Which Brew kit to start with

[sks8686]

Im looking to buy my first brewing kit. Any recomdations on which on to buy and from which company. I would like to start with extract brewing and mabey some day move to all grain. I would like to buy a "deluxe kit" to avoid buy misc supply later. Looking to spend $150-$200. Also any advice on tools that don't come with the kit that I should go ahead and buy.

 

[webby45wr]

Do you have a local homebrew shop near you? I visited one near me to get an equipment kit. The benefit of this is you also get to talk with the owner, get your questions answered, and have another resource. I found their prices competitive with the online purveyors. I also bought a 9 gallon pot and burner from amazon. That was another $100, but well worth it!

 

[TheCollector]

Buy some swing top bottles! You will be mad the first time you bust a bottle neck full of beer while trying to cap it.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BU7CVM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


^^^^ I started with a kit similar to that ^^^^

Throw the siphon away and get a nice auto-siphon.

Buy a turkey fryer with an 8 to 10 gallon pot. It's cheap, and a good way to start.

Everything should cost you about $150 total, and it's a good foundation to begin brewing great beer.

 

[lousbrews]

If your buying online you should look at northernbrewer, Midwest supplies, etc... Your bound to pay less on shipping than some small store that distributes through amazon and get a better quality product.

Just my 2¢.

 

[Nightstrife]

My best advice is buy a large pot 8gal minimum... If you can swing it go a bit larger Cus if you start larger batches you need to start with like 7+ gallons of boil volume. The point is if you seen the extra 20 or so bucks now you will save a lot later as you will not need to buy another pot.

Go with the cheep 5 gal buckets for fermentation and bottling as they are easy to replace (once you get the hang of things you can purchase what you think you should later)
As it was said earlier go to a Brewstore and talk. Having a la actual conversation with someone can open a lot of doors.

 

[bmbauer]

My advice is to go to a local homebrew store if you can find one. I bought everything from Northern Brewer, and although it was great, when I got around to going to a homebrew store my experience was so much better. Its just nice to be able to talk through problems. Plus, its easier to replace some of the items that come in starter kits online.... you might find that for what you want to do there are better or worse things. (i personally changed my bottling system from the one that came in my northernbrewer starter kit).

 

[WayFrae]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BU7CVM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


^^^^ I started with a kit similar to that ^^^^

Throw the siphon away and get a nice auto-siphon.

Buy a turkey fryer with an 8 to 10 gallon pot. It's cheap, and a good way to start.

Everything should cost you about $150 total, and it's a good foundation to begin brewing great beer.

I started with this exact kit and I love it. Then just buy at least a 10 gallon pot to start with. Trust me. After your first brew you will want the 10 gallons of space. I started with a 5 gallon pot and regretted it my first brew day.

 

[hunter_le five]

I started with a 5 gallon pot and regretted it my first brew day.

Same here.

Then I bought a 7.5 gallon pot, thinking myself clever.

My next purchase will be a damn 10 gallon pot. Would've saved myself a bunch of trouble had I done that in the first place.

 

[brewprint]

Why is everyone recommending a big pot? If I go large it'll just take longer to boil. However, I can see this if you want to make sure everything is boiled.

It would also make it that I wouldn't be able to attach grain/steeping bags on a handle.

 

[Nightstrife]

I just thought of something else that I personally would like. It's not requires but it would be handy. A wort chiller. I currently wish I had one.

 

[WayFrae]

I just thought of something else that I personally would like. It's not requires but it would be handy. A wort chiller. I currently wish I had one.

YES! I wish I would have had one on my first brew day too! I just made one out of 20' 3/8" refrigeration line and it worked wonders. It only cost me about $40 and it is way better than the one for sale at my LHBS for $75!

 

[Clweed]

A blow off hose!

 

[brewprint]

I just thought of something else that I personally would like. It's not requires but it would be handy. A wort chiller. I currently wish I had one.

For sure! Wife bought me one and it is soooo nice!

 

[MB331]

I'd look at Northern Brewer also. For a fermenter I would look for the plastic type. They are reasonably priced and as a new brewer (like me) you will really enjoy watching the yeast do it's' job.
You might be better off buying the elements separately because as OP say you will eventually need a larger kettle.

 

[MB331]

You might be better off buying the elements separately because as OP say you will eventually need a larger kettle.

I just looked at NB's website and saw that the kits don't include a kettle. If you are starting with extract and brewing indoors you might want to start out with a 6 gallon aluminum pot. If you are cooking outdoors with propane you will probably looking at a 10 gallon stainless steel or aluminum for a full 6-7 gallon boil.

 

[WayFrae]

You could get a propane burner, a 10 gallon kettle, and an equipment kit for under $200. I think that would be the ideal kit to start with.

 

[webby45wr]

Why is everyone recommending a big pot? If I go large it'll just take longer to boil. However, I can see this if you want to make sure everything is boiled.

It would also make it that I wouldn't be able to attach grain/steeping bags on a handle.

Larger pots allow you to do a full boil. With boil-off rates, you generally need to start with 6.5 to 7 gallons of pre-boil wort to get down to the 5 - 5.5 gallons you are looking to finish with. That's for an average brew (OG 1.050), if you want to make strong stuff (Belgian Tripel), you may need even more room. I have a 9 gallon pot and it's gotten a little tight on a few brews. I'm saving my pennies for a 15 gallon pot.

 

[sks8686]

Thanks for all the input guys. I ended up going with a kit from Midwest, they had free shipping on orders over $100.00. I ended up buying a 5gal kettle from Nothern Brewer. I went with a higher quality kettle than the economy kettle. I also ordered a few extra goodies that didn't come with the kit, wine thief, long stem thermomter, paddle, and a blow off hose, star san. for my first brew i went with the bavarian hefeweizen extract kit from Nothern. It should a be here by Thursday hoping to brew on Saturday. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[brewprint]

Then just 6 weeks until you get to try it!