The splash and shake method works fine and costs nothing. I would only get essentials until you know how you want to brew. Go with at least a ten gallon pot and start with Biab. Remember 3 or 4 recipe kits will cost $100 easily. Don’t worry any equipment you buy you will find a use for.
Read the book.(will reread im sure)
Watched a lot of online videos.
Determined to start with All Grain right from the start.
Im piecing together the necessary Gravity information and testing needed. Have contacted the city for a water report.
I figure by the time I gather all the equipment needed I will have consumed enough store bought to have the bottles accounted for:)
Putting together a checklist and a list of questions that I had while reading and watching the slew of different methods. Palmer is very clear and I appreciate that.
Now for some simple questions…
full sized fridge off craigslist for 70$ plus the needed thermostat controller??? sound like a good investment?
I’m a clean freak to start with so really struggling with the bucket/carboy fermenters?
I’ve yet to look at recipes yet but there are a few brew shops in NE OH so I can access the quality stuff.
would love to keep hearing the advice!!
Thanks Again
Dano
If the fridge is clean and fully functional with no weird noises when running, I would have not problem paying 70. I only ferment in glass carboys, and I’m not sure I will ever change ( I’m a clean freak as well) just be very careful at all times. Best thing to do is join a brew club and brew with an all-grain brewer to get an idea on equipment. There are always answers available on this forum so ask any and every question you may have. :cheers:
Sounds like you are doing this right. Just a couple of comments for you.
I’m a big fan of AG, but I’m also a big fan of taking a step-wise approach. And the process after the sparge is almost exactly the same weather you go AG or extract. So you might want to consider doing your first couple of brews with full-boil extract recipes to nail down the boil, chilling, pitching, fermenting and bottling portion of the process, without having to worry upfront about the mash and sparge. From a knowledge standpoint, the mash and sparge is really the most difficult part of the process, while from a “producing great beer” standpoint, the fermentation is the key. So you can separate those two, get part of it down pat before tackling the harder part.
Or you can attack everything all at once. A lot of people are fine with that, and you are preparing yourself pretty well.
The other thing is buckets. Glass can withstand caustic chemicals that will eat away any contaminant and get amazingly clean. Do you need that for brewing? No, you don’t as long as you can reach where you need to clean with a sponge or soft cloth, and that is easier to manage with a bucket. As long as you remove anything that is built-up on the surface (don’t worry about discoloration or stains) and then sanitize before use, you won’t have problems with contamination.
Enough talk, now start brewing
Then there is kegging. Big investment but for many of us the best brewing investment. It is possible to bottle part of your batch and keg the rest so you can save a small amount long term or enter in competitions. This is something that you can always add later of course. You will want to have the equipment to bottle anyway.
I have always asked which would you rater clean and sanitize, one keg or fifty bottles?
Yes, you’ve gotten into a great hobby and there are a lot of peeps here to steer you closer to your wish. Reading, brewing with some one else and their equipment is great, as you can see how it gets used and dream from there about your set up. Don’t get small stuff as you will find making 5 gallons and 10 gallons the same amount of time…… Im sure the same is close to doing even bigger batches… Enjoy, and get brewing!! Sneezles61 :cheers:
You mentioned getting water data from your water company. Excellent idea!
Once you have the data check out some of the free water adjustment systems available. I like Bru’nWater. Some brewers have difficulty using it, but if you read the instructions TWICE then play with it a bit I believe you’ll be richly rewarded. It apparently takes a little more work but it covers all the bases and will help you get great beer. Once you’re comfortable with it, send Martin a contribution and he’ll send you an even more capable version.
Other tools available are EZWater and … help me out here folks. I’m sure others will chime in with the names of other water tools and their preferences.
You guys are awesome.
Don’t laugh to hard but I’m going to set up a keezer
Picked up a chest freezer and gauges us a tank for less than 110$
If I can complete my set up soon enough a Xmas brew might be on tap.
Christmas? That’s 3 months.
