What is the easiest/cheapest entry into brewing?

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Hello,

I am contemplating getting into brewing and want to ask you what the simplest, easiest and cheapest way to brew is?
Yeah, this is called "denial." How well I know it.

Just kidding. But sort of not kidding.

You can start off relatively cheaply, but you will succeed with your first beer, and then you will probably want to upgrade. I can tell you what you will probably end up spending more money on.

You are going to want some way to keep fermentation temperatures down, so you may want to scrounge up a used fridge and buy a temperature control. But there are things that ferment at room temperature, so you don't have to rush.

If you try bottling beer, you will hate it, and then you will want kegs. If you have even one keg, you have to get a CO2 tank, regulator and some tubing and fittings. Unless you're in love with bottles, it's best to skip the bottle stage of homebrewing.

Then you will need a place for your keg. So put it in your fermenting fridge! But wait...how do you ferment your next beer with the first one in the fridge?

This is where you abandon sanity and build a keezer or buy a kegerator. A keezer is something you build from $1500 worth of parts in order avoid the expense of a $900 kegerator.

It helps if you tell yourself homebrewed beer is a lot cheaper than factory beer. You just have to make sure you only count the cost of ingredients and pretend the equipment was free. That's what I do.
 
I probably cannot add much more than what has been said. My brother is thinking of getting into beer making as he has been using my stuff (the cheapest possible form, LOL) and I recommend that he look on craigslist for those who have lost interest and looking to get rid of their stuff. I bought a starter setup from Northern Brew for about 125 bucks I think. It came with two buckets with spigots, bottle filling thingamabob (yes, that is the official name of it lol), bottle dohicckie (sorry if I am getting to technical here lol) and some bottle caps. In looking back, I think I probably could have gone the craigslist way and gotten it for cheaper, but what the heck, It was an impulse buy. Either way, good luck, there is a ton of info here and some great folks to help you. RR
 
Easiest is not going to be the cheapest.
Cheapest per pint is not going to be the easiest and will require spending money to buy equipment.
Best solution is to keep an eye out for used stuff and slowly build your equipment up while at the same time seek out the best and cheapest ingredient suppliers. There's never been a better time to look for used stuff, its all over FB marketplace and other sites.
So initially your easy brews will be more pricey, but eventually you'll bring your costs down, getting some used kegs and a CO2 tank/regulator and a spare refrigerator costs money, (you can do it on the cheap with picnic taps) but its way easier than bottling and somewhat satisfying when your pour your own pint (or half a glass, like me that's trying to cut back)......
:mug:
 

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