Been looking into getting a brew kit and when I'm browsing online I'm not sure exactly what I need. I want the bare minimum set up so I can try a batch but I don't want to just fork out cash to any old website and find out I am missing parts or bought a bunch of extra shit I don't need unless I'm opening my own brewery.

I know you brew Cross. Anyone else? Would love to get some input and some guidance since I love beer and having beer babies is all I can hope for since God didn't give me ovaries.

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#1 recommendation: Find your local homebrew shop and buy your stuff there. It's always best to support the local guy and they can answer all of you questions right on the spot.
All homebrew shops will have fairly similar starter kits.
Give them a visit and chat up the employees...they get newbies through the door every day.

Everything you need and nothing you don't:
http://morebeer.com/view_product/15910/ ... 2_-_Deluxe

Get a copy of "How to Brew" by John Palmer (you may want to do this before buying any equipment).
http://morebeer.com/view_product/15797/ ... ow_To_Brew

You'll start out brewing extract kits and they'll be ales since you don't have temperature controlled lagering space.
Extract kits vary in price based mostly on the amount of hops they contain and how high the gravity is (how much extract is included).
http://morebeer.com/search/102177/beerw ... lt_Extract
With extract, someone has already mashed and sparged the grains, run off the wort and concentrated it.
All you have to do is dilute that concentrate in water, boil and add hops, chill, add yeast and let it ferment.

After a couple batches you'll lean some things aren't fun or easy.
Like chilling your wort...so you'll need a wort chiller: http://morebeer.com/search/102202/beerw ... t_Chillers
and bottling sucks ass because you have to sanitize all those bottles and let them naturally carbonate (which adds 2 weeks to the process), so you'll want to go to kegging: http://morebeer.com/view_product/18190/ ... aft_System

If I had to do it again, that's what I would do...that basic (upgraded) kit + wort chiller + kegging system
Of course that's creeping up on $450 and I understand that's a lot just to try something out.

Lots of awesome homebrew information on any subject can be found at http://thebrewingnetwork.com/ ...check out their podcasts on itunes.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

Bottle of Star San Sanitizer (4oz)
3/8” Plastic Bottle Filler
Bag of Bottle Caps (1/4lb)
Bottle Capper
Reusable Mesh Steeping Bag
Reusable Mesh Hop Bags
Plastic Spoon
Funnel
Home Beermaking Book
Bottle Brush
Plastic Carboy
Package of Powdered Brewery Wash (PBW)
Plastic Bottling/Sanitation Bucket with Spigot
Airlock
Rubber Stopper with Hole
Hydrometer
Hydrometer Jar
5ft Vinyl Transfer Tubing
Sterile Siphon Starter (Contains Racking Cane with Tubing, Air Filter and Carboy Hood)
5 inch long dial thermometer


*Essential
*Nice to have

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After several years and several thousand dollars it turns into this:

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Shit ya color coded it. I'm color blind. Hahahaha!

Seriously though thanks. I've tried that Mr. Beer kit and another home brew shit product and the watery piss that I brewed is hardly what I like. I think the real brewing process is the way I'm gonna go. I want to get into brewing ancient brew recipes....like anthropological beer tasting.

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Mr. Beer = evil.
It's ruined homebrewing for a lot of people that will probably never try again.

Drop $100 on a basic extract kit and if you do 2 things you'll make good beer.

1. Sanitation is priority #1
2. Controlling your fermentation temperature in some way. Even something as simple as covering your fermenter with a wet towel to keep it under 70 degrees or so will help greatly.

It's not hard, so don't psych yourself out.
I've made several historical styles that don't exist anymore, like a Classic American Pilsner and I've brewed with historical ingredients like spruce tips, coriander and grains of paradise.

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hmm.....beer is good. Now I want one but I have to drive to that shit computer lit class i have. fuck And i have some dogfish head brown in the fridge.

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I toyed with the idea, I almost bought a book and then a kit. But I think that's something that I will save for retirement, right now there is enough work that needs done.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

Oh man, I started brewing a couple months ago, and am now, at this very moment enjoying my first bottle of IPA i've made myself. It is fucking dank. I did an extract clone of Sierra Nevada Torpedo, final A.B.V of 7.1%, dry hopped with 3oz of hops, bottle conditioned for 2 weeks.

Spot.Fucking.On.

True, technically it cost me more to brew it than it would have cost to just go BUY the stuff (but that's not the point.)

DP, did you ever get into this? I'm looking at the list of what cross said you'd need and it's pretty spot on. Although i'd say dont bother with the keg setup for now, you can easily do 4 or 5 batches of bottle conditioning and move to kegging any time.

Cross, I am so jealous of that brewpot you've got there, having the thermometer and spigot thing right there must be so convenient. At the moment i've got a long glass thermometer hanging from the wall behind the stove, just sort of dangling in the pot. Not ideal.

