Used Mr. Beer to catch the bug now I want to move on.

[ronjon902]

I received a Mr. Beer kit last Christmas from my wife and have used up the stuff that came with the kit as well as a couple more recipes and would like to to get into making larger batches as well as get into whole grain brewing. What I would like to know is what all do I need to get started for making 5 gallon batches? I don't have any equipment except what came with the Mr. Beer kit. I plan on maybe buying a northern brewer 5 gallon stater kit but not sure what else I would need. Any suggestions on other starter kits and equipment needed would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Braufessor]

One thing I would advise is to buy yourself a really good pot. Not sure exactly how you plan to brew, but if you get yourself a good 10 gallon pot you can do full-boil extract beers, but you can also eventually transition to BIAB all-grain beers. And, if you move on to a 3 vessel set-up, that pot will always be of use then too. Get one with a spigot/valve on it for transferring wort.

A good pot is probably a purchase you will never regret, and it is something that is probably about the easiest to sell if you ever decide not to brew.

From there, most of the "starter" stuff is kind of standard. The next month or so is going to be PRIME TIME for buying introductory beer stuff - Black Friday/Cyber Monday - there is sure to be some great deals on introductory kits..... wait til then to buy.

Beyond getting into the hobby though, be thinking ahead to controlling your fermentation temperatures. It is pretty much universally agreed upon that this is one of the most necessary things to brewing consistently good beer. Lots of ways to go about it - from cheap to expensive - but make it a priority.

 

[sputnam]

+1 to buying the right pot the first time. I started with Mr. Beer and bought stuff for that, then stepped it up a notch and got stuff for that, another notch, more stuff...etc...I only do 3 gallon all grain batches so I finally bought an 8 gallon pot. Fortunately, I can still use some of the pots I bought but gave 2 away. ANyway, temp control is another great investment. Wort chiller and good propane burner are probably the next best items. Good mash tun (with bazooka screen is fine and little cheaper). If you are gonna do 5 galls, get a 6.5 gallon better bottle (or 2 or 3) as well as a 5 bc you will want to secondary sometimes. Big racking cane. tons of bottles and bench capper. Seriously, bench capper if you bottle. way more kegs than you think you need if you gonna keg. and a big bag of sugar!

 

[RM-MN]

When I started I bought a basic starter kit. I later added a carboy and in 8 years of brewing I've used it 4 times. In my opinion that carboy was a waste of money. The basic kit contains all you need but you will probably add more later. With that kit and a pot that is 5 gallons or bigger you will be set to do 5 gallon extract batches. If you want to do 5 gallons all grain you need a bigger pot and the debate is just how big. I've gotten by with a 30 qt pot but I'd suggest you go bigger. 40 qt pots will work well but you still have to worry about boil overs. By the time you get to a 60 qt, the boil over problem is gone and you will have the capacity to do a 10 gallon batch if you want.

 

[ghohn]

I agree with what everyone said about pots and sizing. Buy now with double-batch capability in mind. 30 qt satisfies BIAB in terms of both mash vessel and boil kettle (if you put some 'sparge water' to the side.). If you're nervous about boil overs, I'd recommend some Fermcap.

I'd recommend making a mash tun from a square cooler. Go with something big enough to fit two carboys side by side. This'll be in the 80-100qt range. Yes, it's overkill in terms of size for a mash tun but it'll double as a water batch/ferm chamber. Rock solid in terms of temperature control.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=237926&stc=1&d=1416832408

 

[JohnSand]

All good advice. I agree about the pot too, if you want 5 gallon grain batches, 40qt is a good size. Check Amazon and HomeBrewFinds for good deals. Do you plan on using a burner, or a stove? Be sure first that your stove can boil 7+ gallons. If it is glasstop, the pot must fit in the ring, or it won't boil. I agree that temperature controlled fermentation is important. But you can do that with a swamp cooler, or even the seasons depending on where you live. One last bit: don't go crazy. One often sees complete, expensive brewing set-ups for sale here and elsewhere. I'd hate to be a guy who spent thousands, and two years later stops brewing. Life happens: kids, jobs, moves, etc. So, while you don't want to keep buying bigger pots in gallon steps, you should only buy what you need, when you need it. Have fun, keep us posted, and brew on!

 

[M42]

An all grain set up is expensive and requires a burner that you can operate outside. Modern stoves can't reach the temperatures required for all grain brewing. Not trying to throw ice water on your parade, but if all you've done are Mr. Beer then you should move slowly one step at a time and my recommendation would be to move up to doing extract kits. They require wort boiling, grain steeping and are a huge improvement over Mr. Beer and you're not going to need to make such a big investment in equipment that you may not use. An appropriate size pot will get you going along with a nice fermentor.

 

[benco]

I started with a old aluminum turkey fryer and old burner doing extract. Extract is expensive, but makes good beer and a lot of people do it. After a lot of research on HBT I switched to biab with a paint strainer bag. Once I saved up a little money I bought a blichmann burner and a nice double plated stainless 10 gallon pot and custom made bag. I can now do all grain full boil batches for five gallons of beer. The most grain I have mashed is 17 pounds with no problem, also using a pulley strap for lifting bag. This is to give you another idea! Good luck brewing!

