What Equipment should I get

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andrewlace66

What Equipment should I get

Post by andrewlace66 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 2:42 pm

Just starting to get in to this what Equipment do I need to start with


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Haydnexport
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by Haydnexport » Sun Mar 04, 2018 2:54 pm

Just a fermenting bucket and a hydrometer is the basic really to start kits or turbo cider, your first investment should be a second hand small fridge ( coupled with a temperature controller) that you can stick your fermenting beer in as that will govern whether your beer comes out right or not.

Fil
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by Fil » Sun Mar 04, 2018 4:32 pm

While you can spend as much as you want, like almost every pursuit I agree with the above..
A big bucket/fermentation vessel and a hydrometer are the only bits of equipment you NEED, A siphon tube will also come in handy but everything else, (Thermometer, scales measuring jug, big spoon.....) can generally be borrowed from the kitchen, and if the hobby flies with you co can invest in brewday specific tools as and when..

Bottles can generally be sourced from the recycle bin, glass or PET, generic unscented laundry oxi makes a great soap/detergent free cleaner, (soaps and detergents contain (chemistry is above my pay grade..) head killing residual aspects that are difficult to rinse off fully.
Sanitation (Necessary) can be achieved with a 5-10% bleach solution, just rinse 3x minimum..

welcome to, and enjoy your brewing
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

scotsloon
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by scotsloon » Sun Mar 04, 2018 5:09 pm

The basic home brewing hobby will work very well with just the kit mentioned above, there are single can kits and 2 can kits which are the best. But if you want to get into all grain brewing, which it is generally agreed makes better beer than kits you need to have a boiler and a fair bit of time to invest. For making a 5 gallon(23L) batch your boiler needs to be around 36L in capacity and you need to buy grains, hops and quality yeasts see the Malt Miller for ingredient details (https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/). Depending on how complex your AG brew is it could be more expensive than kits but as said, it generally makes a better beer.

Read some of the threads on here and you will quickly pick up a fair bit of knowledge to enable you to decide how to initially approach the hobby.

andrewlace66

Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by andrewlace66 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 5:12 pm

Ok thanks


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johnnyboy1965
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by johnnyboy1965 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 5:58 pm

As above...you can spend as much as you want, but for basics:-
2 x 30li brewing buckets (1 drilled out for a "Little Bottler")
40 x 500ml bottles
Sanitizer
Syphoning tube
Bottle capper and caps/keg
Hydrometer
Thermometer
Priming Sugar
A big bucket of patience
Beer kit of your choice.
Airlock

Probably less than £100
Post your location, Im sure someone will lend you everything that you need and go the the process with you

johnnyboy1965
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by johnnyboy1965 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 6:03 pm

Ideally you should have 80 x 500ml bottles....get another brew on as soon as the FV is empty

WalesAles
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by WalesAles » Sun Mar 04, 2018 9:15 pm

johnnyboy1965 wrote:
Sun Mar 04, 2018 6:03 pm
Ideally you should have 80 x 500ml bottles....get another brew on as soon as the FV is empty
Awww! Come on Mun! :D
120 bottles and a 3rd FV for the Turbo Cider. :D
Plus another FV for transfer and batch priming of Beer and Cider.
You are DOOMED!

WA

andrewlace66

Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by andrewlace66 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 10:21 pm

I was think of making a ipa witch kit is the best to buy


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Nitro Jim
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by Nitro Jim » Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:00 am

The Wilko IPA kit isn't too bad, although I would suggest you brew short making it up to 18 to 20 litres.
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Haydnexport
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by Haydnexport » Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:02 am

I know it's not an IPA, but if you like stout, the coopers can kit of stout is pretty good and virtually foolproof to get it drinkable

wolfenrook
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by wolfenrook » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:43 am

Are you actually planning to use kits? I ask as you didn't say. I only ever managed to make one kit that I actually enjoyed drinking, and that was a modified Wilkos Golden Ale kit to which I added spraymalt, brewing sugar and dry hopped with Falconer's Flight, Citra and Amarillo pellets. In the end it probably cost as much as the so called premium kits. I tried premium kits too, and was never happy with the end product.

On the plus side, the kit for kit brewing can still be used if you switch to extract brewing or all grain brewing, with just a bunch of addons. You'll never get as nice a beer from a kit though as you can with all grain! Differing from some opinions, I also don't see how brewing kits prepares you for all grain, the only part similar is fermenting the wort.

I've not looked back since switching to brew in a bag all grain, and instead of just brewing one beer that was drinkable, every beer I've brewed has varied from good to amazing. Once past the initial purchase cost of equipment, it's a LOT cheaper than kit brewing too. The big con though is how long a typical brew day takes. Kits you're done in 30 minutes or so, all grain varies from 5 hours, up to 7 or 8 for me. Most of that though is spent waiting for the next flurry of activity.

Anyway, whatever you decide, good luck! I just didn't want to presume that you'd be starting out with kits. To my mind there is literally nothing to be gained doing so, it's more expensive and just doesn't produce good beer in my experience. I just couldn't get my head around spending a lot, to produce beer that at best was drinkable when I was doing kits.

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Meatymc
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by Meatymc » Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:05 pm

If you do decide to go all-grain, the easiest/cheaper initial route is to go BIAB. Loads of info' on BIAB on here and elsewhere so won't waste your time repeating it.

All I would say is if you do - either now or in the future, go for a 50L litre pan rather than 30L+ and have it fitted with a thermometer and tap - will make life a hell of a lot easier for not too much additional outlay.

Whatever you decide enjoy - as Wales says, you're already 'doomed' in any case.

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orlando
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Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by orlando » Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:25 pm

johnnyboy1965 wrote:
Sun Mar 04, 2018 5:58 pm
A big bucket of patience
Good luck finding any of that, let us know if you do. :wink:
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

McMullan

Re: What Equipment should I get

Post by McMullan » Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:37 pm

Dare I recommend a PET carboy, for secondary? :wall :=P

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