Starter equipment

[tw1ztid]

I'm ready to upgrade from my Mr. Beer setup to something better, and i've been having trouble deciding on what I want to do for sure. Right now i'm thinking about this-

Northern Brewer Essential Starter Kit http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/essential-brewing-starter-kit.html

Gravity Testing Kit
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewery-essentials-gravity-testing-assembly.html

Bubbler 6gallon (buy one get one free @$24)
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/the-bubbler-6-gallon.html

I see a lot of people think secondary is unnecessary and generally extend the period of time the brew is in the first carboy/bucket, I may do that and this would allow me to have more than one thing fermenting at a time and save some $$$ that would be spent on the "deluxe" kit. The bubblers could be used if I decided to try secondary as well, I don't really see a reason to go with the deluxe kit.

Is there anything necessary or useful I am missing that I haven't thought of? I'm not planning on kegging anytime soon. Thanks!

 

[m1batt1]

Do you have a brew pot or plan on buying one to accommodate 5 gallon batches? Also for large batches I would suggest a wort chiller. If you're ordering soon my LHBS is running a special on a basic immersion chiller. Www.homebrewery.com. Another thing for the big batches is a big spoon or paddle to stir.

Other than that your combos look like a good starting point to me.

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[RM-MN]

Do you have a brew pot or plan on buying one to accommodate 5 gallon batches? Also for large batches I would suggest a wort chiller. If you're ordering soon my LHBS is running a special on a basic immersion chiller. Www.homebrewery.com. Another thing for the big batches is a big spoon or paddle to stir.

Other than that your combos look like a good starting point to me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Home Brew mobile app

That looks like a pretty decent deal since you get a recipe kit too. I'd also agree that you should get the testing kit. I'm not so convinced on the plastic carboys. At 6 gallons they seem a little small if you get a vigorous ferment and will require a blow off tube every time to ensure you don't have a mess of krausen on the floor or ceiling but they are a little big for a secondary since you really should be filling a secondary up to the neck to minimize the headspace.

If you already have a 5 gallon pot or larger, you'll be all set to start. If not, I'd suggest you look at larger pots, something in the 8 to 10 gallon size range so you won't have to buy another pot right away if you should decide to go all grain or move to full volume boils.

If you are making the order to Northern Brewer, I'd suggest adding a triple scale hydrometer to that order so you'll have 2. When you have only one, you're sure to break it at the most inopportune time but if you have a backup, you probably won't break the first one.

 

[Dog House Brew]

When I started I bought a 10g pot. My biggest regret at that time was that I didn't buy one that was 15g. I would have to look at denny brew dot com. Cheap cooler and batch sparge. Buy with the thought of expansion so your not duplicating purchases like I did. I personally like fermenting in buckets. I would never buy anything with a small neck opening again. Carboys of any material. Buckets are cheap, easy to clean, easy to carry, and they come in 9 gallon size. Yep, my wife bought my Mr. Beer. $5K later, she regrets it.

 

[jc5066]

I did quite a few batches with out a wort chiller. Just bought one. I was only doing partial mash beers so I was only starting with 3 gallons of wart. I was freezing, almost freezing, 3 gallons of spring water to my finished wort to help cool it quickly, along with ice bath in sink. There are ways around not having a wort chiller. I too would suggest getting one ASAP if it's in your budget.

If you don't buy a wort chiller from the beginning I would put it on the top of your next purchase list.

This stuff is addicting!!!! I would suggest thinking ahead a little on what you purchase. Think about a step bigger then you think you need. It might save you a few bucks in the long run.

 

[tw1ztid]

Thanks for the responses. I was going to buy the 5 gallon pot that is $35 but saw it doesn't work with glasstop electric stoves.. I have a separate single coil burner I can plug into the wall that I use to heat my hookah charcoal but i'm not sure if it'll work. I thought about the wort chiller, but I have a limited budget for this and may need to wait on it. I'll add an extra hydrometer and find out if the 5 gallon bubbler are buy one get one free for secondary, they're only a dollar less and I would like to not have to wait a month or two between each single batch. My first with Mr Beer went quick. Thanks for the fast responses

 

[BugDude]

Thanks for the responses. I was going to buy the 5 gallon pot that is $35 but saw it doesn't work with glasstop electric stoves.. I have a separate single coil burner I can plug into the wall that I use to heat my hookah charcoal but i'm not sure if it'll work. I thought about the wort chiller, but I have a limited budget for this and may need to wait on it. I'll add an extra hydrometer and find out if the 5 gallon bubbler are buy one get one free for secondary, they're only a dollar less and I would like to not have to wait a month or two between each single batch. My first with Mr Beer went quick. Thanks for the fast responses

I know there's guys here that have no problem brewing on electric coocktops but my ceramic cooktop couldn't get 3 gals of water to even 100 degrees after an hour.

