Seeking Quality Brew Kit for Christmas Gift!

[bayridge]

Hi all,

My boyfriend and I are beer enthusiasts and he has recently gotten interested in trying out home brewing. However, he has also been too busy to do anything about it. So, I wanted to surprise him with a beginner's home brewing kit for Xmas so he has all the tools to try out his first brew when he has time off for the holidays.

I know nothing about brewing myself, and was instantly overwhelmed by options and information when I started searching for a kit. So, It would be incredibly helpful if I could get some recommendations for a decent kit. My price cap is around $130. I preferably want to buy a kit that has equipment of a good enough quality that it is still worth using as his brewing skill improves and he tries more complex procedures. I'd also like to get him ingredients with at least the potential to become a tasty brew - I realize the first few brewing attempts probably won't result in anything to write home about, but I figure at least attempting to brew a quality beer has more potential than attempting to brew carbonated piss.

I realize that buying the equipment separately instead of in a kit would probably save money, and I would, except I do not have a lot of spare time to track it all down. If there is a way to purchase equipment piece by piece without spending a great deal of time, let me know! Perhaps all from the same store?

Thank you for any help you are willing to give!

Alyssa

 

[Mountainbeers]

My first kit was from www.northernbrewer.com. I priced out what it would be to leave out the parts I didn't see as "necessary" and it was more expensive to buy them individually anyways! Here's what I would recommend: http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/better-basic-starter-kit.html

The rest of these guys will most likely come up with something cheaper though.

You still have to buy a recipe kit and a stock pot on top of that though.

The cheapest one is another possibility in order to stay under $130 total but if he really enjoys this he'll upgrade almost immediately. http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/basic-starter-kit.html

 

[feedbag]

I use this kit from Williams' Brewing and have loved it. It even comes with the first set of ingredients to do your first brew, all you need is a pot and bottles. My wife got me this for my first kit and I still use all the equipment.

Edit: Also, have him check out howtobrew.com to get started, I highly recommend purchasing the newest addition of this book as he will use it forever.

 

[BrewRI]

Just remember that no kit (That I know of) actually has everything you'll need. Make sure you get cleaning and sanitizing solutions (I use Iodophor for sanitizing and love it), you'll need boiling pots and bottles too. I think most kits differ very slightly in quality so you should be fine with anyone from a major supplier such as the ones mentioned above or AHS (www.austinhomebrew.com)

 

[bhs668]

These are great kits. http://midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdBySubCat.aspx?SubCat=11166&fd=1 it's how i got started little over a year ago. I would tend to think buying a kit would be cheaper than piece mealing. They are all well within your budget.

 

[wildwest450]

Just so you know, once he gets started that $130 will turn into many thousands, it's an addictive hobby.

 

[Lefty]

Just so you know, once he gets started that $130 will turn into many thousands, it's an addictive hobby.

So so true. There is always one more thing you "need".

 

[bayridge]

Thanks for all your suggestions! I looked over various packages and I am leaning towards going with the William's Brewing brand "Brewery with American IPA" since it seems to have the same level of equipment as others suggested and comes with IPA ingredients, which is one of my bf's favorite styles, as well as an instructional DVD. I will buy the bottles separately.

Just to be sure - a few more questions:

Is there any disadvantage to the Williams kit compared to the ones from Northern Brewer or Midwest supplies that I have not noticed?

I decided on plastic fermenters instead of glass for portability's sake, since my bf and I will probably be moving elsewhere in the Spring. Is the advantage of glass carboys significant enough to outweigh the convenience of plastic?

I have a large pot, its the kind that is blue with white spots that you see with camping cookware a lot. It's fairly thin and was cheap. Should I get a better quality pot or does it not matter?

Thanks again!!!!

Alyssa

 

[feedbag]

Thanks for all your suggestions! I looked over various packages and I am leaning towards going with the William's Brewing brand "Brewery with American IPA" since it seems to have the same level of equipment as others suggested and comes with IPA ingredients, which is one of my bf's favorite styles, as well as an instructional DVD. I will buy the bottles separately.

Just to be sure - a few more questions:

Is there any disadvantage to the Williams kit compared to the ones from Northern Brewer or Midwest supplies that I have not noticed?

I decided on plastic fermenters instead of glass for portability's sake, since my bf and I will probably be moving elsewhere in the Spring. Is the advantage of glass carboys significant enough to outweigh the convenience of plastic?

I have a large pot, its the kind that is blue with white spots that you see with camping cookware a lot. It's fairly thin and was cheap. Should I get a better quality pot or does it not matter?

Thanks again!!!!

Alyssa

Just a note, that DVD that comes with that kit is very, very old and outdated. I HIGHLY recommend getting him a copy of How to Brew by John Palmer.

There is no disadvantage to this kit over the others, the only main difference is this one uses a siphonless system to transfer beer. It uses a valve with an inverted backnut to drain the beer.

The glass vs plastic war has been going on for ever. A lot people start with buckets, once he learns more about the hobby, he can decide if he wants to change to glass or continue using plastic.

I started with the big blue speckled pot and still use it, it's a good one to start with.

One more tip, start saving bottles!! Brown pry off, just the standard type. Labels are real easy to remove with a scoop of OxyClean and hot water. They float right off. GOOD LUCK.

 

[daveooph131]

You sound like an awesome girlfriend. Nice job on getting him brew stuff for Christmas, sure to be a hit.

If you go with buckets, make sure not to store anything in them, if they scratch they can harvest an infection.

 

[Paulasaurus]

These are great kits. http://midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdBySubCat.aspx?SubCat=11166&fd=1 it's how i got started little over a year ago. I would tend to think buying a kit would be cheaper than piece mealing. They are all well within your budget.

Ditto on Midwest Kits. My wife picked up a kit with 5 gallon pot, 48 bottles, and Autumn Amber kit. That was last xmas/birthday. 1 year later and i've got 17 batches of beer and 2 batches of mead completed and my collection of equipment has grown and am now looking at trying out all grain. I've also written a few of my own recipes.

So i've been more than happy with my Midwest 2 bucket, 1 better bottle kit which is now 3 buckets/3 better bottles/2 glass carboys and a partridge in a pear tree