Shut up take my money!

[five0three]

No one has mentioned the first and most important part.. you have a mini fridge .. get a temp controller. They are cheap these days and is by far the best thing you can get once you have a pot (which is obvious).

Get a pot preferably stainless and at least larger than 10 gallons. you can always add things to it later on down the road (more ports, an element, a temp sensor etc).

Get a bag and just BIAB to try it out.. you can always add more equipment to suite your needs later but thats the minimum..

I will brew old school sometimes just a pot a bag and a propane burner. Heat my strike temp, then toss in my bag, add grain.. stir, cover with a sleeping bag, wait an hour, then boil as normal, chill, and put in my TEMP controlled fermentation vessel.

Most times i brew with a fully controlled EBIAB, and sometimes I will do 3 vessel, but that stuff will come to you as you brew and decide what you like to do and what makes sense.

Thanks for the advice! I really think I'm going to go traight to a 10g setup and i dont know if i want to deal with a BIAB that large. Seems the bag and grains could prove to be a bit too much to do on my own.



I guess since im a real member now, I should go browse the discounts we get.

Cheers!

 

[PADave]

Thanks for the advice! I really think I'm going to go traight to a 10g setup and i dont know if i want to deal with a BIAB that large. Seems the bag and grains could prove to be a bit too much to do on my own.



I guess since im a real member now, I should go browse the discounts we get.

Cheers!

More power to you, if that's what you want to do, but IMO I'd learn how to brew with 5 gal or less. 10 gal is a lot of brew to dump if something goes bad. Equipment needs to be bigger, which costs more, and ingredients are doubled, which costs more. And you're not fitting 10 gal of wort into a mini fridge. I know some here would say go straight to AG, but I'd even recommend doing a few batches with extract, just to see whats involved with that side of brewing before doing AG. My philosophy in learning how to brew was to start small, read a lot, figure out what I was doing, read some more, then slowly go bigger.

 

[five0three]

More power to you, if that's what you want to do, but IMO I'd learn how to brew with 5 gal or less. 10 gal is a lot of brew to dump if something goes bad. Equipment needs to be bigger, which costs more, and ingredients are doubled, which costs more. And you're not fitting 10 gal of wort into a mini fridge. I know some here would say go straight to AG, but I'd even recommend doing a few batches with extract, just to see whats involved with that side of brewing before doing AG. My philosophy in learning how to brew was to start small, read a lot, figure out what I was doing, read some more, then slowly go bigger.

Apologies, I didn't articulate my thought well haha. I plan on purchasing a 10 gallon kettle and building/acquiring a mash tun that is capable of 5 gallon batches. I plan to start with extract and then move up once I'm comfortable. 10 gallon kettle in an attempt to mitigate boil overs.

 

[five0three]

More power to you, if that's what you want to do, but IMO I'd learn how to brew with 5 gal or less. 10 gal is a lot of brew to dump if something goes bad. Equipment needs to be bigger, which costs more, and ingredients are doubled, which costs more. And you're not fitting 10 gal of wort into a mini fridge. I know some here would say go straight to AG, but I'd even recommend doing a few batches with extract, just to see whats involved with that side of brewing before doing AG. My philosophy in learning how to brew was to start small, read a lot, figure out what I was doing, read some more, then slowly go bigger.

Apologies, I didn't articulate my thought well haha. I plan on purchasing a 10 gallon kettle and building/acquiring a mash tun that is capable of 5 gallon batches. I plan to start with extract and then move up once I'm comfortable. 10 gallon kettle in an attempt to mitigate boil overs.

 

[BowAholic]

Just come over today and I can show you how easy it is to do full volume 5 gallon batches using BIAB and a 42 quart kettle. I'll show you all you are asking about from buying bulk grain, building a grinder, building a kegerator, building a fermentation temp controller, kegging, bottling....and there will be cold beer. I live west of you in Saint Vincent.

 

[PADave]

Apologies, I didn't articulate my thought well haha. I plan on purchasing a 10 gallon kettle and building/acquiring a mash tun that is capable of 5 gallon batches. I plan to start with extract and then move up once I'm comfortable. 10 gallon kettle in an attempt to mitigate boil overs.

Ok, that makes more sense. Yes, go with a 10 gallon minimum.