I ended up pulling my old camping propane cooktop and pulling my hoses from my BBQ to get it going. If you do not have a solid means of cooking I would highly advise getting one.

I can't tell you how stressful it was figuring out my stovetop wouldn't work and scrambling for another option

 

[patthebrewer]

Personally I would recommend you cruise the local restaurant supply places for used 304 ss pots, buy two 10 or 15 gallon pots. Then buy a 10 gallon home depot water cooler. The cooler you can turn into MT using parts available from vendors on this site. One of the pots will be your HLT(some say they don't need a HLt, but it's nice having all the water you'll need layed out and available) the other your boil kettle. This will help you customize your system with quality commercial equipment that will last, and will probably still be cheaper than some "complete Kits". As far as fermenters go a great place to start is inexpensive carboys, glass or plastic. As you progress you make want to get a 304ss conical (I have one), they make fermenting wonderful, but they ARE tedious to take apart all the valves and triclamp fittings.

Aquiring, and customizing equipment is one seriously fun aspect of brewing, one thing to remember though is "price is soon forgotten, quality is remembered!"

Oh.....and you'll need a good Mash Paddle

 

[tw1ztid]

I know there's guys here that have no problem brewing on electric coocktops but my ceramic cooktop couldn't get 3 gals of water to even 100 degrees after an hour.

I ended up pulling my old camping propane cooktop and pulling my hoses from my BBQ to get it going. If you do not have a solid means of cooking I would highly advise getting one.

I can't tell you how stressful it was figuring out my stovetop wouldn't work and scrambling for another option

It has no problem heating anything up, supposedly this kettle is raised somewhere along the bottom so it doesn't make full contact with a flat top electric. I may get it anyways and make it happen because 35$ is a damn good price.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...t/brew-kettles/5-gallon-stainless-kettle.html

 

[tw1ztid]

Personally I would recommend you cruise the local restaurant supply places for used 304 ss pots, buy two 10 or 15 gallon pots. Then buy a 10 gallon home depot water cooler. The cooler you can turn into MT using parts available from vendors on this site. One of the pots will be your HLT(some say they don't need a HLt, but it's nice having all the water you'll need layed out and available) the other your boil kettle. This will help you customize your system with quality commercial equipment that will last, and will probably still be cheaper than some "complete Kits". As far as fermenters go a great place to start is inexpensive carboys, glass or plastic. As you progress you make want to get a 304ss conical (I have one), they make fermenting wonderful, but they ARE tedious to take apart all the valves and triclamp fittings.

Aquiring, and customizing equipment is one seriously fun aspect of brewing, one thing to remember though is "price is soon forgotten, quality is remembered!"

Oh.....and you'll need a good Mash Paddle

What does HLt stand for? I'll look around local like you suggest I think I have a few days until I get my tax refund anyways. ^^
I may actually have an old SS pot, no idea how much it holds. I'll have to dig around for it assuming any stainless steel pot will suffice

 

[patthebrewer]

Sorry.....HLT stands for hot liquor tank. Essentially traditional all grain breweries use three vessels. An HLT, BK(Boil Kettle used for boiling your wort), And a MlT(Mash Lauter Tun used for converting starch to sugars and filter in your grain out). In your HLT you will add all your water you have calculated you will need (including a little extra to acct. for losses to grain absorption in the mash tun, and losses to evaportation in your boil kettle). You can treat your water (if you feel it's necessary) to acct for your water profile. Then heat the whole volume up to your mash temp, before adding to your mash tun with the grain, after which you will use your HLT to heat your remaining water to your sparge temp, which you will complete after you drain your first runnings from your mash tun. Also it doesn't hurt to have little more water in your HLT "Just In Case" you boil off more than you expect in your boil kettle and need to adjust volume or gravity.

