AG starter kit

[brian_beer]

hi all,

haven't brewed for years but looking to start AG soon and need kit as i no longer have any.

will be brewing in the shed, so no gas and i'm not happy playing with electrics so will be buying a ready made boiler rather than build one and since i need everything i'm looking at a starter kit. i've found these two, which seem to have all i need:

http://www.brouwland.com/shop/product.a ... 4&shwlnk=0

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... r_Kit.html

I think I prefer the brouwland one, but can't seem to find anyone using them for anything other than grain kits.

Are either of these recommended, or do people have better options?

I think my main concern is the size - am I buying too much or too big?

Look forward to any response, thanks in advance guys

[DeadFall]

Welcome! You can DIY a set up for a lot less than those if you're that way inclined and have the time. There's loads of information on the forum.

[Fil]

not too big, a 27l boiler(braukettle) is just about big enough to brew your standard 36-40pints comfortably using all grain..
for other methods partial grain, extract, and kit brewing you dont need as big a boiler, once youve brewed all grain there is no going back hahahaha

perhaps too much kit as you dont need every thing you can mash in a bag in the boiler BIAB and ferment in a bucket after the post boil wort has cooled naturally botteling in recycled pop or beer bottles. you could end up buying equipment u never use as it doesn't suit the style of brewing you feel comfortable with. why have a keg if you like bottles in the fridge?

try and find a 40-50l boiler (rare, but cheaper than your links, the rest of the basic kit is £30ish??), and try a biab brew, if you want to invest in further equipment after if you get the bug.. do so you will have much more of an idea of what you could use.

basic needs
boiler
fermentation bin
steraliser/cleaner
syphon
jug
biab bag
scales
big spoon
bottles and caps or keg & co2

The boiler is the big investment, and if you get hooked will also be the first thing you will probably want to double in size.

[Uncle Joshua]

I'd first visit a good homebrew shop, wouldn't be without Chris from Morley home brew.

I like the second kit you posted. just worked out how much my basic kit cost and that was about £350.

[brian_beer]

hi guys,

thanks for all the info, much appreciated. so, I've done a review of what you've recommended and compared to the kits. the brouwland one looks a bit expensive once you break it down, although it does have a plate chiller so I don't think they are too overpriced if that was high on the wish list.

Now, I do have the money for the brouwland one, and would rather buy all I need now as in 3-6 months time I'd probably have frittered it on something else. For that reason I'm intending to add a mash tun now, and am still considering a cooler as well.

Working from your list Fil - I can get most of that as follows:

£39.60 Mash Tun http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... h_Tun.html
£154.80 Boiler http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... ylene.html
£31.50 Ferm, paddle, syphon, steriliser, caps, capper http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... _Only.html
£6.43 Jug http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... r_jug.html
£30 Scales Ebay

£262.33

This is obviously quite a bit cheaper than the kits I was looking at, and compared to the HBS one, is missing:
wort chiller (might buy separately), book (already have several), grain kit (would rather choose exactly what I want anyway) and barrel (but I'm intending to bottle anyway).

All in all, very glad I asked. Thanks a lot guys!

Cheers

[Spikesdad]

Have alook here, might be waht your after Clickety click

[Texy]

It's a year ago now that I went through the AG gear buying process. I spent around £200, but built my own boiler using a copperkettle pre-drilled bucket and couple of tesco value kettle elements.
I've also bottled from the start as I haven't room for barrels etc. The advice I found was to get a good capper, I forked out for a bench type like here :
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... apper.html
although I paid £28, from somewhere else.
I would also recommend a 'little bottler', something like this is similar -
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... iller.html
Hope this helps,
Texy

[Fil]

whoops i missed out the crucial hydrometer trial jar and thermometer, i always have 2 thermometers as i drop them frequently .. but you have that all covered,

the mash tun will need insulation pound shop ground mats would work or is it designed to sit in the boiler?? without insulation or active heating that may drop well below mashing temp over 90mins??

the boiler looks tidy and highly functional, bit more pricey than my mango barrel but looks tidy.

