Just posted on HBF - http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2017/06/9-gallon-stainless-steel-kettle-lid-30-14-best-price.html
Can easily add some weldless fittings down the line.
Wow, that is a crazy good deal. I paid $70 for that exact kettle like 3 or 4 years ago.
You can save and re-use most of your old pry off bottles and cap them using the wing capper that comes with the kit. Might want to pick up a bottle brush either way. If you buy new bottles you will want to save and re-use those. Save yourself some trouble and rinse your beer bottles well after pouring/finishing a bottle, they will be much easier to clean for the next use.
Thanks for the replies folks. I have another question. Can I brew smaller quantities using the same materials? For example, could I just brew 2.5 or 1.7 gallon batches (1/2 or 1/3), using the full size buckets? I would rather not screw up an entire recipe. Thank you.
Yes. I have for years brewed 2.5-3 gallon batches in a 7.9 gallon bucket. Below that size I usually use 4l wine jugs for 1 gallon recipes or split two gallon batches into two jugs.
In a perfect world you would always ferment in a vessel just big enough for all the wort and just enough head space to avoid losing beer to blow off but it can definitely be done. If you decide smaller batches are your thing and you want a better fit for fermentation vessels then you can get 3 gallon carboys or 2-4 gallon food grade buckets.
Thank you. Is it any more complicated than taking the recipe and dividing all weight and volume quantites by 2 or 3?
Sorta. Your boil off will be the same amount that it was under a full batch if you use the same kettle, so you have to account for that, but it will get you close. Enough.
I’ve been brewing mostly extract with specialty grains for just over a year. Up until a couple batches ago we were using my tap water (after the softener) and was told this should be okay for extract because all the water chemistry was basically done in/for the extract. I managed to make some good beer this way, but after a while I started to pickup on the same bitterness or twang in all of my finished product (all ales). I recently started using RO water for our extract batches and I feel that it has made a major improvement in the beer that I produce. So if I could give one piece of advice to a new brewer it would be to use RO or Distilled water for as much of the water that goes into your brew as possible. I can get RO for 25 cents per gallon at a local grocery store from the machine where you fill your own container. Minimal cost to your brew but its for the better.
That debate will never die because both sides are correct. If you don’t place any value on your labor, then of course you can make beer for less than someone who has to pay their employees.
But if you move into all-grain and reusing yeast down the road, raw materials costs drop into the $5-20 per batch range.
I still say homebrewing to save money on beer is like buying a fishing boat to save money on fish. Or my wife’s garden, where a carrot costs about $2. Or my chicken coop, where eggs will cost me $6 each for the next 5 years.
Well, I ordered a starter kit from Midwest supply, including all of the necessary equipment, 48 bottles, and 2 5 gallon ingredient kits for just over $100 shipped.
Well done! Have fun with it, if you have the space and time, start the second kit soon after the first. This will help alleviate the desperate desire to drink it all before more is ready. Come back here often for inspiration, information, and education and you will be brewing great beer
Any tips for keeping the sediment level in the bottles to an absolute minimum?
You don’t even need a visible amount of yeast to carbonate (e.g. Sierra Nevada). Once the beer has reached FG and had a few days to condition, crash to 0°C/32°F for 2-3 days. Rack from just above the trub.
Does the temp drop force the sediment out of suspension and into the trub?
Yes and a lot of yeast. There will normally be enough left to bottle condition, but after conditioning, you will wind up with less yeast in your bottles
I’ve also noticed that when I bottle condition after cold crashing it takes a little while longer to get carbonation up where I like it. No cold crash and I am good after 3 weeks in the closet, with the cold crash it is more like 5 weeks. Huge improvement in bottle sediment levels though, totally worth it.
I don’t disagree that this hobby can be expensive. But like any other hobby, you can go as far as you want to go.
I think the bare minimum.
Extract brewing 1 gallon ~$45
You need a stock pot. Preferably 8qt or more.
1 Gallon glass jug
12 Bottles
oz/g scale
Airlock
Sanitizer
Siphon
3/8" Tubing
Bottling Wand/filler
Bottle capper
Caps
Extract 5 Gal maybe another $60-$80 depending on stock pot
20qt or more Stock pot
Note: you will want to top up for water for quick chill to start or get a larger kettle and an immersion chiller
6.5 Gallon Bucket
everything mention above and 52ish bottles.
Moving up to partial mashing or all grain is when you get into an investment on equipment. A grain mill is def a purchase and should last you most of your brewing hobby. However, I had no problems letting my homebrew shop mill my grains. It wasn’t until I wanted to start competitions that I bought my own. I still enjoyed my brews.
I started my first batch with around $65 all in with ingredients, but I saved bottles for a couple months and had a 20qt stock pot and topped up my fermentation vessel.
I walked away with
3/8" High temp tubing
Triple scale Hydrometer
An Auto siphon
A Partial mash Dunkelweizen
Then picked up 5# of ice, 5 gallons of RO. That batch was good, not delicious but good! Add the fact that it was exciting and fun to make, that’s all I needed to go full force into the hobby.
Started my first batch of beer this week. 5 gallons of Midwest supplies Pale Ale. She’s bubbling fiercely.