How much money should I invest in my first home beer brewing setup?
I want to start into the trade of brewing beer, and my uncle has offered to let me have his top of the line equipment once I get my feet wet and learn the ropes. How much should I spend to get a basic equipment setup to brew an extract or partial extract ale?
I think you could easily learn the process on the most basic of set ups, especially if a promise of top of the line gear exists beyond that. I’d go with something comparable to this…
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/basic-starter-kit.html
Aside from that you’ll need ingredients and a brew kettle. You may have a suitable brew kettle lying around or you could borrow his. If you have to buy one I’d salvage a big aluminum pot from a turkey frying kit. You will likely be able to find great deals on them this time of year and you can usually get 7.5 gallon pots this way for as little as $40.
Edit:
Nearly all the strikes against aluminum pots have been debunked time and time again. The only ‘problem’ with aluminum is that it oxidizes making various cleaners/sanitizers undesirable for the prolonged life of the pot and also requires that the pot gets a more thorough cleaning before use. Generally speaking all of these arguments comes down to the acidity of beer wort vs. the length of time it’s exposed to the pot and unless you’re boiling your wort for extremely abnormal periods of time at completely undesirable acidic pH levels then you will have no problems.
In reality aluminum pots are way cheaper than stainless steel pots and have far better thermal conduction. They aren’t better than hybrid copper/stainless steel kettles but for the price they’re unmatched.
How to Brew Cream Ale: Home Brewing Instructions : Sanitizing Equipment For Home Brewing Cream Ale
I think you could easily learn the process on the most basic of set ups, especially if a promise of top of the line gear exists beyond that. I’d go with something comparable to this…
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/basic-starter-kit.html
Aside from that you’ll need ingredients and a brew kettle. You may have a suitable brew kettle lying around or you could borrow his. If you have to buy one I’d salvage a big aluminum pot from a turkey frying kit. You will likely be able to find great deals on them this time of year and you can usually get 7.5 gallon pots this way for as little as $40.
Edit:
Nearly all the strikes against aluminum pots have been debunked time and time again. The only ‘problem’ with aluminum is that it oxidizes making various cleaners/sanitizers undesirable for the prolonged life of the pot and also requires that the pot gets a more thorough cleaning before use. Generally speaking all of these arguments comes down to the acidity of beer wort vs. the length of time it’s exposed to the pot and unless you’re boiling your wort for extremely abnormal periods of time at completely undesirable acidic pH levels then you will have no problems.
In reality aluminum pots are way cheaper than stainless steel pots and have far better thermal conduction. They aren’t better than hybrid copper/stainless steel kettles but for the price they’re unmatched.
References :
Comment by Flavor Vortex — November 16, 2009 @ 12:24 pm
seriously go all out if you want to make it somewhere. just literally put your heart and soul into it and devote yourself to making a drinkable beer that gets people a lil wasted
sell it cheap, then id buy it regardless
References :
Comment by OneLove — November 16, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
Two comments first. You can’t sell your home brew legally without jumping through a lot of legal hoops. You also do not want to use an aluminum pot. The acidity of the wort will dissolve aluminum during the boil and you will be able to taste the difference. You can get a 5-gallon stainless steel stock pot for about $10 if you don’t already have one or a copper or enamelled one for soup and such.
If you want to get the basic equipment kit, they usually run on the order of $80-$100 on eBay. If you can get a used one, it would be cheaper. If you are handy, you can pick up free buckets from a large bakery and make some of the equipment yourself.
Get a book that explains the technique. My favorite is Papazian’s The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing. The "For Dummies" series has a fairly good one on homebrewing. Some people prefer Palmer’s book. Check eBay and Amazon for the best deal.
Start with an all-extract ale as your first batch. You can progress to extract plus specialty grains or to all-grain brewing from there. Everyone finds his comfort level.
References :
Comment by oikos — November 16, 2009 @ 1:33 pm