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Any home-brewers???

I remember when I started it was all 5 gallon batches with some people doing 10 or 20 gallon batches. In the past few years a lot more 1 and 2 gallon equipment has come on to the market. I think it helps make it more accessible to people living in smaller places and those who may not have the time to brew and bottle 2 cases of beer.
The ingredient kits have gotten so much better too. It used to be that starter kits were a bunch of dusty boxes sitting around for god who know how long. Now most brewing suppliers offer their own kits, with seasonal offerings and put them together in house.

That’s cool that you worked for Budweiser I did a tour at a Budweiser brewery a while back and was impressed at the scope of their brewhouses. They go from grain to bottle in something like 14 days. It takes homebrewers months sometimes to make a lager that light. I don’t drink a whole lot of commercial lagers but I appreciate the process. It really has to be dialed in to consistently make that style of beer.

One thing that may be of interest here is that the primary fermentation is done and the yeast is harvested to be used for several generations until it cannot be used again. Yeast is cultured at the main plant and shipped to the various brewerys usually on a weekly schedule. The reason this is done is to have consistancy among the various plants. The beer should taste the same whether it is made in St. Louis or Los Angeles.

I generally prefer darker beers such as Porters and Stouts. Probably because I served almost four years in the Air Force over in England 1969-72. Beer was served at room temperature.

Budweiser did make a Porter at one time and we did use it to make a Black and Tan. I think we combined the Porter with Bud Light if I remember correctly. The various plants are sometimes tasked to produce experimental brews. I was able to assist in several of these and enjoyed it very much. I did also get to assist in the production of a nitrogen infused stout and it was very good. Too bad they decided not to put it into production.

Mike
 
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Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Any suggestions on a good kit to brew a small batch just to see if it interests someone?

My first kit was Northern Brewer's Block Party Amber Ale, and it was absolutely delicious. I think it was $99 including equipment... just the recipe kit is about $32, and makes 5 gallons or a bit less at around 5% ABV, 18 IBU, and I guess around 16L though honestly I am not a very good judge of color. Dead easy, room temperature, single stage fermenting. Beware especially of lager or pilsner kits... usually they need lower temps, usually well under 60 degrees. Many ale yeasts are good up into the 70's.

Kits including equipment often use converted 6 gallon buckets for fermenters. They work great, but are difficult to close properly, and to re-open. Many home brewers use glass carboys, like the big water bottles used in old style water coolers. Plastic works, but some plastics will add off flavors to the beer. Remember, it is in contact with the beer for at least two weeks, while all sorts of chemical and enzymatic reactions are taking place, so this is more critical than just storing water. So a logical upgrade to an equipment kit is a glass carboy. Even better, and still cheap, is a plastic widemouth fermenter called the Big Mouth Bubbler, sold by Northern Brewer. It has about an 8" opening and a lid that seals with a flanged silicone gasket, and a hole in the middle of the lid for a bung so you can insert an airlock. There is also a spigot near the bottom which is very handy.

The equipment kit usually comes with a cheap stainless steel brew kettle but any 5 gallon or bigger stainless soup or gumbo pot will work beautifully. You need a long handled spoon. You need (maybe) a muslin bag for steeping grains. You need a thermometer that will accurately tell you temperature in the range of about 70 degrees (yeast pitching temp for most ales) to boiling, so you can keep the steeping temp under 160, or control mashing temp in an all grain brew, etc. A hydrometer is very nice to have, too, so you can compare original specific gravity to final specific gravity and calculate how much alcohol you got. You need a good sanitizer. Star-San is pretty good. I admit to using everclear, since I also use it for many other things on the boat, or in house or shop. You will need food grade hose and tubing for racking or bottling. If you bottle, you need a capper, caps, and bottles. If you keg, you need a 5lb CO2 tank, regulator, and fittings, in addition to one or more corny kegs. You might be better off buying the gear separately, and buying an ingredients kit. Then again, an all-in-one will get you started very simply, and you can upgrade as you go, a better fermenter first thing.

Norhtern Brewer gets a lot of disrespect for being bought out by InBev, but my understanding is that InBev no longer owns NB. Anyway, their prices are not bad, and they have a pretty good catalog of gear and ingredients. Beware the ingredient kits that are on sale. Often they are getting rid of overstock that is getting old. Fresh yeast and fresh grains and extracts will brew often noticeably better beer than stuff that has been on the shelf for a while. That $22 ale kit will brew a very drinkable beer, yeah, and you may not notice any quality issues, but a blind taste test will always pick out the batch made with the fresher ingredients, so keep that in mind.

