Starting out in Home Brewing

[MrEnthusiasm]

Hi Everybody,

I'm now retired and would like to give home brewing a go. I'm a bit confused as to what sort of kit I need. The hop and grape company market a 10 gallon kit which appears to fill the main requirement for vessels. It's not cheap however and on Monday the price jumped by over £30. Is it worth the outlay? Has anyone used one of these ten gallon brewing kits? Are there better ones available and if so where can I get one?
I would prefer to be able to source as much of the kit from one place if possible to cut down on delivery charges
Brewing from grain seems to offer a lot of creative possibilities but should I gain experience with extracts first?

Many thanks in advance for any help that you can give me

Cheers

[jonewer]

The 10 gallon kit from H&G, is it the all grain kit?

You dont need to start with kits/extract but I would certainly find it quite daunting to plunge straight into AG. I did one kit before going extract and am planning to go AG later this year.

You dont lose anything by starting out on kits, almost all the equipment can be used in extract and AG.

Although the costs of the AG kit is relatively high, if you brew a lot of beer, you will save money in the long run. Malt extract is more expensive that grain.

[Jerry Cornelius]

The 10 gallon kit is an AG kit. A lot of people around here use them and they're good.

Like jonewer says, it could be a bit daunting to go straight into AG, but people have done, it depends on how much you are prepared to learn in one go. I like to learn little by little, so I began with kits, learning about proper sanitation, fermenting and conditioning. After a few kits you know about this side of the hobby and can make the next step to AG or extract. Or stay with kits if they fulfil your need.

Also you need to think about how you're going to dispense the beer - bottles, plastic kegs or cornies. This all adds to the expense, especially the cornie route. Another thing which I feel is important is how you plan to keep the FV at the proper temperature for fermenting, I opted for a temperature controlled fridge and I think you'll struggle to find one big enough for a 10 gallon FV. Having said that a lot of people don't bother if they are lucky enough to have a room in the house that keeps between 19 - 24 deg C all year round (for Ale, lager is more of a problem) I don't have such a room unfortunately!

You can also make all your AG kit and save a lot of money - there are lots of posts that show how this is done.

[daveyk]

Hi,
I woudl love to be able to get to all grain one day the route I'm taking is getting experience with kits.... then try extract and moving to AG.

I personally woudl reccomend anybody starts with a kit for a number of reasons.... there is a lot to learn and using the route above, will teach you the skills in smaller steps. starting with a kit should get you great reults and there is nothing like a quick win to enthuse you more.

also it helps spread the cost ensuring you like the hobby and results before splashing out on the big bucks.

Well thats my thoughts anyway... good luck with the venture and keep us posted.

[Waffty]

For my 2p worth, start with kits first, as there are less parameters to go wrong i.e dilute 'mixture' & add yeast, then ensure optimum temp range for fermentation.

Next move onto extract, this will teach you about steeping grains, the all important boil/cool & get you used to handling hops & planning your brew day + build on your experiances from above.

Next move onto all grain, which will teach you how to extract your wort from grain, then you can build on your extract knowledge & finally, your fermentation knowledge from kits.

I've done around 8 kits and a similar number of extract brews, so have the foundation to move to all grain, as at every stage, I've had cockups & more importantly, learned by my mistakes, know what things should look like/taste, smell etc.

One piece of advice, work towards you end game now i.e if you plan to brew 10 gallon brew lengths, then don't buy a 5 gallon kit now i.e make the investment on 10 gallon and gradually build it up i.e a boiler is a boiler, as too are fermenters etc & if you pick the right kit now, they should be happy with 5 gallon & 10 gallon lengths.

Me, I was in that much of a rush to get going, I have a mixture of pots, pans etc, none of which match my current requirements. Hence why my new HLT & Boiler will be in the magnitude of 50L & 70L i.e enough for a firkin.