Pages: 1
A Newbie Shopping for equipment.
First of all, I just want to say, I'm assuming that you guys see this thread show up ALL THE TIME, and for that I apologize. Next I would just like to thank anyone who does help me out here in advance, buying all of this stuff is overwhelming and I'd hate to waste my money.
Here is what I'm planning on buying
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-kit.html
I'm planning on adding a wort chiller, and 7.5 gal boiling kettle to my purchase. Also I'd like to build my mash tun out of a large cooler, and pvc tubing in the bottom (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about). Does anyone have any opinions on this kit/brand? The reviews are all good, so I'm thinking the quality is just fine. Can anyone think of anything else I'll need that I'm over looking? I'd really like to start brewing all grain, as I am a huge beer snob and no other way seems right to me, so I think that set up should do it.
Thanks again guys, your help is certainly appreciated.
Cheers,
Eric.
the only thing I can add is that a 7.5 gallon pot might give you problems with boilovers, since you're going to be boiling the whole 5 gallon batch plus some extra to account for evaporation. I know some people use that size pot, but if you can afford a bigger one, you might want to get it just to be safe.
also, can your stove handle boiling that much liquid? if not you'll need a propane burner. Midwest sells some, and you can find them at other places. Mine is from a turkey frying setup I got at Walmart for $50.
For a mash tun, I'd recommend a 48-52 qt cooler. it should be big enough to handle most any brew you make with out being too big and having tons of dead space in it.
Welcome
A bigger kettle would be nice, but if it isn't in the budget just get some fermcap drops they will prevent most boilovers.
That looks like a reasonably good kit. But the kit is designed for a first timer, starting out with extract kits. Jumping straight in to mashing, whole hog so to speak, seems to me to be taking an unnecessary risk unless you are an experienced brewer getting back into it. If it were me, doing it over again, I still would do some extracts, then some partial mashes, and work my way up to the full deal mashes. With that approach, the 7.5 gal boil kettle will work, and will still be useful when you go to full boils. I use mine for heating sparge water (batch style) and other minor things along the way. I use a keggle I remanufactured my self as my boil pot, and a converted cooler as my mash tun. The other item I would get right away is an immersion cooler to hurry time from boil to fermenting. Enjoy your time brewing. It is a consuming distraction.
Thanks everyone, glad I posted. I assumed an extra 2 gal in the boiler would be sufficient, I'll opt for the 9gal then.
As for the propane burner, I did mean to mention it, I plan on doing This in my garage, which brings up a question I forgot about. While fermenting what is too cold? I don't have a basement which would be ideal, so am I safe leaving the batch out In The ice cold garage? In the summer I know it would be too hot, but is there a too cold?
You will have to follow the parameters of each given yeast. Typically ales ferment around the mid 60's to low 70's and lagers are high 40's to mid 50's. There are hybrid yeasts that are usually done around 60 but each yeast will be a little different. If you plan on fermenting in your garage I would plan on a chest freezer or fridge with a temp controller.
+1 to the fridge/freezer with temp controller. Check craigslist enough and you can get a useable fridge free, or very close to it. The temp controllers usually run around $50. This will allow you to set the desired temp. Too hot fermenting will give you too many esters, and too cold it will either take forever to ferment or the yeast will go completely dormant and do nothing.
I'm teaching my cousin to brew tomorrow night at my place. He does have some experience, and has brewed small batches before, so he knows the basics. He is asking alot of the same questions that you are asking, that's why i'm throwing this in there, as i'm about 2 hrs removed for getting everything for him.
One of the main things he's asking, is what to buy, and what not to buy. Stores and online deals will throw you some stuff you don't need. The starter kit that you linked on here is probably the best one i've seen, but why are they throwing in the 5 gallon carboy? If you think you need, or find out you need a carboy later, then buy it, but seems like overkill to throw that in. I know alot of people on here use glass, but to begin on glass is tricky to say the least, and you need specialty brushes, and cleansers to clean that bad boy. Unless your doing a lager, belgin, or fruit beer, a dedicated secondary is just a preference.
Star san should be one of your purchases also, that and PBW, PBW will take those hard to clean areas out of that carboy if your using glass, Just an overnight soak will take everything out of that carboy. Star San by far is the easiest, and most cost effective sanitizer on the market. Whip up a 5 gallon batch, and it will last 2 months. Fill a spray bottle with it, and after your done cleaning your bottles a few sprays of that will do the trick. It's also good for spot sanitizing your spoons, stirrers, and tubing if you drop somthing on the floor. A few sprays, and you can sleep better. The quality of my brew definately improved when I started using it. The one step included is fine, but you have to disolve the powder, and your never sure if the stuff is in the proper amount.
The other is a pot, if you have a 5 gallon pot, that's fine for extract partial boil, but doing a full boil all grain, yea, you need at least an 8. And if you go 10 gallon batches, do not buy less than a 15 gallon pot 60Quart. Converted kegs are the best. You want as much room as you can get trust me, you will lose 3 gallons in a 90 min boil. So get a good pot. Doesn't have to be stainless, a nice 8 gallon aluminum pot will run around 30 bucks. I use my 5, my 8, and my 15 gallon pot every time I do a 10 gallon batch. paying 250 dollars for a 10 gallon dedicated brewpot is nice, but it's also crazy expensive, a converted keg is much better.
So, bottom line is how do you brew? you don't know yet, so I would wait, make a few batches with what you have, and then get what you know you need, and then get all the gadgets. It's easier to wait until you need it, than have an 80 dollar piece of equipment that sits in the corner for 2 years.
