Beer homebrew kits

Blackwidow98

Any eggheads out there into home brewing their own beer?  I'm interested in trying it for the 1st time and was wondering what kit I should look into?  I've noticed a company called "Northern Brewer" that seems to have good reviews.  Also a company called "Cooper's" diy beer kits.

surveyor

Adventures in home brewing and more beer are both good companies

Jeremiah

Big fan of northern brewer here. 

GrateEggspectations

I've had good luck with kits that I recall eing named "Brew House". They are to be started from wert (think beer concentrate), which is a little simpler than those starting from the malt (which is the way the Cooper's come, as I recall).

Texag06ish

Check out Austin Homebrew. Their kits are the ****.

JadeMonkey

I've used Northern Brewer a good bit and have always been happy, they're an awesome company.  Austin Homewbrew has always been good but I haven't ordered from them since they were sold. More beer also does a good job.

I'll go ahead and also recommend love2brew as they have great kits and a knowledgeable staff you can talk to 4 suggestions and technical help.  Couple of friends from my former home brew club own the company and I know how hard they work to put out a good product and take care of their customers.

milesvdustin

Northern brewer will set you up right. 

bodski

I've used northern brewer many times. Solid company. I've also used southern homebrew out of Florida with good results, especially for wine making ingredients.

gmac

Northern Brewer is good, I get some stuff from them when I am in Minnesota. 

I've been homebrewing for over 20 years, won several gold medals, certified beer judge etc. PM me if you want and I will help you out where I can. 

No matter what kit you pick, a couple things will help make a lot of difference in the final result. 

Fermentation temp is really key and best if you can keep it around 65F. I assume you will be doing an ale for the first as it's easier than lager. Higher temps lead to hot alcohols and off flavored so don't rush it, should take about 2 weeks or so. Buy a hydrometer and check the gravity readings. When they are stable you are done. 

Make sure your sanitation is really good after you boil. There are lots of good things you can do but they are a bit more complicated like yeast starters and such but for this first one, don't ferment too warm and keep things super clean and you will do great. 

Other advice I can give is to pick up a copy of "How to Brew" by John Palmer. Great concise book that can get you started well and also take you on to all-grain, partial mash etc. 

Have fun. 

Golfguy77

Northern Brewer.  Do a couple extract kits to see if you like homebrewing.  If you do, I'd just jump into all grain.  Much better taste/end product.  Also, the john palmer book is a great read to learn more.

Griffin

Another fan of Northern Brewer to get you started before you start making your own recipes. Skip the Cooper stuff.

See if you have a local homebrew store near you. I know the one by me is a whole lot cheaper than Northern Brewer and you don't have to pay shipping and wait for deliveries.

Blackwidow98

I believe I'm set on the northern brewer deluxe brewing kit.  Im really liking that both the primary and secondary fermentors are glass and not plastic.  Still trying to decide on what kind of brew kettle I want though.  One with a ball valve and thermometer or just a plain 8 gallon pot. 

NervousDad

Before you go glass please read this thread... 

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=376523

I've used glass carboys for a few years with no problem, but I've had some close calls..

Also, secondary fermentation is not needed, it's actually detrimental to most beer. Other than that follow Gmac's advice and you'll be good. enjoy!

PET "better bottles" work well, just clean with PBW and don't scrub.

gmac

Agree with Nervous Dad. Secondary is unnecessary and more likely to give you one more potential point for contamination. I would suggest you avoid it. The concept of yeast autolysis has been pretty much debunked for any beer that sits on the lees less than several months. 

Good luck and let us know how it turns out 

The_Stache

I've only been brewing for 5 or 6 years so I still consider myself a novice.  I never used the carboy that came with my "BREW KIT" and chosen to use sanitary buckets and very early on learned the benefits of Blow Off tubing!

That being said, as far as kettle... If you're going to do extract brewing you can easily get by with a 5 gallon bucket which is pretty easy to handle.  You're final mash will be about 3 gallons and you'll end up adding fresh chilled CLEAN (I used gallon jugs of spring water) water to move your batch size up to 5 gallons.

If you plan on moving to full extract brewing, it will complicate things.  Skip the 8 gallon and go to 10 gallon.  A good source for really great priced SS is SS Brewing Technologies https://www.kegoutlet.com/ss-brewtech.html any you'll find all kind of goodies there.  (I ended up going with Stainless Conical Fermenters from SS).

In agreement with@gmac about the John Palmer book... which, if I remember correctly starts something like this... (paraphrased) "Getting ready to brew?  First step is have a beer!"

Have FUN with it!!!

Griffin

Skip the glass carboys. Hell, you can skip the plastic ones and just use the buckets. They work just as well, cheaper and easier to fill. Only downside is you can't see what's going on, but you really don't need to. If you do use a carboy, make sure to keep any light off of it while its fermenting. Maybe wrap it up in a towel or something. I can't remember the last time I used my carboy.

Only time you really need a secondary if for long ferments like a barley wine, or if you are going to rack onto fruit or something, or dry hopping. The only time I've needed a secondary was for a bourbon barrel porter.

Northern Brewers Tall Boy Kettles are good if you are on a budget or don't want to spend too much while getting into a hobby you may or may not like. I've got their ten gallon pot. My only complaint is that the sides are not marked for measurement. I just marked my large spoon though so when I stick it down to the bottom, I know my volume.