NB is absolutely not the only player on the field. I only mention them because I have bought from them and started with their kits. I no longer rely on kits but here is NB's url:

Full starter kit, basic equipment including kettle:

Like most kits, it does not include bottles. So if you will bottle, buy two cases of 12oz bottles, or save commercial BROWN beer bottles with PRY OFF capping. No twist-offs. Sometimes they work, sometimes not. Don't take the chance. Caps and capper are in the kit.

And here is the recipe kit, ingredients only, for the Block Party Amber Ale:

Blond, amber, or brown ales are typically easy to brew for a beginner. Most American palates will appreciate the blonds and ambers the best.

Once you have a couple of kits under your belt, you can source your own ingredients and develop your own recipes. You can get your costs down to less than $3/gallon pretty easy and still make beers you can thoroughly enjoy and take a lot of pride in.

If you have an extra refrigerator, I suggest kegging instead of bottling. It is a lot less work and IMHO gives a much better drinking experience. You can get a corny keg (Cornelius keg, about 5.5 gallons) for $99 and a CO2 tank for about $60, regulator for around $35 and faucet, connectors, etc for another $50. Remember, this stuff is, or should be, a one time purchase. You may end up getting one or two extra corny kegs. The corny kegs are conveniently sized, easy to handle, and fairly inexpensive. If you bottle, you must prime the beer with extra sugar so that it goes through additional fermentation in the bottle to self carbonate. Unfortunately this leaves sediment in the bottom of the bottle from the dead or dormant yeast, which can be unpleasant to drink. So usually you decant from bottle to glass instead of drinking straight from the bottle. More things can go wrong, too. However, a bottle is portable in a way that a keg is not. And easily giftable.

There is practically no limit to how much money you can spend if you go bananas on home brewing. But you can also keep it pretty cheap and simple, too. I would skip the one gallon kits, though. After all that work and waiting, you only get a gallon of beer? That would suck. Make 5 gallon batches.

One word of advice... the best thing about a kit, for a noobie, apart from having all required components in one package, is the INSTRUCTIONS. Follow them carefully, and keep everything scrupulously clean and sanitized if it will be in contact with the brew once it starts to cool, and until it is safely in bottle or keg. Keep air and sunlight off the beer. Keep temperature stable while fermenting and settling. Do it right, take time and effort to follow instructions, and you will have a great beer first time at bat.
 
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Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
I have been brewing for a few months now. just kegged an ingredient kit I had on the shelf for a while and it is a good drinker. Right now I have a SMaSH ale in the BigMouth Bubbler, which I will keg on Wednesday. (For noobs, a SMaSH beer is Single Malt, Single Hop.) The malt in this case is 6lbs of NB 4L Golden Liquid Malt Extract that I got on sale cheap. Hops is one ounce of Cascade, bought cheap by the pound. Yeast is Safeale US-05. That's the entire bill of ingredients. Rather than split a second jug of LME, I reduced the batch size to 4 gallons, giving me an OG of 1.056 I think it was. I am looking forward to drinking it. Using LME with no grains, and only one hop, make for a very simple and easy batch. The yeast tolerates temps of up to 76 degrees, though I keep the house at 68f for the first three days of fermentation, then ramp it up a degree each day to the usual 74f, and most ale yeasts give me quite acceptable performance with this regimen. I will probably go two jugs, or 12lb of the LME, for a 6 gallon batch next time, just to try a stronger SMaSH ale.

I strongly dislike IPAs and any other very hoppy beers. I prefer a bit more of a bread taste, very malty, a little yeastiness okay, a hint of sweetness okay as well, not too dark. So this 4L liquid malt extract with just an ounce of hops for 60 minutes works nicely for me. This is my first all-extract batch. When I have used up the LME, I might try an all grain, BIAB batch.