Hope that helps

 

[tw1ztid]

Sorry.....HLT stands for hot liquor tank. Essentially traditional all grain breweries use three vessels. An HLT, BK(Boil Kettle used for boiling your wort), And a MlT(Mash Lauter Tun used for converting starch to sugars and filter in your grain out). In your HLT you will add all your water you have calculated you will need (including a little extra to acct. for losses to grain absorption in the mash tun, and losses to evaportation in your boil kettle). You can treat your water (if you feel it's necessary) to acct for your water profile. Then heat the whole volume up to your mash temp, before adding to your mash tun with the grain, after which you will use your HLT to heat your remaining water to your sparge temp, which you will complete after you drain your first runnings from your mash tun. Also it doesn't hurt to have little more water in your HLT "Just In Case" you boil off more than you expect in your boil kettle and need to adjust volume or gravity.

Hope that helps

It does thanks. I'm going to wait until I have a few more brews of experience before I start experimenting with all grain. I will try to get a larger pot though with the future in mind.

 

[BugDude]

It has no problem heating anything up, supposedly this kettle is raised somewhere along the bottom so it doesn't make full contact with a flat top electric. I may get it anyways and make it happen because 35$ is a damn good price.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...t/brew-kettles/5-gallon-stainless-kettle.html

That's interesting. It looks very similar to the pot I bought for the same price.

http://morebeer.com/products/5-gallon-stainless-steel-kettle.html

​

 

[tw1ztid]

That's interesting. It looks very similar to the pot I bought for the same price.

http://morebeer.com/products/5-gallon-stainless-steel-kettle.html

​

Is yours flat on the bottom?

 

[Scout001]

Poor man's brewing setup....$40 turkey frier kit from Walmart. Comes with a simple burner and a 30 qt. Aluminum pot. Havn't done a 5 yet, but did a 2.5 gal on Friday...easy peasy.

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[BugDude]

Is yours flat on the bottom?

Yea. Flat all the way across.

 

[m1batt1]

Poor man's brewing setup....$40 turkey frier kit from Walmart. Comes with a simple burner and a 30 qt. Aluminum pot. Havn't done a 5 yet, but did a 2.5 gal on Friday...easy peasy.

Sent from my SGH-T699 using Home Brew mobile app

This is what I use for the brewing process as well. Cheap but works.

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[RM-MN]

Poor man's brewing setup....$40 turkey frier kit from Walmart. Comes with a simple burner and a 30 qt. Aluminum pot. Havn't done a 5 yet, but did a 2.5 gal on Friday...easy peasy.

Sent from my SGH-T699 using Home Brew mobile app

Add a paint strainer bag to that setup and you can make a 5 gallon batch all grain if you are careful. I've done several in mine. Look for BIAB to get an idea of where to start.

For those of you with 5 gallon pots, the same paint strainer bag will let you do a 2 1/2 gallon all grain batch the same way via BIAB.:fro:

 

[tw1ztid]

I just realized the grill I bought a couple years ago has a propane Burner on the side. I never have used it so I forgot about it. Lol

I may get the wort chiller that's on sale somebody previously mentioned as well. You all have been very helpful.

 

[tw1ztid]

Poor man's brewing setup....$40 turkey frier kit from Walmart. Comes with a simple burner and a 30 qt. Aluminum pot. Havn't done a 5 yet, but did a 2.5 gal on Friday...easy peasy.

Sent from my SGH-T699 using Home Brew mobile app

That setup as a whole is cheaper than the majority of the pots I've seen alone.

 

[tw1ztid]

Add a paint strainer bag to that setup and you can make a 5 gallon batch all grain if you are careful. I've done several in mine. Look for BIAB to get an idea of where to start.

For those of you with 5 gallon pots, the same paint strainer bag will let you do a 2 1/2 gallon all grain batch the same way via BIAB.:fro:

I might just get that turkey frier setup then. Who knows the burner may be useful if for some reason I can't use the propane Burner on the grill.

 

[MaxStout]

I might just get that turkey frier setup then. Who knows the burner may be useful if for some reason I can't use the propane Burner on the grill.