Cross, do you do a starter for your yeast, or just pitch right from the package?

Nice!
I've got about $350 in my mash tun and $200 in my boil kettle...nice things cost money
Since those pictures I've moved out of the kitchen and outside on a propane burner...my next step is a full blown brew sculpture if the wife approves.

I have the flasks, nutrients and a stir plate to do starters, but 90% of the time I'm too lazy and just pitch 2 vials of yeast.

Bottling gets old...you need kegs and a kegerator

and tell me you listen to the Brewing Network...they rule

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I'm looking for a good 7 gallon boiling pot. How much should one run me Cross? My local homebrew place had only one model they were selling for $98, which seemed awfully steep to me.

That's actually right in the range for a good (will last a lifetime) kettle.
You can definitely go cheaper, but cheaper almost always equals thinner.
You want a thick bottom (maybe 3/4" of solid stainless) to spread the thermal load or you could end up with scorching or just too many melanoidins formed from the Maillard reaction.

If you want to opt for cheaper, you can score one in the $30-$40 range from a restaurant supply store.


Nice pot: http://morebeer.com/search/103457/beerw ... ew_Kettles
Cheap pot: http://morebeer.com/search/102211/beerw ... rew_Kettle

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Never even heard of the Brewing Network...is that a podcast or something?

I'm only a couple batches in, and yes, bottling is getting old. At first It didnt matter cuz I was all excited to even be making my own beer, but now...i'm supposed to bottle my oatmeal stout tonight, and the thought of going home and letting them soak for hours in the tub, then scraping all the labels off, sanitizing, setting up the bottling bucket, etc etc etc...i'm over it. Once I can make room for a kegerator i'll probably go the keg route. Besides, how freaking cool is it to have a tap in your house, serving the beer you made yourself?

However, at this point in time I am doubting i'll ever want to make the jump to all grain. I'm really not understanding the draw of all grain at this point. (although, like kegging, perhaps it will dawn on me with experience)

Yeah, the Brewing Network is brewing related internet radio, but they archive their broadcasts and offer them in podcast form.

I started out listening to the Jamil show because they cover every BJCP beer style in 1 hour long shows. So if you're making a hefeweizen, you can go listed to the hefeweizen show.
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/
They've got other good shows too...worth a listen, I've learned a lot listening to them during my commute.

The draw of all-grain brewing is to have finer control of wort production. When you use an extract, you have no control over things like the water profile (chemistry) or overall fermentability, because those things were chosen by the brewery that made the extract.

IMO it's best to stick to extract brewing for the first 10 batches or so to get your process, sanitation and fermentation control figured out...those things are most important.
I'd actually recommend getting a temp controller and a fermentation fridge before going to all-grain...fermentation temperature control is more important.

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Oh dear god, recently temp control for the fermenting buckets has been impossible. My first couple batches, it was still cold out, I let the buckets ferment in a cold-ish closet, ambient temp stayed around 62-65, with internal-bucket temp probably a few degrees higher, it seemed alright, and the beer turned out great.

Now it's spring, and the temp is going crazy up and down, and i'm realizing i'm basically going to have to buy a fridge just to have a place to ferment, much less kegerating. I dont like lagers, so I dont know if i'd be able to use one fridge for both fermenting and kegging.

Thanks for the heads up about that podcast, it sounds pretty useful, i'll see if they have an 'amber ale' episode, that's what the S.O wants to try as her first brew.

I've got a small kegerator for serving and a chest freezer with a temp controller for fermenting, but a lot of people will use a chest freezer for both. You'll just end up with a situation when the thing needs to be in the 60's for fermentation, so your drinking beer will be too warm.

Basically, on a setup like mine, the wooden collar that's built serves 2 purposes...to raise the lid enough to fit a carboy and airlock and as a place to mount shanks and faucets.
I just never put faucets on mine.
Mine:


One with faucets:

http://www.west-point.org/users/usma198 ... erator.htm
another:


The good news is if you troll craigslist, you can get an old chest freezer pretty damn cheap.

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BTW, for both cooling on the cheap and minimizing temp fluctuations, here's the easiest trick.

Get a bucket, tub, garbage can or whatever's larger than your fermenter.
Put fermentor inside and fill the tub with water to the beer line in the fermenter.
wrap the fermenter with a towel or t-shirt so the water wicks up, keeping the fermenter covered with wet fabric.

The thermal mass of the water bath will reduce temper fluctuations and the wicking and evaporating of water will cool the fermenter.

For more cooling put a fan on the thing to speed up evaporation...for even more, put ice packs in the water.

I did that for over a year...works well enough, just takes monitoring and maintenance. (I'm lazy)

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Hold my beer and watch this...