 

[Addiktion]

Didn't read all the answers as some were long. However I highly recommend a spike 10 gallon brewing kettle. Probably the single best piece of equipment I own. Get a good fryer that puts out a lot of btu's. I use two 10 gallon coolers for a HLT and Mashtun. I also highly recommend a wort chiller. I use a pond pump and a cooler full of ice water and bleed off a few gallons of hot water for cleaning than recirculate the water to save water. Here in CA were always in a drought. This is a picture of my wort chiller recirculating View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1474333290.753130.jpg

 

[PADave]

Didn't read all the answers as some were long. However I highly recommend a spike 10 gallon brewing kettle. Probably the single best piece of equipment I own. Get a good fryer that puts out a lot of btu's. I use two 10 gallon coolers for a HLT and Mashtun. I also highly recommend a wort chiller. I use a pond pump and a cooler full of ice water and bleed off a few gallons of hot water for cleaning than recirculate the water to save water. Here in CA were always in a drought. This is a picture of my wort chiller recirculating View attachment 370658

That looks just like my set up. Got the Spike brewing kettle, which I'd also recommend, and the pond pump in a cooler with ice water for the chiller.

 

[Addiktion]

That's the way to go. It always makes for good results.

 

[ericbw]

Think of brewing and Kegging separately.

There have been a few of these "money don't matter" threads lately, as well as on that asked if homebrewing was slowing down. Still a market, I guess.

 

[GJOCONNELL]

it depends - depends on your attitude in terms of your time, your money, convenience, quality, durability, flexibility, etc.

Everyone has a sweet spot in that phase space. For some it's a bucket fermentor and extract brewing. For others its stainless steel conicals with automated electric programmable systems, glycol chillers etc.

My sweet spot: all-grain method with DYI mashtun (Coleman 70 qt cooler, blue), DYI immersion chiller (50 ft. of copper tubing, shaped into a coil), 20 gallon aluminum pot with DYI ball-valve for 10G-15G batches (also 10 gallon aluminum pot for 5G batches), dedicated propane burner. DYI stirplate made from a fan and some magnets and legos.

That's on the hot side.

On the cold side: a bunch of fermenters - I would do PET Fermonster 7G - a compromise between glass, stainless and buckets, and I have done all of those at some point.
You will also need tubing for transfers, hydrometer/refractometer, some buckets, tubing, maybe carbacap, auto siphon (better yet sterile stainless steel siphon), wine thief, etc.

Also: Fermentation chamber/freezer with temp control. Starsan, fermacap, whirlfloc, salts/acids for water chemistry, oxyclean.

That's the cheap stuff.

The expensive part (for my setup anyways) is on serving side. CO2 tank, regulators, manifolds, valves, Nitro tank, keezer, 9 taps, 9 serving lines for gas/beer with all disconnects, 12 kegs, beergun etc. - miscellaneous bits and pieces. You can maybe save some money by getting just a few keg capacity first, (but what fun is that?).

12 kegs?

 

[ericbw]

I chill like that, too. Except I use a 5 gallon bucket, filled with ice (22lbs), then filled with water. I run the out line into another bucket. I dump the first 5 or 10 gallons of hot water (I pour it on weeds in the driveway), and then after that you can start recirculating.

 

[ericbw]

To chime in on the original question, I would get a bucket kit for fermenting that has a fermenter bucket, bottling bucket, racking cane, hoses, hydrometer, thermometer, and capper. Depending on the kit, you'll need to add some StarSan, a bottle brush, and an autosiphon. The kit prices are usually better than piecemeal, and they often include recipes or books, too. Sometimes they include a kit (price would be higher, of course, but there's a discount so they can sell you $100 in one shot instead of $25 at a time).

If you're serious about 5 gallon all grain batches right out of the gate, then an 8-10 gallon kettle and a propane burner are important. If you're starting with extract and seeing how it goes, then a 4-5 gallon kettle will do it. The smaller pot can be useful for canning or other cooking, so it's not a waste.

 

[55x11]

12 kegs?

yeah, why not?
I love having a variety of beers on tap.
I think it's 14 kegs now actually.
Some are 3G keggletts, since I like to experiment with splitting 5-6G batches into two batches. One is currently used for cold brewed coffee on nitro, for example.

Total - I have 10 kegs in my keggerator right now.
And i have extra 4 kegs for conditioning.

 

[five0three]

Think of brewing and Kegging separately.

There have been a few of these "money don't matter" threads lately, as well as on that asked if homebrewing was slowing down. Still a market, I guess.

Money matters. That's my point. I don't want to re-purchase things because I let a budget dictate my purchases. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars like I've seen a few beginners on here do. I just don't want to do a couple batches and realize I've budgeted myself into a corner. Moderation and budgeting go hand in hand....

