College brewing

[LBKBrewer]

Hi brewers, I'm a current college student looking for some insight here in determining what equipment to purchase to get started out home brewing. I'm about done reading How To Brew by John Palmer and am getting real anxious/excited to start my first batch. I'm planning on using a malt extract as opposed to the all grain brewing for my first batch because the consensus seems to be it is easier. With that being said I want to eventually work my way into the all grain brewing also.

I'm aware there are plenty of brewing kits out there that provide all the basic components to brew a batch, however I was curious whether there were any helpful pieces of equipment these kits leave out.

Another one of my concerns are with quality and whether I am going to get the same quality from a kit that I would in buying each piece of equipment separately.

Finally I was also looking for a list of what the brewing community would suggest as far as all essential pieces of equipment to begin extract brewing and what else I would need to purchase to advance forward into all grain brewing in the future.

Thanks for any information and advice.

 

[kaisetti]

Kits are a great way to start and have most of the equipment you'll need. However, most kits leave out a brew pot and thermometer. Those are at least 2 things I think I needed when I got my kit. If you plan on brewing all-grain in the future, I would invest in at least an 8-10 gallon pot. My wife bought me a kit about 7 years ago and I still use a lot of the equipment today. You can't go wrong with a kit. If you have a local homebrew shop (LHBS) nearby, I suggest stopping in for a visit and chat with the staff to see what they recommend. I'm sure others in this forum will have great advice for you as well. Good luck!

 

[skraeling]

You can find tamale pots for quite cheap especially since you will be new to it. its a 20qt tamale steamer I got from target. Works fine on a stovetop. Also seconding the LHBS if you have one. My starter kit that I got several years ago I too still use many of the pieces of equipment that it came with.

 

[meridianomrebel]

If there is a LHBS nearby, I would very highly recommend visiting them. The people that work there can really help you out in getting started. Having said that, the kits online are all pretty much the same. With Veteran's Day coming up, as well as Black Friday later on this month, you could wait and look online for really good sales.

Essential equipment:
1. Brew kettle - for a 5 gallon batch, a 8.5 gallon kettle would be the minimum. A 10 gallon kettle would be ideal.
2. Fermenter - you don't need two fermentation vessels starting off (although it would be nice to have a second so you can have two beers fermenting at the same time).
3. Airlock - you'll need one for fermenter (bucket or carboy).
4. PBW - this is a cleaner that you need to have.
5. Starsan - this is a sterilizer that you use after cleaning your equipment in PBW.
6. Long plastic spoon
7. Hydrometer - testing your gravity, figuring out any issues, etc...
8. Digital thermometer - since you're in college, you can just use a digital thermometer to test temp in your kettle instead of buying a more expensive kettle with a temp probe in it.
9. Bottling bucket
10. Bottling wand

I think that's it, as far as what I can think of off the top of my head. Since you're in college, you should be able to get plenty of bottles and clean them and reuse them.

For all grain brewing, I would recommend looking into BIAB - you'd just need to make sure you have a nice size kettle (I actually have a 8.5 gallon that I use and do 5 gallon batches in it), and, of course, your bag. I recommend using Wilser's bag - http://biabbags.webs.com/

Again, there should be a bunch of sales going on around the holidays, so you can probably find a really great deal from somewhere like Austin Homebrew Supply or another online site.

Welcome to the board!

 

[PADave]

Get the minimum that you need to start brewing. That way you can see what works for you and what you need to get. I use some of my original equipment, but I also have a lot of stuff that I don't use, that I "had" to have and bought when starting out.

 

[dallasdb]

Bass pro will often put on sale a turkey fryer for $40 including a burner and aluminum pot.

You don't need stainless!

Don't worry about a wort chiller, you can just buy a few bags of ice and put the pot in the bathtub with ice to cool to pitching temp.

I would buy the turkey fryer setup $40, a bucket to ferment $15, an airlock $3, a thermometer $5, a hydrometer and test tube $10, a racking cane with 5 feet of tubing $5, single serve packets of cleaner/sanitizer $5, a wing capper with bottle caps $10 and an ingredient kit $25.

