your beer in a worst case scenario. Ale Pails really don't cost much, and by using a 6.5 gallon or larger primary fermenter you run less risk of losing any beer to overflow if you have a really active fermentation.

Glass carboys of the 5 gallon variety can be found cheap if you look around, as I've bought mine for $14.99 at Old Time Pottery, but those stores aren't everywhere. Craigslist can be a great source of inexpensive purpose made brewing equipment.

Do yourself a favor and buy the right thing for the job to begin with. Averaged over a number of batches the cost is really cheap, and it just get's cheaper the more beer you make.

That said, no you don't need the whole kit to begin with. If you really need to be frugal you can probably get into a super basic setup for making extract beers for well under $40, if you know what you'll need and can accept settling for less than ideal products.

 

[BigKahuna]

So you think I should sink the dough into the begginer kit?

you're going to need a bottle capper, and a bottling wand. You'll learn a lot of respect for the bottling bucket. I brewed for a lot of years without glass, so don't think it's a necessity. You can do some great beer without any carboys or "Water Jugs" Sometimes a kit for about $100 (Give or take) is a great way to get going! Keep your Mr. Beer though. You'll love it for Apfelwein.
Do you have a LHBS? (Local brew shop) Somewhere where you can go and look at stuff in person? That would be helpful. If not, see the thread here about Home Brew web pages.

 

[SimpleMan]

you're going to need a bottle capper, and a bottling wand. You'll learn a lot of respect for the bottling bucket. I brewed for a lot of years without glass, so don't think it's a necessity. You can do some great beer without any carboys or "Water Jugs" Sometimes a kit for about $100 (Give or take) is a great way to get going! Keep your Mr. Beer though. You'll love it for Apfelwein.
Do you have a LHBS? (Local brew shop) Somewhere where you can go and look at stuff in person? That would be helpful. If not, see the thread here about Home Brew web pages.

I am in Brentwood in the SF Bay Area. I found a place on the net called Hoptech about 30 miles from me. They sell a nice kit for $94 that has 2 buckets with some special spigots and such, bottle caps and cappers, airlocks, hydrometer etc....

Maybe I'll just take the plunge.....

 

[DUCCCC]

Before you drop that much hang around here for a couple more days, read up a little and be sure you shop around.

I started with a Brewer's Best kit, which can be had for around $60 or less, and it's plenty to begin extract brewing with, if you're on a budget. That kit, a couple cases of scrounged bottles, an ingredient kit and you're set to make a batch of beer.

I'm a Sacto native, with family all over the bay area. I know there's more than a couple brew supply shops, many accessible on BART if need be. There's also a bunch of guys here on the forum in your area, so you might even score some hands on training and a sample or two of the finished product.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, go ahead and do the Mr. Beer thing while you've got it, if it's a new one with ingredients and all. No harm having beer you made with a Mr. Beer drinkable while you get the other supplies together! I've got a dear friend in San Diego who swears by his Mr. Beer, and refuses to make beer any other way. He likes it, and he's still making his own beer, and that's what really counts.

 

[earlytimes]

My wife got me the Brewers best kit that ma2brew links to for my birthday this year and it's great! Although it was from my LHBS and she paid a little more than $60. It really has all the basics that you need to brew extract kits except for a brew kettle. The biggest pot we had was a mere 8 qt., and that wasn't cutting it, so I had to buy a bigger pot. A 16 or 20 qt. pot is the minimum you would want, so make sure you have one of those as well!