 

[RM-MN]

An all grain set up is expensive and requires a burner that you can operate outside. Modern stoves can't reach the temperatures required for all grain brewing. Not trying to throw ice water on your parade, but if all you've done are Mr. Beer then you should move slowly one step at a time and my recommendation would be to move up to doing extract kits. They require wort boiling, grain steeping and are a huge improvement over Mr. Beer and you're not going to need to make such a big investment in equipment that you may not use. An appropriate size pot will get you going along with a nice fermentor.

Boy is this good to know. Here I thought I was doing all grain with my turkey fryer pot and a paint strainer bag, heating on my kitchen stove.:cross:

Maybe you should try reading about BIAB because all grain doesn't have to be expensive and not all stoves are created equal. Mine will boil 7 gallons, some will not. I do a lot of half size batches because they are faster and easier on my back, not because I can't do 5 gallons on my stovetop.

 

[stylus1274]

I did a 'slow' move up from starting with Mr. Beer. So that means I went from Mr. Beer to extract brews to partial mashes to All Grain. I wish I would have went straight to All Grain.

That is my suggestion. Buy a nice/large brew kettle, turkey friar like most are suggesting and start doing AG by doing the BIAB method. You can bypass the mash tun and see how you like it.

The taste difference/quality from doing Mr. Beer and AG will be substantial

 

[purplerat]

Boy is this good to know. Here I thought I was doing all grain with my turkey fryer pot and a paint strainer bag, heating on my kitchen stove.:cross:

Maybe you should try reading about BIAB because all grain doesn't have to be expensive and not all stoves are created equal. Mine will boil 7 gallons, some will not. I do a lot of half size batches because they are faster and easier on my back, not because I can't do 5 gallons on my stovetop.

I agree with this right here. I've been doing turkey fryer - BIAB myself with a total cost of about $100 for the burner, pot and bag. I actually "wasted" a bit of money trying to take an intermediary step between Mr Beer and AG with stove top extract kits but only ended up doing 2 before moving onto AG. I say wasted in quotes because I still use the equipment I bought for stove top extract brewing but it wasn't really necessary. Although now I've started doing smaller AG batches myself and I'm starting to use that equipment for AG BIAB, inside on the stove top where I have no problem boiling 2.5 gallon batches.

 

[nikkuchan]

Some people may poo-poo it, but I thoroughly love Cooper's 6 gallon fermenter:

http://us.diybeer.com/category_s/1820.htm (Mr Beer sells it now, too: http://www.mrbeer.com/mrbeer-24l-beer-kit)

It comes with a hydrometer and bottle wand, which is nice (and also a boatload of PET bottles, which you may not want, but they have their advantages), but I love it because of it's low maintenance and ease of use. It's dishwasher safe (and extremely easy to hand wash as well), the spigot comes completely apart for thorough cleaning, and blowoffs practically never happen (at least I've never had any). Also, as an added bonus (for space-conscience people like me), you can easily store your equipment inside it when you aren't brewing (though that may not happen).

For someone like me who was intimidated by all the equipment initially, this item really makes things easier.

 

[ronjon902]

Thanks for all the replays so far it will be a while before I start to brew as I have to get the equipment. Also thinking of going to my local home brew store for some classes they offer to get some more tips.

 

[stevedasleeve]

I started with a cooper kit, went to extract after a couple of brews, went to all grain shortly after and stayed. 10 gallon cooler with a braid, 10 gallon kettle, batch sparge a la How to brew. I built a 1500W heat stick and use it with an 1800W induction plate in my kitchen. 5 or so years later, 140 brew days I'm not at all interested in upgrading from there since my beers are fantastic, clean up is a sinch and everything works brilliantly.

Ymmv etc,
Cheers!
Steve da sleeve

 

[dkennedy]

I picked up a turkey fryer kit (burner + 7.5 gal Aluminum pot) from Lowes for cheap (40 clams, I think) in Jan/Feb about 5 years ago. May be worth watching for- big box stores may look to off-load overstock after the turkey frying season ends. Worked great for BIAB, I wound up with a bigger kettle because I 1) really like shiny things and 2) wanted a larger kettle to convert to eBIAB.

If you're near me, then I'd gladly give you the burner and a propane tank...just sitting in the garage. The kettle has been abused but could likely be cleaned up too.

 

[ronjon902]

I was looking into a turkey fryer to start with. I live in Michigan near Detroit so not sure where you live.

 

[mrdail87]

I actually started of with northern brewer's deluxe starter kit. Comes with all you need for 5 gallon extract batches. I think the only thing I haven't used or needed out of that kit was the thermometer (I prefer to use a digital one). It was a great investment.

My advice would be to start making 5 gallon extract batches and move up to all-grain when you're ready. Get yourself a propane burner, at least a 7 gallon pot, and build your own mashtun, there's plenty of instructions online to do this.

On an extra 2 cents, don't feel pressured to go all-grain right away. You can make some awesome beers with extracts. Even as someone with the equipment to do all grain, I brew extracts about 50% of the time.

 

[dkennedy]

I was looking into a turkey fryer to start with. I live in Michigan near Detroit so not sure where you live.

I'm in Madison, so unless you really like road trips, the Free element would be over-ridden by a lot of road time. Good luck with the hunt!