$118 and you got your first beer brewed.

Now start saving bottles!

This is the very basic setup to make sure you like brewing.

Check out www.ritebrew.com for very cheap prices and affordable ingredient kits!

This 30 quart setup goes on sale frequently for $40 http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-30Quart-Propane-Turkey-Fryer/product/1112030501001/

 

[bergy]

Bottles. Don't forget at least 48 (probably 60) bottles if you're doing 5 gallon batches.

 

[beergolf]

A college student should have no problem finding bottles. However finding bottles that are not twist offs may be more of a challenge.

 

[RM-MN]

Get a large pot, no particular size. Fill it 3/4 with water and bring it to 162 degrees. Don't let it go over 162.

If you can do that you can start right with all grain brewing and save enough on ingredients to pay for the equipment pretty quickly. If you do go all grain, get a pot that is larger than you think you need. I'd suggest the 7 1/2 gallon one if you want 3 gallon batches of beer. If you want 5 gallon batches, go for a 10 gallon pot and a burner that has enough output to heat up 8 gallons in a reasonable time.

 

[kristiismean]

ideally a little more spend up front saves a lot of money on the back end. But ....

Spending 100 on an 8 gallon pot while a 100 dollar kit will have everything and more than you need makes more sense if you are not sure if this is something you want to dabble in, or move forward. Being a big do it yourself type person also helps save money.

the kits that northernbrewer and ritebeer, and homebrewing.org sell are all good beginner kits, have everything you need. all around 100. mash paddles, airlocks, buckets, bottling buckets, spigot, bottling want, sanitizer (all though spring for star san). etc. and often includes a kit. this is for extract. If you were going all grain, I would highly recommend an 8 or more gallon kettle.

 

[Homercidal]

You should really think about a few things before buying anything. Ask yourself:

1) How much beer will I want to make? Because you should buy a kettle that will easily support mashing and/or boiling that much beer at a time. 5 gallons is a fairly standard amount these days, but some people do 2.5 or 10 gallons too. Sometimes 1 gallon (but probably not suitable for a college kid...) For 5 gallon batches I'd go with a 10 gallon kettle. 15 gallon if you think you will brew 10 gallon batches.

2) If you think you will want to go All Grain at some point, you *could* start with extract, but Brew-In-A-Bag is SIMPLE and only requires 1 additional piece of equipment: a Mesh Bag. You can buy a 5 gallon Paint Strainer Bag from a paint store or large hardware store for a couple of bucks. Extract may be a little bit easier, but if you do a little reading on calculating mash, you can probably start with AG brewing no problem. Many people do.

3) Wort Chiller. You can easily chill a small batch in the sick with ice water. 5 gallons takes much more time. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a chiller for the first couple of batches, but it can make things go faster at the end. Some people do a "no chill" method where they seal the hot wort in plastic jugs to prevent contamination and let them sit overnight to cool down. The benefits of a chiller can be debatable, but most serious homebrewers use one if they don't live where there are severe water availability issues.

4) Grain Mill. Another future purchase once you find out whether you will want to stick with AG brewing. They are *really* handy, but you can make do by simply ordering your grain crushed by the store, or doing it yourself if you purchase grain in person.

Besides those things, the average kit will work well to start with. Most come with a plastic bucket, which I feel is fine to start with, and maybe a glass carboy instead, or for secondary. I don't do secondary much any more, so that would not be a big deal for me. Make sure the kit comes with a bottling bucket, hydrometer, thermometer, bottling wand, hoses, Sanitizer (starsan is my favorite), brush for cleaning carboy, capper, caps, racking cane (or autosiphon).

Find bottles at party stores or bars if you have a deposit in your state, or find bars or recycle places if not. Or you can buy new bottles from the supply shop. If you pick up bottles that have been used, be sure to check them for gunk. Save yourself some effort and pass up the bottles that have mold in them. Don't pick up twist off bottles.