No fancy equipment here. No stainless steel conicals or mash tuns or grinders or temp control or any of that stuff. My intent is to save money, not spend more. So far I have saved over the price of beer from the store, and got better tasting beers as well. Plus there is the convenience and efficiency of being able to pull from the keg a whole pint or just a good swallow, at will. Life is good.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
I have two batches going now. One I just put in the secondary fermenter yesterday. The other I just put in the primary on top of the leavings from the previous one and it has almost 2" of kreusen and is bubbling away right now. The batch in secondary is mainly just there for settling and clarifying. Next Wednesday it goes to keg and I will rotate the batch in primary to the secondary fermenter on Thursday. This seems to work really well and give me a nice beer with minimal sediment in the keg. Both of these batches are SMaSH ales, 9lb of LME in 5.5 gallons for a bit over 6% ABV. Hops are Cascade. I got a pound cheap, bagged them in half ounce baggies and put them in the beer mug freezer. 1 oz for 60 minutes in the batch finishing up. 1.5oz for 30 minutes for the one just starting. So both these batches will be very bready and malty, not very hoppy. That's what I like. I have enough LME for one more batch and then I might try a BIAB batch, an amber SMaSH ale again but all grain instead of extract. Right now I am just starting to drink up the previously mentioned 4 gallon batch of SMaSH ale made with 6lbs LME, same hops. It has been in the fridge at about 35 degrees for several days and has crashed out nicely. Now that summer has finally ended I can more easily keep my ferment temps down where they ought to be during primary.

Saving money. Getting better beer into my belly. Win/win.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Both of these batches are SMaSH ales, 9lb of LME in 5.5 gallons for a bit over 6% ABV.

What is in that LME? Just about all of them include more than one malt, even pale and light ones, so your beer may not actually be a SMASH.

I'm not saying it's bad. Not at all. In fact, I bet it's pretty good. It just might have more than one malt in it.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
What is in that LME? Just about all of them include more than one malt, even pale and light ones, so your beer may not actually be a SMASH.

I'm not saying it's bad. Not at all. In fact, I bet it's pretty good. It just might have more than one malt in it.

Well, you do have a point. For practical purposes it is one malt in that I am only pouring one fermentable substance into my brew kettle. The actual LME I am using is Northern Brewer's Maillard's Golden Malt Extract. I would actually guess that it is indeed a blend. The first kit I ever used had this malt in it. Northern Brewer's "Block Party Amber Ale" which impressed me greatly. They had the same malt on sale recently, six 6lb jugs for $90 and so it seemed a no-brainer to get the six jugs. My hops I bought a pound of, measured half ounces into ziplocks, and store in the freezer. The last two batches were on re-used yeast. So this makes a fairly cheap brew. Today I plan to move the one in secondary into a keg, and the one in primary into a secondary. I won't be brewing again for a couple of weeks so this yeast is going down the drain and I will start fresh after we come back from daughter in law's thanksgiving thing. But it was nice to not have yeast expense for these two batches.

The four gallon, 6lb batch that I kegged a week or two ago that tasted too bitter and hoppy to me (but not to most drinkers) has gentled up a lot in the keg and now is a perfect beer for drinking with supper. Almost as tasty as the Block Party and better than my other recipes so far. That particular LME is a great product but I want to go cheaper so I will probably try an all grain BIAB after I do one final batch of LME beer.
 
I have two batches going now. One I just put in the secondary fermenter yesterday. The other I just put in the primary on top of the leavings from the previous one and it has almost 2" of kreusen and is bubbling away right now. The batch in secondary is mainly just there for settling and clarifying. Next Wednesday it goes to keg and I will rotate the batch in primary to the secondary fermenter on Thursday. This seems to work really well and give me a nice beer with minimal sediment in the keg. Both of these batches are SMaSH ales, 9lb of LME in 5.5 gallons for a bit over 6% ABV. Hops are Cascade. I got a pound cheap, bagged them in half ounce baggies and put them in the beer mug freezer. 1 oz for 60 minutes in the batch finishing up. 1.5oz for 30 minutes for the one just starting. So both these batches will be very bready and malty, not very hoppy. That's what I like. I have enough LME for one more batch and then I might try a BIAB batch, an amber SMaSH ale again but all grain instead of extract. Right now I am just starting to drink up the previously mentioned 4 gallon batch of SMaSH ale made with 6lbs LME, same hops. It has been in the fridge at about 35 degrees for several days and has crashed out nicely. Now that summer has finally ended I can more easily keep my ferment temps down where they ought to be during primary.

Saving money. Getting better beer into my belly. Win/win.

Never heard of pouring chilled wort into a carboy with trub in the bottom... so no issues with leftover hop flavors from the previous batch? Do you have to only follow up with the same recipe as previous batch, or do you find it’s more forgiving?