Nothing wrong with aluminum pots. You just need to create a passivation layer on the inside before your first time brewing with it. Fill with water and boil until the inside has turned a kind of greyish color. Propane is the way to go for brewing.

As for immersion chillers, you can save some $$ and build your own for the cost of 20-25 feet of annealed copper tubing, some plastic tubing and a couple hose clamps and hose end fittings. The IC doesn't have to be pretty, just a bunch of coils that will fit in your kettle and below the level of the wort. Search HBT--there are lots of DIY ideas.

 

[jc5066]

As for immersion chillers, you can save some $$ and build your own for the cost of 20-25 feet of annealed copper tubing, some plastic tubing and a couple hose clamps and hose end fittings. The IC doesn't have to be pretty, just a bunch of coils that will fit in your kettle and below the level of the wort. Search HBT--there are lots of DIY ideas.

I found it just to buy one. The parts to make one cost about the same as to buy already done. At least around here. I bought an economy chiller from homebrewing.com for 39.99. To buy all the parts at HD would have been the same, if not more. The coil alone is $25.

 

[Scout001]

Does the immersion chiller save that much time from an ice bath? Took about 45 min to get 2.5 gal from boiling to pitch temp. How much more time saving is a chiller? My LHBS has a small coil for 45$.

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[MaxStout]

Does the immersion chiller save that much time from an ice bath? Took about 45 min to get 2.5 gal from boiling to pitch temp. How much more time saving is a chiller? My LHBS has a small coil for 45$.

Sent from my SGH-T699 using Home Brew mobile app

Depends on the chiller geometry, water temp, etc. But with a decent chiller you should be able to cool that 2.5 gallons in 1/3 the time.

 

[m1batt1]

Does the immersion chiller save that much time from an ice bath? Took about 45 min to get 2.5 gal from boiling to pitch temp. How much more time saving is a chiller? My LHBS has a small coil for 45$.

Sent from my SGH-T699 using Home Brew mobile app

I use a basic 25' immersion and can cool 5 gallons in about 20 minutes. Depends on air temp and water temp that you're running through it but yes it works well.

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[k1ngl1ves]

I still use a "True Brew K6" kit. It has just about everything you need. I spent about $100. Googling it gives you lots of businesses for you to find the best deals. I think monsterbrew might have the best deal right now on Amazon (around $80). I use a "Chard International 30 qt outdoor cooker kit" (with a spigot) for my boils. About $50. Surprisingly, it's super easy to get an even temp with it. Google both of those kits to get a better idea of what they are.

Eventually, I added a bench capper, made a copper chiller, and added a few more carboys. You really don't need much more than that. Sometimes keeping things simple is much more enjoyable. Depends on who you ask.


Oh! Be careful with those "buy 1 get 1" specials. You still have to pay shipping for both, and the amount can really be a shock when you get to the checkout...

 

[trefilov22]

Do you have a brew pot or plan on buying one to accommodate 5 gallon batches? Also for large batches I would suggest a wort chiller. If you're ordering soon my LHBS is running a special on a basic immersion chiller. Www.homebrewery.com. Another thing for the big batches is a big spoon or paddle to stir.

Other than that your combos look like a good starting point to me.

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Not a bad deal on that Wort Chiller!

 

[m1batt1]

Not a bad deal on that Wort Chiller!

Yeah they are celebrating their 30 year anniversary with deals. The chiller is their first of the year.

I suggest keeping an eye on that page throughout the year for other deals.

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[tw1ztid]

After shipping the wort chiller is about the same price as what I can get from northern so i'm sticking there.

7610C Essential Starter with Caribou Slobber Brown Ale
Triple Scale Hydrometer
Test Jar
Beer Thief
Hydrometer Holder
Stainless Steel Immersion Wort Chiller
Large Dial Frothing Thermometer
5 Gallon Brew Kettle
Honey Brown Ale Extract Kit w/ Specialty Grains
Brown Glass Bottles
Stainless Steel Spoon
Double-mesh Stainless Strainer
and an extra 6.5 Gallon Fermenting Bucket

Copied and pasted with some being part of kits, total is about $300 shipped. Will be placing the order in a day or two. Can't wait!