Things to get for the first time

[JakeHy]

Hey guys I've made a clear Mr beer kit beer before and it sucked so instead of loosing interest I want to try doing it right. So I've set aside 200 dollars for a starter kit and I want to know how I should split it up to get me some good tasting beer! I'm pretty handy with making things so if I can short cut and make a few things myself that would be better. Thanks for all your help! Also, I have a brewing store in my area that sells brewers best product line so I have that to chose from as well

 

[NivekD]

Gotta get a wort chiller.

 

[Jayhem]

The best place to start is with a Complete beer equipment kit. This gets you all the basics you need to get started and I still use most of the stuff in my kit now that I'm making 11 gallon batches.

Brewer's best makes a high quality kit. This is the one I have:

http://www.brewgadgets.com/p-1382-brewers-best-deluxe-equipment-kit.aspx?gclid=CIejnJWqxbUCFYje4AoddDkAXA

 

[RM-MN]

I bought one like this and am still using it after 5 years. I've added more fermenters and an autosiphon but all I really needed was this kit and a kettle to boil in. I already had a 5 gallon which worked well for the extract kits but I bought a 7 1/2 gallon turkey fryer to do 5 gallon batches all grain. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html

 

[WhiteDog87]

Check out morebeer and northern brewer also. They have lots of different kits at a wide range of prices. You could probably make your own copper immersion wort chiller since you said your handy. I would recommend buying a some what over size kettle, ten gallon kettles work great for me and were still useful when i upgraded to all grain

 

[CBU123]

Fairly new to this but agree with the others. A good starter kit will have everything you need to get you going. While I have added things, I still use most of my original kit.

Chris

 

[kjackson82]

The only thing I needed that my "brewer's best" kit didn't contain was a funnel and strainer. While trying to siphon the wort into the fermenter my siphon stopped up from the cold break. I didn't want to loose that much wort so I poured the remaining into the carboy with the only funnel in the house that was way to small. I put a paint filter in it to try and help clean the wort up, but being so small it stopped up and I just ended up pouring everything into the fermenter. So have a nice sized funnel on hand with a paint strainer. Total of about $12 would have helped clear my beer up!

 

[fermentinginpa]

I agree with everyone else, most homebrew stores have good startup up kits. I got mine from my local store but NorthernBrewer.com has a good one as well if you are looking for options. Only thing I would add to the kit that most don't come with is a wort chiller.