Been wanting to get on a better schedule and get another keg to accommodate. Up next I’m doing an Imperial Smoked Stout.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Never heard of pouring chilled wort into a carboy with trub in the bottom... so no issues with leftover hop flavors from the previous batch? Do you have to only follow up with the same recipe as previous batch, or do you find it’s more forgiving?

Been wanting to get on a better schedule and get another keg to accommodate. Up next I’m doing an Imperial Smoked Stout.

Keep in mind I am still a newbie at brewing. I heard on the HomeBrewTalk forum about doing this and I was feeling a little reckless so I tried it. I used fresh yeast for every batch until recently I made a batch of 4 gallons with 6lb LME, and transferred to a secondary after two weeks. I then drained all the liquid out and poured new wort right on top, swirled it around, and let it work. Seemed to work okay. The new batch on the old trub was 5.5 gallons with 9lb of the same LME. The wort I just tasted and it seems okay. Essentially the same recipe, same malt and same hops. And now I have another batch on the same trub. It has nearly finished primary fermentation. I have not tasted it. This most recent batch I screwed up and had to pour it out and brewed again, this time with 6lb of the same LME and 3.3lb of a pilsner LME from a recipe kit I never used due to high ambient temps in the house. Same hops. So still similar. I don't think there will be any problems with flavors left over from previous batches. To be safe, after transferring, I then tip the BMB way over and drain all liquid off. Most of what is settled will just settle again, apart from the new yeast cells, I think.

I will not be fermenting on the same trub when I do the next batch, even though the recipe will be the same, because the fermenter will be empty for a while. We have to go to the left coast to visit daughter in law for thanksgiving. Family politics. When I come back I will make a final batch of the single LME recipe, then try some all grain. And I will start with fresh yeast on that batch, too. I was advised to only do this when the recipe is similar, which makes sense.

I notice this most recent batch started working VERY fast. I had action in the airlock after about 7 hours at 69deg internal temp. It made a very tall krausen, about 2" thick or a bit more. I probably could just as well have saved a few teaspoons of trub and tossed the rest, but this way is of course dead easy. I push the wort out with CO2 so the fermenter stays purged, more or less, and not much opportunity for wild strains or bacteria or fungus getting a toe hold. I suspect I could probably do this for four or five consecutive batches at least, before the yeast mutates or gets displaced enough to basically become a different strain. I would not do this if I was transferring the old wort and had no new stuff ready to transfer in from the kettle. Another thing. I have often transferred wort to the fermenter while it was still a bit warm for pitching. Obviously, you can't do that with leftover yeast because it is already there. Too hot wort would just kill or weaken the yeast. If it is chilled down below max pitching temp before going into the fermenter then alles gut.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Never heard of pouring chilled wort into a carboy with trub in the bottom

It's a great way to save money on yeast, but also a great way to get a high pitch rate for a big beer. I typically start a high OG beer by brewing a simple, low OG one and then kegging that one on the day I brew the big one. The big beer goes on the same yeast cake, and the airlock often is going like a machine gun in no time.


so no issues with leftover hop flavors from the previous batch? Do you have to only follow up with the same recipe as previous batch, or do you find it’s more forgiving?

You don't need to do the same thing, but you do want to consider what you're brewing. I keep that first beer very simple or similar to the big beer. My favorite "five gallon starter" is a SMaSH English bitter (Maris Otter + Fuggles) at around 4% ABV or so. You can put anything on that, and it also happens to be a lovely beer.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
The first batch I made on the leavings of the previous batch is now in the keg and in the fridge. Initial sampling is very promising. I would have been perfectly okay with drinking it after jsut one day in the fridge but I have to save it for a wedding, along with the next one, and they both should be excellent around new years, when they will be needed. That next one, BTW, was fermented on the trub cake, too, and is now in secondary and is looking good. 9.3lb LME for a 5.5 gallon batch, no steeping grains, 1.5oz Cascade 30 minutes. After thanksgiving I will brew a couple more batches like that and then try some all grain BIAB batches beginning with a pitch of fresh Safale US-05 yeast.

Apparently a nice trub cake is a LOT of yeast! And a trub cake from a 6%+ ale is REALLY a lot of yeast! That last batch started working really fast and hard, even though internal temp was kept down in the 60's.