How about a great right now ale? Belgium blonde? Frost the taint right off yer tongue! Yes water is great to understand too. I have the book water,a comprehensive guide fer brewers. VERY TECHINCAL. I know its way over my head, yet I’m reading it for the 3rd time and some of it is sinking to my one little brain cell. Sneezles61 :cheers:
Just got into brewing for the first time 2 weeks ago. Now $700 invested. Bought a starter kit from my Local shop that had the standard Brewers Best 6.5 Gal plastic buckets. Bought a Brewers Best Pumpkin Porter extract kit & the Brewers Best Oktoberfest Lager kit also. Had a kettle at home that I thought was 5 Gal but turned out to be 4 Gal. Thought I was all set and then read the Palmer & Papazian books from Amazon.
Realized that I needed/wanted better equipment. Found the Northern Brewer site and am now $1000 in but have enough gear now to have 4 brews going at once. Already had a spare fridge in the basement so picked up the Thermostar Temp controller and 12" probe, 4 - 5 gal ported plastic Big Mouth Plastic Big Mouth Bubbler’s & 2 - 6 gal Big Mouth ported Primary fermenter’s and a 10 Gal Tallboy Kettle & a Silver Serpent Immersion Wort Chiller. Added another 6.5 gal bucket primary from another Local shop. Kind of lucky with 3 Local shops within a half hour of me. Ordered a Bayou Classic propane burner from Amazon as I have free 2 day shipping with Amazon Prime.
4 sets of stoppers and S Type airlocks and 3 Piece airlocks, 4 dual port lids for the secondary Big Mouth jugs. Miscellaneous gear and 2 extract kits from Northern Brewer; a Caribou Slobber & Nut Brown Ale kit. Paid the 5 cent deposit for 5 cases of brown bottles from a local liquor store.
Overall I think I am pretty setup for at least a year staying with extract kits before I get into all grain. Was joking with my liquor store owner that sold me the bottles that $1K would buy a lot of beer and found out he is a home brewer also. He told me about a local Apple Farm in Wrentham Mass that grows Hops and you can go pick your own, so I think I will be spending even more in the next few years.
Hope this helps and good luck and get brewing.
Joe
don’t fret about using plastic, the plastic used for beer fermenting buckets is food-grade high-density polyethylene. You would be surprised how much of the food you eat has spent some time in a similar container. Many will disagree with me, but one place plastic does weird me out is in mash tuns. 152* water touching that for an hour + with every brew. Many of the builds/setups you will see includes an igloo cooler (that is NOT HDPE). I am a stainless mash tun and BIAB in an aluminum kettle person.
Keezer is a great move if you have the funds. Sounds funny, but one of the things brewers mess up more than anything is SERVING (carbonation levels, sediment from bottle-conditioned beers in the glass, etc.) a lot of this can be eliminated with kegging/force carbing. We were at a new brewery this weekend, which had a great space, great food, great atmosphere, but EVERY beer they served was undercarbed!
In my opinion, these are the most important parts of the PROCESS of brewing (in order), what equipment you use to get to them is up to you:
1.) sanitation AND cleaning
2.) fermentation temp/time
3.) yeast health/pitch rate
4.) proper conditioning (related to #2)
No I haven’t brewed anything yet. lol
Still picking up gear and reading as much as I can get my hands on plus what videos I can garner info from.
I am still determined to do all-grain right from the start though. After adding up all the costs that I would face right away to just start I have decided to change my direction of $$$.
I’m not sure how prudent this is but I ‘attained’ 2 kegs and am going the keggle route for my kettle and one for my HLT. Have a line on a 10 gallon cooler with a false bottom set-up and a wort chiller(used).
Now for some more ???'s 
What are some simple beers that you could recommend to me as my first couple batch??
If I use 7.9gall buckets for fermenting, can I set them directly on my basement floor or am I looking for trouble if I don’t more accurately maintain temp during fermentation?(I live in OH and basement is 65-70degrees consistently)
I’m reading up on doing a starter and want to feel comfortable with that before I start.
Thanks
Dano
[quote=“hammertime”]
What are some simple beers that you could recommend to me as my first couple batch??
