few noob ??s

[brkoerner]

I'm thinking bout starting to brew and have a few questions

1. besides mr beer is there a good and cheap beginner kit that doesnt have a lot of equip? cuz im a broke college student and am short on space

2. if do end up getting mr beer and get addicted to brewing what are some easy upgrades i can do that will improve quality and still do small batches

any general advice yall can give will be greatly appreciated

 

[Revvy]

If you think of the mr beer keg as a small batch 2.5 gallon fermenter, then the sky;s the limit. You can even go stovetop all grain and ferment in it. And even lager in your own fridge.

There's a ton of threads on here for small batch brewing.

You can brew any sized batch you want. I do a lot of 2.5 gallon recipe test batches. You can even do 1 gallon AG brews. The basic brewing guys call that the six pack brew.

A recipe is scalable, so a 1 gallon recipe is 1/5th of a 5 gallon one....a 2.5 gallon one is half the ingredients.

2.5 gallons is one case of beer.

I use my normal 5 gallon mash tun for most of them, but I do a lot of Experiments, test recipes, or beers that I know I won't need/want more than a case of.

I sometimes use an unmodified 2 gallon cooler for a lot of my small btaches it holds up to 4 pounds of grain.

I just us a folding steamer in the bottom along with a grain bag. Just break off or unscrew the center post.

One of these, it helps to lift the grain bag above the spigot to keep the drainig from getting stuck.

Aerating the Wort

Pitching the yeast

In my temp controlled fermentation chamber.

I posted a lot of info in the mr beer thread that you may find helpful.

I posted some all grain small batchrecipes here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/785533-post702.html

ANd a bit of a primer on AG with pics here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/738927-post659.html

But I mostly use my regular 5 gallon cooler mash tun which holds 14 pounds of grains...and 14 pounds of grain for a 2.5 gallon batch can be a mighty big beer.....


One of our memebers chubbykid had plans for a minikeg mashtun http://sites.google.com/site/chubbykidhomebrew/Home/equipment/mini-keg-lauter-tun

THe basic brewing radio guys are big fans of tiny batch brewing...3/4 gallon (1 6pack) in a 1 gallon winejug fermenter.

They demo the 6-pack IPA here

[ame]http://en.sevenload.com/shows/Basic-Brewing/episodes/PERGFAJ-01-12-06-Basic-Brewing-Video-A-Six-Pack-of-IPA[/ame]

and they also have done barleywines as well.

I ferment my 2.5 gallon batches in all manner of things, I have a 3 gallon better bottle, I also use 3 gallon water jugs, AND my old Mr Beer keg (it's perfect because you can even lager in your own fridge with it when you are starting out.)

You can even ferment a 2.5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon carboy if you want, though I would say a 6.5 gallon carboy is a little too much headspace for my confort.

Hope this helps....any more questions feel free to ask...But look through ALL THE OTHER INFO first and I bet you, you won't HAVE any other questions. This has been thoroughly covered like just about everything else.

Look around for threads on apartment brewing and small batch brewing as well, there's a ton of them on here. Quite a few of us live in lofts or condos or apartments and have managed, even to turn out 5 gallon batches.

Hope this helps.

 

[jdubb75]

I would get a basic 5 gal starter kit over a Mr. Beer kit if you are even thinking there might be a possibilty of upgrading.

Here's a great basic kit that comes with a lot of tools that you can carry forward if/when you upgrade and it won't break the bank...

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

There are frequently groupon deals for starter kits from midwest that are fairly cheap. You might be able to find deals on craigslist here in Dallas if you ever drive this way.

 

[hopsalot]

so, Mr. Beer is like 40 bucks?

you can get a 4 gal brew kettle for less than $30 if you look around
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/stainless-steel-brewing-pot-4-gallon.html

Typical extract kit $20-$30, makes 5 gal

fermentor around $17
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/6-5-gallon-plastic-fermenter-with-lid-and-drum-tap.html

Hydrometer and thermometer are needed as well

Ok, so you spend $40 bucks get the Mr. Beer and make 2 gallons of beer, the refill ingredients cast $15 bucks minimum.

Or you spend less than $100 dollars and you can me making extract recipes, 5 gal at a time, on your stovetop

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Extract_brewing

 

[Bigbeavk]

For a very limited budget see if this would work for you. Even comes with a brew pot and your first 5 gallon beer kit.
for $159.99
http://brewgadgets.com/default.aspx

 

[Homercidal]

There are a lot of things to think about. What do you already have that could be useful?

Pot capable of boiling 3 gallons? Stainless, or Aluminum, or UNCRACKED or UNCHIPPED Porcelain.

Do you want to go Extract or All Grain? All grain is may be a little harder to understand, but if you can read a thermometer and follow a recipe, you can do either one just fine.

You will need a thermometer. You should have a hydrometer. You'll need bottles. You'll need tubing to siphon and for cheap, a "T" and a pinching clamp to help get the siphon started (by sucking on the T and then clamping that part of the hose once the siphon gets going. It's sanitary and easier than any other method and cheaper than an autosiphon.)

You'll need sanitizer. I highly recommend Starsan with distilled water and a spray bottle.

For AG you could go Brew in a Bag for next to nothing. Just a 5 gallon paint strainer bag from your favorite DIY store.

You'll need a fermenter bucket and lid, which I recommend you get from a homebrew store. I recommend a bottling bucket with a spigot and a bottling wand as well.

You'll need a capper of some sort.

You'll probably spend more with a basic HB kit than a Mr. Beer, but if you end up not liking the hobby, then you can always sell your parts to someone at the college and recoup some of your cost. Mr. Beer? Probably not as likely.

 

[BeerChef17]

When looking for a kit don't forget to factor in bottles. If you dont drink beer with a pry off cap you might want to start and save your bottles - its much much cheaper! Considering my LHBS sells a case of empty brown bottles for $13...why not just spend the extra few buck for some nice beer =)

Def shop around but if you want to go the 5gal route and need a pot + bottles you might as well go for this It literally has everything you need including a kit and is only 170 + shipping

Edit: also midwest has the same kit without a carboy for $35 cheaper