On top of a quality equipment kit, you should look for a quality ingredient kit. Most large online stores have quality kits, either their own or prebuilt. A local shop selling cheap kits might not have the turn-over to ensure they are fresh. In that case consider finding a recipe online and buying ingredients for it instead of buying a kit.

Also, keep in mind a few best practices:

Fresh ingredients
Good cleaning/sanitizing anything that touches the beer after the boil
Don't splash aerate your wort after fermentation
Plenty of yeast. Consider pitching 2 packets if you brew a beer bigger than 1.060 OG
Proper fermentation temp. Most ales ferment best around 62-65F. I'd try to get the ambient temperature right around there. The fermentation will generate it's own heat, and the beer temp can go a few degrees above that.

Don't rush to bottle. If you keg, you can afford to package the beer a bit sooner since there is no risk of gushing, and sediment kind of takes care of itself. Give your ber a chance to settle a bit and for the yeast to clean up before bottling. I'd go at least 1 week after fermentation is complete, and maybe 2. If you secondary, then maybe rack right away after primary is complete, then bottle after 2 weeks in secondary, or when you are happy that most of the sediment is settled. Use Irish Moss/Whrilfloc to help it settle quicker.

Almost most of all, don't use any water that could have chlorine or chloramine. Chloramine is fairly common these days and it's harder to smell, and harder to get rid of. During fermentation that stuff will turn into some nasty smelling and tasting chlorophenols. If your water doesn't smell or taste great, then do use it either. You may be best off buying a couple of jugs of spring water instead to be sure.

 

[kh54s10]

Get a large pot, no particular size. Fill it 3/4 with water and bring it to 162 degrees. Don't let it go over 162.

If you can do that you can start right with all grain brewing and save enough on ingredients to pay for the equipment pretty quickly. If you do go all grain, get a pot that is larger than you think you need. I'd suggest the 7 1/2 gallon one if you want 3 gallon batches of beer. If you want 5 gallon batches, go for a 10 gallon pot and a burner that has enough output to heat up 8 gallons in a reasonable time.

This is only for mashing. You might be able to heat to 162 on a stove but still be unable to boil 6.5 to 7 gallons of wort. If it cannot be boiled on a stove it forces the use of propane or more expensive electric equipment.

Unless living off campus, I doubt the administration would look kindly on brewing on a propane burner.

 

[Atlmustang]

I would definitely suggest the extract method using a kit to get started and to learn the process of steeping (mashing for all grain), boiling and hop additions, cooling, racking and pitching. You'll come up with your own process along the way with timing and temperatures etc. Try maybe 2 kits of this method and then switch to BIAB (brew in a bag) for all grain brewing. It is the best of both extract brewing and a traditional all grain brewing set up. You only need one kettle and it largely follows the extract method steps you just steep 12-14 pounds of grain rather than a 1 or 2 and obviously no extract needed. Literally the best easiest and best way for new brewers to do all grain with space and budgetary limitations.

Like others have said, go ahead and get the 10 gallon kettle then all you need is the bag ($20) to switch to all grain from extract. You can do an 8 gallon aluminum pot and do a 4 gallon batch BIAB you could potentially get a 5 gallon batch on a lighter grain bill, but a big beer with a bigger grain bill would have to be 4 gallons or less. 10 would give you all options.

 

[berndawg84]

In addition to what others said, I would definitely get equipment for proper fermentation. It's super important. Maintaining the right temperature makes all the difference I've found.

You can get a heat wrap, basically a plastic heating sheet that you wrap around your Carboy for $25. Then add to that a temp controller where you can dial in exactly the temp you want. In the long run you don't want to ferment at the whims of your house's temperature swing, makes for worse beer. You can get the inkbird temp controller

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDSWXY4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's a 2 stage controller meaning you can do both heating and cooling. It'll serve you well for the long term.

Here's the heater I have, works well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J1WZNM2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Besides those, a wort chiller and a bottle sanitizer to quickly clean your bottles are both big time savers but not essential at first.


