Which Starter Kit?

Liquidicem · Sep 18, 2007

Hi everyone. I'm am looking to finally purchase my first kit. I have been researching homebrewing for quite some time and finally decided to make the dive.

I live in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, so lucky for me, Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies are both in my backyard.

I've been trying to compare the starter kits that both of them offer. I've been looking at the Deluxe Starter Kit from Northern (http://www.northernbrewer.com/starterkits.html) and the Intermediate Kit from Midwest (http://www.northernbrewer.com/starterkits.html)

It seems to me that the main advantage for the kit from Northern is that it comes with a glass fermenter instead of a plastic one like the kit from Midwest. It doesn't seem to me like this is enough to justify the price difference between the 2 companies. Does Northern make better products?

Also, how much of a difference does a glass fermenter make? It looks like one could be added to the midwest kit and it would still be a bit cheaper than the kit from Northern.

Anyone have any experience with either of these to kits? Thanks!

ctkevin · Sep 18, 2007

My wife bought me the deluxe kit from NB a few months ago and it's been great. The only difference I see between the two kits is the the NB kit gives you a 6 gallon and a 5 gallon fermentor. The MW kit only gives you 2 5 gal carboys. I wouldn't recommend using anything less than a 6 gallon for a primary.

If you think this is a hobby you're going to stick with, I highly recommend the master's brew kit from MW. Can't beat the price. $319 for a basic kit with 1 6.5 and 2 5 gallon carboys, a kegging kit (I paid close to this price for my kegging kit alone!) and a tempature control device.

Hope this helps!

biggy · Sep 19, 2007

ctkevin said:
The MW kit only gives you 2 5 gal carboys.

Not true. You get the 2 carboys, 6.5 gal fermenter and 6.5 gal bottling bucket.

For what its worth, I just picked up the 'Brewing Starter Kit' from midwest last week as they are less of a drive than northern. Should have gone for the Intermediate kit seeing how I went back yesterday to pick up a extra carboy.

brett · Sep 19, 2007

I recommend avoiding the plastic "ale pail" and going all glass carboys (or use these). If you get either of these kits you should be happy. Now as I look back, I really wish I would have gone with the ported better bottles, as racking/transferring/bottling would be vastly simplified. I just might sell off all my glass and go for it, who knows.

I've found that the ability to do full-boils and having good temperature control during fermentation will do more good for your beer than having the best equipment anyways.

Good luck. :mug:

ScubaSteve · Sep 19, 2007

ctkevin said:
If you think this is a hobby you're going to stick with, I highly recommend the master's brew kit from MW. Can't beat the price. $319 for a basic kit with 1 6.5 and 2 5 gallon carboys, a kegging kit (I paid close to this price for my kegging kit alone!) and a tempature control device.

Hope this helps!

Truer words were never spoken.

You can't beat that price for all the basics PLUS the kegging setup. It's inevitable; bottling is a PITA and most homebrewers eventually give in to the irresistable urge to have their own beer on tap.:rockin: You will probably spend $200+ on a kegging setup later on and wish you had gotten it from the very beginning.

For what it's worth, you will probably rarely use the 5 gallon carboys. It would be much better to get 2 6.5 gal carboys and one 5 gal in case you want to dry hop or make a batch of Apfelwein.

This may be a lot of info to start with; I started with the intermediate kit from MW with the better bottles and still use most of that same stuff! Better bottles are great...but DO NOT scrub them; soak them in Oxyclean overnight! I ruined mine by scratching the interior.

Kayos · Sep 19, 2007

+1 for better bottles.

Build your own kit from what you decide you like--no need to go with what the stores tell you you want. See what the kits offer that you like and get it independantely. For me, I was (and still am) not ready to keg. I could not imagine starting out at over $300. I would highly suggest staying away from the ail pail. Not because it is not as good, but because you can see the fun of fermentation in glass or better-bottles. What good is a hobby if you can't even tell that it is doing anything for 3 weeks? Save some worrying and be able to see in. That way, you'll keep you germs out when you want to look anyway. I do recommend a primary of 6+ gallons and a secondary of 5 gallons. Above that, compare all the kits, decide what they all have in common, and build from there. Have fun!!!