What am i forgetting?

[cnapierala]

7.75 gallon primary
Lid drilled
6.5 gallon glass carboy
carboy handle
carboy cap
airlock
airlock
Nylon bag
Hydrometer
Stick on thermometer
Stick on thermometer
siphon kit delux
bottle capper
21" stainless Steel Spoon
7.75 gallon botteling bucket
carboy cleaning brush

Total 126.04

I like this better than any kits i have found for the price. What am i missing or what should i or shouldnt i get? Im unsure if i need the botteling bucket yet as i dont plan to do much botteling. Im going to do kegs for the most part. Im piecing this together off of AHB BTW.

 

[jezter6]

might as well keep the spare bucket...at the very least you can primary another batch in it while the first bucket is also busy. Or you can secondary in it so that you have 2 secondaries.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Looks pretty complete. What kind of kettle/pot do you have for boiling? A 3 gallon stock pot is the BARE minimum for 5 gallon extract brews with a concentrated boil. I'd recommend at least a 7 gallon kettle.

You might consider a test jar for your hydrometer also. Search AHB - they have 'em there.

 

[cnapierala]

Looks pretty complete. What kind of kettle/pot do you have for boiling? A 3 gallon stock pot is the BARE minimum for 5 gallon extract brews with a concentrated boil. I'd recommend at least a 7 gallon kettle.

You might consider a test jar for your hydrometer also. Search AHB - they have 'em there.

I have a 22qt stainless pot and a 30qt aluminum turkey fryer pot i can but probably wont use. I wanted a bigger kettle but i think this will be just right for boiling inside. I may cut open a 8 or 16 gallon keg later to use as a kettle once we move to a new house with more storage room.

Hey, did i see on one of your other posts that your a gearhead too? Lol!

 

[Yooper]

I'd probably get a 5 gallon carboy instead of the 6.5 gallon carboy. I'd use the plastic for primary, and the glass carboy for secondary. 6.5 gallon size is good if you're doing 6 gallon batches, of course. I prefer the 5 gallon size since I do mostly 5 gallon batches. Also tubing and a bottling wand. If you're going to bottle at all, you need that.

Otherwise, it looks good to me.

Lorena

 

[Beer Weevel]

I like 6.5gal carboys, extra space is good. I do 5 gal batches and have 4, 6.5 gal carboys works great. If I did it again I might go with better bottles do to the weight issues, I don't know? I need to do more research.

 

[zoebisch01]

I had some of those stick on thermometers just kind of seperate. Imo, they aren't worth it even though they are cheap. Not sure what kind of airlocks you are getting but I got the one piece type and if you get any Krausen in them they are a pain to clean, so go with the 3 piece if you want easy cleaning. Make sure you have a tube or that your hydrometer comes with a tube as well.

 

[jezter6]

I'll disagree with lorenae here.

You can always put less liquid in a bigger container, but you can NEVER put more liquid into a smaller container. Don't buy a small carboy unless you REALLY REALLY know you're never going to put more than 5 gal in there.

That being said, there is plenty more to buy. Upgrading that brewpot, and getting more carboys and/or buckets should be next. With only 22qt, it'll be quite dangerous doing a 5 gal full boil as it's darn close to the dreaded boilover. And since you should (on average) keep it 2 weeks in the carboy secondary, that means your brew schedule needs to be slowed while you wait for the secondary to become free, or you start using a bucket for secondary. But if you use the bucket for secondary, what will you bottle out of?

Then a wort chiller. Get the wort cooled as fast as possible. I got buy for 3 or 4 batches without one, but I spent $1.50 every batch on a big bag of ice to cool it.

 

[cnapierala]

Ok, i think im going to scratch the idea of piecing it together myself in light of a better deal. So only question is should i go with glass or the Better Bottles? Looks like the better bottles primary is a 6gal compared to the 6.5 glass if you think that makes a difference.

Glass
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=6876

Better Bottles
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=6875

Thanks everyone.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

My first carboy was glass. I've since decided I'm going to go with better bottles from here forward. I'll still use the glass that I got, but since I brew in a crowded space, cleanup from a dropped carboy would be an absolute nightmare to clean up. I'd rather save the weight to reduce the risk.

 

[cnapierala]

My first carboy was glass. I've since decided I'm going to go with better bottles from here forward. I'll still use the glass that I got, but since I brew in a crowded space, cleanup from a dropped carboy would be an absolute nightmare to clean up. I'd rather save the weight to reduce the risk.

Good point. I was kind of excited about the weight savings too but just a bit concerned about cleaning etc.

 

[brewman !]

I bought 4 Better Bottles in the last month. I highly recommend them.

 

[cnapierala]

Thanks for the feed back. Im pretty sure my mind is made up

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

From what I've read, the cleaning is actually easier with the Better Bottles. Apparently, you don't even need to use a bottle brush (which is discouraged because it scratches the plastic). I guess they say you just rinse it with a sanitizer and any junk should come right off. No need to scrub.

 

[cnapierala]

Well, its on its way!

I went with this kit

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=6875
I also ordered their rasberry wheat ingredient kit which made the wife happy Hopefully that will help get her in the beer making spirit.

Thanks for everyones help!

 

[Beer Weevel]

Absolutly and excellent choice, should give you many, many years of brewing pleasure!!!!!! Now get to brewing!!!!!!!