Starting equipment

[Kendiverdown]

My cousin and I are going to buy some equipment to start all grain brewing. We have about $1300 to start off with. We are leaning towards the blichman setup. Any recommendations? We want to get decent equipment, but also want to be able to start brewing, then add on what we want later.
Thanks!
Ken

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Blichman Engineering makes some very nice equipment, but for most people it is overkill. If you want to spend $1300 that's a good way to do it, but you certainly don't have to in order to make great beer. If you do stove top BIAB you will only need to add a 16 quart kettle. I would recommend a pressure caner because the sides are thick making them hold heat well, and you can use it for more than beer. ($70) The only other think you need is a paint strainer bag ($2) in addition to the basic extract equipment. With that you can make up to 1.040 all grain 5 gallon or 1.060 three gallon recipes. You can boost with DME to make larger beers.

http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/09/biab.html

If that's not enough, and you can brew outside, then I you could go with a turkey frier setup.

 

[DocScott]

I'd start with a simple beginners kit, a 40 qt pot and a good scale and thermometer. This will not cost much and allow you to make excellent beers. Make a few batches and get your process down and make sure you like the hobby (you probably will, but you never know). Maybe get a fermentation chamber for temp control.

Once you know you will continue your brewing, then I'd look into the luxuries like a blichman setup etc. you'll find this hobby can chew through $1000 quickly!

 

[swackattack]

As sad as this is...your $1300 wont get you that far with blichmann. A top tier is around 1k and kettles are 300+ a piece. Id say grab a starter kit, a nice kettle (15 gal) and the blichmann floor burner with leg extension for some biab action. And may even have enough left over for a kegging set up

 

[Kendiverdown]

Thanks all!

We have brewed a few kits and have been making wine for about 4 years now. Just starting getting more into the beer in the last year or so. It is all awesome. We have a small kettle now but want to make at least 10gallon batches. So we need a couple 15 gallon kettle. We really like the blichman but as everyone is saying they are pretty expensive. Which isn't a real bad problem with 2 of us investing. But I also didn't know if there were cheaper and comparable in quality alternates. I realize some people like to use keggles and we just like the kettle look better. Also once we start buying this stuff we want it to last a long time too. Eventually I expect we will have close to $4500 plus into this all in all. (I think it's an excuse to spend money on cool gadgets lol)

 

[swackattack]

If you got that kind of coin...go big to start. Youll save more than constantly upgrading. I have a blichmann top tier system and its awesome and can be whatever i want it to be

 

[HopLife]

With $4500 you can do a lot.

I would recommend getting a 10 gal igloo for a mash tun with a false bottom. They are adequate and will only run around $100 for all the little parts.

If you have cold tap water like I get in Oregon year round you may build or buy a counterflow chiller. There goes about 60-200 depending on scale and quality. Either that or a plate chiller. Add a nice burner, buy a couple of propane cylinders, then you will need to think about a good way to ferment the beer.

Have fun and enjoy the brew.

Oh and you might subscribe to "Brew Your Own" magazine and buy Palmer's "how to brew."

Let us know if we need to help you spend more money.

 

[Kendiverdown]

Thanks I will keep you posted

It's always easier to spend other people's money! Lol