is a beginners kit worth it?

[smdoty]

Hi guys! I am getting ready to delve into brewing. I searched around for a while and didn't exactly see what I was looking for, so I apologize if my question is answered deep in the forum somewhere. My question is basically this: should I buy one of the beginning brewing kits or buy equipment a la carte? The thing is, I've been wanting to get into brewing for a while now, but have never wanted to mess with bottling. I strongly prefer draft beer and the thought of messing with all the bottles was a huge turn off. My SWMBO actually encouraged me to go ahead and get the stuff to convert a small chest freezer into a kegerator and buy the stuff for kegging, so that is the direction I'm going. Essentially my question is rooted in the fact that all these kits come with a bunch of junk to bottle, and since I'm planning on skipping that, I'm wondering if I should buy equipment a la carte. Suggestions?

 

[vitrael]

If you presently have no equipment and you think its inevitable that, should you pick up the hobby/obsession, you will want to go to kegging, then go straight to kegging. It's gonna save you time (either way) and money.

The only thing you will probably get in a kit for bottling is the bottling bucket and a wand. The wand is useful for racking whether or not you bottle (my opinion). If you don't want the bottling bucket, you could look for a kit without it or figure out whether it's actually cheaper to buy the individual pieces of the kit "a la carte". A bucket is usually less than fifteen dollars, so it might not be. Depends on your supplier.

I regret all the equipment I am no longer using, and wish I had jumped straight to full boils and kegging myself. Save yourself some money where you can.

Good luck.

Edit: afterthought, a kit might also supply a bottle washer, but these are extremely useful for power-rising carboys and some hoses in my experience.

 

[mkirkland]

Bottling is a pain IMO so im moving to Kegging myself. I would definitely go the kegging route if your already set on that because honestly...after you bottle about 3 batches you will be ready to keg. Some kits are better than others and some of the Deluxe kits or Advanced kits are more suited for go to strait kegging so you may get a lot of stuff cheaper by buying a package vs going a la carte.

 

[donjonson]

a lot of the time an LHBS will have a beginners kit with keggin in mind. and usually when you buy the kit they give you a discount and it is cheaper than ala carte. at my LHBS they gave me a %10 discount on anything else I bought that day too.

 

[LagerLover24]

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/ultimate-starter-kit.html

This could be an option, if you're willing to spend the money.

 

[aidan]

just price out what you need and if there is a kit that comes with a few extras and costs less that's your answer. I did this and found the kit to be cheaper so that's what I went with.

 

[smdoty]

My LHBS is owned and operated by some of my in-laws, so I will probably get a discount either way, however, they are a pretty small store, so they don't carry a ton of stuff and some of their prices are higher than online. I think they only have a basic brewer's best starter kit in stock.

 

[slantedbolt]

I would check your LHBS first. I got a the exact kit I found online for the same price but with no shipping!

 

[NWMOBrewer]

I'd say kit because, if you want to enter competition at some time, bottles are required. I started kegging and bought ala carte, shoulda done kit. If you have bottling stuff, you may want to make another beer while you have your kegs full (i know i did, so I have a batch bottled) and bottles are easier to tranport. I'm not trying to convince you to bottle, by all means keg away, but keep in mind that getting stuff for bottling isn't necessarly a waste of money IMO. If you keg, and want to empty the keg for another batch of beer, here is a great way to bottle from a keg.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/
Best thread on this site IMO

 

[azfalcon]

as a noob I bought a kit and very happy with it. I have a primary, secondary and bottling buckets as well as the pump siphon, wand, star sans, thermometer, hydro, air lock 2 cases of bottles and my first ale..Heather Amber Ale. Sure I may want to move to kegging later but so far my set up is perfect for me

 

[ShakerD]

You have to start somewhere and a kit is a good place to start.

That being said I personally wouldn't go crazy. I bought the Brewers Best DELUXE Beer Making EQUIPMENT Kit from
http://www.homebrewit.com/beer-brewing-kit-equipment.php

I use everything but the thermometer because I had a digital one and I personally don't like easy clean. The other thing that you want is some starsan and maybe a BB ingredient kit?

Being a cheap SOB I spent the next couple of months placing and replying to ads on Craigslist and Kijiji. I now have 6 - 54L demi johns that I paid ~$10 each for and 16 cornies that I'm in to for ~ $140 including all new rings and a replaced valve and 4 sanke kegs that I got from the scrap yard for next to nothing. It cost me about another $500 to set up 5 perlick taps in a keezer. One of my bigger expense was a barley crusher.

Now I have everything I need to BIAB and since I can get 50lb bags of malt for between $28 - $48 a bag, Hops for around a $1 an ounce shipped and Nottingham for $2 shipped it's costing me $12 - $18 to brew 5 gallons of excellent beer.

I guess what I am saying is that if you use patients and be resourceful you can get in to this hobby for a reasonable investment. Once your in it's cheap!

My only worry is would buying online cause static with your in-laws? If it won't awesome.

Oh and Nothing beats having beer on tap!

 

[smdoty]

Thanks for all of the advice. Here is what I ended up doing:

The first move I made was buying a new thermostat for a small chest freezer I already had. Then I picked up 2 corny kegs, a co2 tank, and all the lines I need from midwest supplies. I haven't bought faucets yet because they are expensive and I'm considering stainless steel in case I need to keg carbonated wine for SWMBO. The set-up I got came with those crappy picnic faucets, those things will get replaced quick hopefully.

Today I went to see the in-laws and bought essentially the cheapest brewers best starter kit. They didn't have any in stock but the had all of the stuff except the racking tube, instead they threw in a longer racking tube at no extra cost. They also sold me a hydrometer jar, and a big ass spoon-like paddle thing to stir with. I picked up a brewers best HopNog kit to be my first brew (it was the only IPA kit they had in, and I love the IPAs!). I had an $80 "gift card" they gave me for christmas and they knocked off 20% on everything, so my grand total was a whopping $27. I can't complain.

I'm brewing my HopNog up this weekend. I can't wait, hopefully I'll be drinking my first homebrew before I know it!

 

[Stuntman]

Too late I guess, just ran across this thread. I have been brewing 8 years, the only things I gave away were my Party Pigs PITA! I couldn't wait to start kegging.

I started with the Deluxe Kit, and still bottle a 5 gallon batch for gifts, once in a while. Or I use a cheap beer gun to clear a keg for room. So I still use all the stuff in the first kit I bought, just not as much.