get jugs n stuff for pennies at wilko 79p for a 2l jug i think, 2 of these are very usefull when recirculating wort thru the mash fill one while pour the other .... good excuse to go kitchen nick nack shopping with the mrs, look for big stainless steel utensil spoons for stiring your mash they dont bend,

other usefull odds n ends

campden tablets (basic water treatment and emergency mild sterilisation)
spreymalt (good for priming and yeast starters) keep in airtight container as this stuff sucks moisture..
airtight boxes for leftover hops, crystal malts,
a spare 5 gallon bucket to chuck everything in 9quid at wilkos again.. and useful as secondary fermentation vessel/bright tank . not needed but not expensive either.
clean 250-500ml pet pop bottles for yeast starters
tinfoil for a mash/grainbed protector when your jugging liquid back thru to filter it or jug sparging
nylon or SS sieve help filter mash and post boil wort,
buckets one for a sterilising cleaning solution to dump dirty equipment in and another with clean water to rinse

clean and rinse everything when you start and when you finish. cant be too clean

Remember to calibrate everything, the 25l mark on your bin will be a different 25l to the mark if any on the mash tun or boiler..

remember to only take hydrometer readings at 20oC sitting the trial jar in a pan of cold water chills it quick.

whats the first brew gonna be? its a very forgiving hobby, no matter if you make a mistake, or think you have screwed the brew up, carry on with it as the process will forgive you and give you a good beer to drink, you will soon be drinking beer better than you can get in many pubs.

last of all.. patience is key, beer can take a few months to mature to its best.

have fun..

[brian_beer]

Awesome tips guys - looks like a couple more things to add to the list, so thanks for those. Bench capper looks much more user friendly than the one in the starter set, so will definitely consider that.

I have plenty of insulation knocking around, mostly polystyrene etc. so hadn't planned to buy that but I am now wondering if its less hassle to just buy the converted cool box. I am planning on heading to the homebrewshop at the weekend to check out the quality before I buy anyway as I live nearby so will make final decisions when I see it. As long as I have my shopping list I'll be in good shape.

First brew I'm going to stick simple but with something I love - maybe a London Pride clone? Still have some time to think about this though.

One final question - I'm brewing in a shed/outside office which has power, but currently no water. I'm guessing that using the garden hose is a hugely bad idea, but is it worth getting a length of food grade pipe and connecting to kitchen/outside tap? Here I'm thinking more about filling the HLT/boiler rather than cleaning or chilling.

cheers

[Goulders]

On the boiler front, I use a buffalo 40l and so do many others on here. You can pick one up on ebay (Nisbetts clearance) for around £60-70 so I would go with one of those rather than a brewferm one. I use a hop filter I bought from the home brew shop, (standard brupak I think). I use a ruler to measure the amount of liquid and works for me. There is a picture of my boiler in my AG#3 Summer Lightning thread on Brewdays thread.

While I BIAB, others use the Buffalo as HLT and boiler, by running off the wort into an FV and then tipping into the boiler.

[themadhippy]

I'm brewing in a shed/outside office which has power, but currently no water. I'm guessing that using the garden hose is a hugely bad idea,

the waters going to be boiled and buggered about with a bit before you get anywhere close to drinking it, so any bugs wont be from the pipe

[brian_beer]

Goulders - can't find anything on Nisbets clearance via their site, but google turns up the following at £89.99: http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Manual-Fill-Wa ... il.raction

Is this what you have?

Only concern is the following in the manual: "WARNING: Reduce the set temperature if the the water begins to boil. DO NOT allow the water to boil constantly." - which seems contrary to what we're trying to achieve. Is this just them covering themselves?

[Goulders]

The clearance site is on eBay not VIA their site.

Probably covering themselves but on setting 110c boils well. The element needs a good clean after each boil. Mine is the 40 l but nisbets own site doesn't add vat so watch out for that

[brian_beer]

Thanks Goulders - nothing on there right now, but I'll keep my eyes out. Thanks for the tip on vat - although even with it included its still larger and cheaper than the one I was planning on.

[Fil]

+1 on the 40l boiler, when boiling close to the rim of a vessel it can get a bit violent and spit out everywhere..

as said by themadhippy hose water will be fine after basic treatment of a boil up. i brew on the patio normally and use the hose, a short boil removes temp hardness and kills everything then let it cool to strike temp...

you might want to consider boiling outside the shed as you will be boiling off between 7-12l durring a 90min boil, thats a lot of water to condensate in your brewing shed, and could lead to all sort of unwanted musty mouldy damp issues




even with a converted coldbox mash tun, its best to sit something on top to aid insulation the tops tend to be an uninsulated air void.. the tun you linked to while not insulated has a nice false bottom, is a very good size, and is reasonably priced wrap 2 pound shop ground mats round it and drop a coat or 2 on top of it and it will hold its temp well.