Homebrew equipment kit recs.

[jfire]

I'm having a hard time fining a good kit out there. I don't want to bottle, but most kits include bottling hardware. I want to go straight to kegging.
I'd also like to have a glass carboy secondary, and a primary with a spigot.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

jfire

 

[stratslinger]

Well, there's this one:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/master-brewers-kit-with-kegging-setup.html

But it's a bit pricy and lacks the primary with a spigot. But why are you interested in having a primary with a spigot? Spigots can be tough to keep clean and sanitary, and you definitely want a sanitary vessel for your primary!

It might be worthwhile to look into getting the parts independently - especially if you can find a local beverage supply shop. In at least some cases, you can get old cornie kegs lots cheaper from such places, and maybe work out something with a "rental" CO2 cylinders - those are two of the biggest cost components of this particular kit.

Also, the temperature controller in that kit isn't really necessary if you're trying to conver a fridge to a kegerator - but definitely necessary if you're going to convert a freezer to that purpose! Search for threads on the ebay temp controller for a less expensive alternative, if you're a little handy and don't mind a little tinkering.

 

[jfire]

Thanks for the info! I guess i can siphon the primary to the secondary and forget the spigot. Makes sense!

 

[stratslinger]

You got it - but also, don't feel compelled to use a secondary... Lots of folks here don't - I've done beers with and without and not noticed a real difference.

Secondaries become necessary if you want to add fruit or wood to a beer, most folks will recommend them for dry-hopping, and they're definitely necessary if you want to get a pipeline going while minimizing the number of primary fermenters you have on hand.

 

[birvine]

I bottle and keg. I would suggest that you get the bottling supplies for a few reasons. You might want to archive some big beers. You might want to bring some to someone else's house. You might not want en entire keg of a specific beer. You might run out of kegerator space. Just an idea.

B

 

[jrg42]

if you are kegging, I would skip the secondary glass carboy. Just use a 6.5 gal carboy for the primary and siphon to a keg. Just seems unnecessary handling to move a beer to a secondary and then transfer it to a keg. Way more chance at getting oxidized, imo.

If you cold crash the primary after the fermentation is complete, it's pretty easy to get a clean transfer to the keg.