If I use 7.9gall buckets for fermenting, can I set them directly on my basement floor or am I looking for trouble if I don’t more accurately maintain temp during fermentation?(I live in OH and basement is 65-70degrees consistently)
I’m reading up on doing a starter and want to feel comfortable with that before I start.
Thanks
Dano[/quote]
Wort chiller is a great thing to buy used. Just check the connections so you aren’t leaking cooling water into your wort. Some hose clamps and new tubing are cheap insurance for that.
I would at an absolute minimum place those fermenters in a bath of water that covers 6ish inches of the fermenter. When yeast start working, they make heat. If the whole vessel is in water, its harder for them to raise the temp of the ferment (larger thermal mass).
It doesn’t sound like you are shy about seeking out deals, so I would look for a chest freezer and temp controller. Controlling ferment temp (along with yeast pitch/health) took my product from ‘homebrew’ to ‘beer’. Really, really good beer.
As for what to brew, it depends on what you like. Are you looking to expand your drinking horizons, or make something you already like? I know with me, brewing opened doors on lots of styles. Usually, you like it because you made it. As a wise man said, all men love the smell of their own flatulence. However it doesn’t sound like the beer you will be making will be flatulence!
Some recommendations:
-American Pale Ale
-British Bitter (any strength)
-Dry or Sweet Stout
-Irish Red
-Blonde Ale
-Belgian Pale Ale
these are all pretty forgiving when it comes to fermentation temp.
take a look through here and it may give you some ideas (I would stay away from lagers for your first few batches, just nail a few ales!)
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... 7116,d.bGggood luck and let us know how you make out!
[quote=“hammertime”]
Now for some more ???'s
What are some simple beers that you could recommend to me as my first couple batch??
If I use 7.9gall buckets for fermenting, can I set them directly on my basement floor or am I looking for trouble if I don’t more accurately maintain temp during fermentation?(I live in OH and basement is 65-70degrees consistently)
I’m reading up on doing a starter and want to feel comfortable with that before I start.
Thanks
Dano[/quote]
First couple I would start with something you like but also something simple. A pale ale or red ale maybe. If you like dark ones I find the darker beers can hide some flaws with color and the dark grain can cover some taste.
If your basement remains at a constant temp then that is a decent ale temp. A little lower would be better but I am an example of brewing a little warm if I have to so try it IMHO. One easy way to check placing your buckets on the floor is to stick on a ferment strip temperature indicator, fill the bucket with water then check it out.
Starters are easy and a good idea but not always needed. Wyeast Direct Pitch Activator packs will work for most any normal gravity beer as will Fermentis Safale dry yeasts IMHO for five gallon batches.
I agree do a straight up pale ale. I have a pale ale base beer recipe that I work off to make a bunch of different beer just by changing yeast and hops.
1 Like
I know this is the NB site, but I purchased the kegging kit from morebeer.com. $500.00 and comes with everything you need. I really liked the 7gal stainless boiler with spout. I agree with the above posts about temp control with your fermentation. Buy small freezer and rig it up with a thermostat to control your fermentation temp and it will exponentially improve the taste of ur beer. I made myself a fermentation chamber for about $100.00 and it was worth every penny.
Cheers
[quote=“RamRod”]I know this is the NB site, but I purchased the kegging kit from morebeer.com. $500.00 and comes with everything you need. I really liked the 7gal stainless boiler with spout. I agree with the above posts about temp control with your fermentation. Buy small freezer and rig it up with a thermostat to control your fermentation temp and it will exponentially improve the taste of ur beer. I made myself a fermentation chamber for about $100.00 and it was worth every penny.
Cheers[/quote]
It looks like that kit has everything you need to start. To bad the pot is so small, 7 gallons is to small for 5 gallon batches. I used an 8 for a while but you have to watch it like a hawk.
1 Like
I have never had any problem with the pot being too small. It may be more than a 7 gallon pot. You would have to check the specs on the kit. I do a full boil with 6 gallons of wart and have never had any issues with the pot being too small and never had a boil over. the spout is awesome for transferring your wart to your carboy as well!
