It Begins...

[AbbeyDubbel]

Hey guys. New to the forum and to homebrewing but very excited about the prospect of both. Originally from PA but now living in Boston, MA.

Just wanted to get a little feedback from the experts before I start my foray into, from what it seems like on here, the obsession.

My local homebrew emporium carries an equipment kit with the following items...

6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Primary Fermenter with Drilled and Grommeted Lid
6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Bottling Bucket with Bottling Spigot
5 Gallon Glass Carboy
"Home Beermaking" Book
Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser
Twin Lever Capper
Triple Scale Hydrometer
Airlock
Drilled Universal Carboy Bung
Liquid Crystal Thermometer
Siphon Hose and Shut-Off Clamp
Fermtech Auto Siphon
Bottle Filler
Bottle Brush
Equipment Instructions

Is this sufficient for a beginner and would you recommend I buy anything else (besides ingredients of course) before I start my first batch?
Here's to a long and worthwhile experience!

- Dan

 

[Righlander]

Did you get a big spoon?

 

[DuckAssassin]

+1 on the spoon - Get a stainless steel one, they aren't very expensive, and are worth it.

Sounds like a pretty standard starter kit. You will need a brewpot if you don't already have something that will suffice. 5 gallons seems to be the minimum suggested size for extract brewing with partial boils. People have success with both stainless steel and aluminum. You will need bottles and caps unless you will be kegging, but you won't need those for about a month so with a little work you could have the bottles you need.

Some other nice things to have would be a thermometer (the Liquid Crystal one is for the side of the fermentor not for brewing) to help manage temperatures for steeping grains. I would get a second airlock so you can get both fermentors going at the same time. Use the 5 gal carboy as a secondary or skip the secondary (many do this) and get some apfelwine started in there.

Oh, and get yourself some StarSan. The stuff is worth its weight in gold for both ease of use and peice of mind.

 

[Grinder12000]

I've never used a big spoon - what are you using it for ?? I do have a spatula but it's just for the mini mashing.

Also - next time you are in a grocery store locate Oxy Clean - you don't need it now but if you get into it you will want a 50 gallon drum

Also - it's not mentioned out loud but you will need good beer to drink for doing anything concerning home brew.

 

[DuckAssassin]

The spoon is for stirring the boil. Stirring in extract, stirring while cooling, scraping the hop particles back into the boil, etc.

 

[944play]

You will need a source of good, clean water. If your tap water tastes good, use that, preferably through a filter. You can use bottled water, but make sure it's "drinking" or "spring" water, not distilled, reverse-osmosis, or deionized.

 

[Deacon240]

You will want caps too, and start drinking lots of non-twist off beers. I call that part research if SWMBO says I'm drinking too much.

 

[histo320]

You will need a source of good, clean water. If your tap water tastes good, use that, preferably through a filter. You can use bottled water, but make sure it's "drinking" or "spring" water, not distilled, reverse-osmosis, or deionized.

Brita Water filter is great for this. It takes a while to get the 5 gallons of water, but is well worth it. You don't have to make extra trips to the store.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Brita Water filter is great for this. It takes a while to get the 5 gallons of water, but is well worth it. You don't have to make extra trips to the store.

I went to home depot and got one of the home water filters like so:

GE Household Water Filtration Unit - GXWH04F at The Home Depot

Hose QD on the in side and a nylon barb on the out side with a piece of tubing connected. Works great.

 

[AbbeyDubbel]

Thanks for the advice guys. Just went out and picked up a Pur water filter, one of the ones that fits over the faucet. I anticipate it taking a year or two to fill up a five gallon bucket but that's alright.

 

[McGarnigle]

You will want caps too, and start drinking lots of non-twist off beers. I call that part research if SWMBO says I'm drinking too much.

Caps should come as part of a recipe kit, but I agree that saving bottles should begin soon.