New here, new to brewing

[MrNurse]

Well, hello all. I'm Kevin, my brother got me a defalcos brew kit and I am going to start my first brew in the next few days. I am thinking that if all goes well I will want to move forward to a more appealing setup. I want it to be inside so I'm guessing if it's gas I will need to implement a ventilation system, if it is electric I will need to figure out a power supply. I don't want a large batch setup... If that's how I would word it. But a five gallon batch is about as big as I would want.

I have looked at blichmann and ss brewing tech. And they seem really nice (and costly) are there any other brands to look at? What are the essentials I need, how many kettles will I need, is a conical fermenter a good idea, do I need controls or could I be there and manually adjust the heat to maintain temps(for the boil)? How big do I need the kettles/fermentors to be? 7 gallon 10 gallon?

 

[Pappers_]

Welcome to both HBT and brewing!

 

[Kirkwooder]

Hello and welcome to the obsession.

First off, get a couple of brews under your belt with some basic home equipment. If you have a large pot, 3-4 gallon, you can do partial boil 5 gallon batches. The buckets that come in most kits are used by the vast majority of brewers to make very good beer. Use them until you are sure that a conical will be worth the $$$.

Everything you will need to make beer should come in every basic starter kit, A bucket with a spigot, a fermenting bucket of carboy, a racking cane, some tubing and a hydrometer are really all you really need. There are a ton more things that every home brewer has but they aren't really needed.

 

[MrNurse]

Thanks guys. I wasn't gonna go wild on my second batch with all new high dollar stuff. Lol. I was just wondering about different manufactures I could look at and dream about. For now

 

[russell58]

Welcome to the world of Home Brewing. I found a 21 quart canning pot to use on my 3 and 5 gallon partial mash brews.

 

[Kirkwooder]

Check out what www.spikebrewing.com has to offer.

Certainly drool worthy!

 

[Ski12568]

Welcome!

-I would look into fermentation temperature control first

-Thermometer

-Buy a good pot the first time, so you don't find yourself having to buy another one later (from experience)

-Once you feel comfortable, then start looking on the equipment and DIY forums for ideas on what you would like to do with your home brewery

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby, and the group, from CO:

I would give a +1 on starting with minimal equipment. I also recommend small batches to start- less equipment intensive, more opportunities to learn.

Then, when you get a sense of your brewing desires / style, which equipment will come naturally.

I love my Blich gear, but am an admitted shiny stuff addict.

 

[MrNurse]

I like shinny stuff too

 

[MrNurse]

I am going to give it my first go tomorrow morning. I pulled out my economy boiling pot I got from defalcos by my house and cleaned it up today.... Shinny! I also brought the instructions with me to work so I can figure out a flow chart/check off sheet to follow so I can get the steps done in the order/time frame it is recommending.