Mancrates.com sells a Northern Brewer kit which includes a 5 gallon pot for $150. I got my kit there. Although as others have said a 5 gallon pot is too small for the long run. I'm realizing now that I'll have to upgrade my kettle to a 10 gallon at some point.

 

[Crohnnie]

As a college student, I would get the bare minimum. Look on Craigslist for a 5gal glass carboy, ask around for pop top bottles but you can just use soda bottles in a pinch. You can get carboy bungs from your local homebrew store or eBay/amazon. You can also use any type 1 plastic container as a fermentation vessel. Definitely grab an auto siphon and tubing. I'd get a pound of yeast from eBay too.

 

[PADave]

Look on Craigslist for a 5gal glass carboy, ask around for pop top bottles but you can just use soda bottles in a pinch.

As a college student, bottles should be plentiful.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

If you update your profile to identify where you live, I'd bet generous HBT'ers in the area, might be willing to donate bits and pieces they no longer use. While I sell some of my stuff here, some things aren't worth listing or shipping, so I have Carboys, bottling wands, airlocks, and other small stuff laying around collecting dust. If I had a new brewer in my area, I'd donate to them

 

[Crohnnie]

As a college student, bottles should be plentiful.

Yeah, you could probably go digging through the frats recyclables

 

[brewcat]

Building your own is probably the way to go. A lot of kits include a secondary which isn't needed. I'd also buy two new cases of bottles just to save the hassle of cleaning a bunch for your first batch.

Some things to have you may not have thought about:
-stainless steel spoon
-funnel if you use a carboy
-scale to weigh ingredients (very useful for weighing priming sugar for bottling)
-bottling bucket, autosiphon, hoses, bottle filler
-hydrometer, test jar and thief
-patience

 

[skraeling]

If you update your profile to identify where you live, I'd bet generous HBT'ers in the area, might be willing to donate bits and pieces they no longer use. While I sell some of my stuff here, some things aren't worth listing or shipping, so I have Carboys, bottling wands, airlocks, and other small stuff laying around collecting dust. If I had a new brewer in my area, I'd donate to them

mostly this. ill be upgrading to a brewbucket probably early next year and ill have at least two glass 6.5g carboys to offload.

 

[Sotty]

Most important thing that didn't come with my initial kit was an auto-siphon (http://www.homebrewing.org/38-Auto-Siphon-_p_825.html). Many kits come with this, but mine did not. Takes away a lot of headaches in getting a siphon started. Also, using one it is easier to transfer in a much more sanitary fashion then when trying to start the siphon manually.

 

[woo_pig]

I don't think anyone has said that if your doinga extract batch you really don't need a 5-8 gallon kettle. You can boil 3 gallons and add cold water to the wort after you boil it .Just make sure it's clean bottled water .You can buy a gallon for less than $1.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

I am a college student as well (pharmacy school). I am very busy, and I use brewing as a way to escape. Brewing takes patience, so Its a good way to have a brew day, study, do a little research on beer when you can, and then enjoy your brew after fermentation and carbonation 4-5 weeks later. I suggest you start with a Mr. beer fermenter. This is a 2 1/2 gallon fermenter that is like 8 dollars on mr. beer's website. You can just buy the 30 dollar kit that comes with bottles, your first batch, and everything else you need. I do suggest to move over to all grain brewing shortly after your first batch, as this will make your beer SO much better. Look up videos and information on how to build your own mash tun out of a 5 gallon drink cooler. When you do this, make sure you get all stainless steel parts though (just alot better than brass). You can buy a false bottom mash tun conversion kit for a 5 gallon drink cooler for 75 dollars (all stainless steel). A good advantage to the mr. beer fermenter is that you can stick it in a regular cooler and rotate ice bottles every 24 hours to control the fermentation temperature. I too started with palmer's how to brew. This ROCKETED my interest in making beer and now I am a little over 7 months in and I cannot stop thinking about it. I have now built a 6.5 gallon conical fermenter and make 5 gallon all grain batches. If you have any questions on the process about anything just shoot me an email: [email protected] . cheers!