I do not recommend buying a 'beginner's kit' or anything like that. You will end up with glass carboys which can break very easily. You can imagine the risks of hollow glass vessels filled with 40lbs of liquid, being raised, lowered and moved around. Wet hands are the only thing necessary to ruin your day while handling them. Just forget glass carboys altogether! Brewing in glass is obsolete. You'll also get a fermenter with a spigot, which is not necessary. The spigot is a point of weakness and easily caught on a door jamb. There's also other stuff that isn't exactly what you want or is just unnecessary. So, buy it all separately.
If you bottle, always get oxygen absorbing caps. Oxygen is one of the worst enemies of beer.
EQUIPMENT (everything necessary unless otherwise noted):
1 One Step
1 Fermtech Blast Bottle and Carboy Washer
1 Beer Bottle Brush
1 Carboy Brush
1 7.9 Gallon Fermenters
2 Bubbler Air Lock
2 Three-Piece Airlock
1 Better Bottle Plain 6 Gallon
1 Carboy Dryer
1 No. 10 Drilled Stopper
1 Auto Siphon 5/16"
If you are bottling:
Red Baron (Emily) Capper
Beer Bottles 12 oz.
O2 Absorbing Caps-144 ct
1 Fermometer
1 Large Dial Thermometer 9" probe
1 Triple Scale Hydrometer (optional, unless you care about specifics like attenuation and alcohol content)
1 5 Gallon Stainless Kettle
1 21" Stainless Steel Spoon
1 Nylon Hop Bag 8" x 9 1/4"
BEER KITS:
I like to get mine from http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ because you get a free flip-top style 32oz bottle. The bottles are usually pretty expensive to buy and ship otherwise. The northerbrewer.com site has great beer kits, too. I alternate depending on what I feel like brewing.
YEAST:
I find the easiest to use is the Wyeast brand "Smack Pack." It is also called "Activator." It is completely sterile while it multiplies for 2-3 days. If you use the "Propogator," you will need an Erlenmeyer flask and extra DME (dry malt extract) to cultivate the yeast culture (wait till later to add this step). Either way, you want to start working with the yeast about 2-3 days before you plan to brew. This isn't 100% necessary, but I get 100% results doing it this way.
BOTTLES:
I bought, by the case, the beer named Grolsch in order to harvest the bottles when finished with the beer. That is a neat trick if you like Grolsch because of the way the prices work out. Specifically, if you buy the empty flip-top style 16oz bottles and have them shipped to you, the cost will be about $60 total per case. That is the same price you will pay for a case of Grolsch. It's like getting free beer!
OTHER:
You need to get a plastic tub from Walmart. It should be similar to the ones you get when you rent a keg. They usually have rope handles and are typically priced under $10. You also should get a short length of garden hose. I think mine is 6ft long. I would also recommend getting some quick disconnect (QD) fittings (garden section). One for the bottle washer, one for the hose, and one for the faucet itself. In order to connect the QD to the faucet, an adapter is necessary. That can be found at Home Depot (I think Northern Brewer has one on their website somewhere). Also, get Teflon tape (plumber's tape) for the QD fittings.
I just brewed a raspberry wheat and a saison. They are sitting downstairs at 68-70 degrees F, which is perfect for ales. You will be brewing ales unless you invest in a refrigeration unit in which to lager, or you have access to a chilly cave. The beer will turn out best when fermented in the range of 66-72 degrees F. Total fermentation of ales lasts for 2-6wks, depending on style and personal preference, along with the yeasts' longevity and resistance to alcohol. You need to think about racking (transferring to another vessel) into the carboy. Think about the area needed for these things. The kitchen usually works great. Bottling is usually messy and the kitchen works well for that, too. One last thing: If you order anything from
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