 

[mongoose33]

Money matters. That's my point. I don't want to re-purchase things because I let a budget dictate my purchases. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars like I've seen a few beginners on here do. I just don't want to do a couple batches and realize I've budgeted myself into a corner. Moderation and budgeting go hand in hand....

I think this is smart budgeting. Ultimately, it's about value, not so much cheapness. Sometimes more expensive items are a better value if they save time or money or ingredients or....whatever.

 

[ericbw]

Money matters. That's my point. I don't want to re-purchase things because I let a budget dictate my purchases. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars like I've seen a few beginners on here do. I just don't want to do a couple batches and realize I've budgeted myself into a corner. Moderation and budgeting go hand in hand....

No, I don't mean that. I mean that I have seen several posts like yours that want to know what the best things are to buy and are willing to spend some money on it.

On the other hand, someone asked if all the fancy gadgets that companies come out with mean that there is less of a market for "normal" gear these days.

 

[rmndran]

Excellent advice! I am located about 30 miles NE of Little Rock Ar. Currently away on business so I have yet to visit my LHBS.

 

[VladOfTrub]

The equipment that you purchase will be based on whether your desire is to produce home made style beer, or beer other than home made style beer. The same goes for the ingredients.

 

[five0three]

The equipment that you purchase will be based on whether your desire is to produce home made style beer, or beer other than home made style beer. The same goes for the ingredients.

Interesting. Elaborate?

 

[Horseflesh]

cold brewed coffee on nitro

Threadjack... How do you make a large quantity of cold brewed coffee? And how well does it keep?

We drink exclusively cold brewed coffee at home and make small batches with a countertop filter system. The batches aren't very big so it seems like we're always making them, but they also don't stay in the fridge long enough to notice any drop in quality.

 

[ericbw]

Threadjack... How do you make a large quantity of cold brewed coffee? And how well does it keep?



We drink exclusively cold brewed coffee at home and make small batches with a countertop filter system. The batches aren't very big so it seems like we're always making them, but they also don't stay in the fridge long enough to notice any drop in quality.

Umm it's similar to a small batch, only larger?

 

[Horseflesh]

Obviously I am interested in the equipment he's bought or made.

 

[55x11]

Obviously I am interested in the equipment he's bought or made.

I have several 3G torpedo kegs (stackable) and I use one of them for cold brew.

I make ~1G of cold brew at a time. I just fill a large 1G pitcher with coffee+cold water and set it in my fridge or keezer for a day or two. Then filter using french press and transfer to 3G keg. Often it ends up refilling (topping off) the coffee that is already in there. Since it is under beer gas (25% CO2/ 75% nitro) and kept cold, I don't see as much deterioration due to oxidation - it can keep for a long time. Definitely a couple (2-3?) of weeks or so, at which point it's empty and needs a refill.

 

[Horseflesh]

Thanks. Was wondering if you had some awesome filter that did a gallon at a time. Very good to know about shelf life with beer gas. I may need to try this.

 

[five0three]

IT HAS BEGUN!

 

[skraeling]

You are always going to need to ferment no matter what style you do. Temp control during fermentation is friggin amazing.

The serving side of the equation kegs taps are pricey but last forever along with most of the equipment so initial investment costs are high depending but you'll have the stuff for a lifetime.

 

[Wright]

Hey op, I am local to little rock and suggest taking a tour of one of our breweries if you haven't already. I go to the water Buffalo for my ingredients and they offer beginner classes and unless you are brewing with a semi experience friend if look into a quick class. Just my experience as I started a year ago and would have been lost without guidance.

 

[divrack]

i went straight to all grain with a fairly simple set up i bought from a shop. i did this as i had been procrastinating building one for ages, however in hindsight i realised id wasted a lot of money.
Main waste was the boiler which set me back £155 and sucks as it has an exposed element which gets dirty and cuts out and is a pain to clean. i since got a stainless urn for 50 bucks which i bypassed all the cut out features on in five minutes. it boils better and is easy to clean (2500W). you dont even need to bother with the taps at first provided you can lift 25 kg alright. cooler box with a bit of tube and a modified sieve and a tap works ok for a mash tun. some copper tube and a pipe bender along with tap fittings and jubilee clips for your cooler.
a few buckets for fermentors is fine to start but youll probably want to move on to glass or ss at some point, but then a few extra buckets does no harm.

Get an old freezer from the dump and a ten dollar stc100 from china for the ferm chamber/keezer. i got a cabinet freezer and bent the cooling strips but this may not be recommended to the safety conscious... for that matter neither is my boiler 'hack'

youll have to fork out for the corny kegs but its worth it i think. Forget the beer gun for bottling though you can make one for a dollar.