Welcome to the wonderful world of fermentation! Enjoy your time and don't forget, relax and have a homebrew!
I would really recommend doing a few extract batches before jumping into all-grain. You can be the biggest beer snob in the world and you will still find good extract beers to be quite agreeable. It will also give you time to figure out equipment issues (what do I need, what doesn't work as I wanted it to, etc.) while still brewing beer. It will also be easier on your self-esteem if you lose your first batch or two (poor sanitation, equipment failures, etc.) if you only spent 2 hours brewing it vs. 6 or more hours. I have been brewing extract for about 3 years and probably won't switch to all-grain for quite some time. Trust me, I would like to, but the size, time and cost restraints of all-grain is a bit ambitious at this time in my life.
Also, most ale yeasts are happiest between 65 and 75 degrees. I usually keep my fermentors in my pantry in winter as we keep our house around 68. In summer I keep fermentors in basement which never goes above 72. When you look at the specs on the yeast container, it will give you some temperature guidelines. The chest freezer and temp controller combination is great since you will also be able to lager (cold ferment) in the future as you try other styles.
I would also recommend Charlie Papazian How to Homebrew book. It is basically the bible for alot of brewers including myself. It goes over extract brews step by step and also spends time explaining all-grain equipment and brewing.
Good luck and remember to have fun and don't overthink it!
Oh yea, and holy shit do not leave your batch of beer out in the garage. in 2 weeks all you will have is cold wort, ha ha.
The best place for the batch if you don't have a cellar, is on top of the fridge. It's out of site, but you can glance up and check the temp any time. If you have a closet, keep it in there if you like, but the top of the fridge always worked for me. Gotta keep it warm baby. Read the yeast pack, should be about 65-70 degrees. The higher the temp, the more esters, or fruity smell you will have to the ale, and the lower the temp the more muted and malty the nose will be. For ales anyway. I also use a food grade 3/8 inch hose for a blow off tube. Just put one end in the top of the bucket lid, and one end in a 2 liter bottle half filled with bleach solution. Sometimes the trub, or the fermenting yeast will clog a bubbler airlock, or 3 piece airlock, and swell that bucket fast before it pops and yeast is all over your ceiling.
It certainly is more logical to buy things as I realize I need them, rather than buy a whole bunch of stuff I'm unsure of right off the bat. I think that was my excitment getting the best of me. The more I consider it too, I think I SHOULD do extract brews until I'm comfortable advancing, once again, I'm real excited to start, and I've been doing huge amounts of research, so I probably have a little bit of false confidence, I should definitely start small and work up to more complicated brews.
As far as the yeast/fermentation question, I've got just the place for it, we keep the house at about 69, and we have a pantry that stays a couple degrees cooler, so that may just be perfect. Thanks again for the help everyone.
Cheers,
Eric.
Didn't mean to put doubt in your mind, you can make this as complicated or as technical as you like. Making beer is really really easy, about as difficult as making macaroni and cheese from a box, or it can be as complicated as making a sour dough souffle from scratch, it's up to you where you want to go with it. The most important thing is having sucess your first time, that's what makes you keep wanting to make beer. Good luck, i'm sure your beer will be great.
When I started out I used an enamel coated pot for boiling. they're cheaper than Stainless steel and don't give you off flavors like aluminum might. Also I would start out doing extract brews and kits to help get you familiar with it. the kit in the link has 2 plastic buckets and I am not a fan of plastic buckets. Others will tell you otherwise but once they get scratches they're useless. I use glass carboys for all fermentation. I just add a couple gallons of ice cold water to the carboy before pouring the hot boiled wort into it. won't break the glass and you don't have to worry about scratching the carboys. I've brewed for over 10 years with no problems using the carboys. they're worth the money.
Then if you decide you eant to graduate to all grain it won't be such a leap and you'll have most of your equiptment. all grain full batch boils should be done with abotu a 40 QT pot (around $100 for good ones).
Not trying to discourage you from jumping right to all grain, just giving you alternatives.
let us know what you do.
you can check out Craigslist and find brew kits on there. might save you some money.
to start:
EXTRACT BREWING:
4 GALLON MINIMUM POT, either SS or enamel coated (like the canning jar pots)
3 or 4 gallon pot or cooler for mashing or steeping grains.
primary fermentor, either plastic bucket or glass carboy, advise 6 to 6.5 gallon carboy.
syphon wand, bottling wand, bottles, sanitizer, funnel, airlocks, rubber corkes.
grain bags, hop bags.
hydrometer, thermometer. tall glasses to drink your beers!
DC
in either extract or all grain brewing, you'll want a good, accurate thermometer. some of the cheap ones can be way off. the one I got with my brewing start up kit was off by almost 10 degrees F.
Honestly, I feel that secondaries come in handy quite often. If you're just starting off and only have one primary and nothing else, you're kinda screwed if you wanna start a second batch and the 1st one is only a week or so old. If you have a kit that comes with a 5 gallon glass carboy too, you can just rack over to the secondary after it's done fermenting and start your second batch. I have 2 primaries and 2 secondaries just so I can have up to 4 batches going at once without having to stress about getting one bottled.
Cleaning glass isn't that hard if you use PBW. I rarely ever have to pull out a carboy brush to scrub the inside out after a good overnight soak in a warm PBW solution. Those brushes are a PITA anyway, even with the 90° bend in 'em they still don't want to reach all the parts inside the carboy.
I bought the same kit when I 1st started brewing, and one of the add ons (whichever one didn't include a pot). I was happy with it.
Pages: 1
Search Home Brewing Knowledge Base
Custom Search
|