New wort on the previous batch's trub definitely works, and saves considerable money. Proper brewing yeast is not cheap. And a step is saved when you don't have to pitch fresh yeast. You never have a pitch of dead or weak yeast to worry about. I had my doubts at first but I am a believer, now, and I won't hesitate to use the same yeast culture 3 or 4 times in a row as long as I am not making any big recipe changes.

IMHO a major change in recipe, especially going from a heavy beer to a lighter one, or a very hoppy beer to less hoppy, calls for fresh yeast. Or at least a smaller amount rather than an entire trub cake.
 
The first batch I made on the leavings of the previous batch is now in the keg and in the fridge. Initial sampling is very promising. I would have been perfectly okay with drinking it after jsut one day in the fridge but I have to save it for a wedding, along with the next one, and they both should be excellent around new years, when they will be needed. That next one, BTW, was fermented on the trub cake, too, and is now in secondary and is looking good. 9.3lb LME for a 5.5 gallon batch, no steeping grains, 1.5oz Cascade 30 minutes. After thanksgiving I will brew a couple more batches like that and then try some all grain BIAB batches beginning with a pitch of fresh Safale US-05 yeast.

Apparently a nice trub cake is a LOT of yeast! And a trub cake from a 6%+ ale is REALLY a lot of yeast! That last batch started working really fast and hard, even though internal temp was kept down in the 60's.

New wort on the previous batch's trub definitely works, and saves considerable money. Proper brewing yeast is not cheap. And a step is saved when you don't have to pitch fresh yeast. You never have a pitch of dead or weak yeast to worry about. I had my doubts at first but I am a believer, now, and I won't hesitate to use the same yeast culture 3 or 4 times in a row as long as I am not making any big recipe changes.

IMHO a major change in recipe, especially going from a heavy beer to a lighter one, or a very hoppy beer to less hoppy, calls for fresh yeast. Or at least a smaller amount rather than an entire trub cake.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea. I just never thought of it before. I usually don't do a starter, instead just use two packets of yeast for big beers, but there is definitely that nervous lag where the yeast takes a day or two to really get going. This seems like a cool alternative method though, which would also encourage me to make more beer.

So when you rack beer #1, you just recap the carboy and leave it as is until the new beer goes in, right? What's the longest you've let it sit there before putting the new beer on top?
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Don't get me wrong, I like the idea. I just never thought of it before. I usually don't do a starter, instead just use two packets of yeast for big beers, but there is definitely that nervous lag where the yeast takes a day or two to really get going. This seems like a cool alternative method though, which would also encourage me to make more beer.

So when you rack beer #1, you just recap the carboy and leave it as is until the new beer goes in, right? What's the longest you've let it sit there before putting the new beer on top?

I don't like the idea of letting it sit for more than a day. I don't know if it would be a good idea or not. It would be a good question to ask on one of the home brewing forums. I have so far introduced fresh wort by early the day after racking the previous batch off to secondary. Also I push the beer out with CO2, so the fermenter stays purged. I imagine yeah, I could go a few days. The thing is, I want to see some action from the yeast certainly in the first 12 hours or so. Keep in mind, my fermenter is in the high 60s and I am doing ales. I should see some gassing within that time frame if the yeast is strong. The longer it takes to get going, the greater chance of infection. So I want to introduce the new wort to a very active and lively colony of yeast, not one that is hibernating already.

Another option would be to dissolve about half a bag of priming sugar with some chlorine free water and feed that yeast in the fermenter, if it is gonna be more than a few days until brew day comes around again. And who doesn't have a bunch of those 5oz bags of corn sugar laying around from ingredient kits? I tried adding a couple bags to a batch and it just makes the beer very thin and dry, flattens the head and reduces the mouth feel. But a couple ounces used to keep the yeast colony going wouldn't hurt anything.

Another thing I was going to try as a money saving measure was using DADY distiller's yeast. It is really cheap in the bulk bag. I have not tried it yet as I am not sure how it will influence the taste. I know this, if I was pitching two packs of US-05 for each batch, I would be crying tears of utter sadness over all the money my yeast was costing me.

If you have a convenient setup for keeping air out of the fermenter while racking or spigoting off, I urge you to try this. Brew the same day you rack off, or the next day, and I am sure you will find the results quite satisfactory, and saving $6 or so on yeast is like getting a half dozen free pints of beer.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Gents: please ignore this question if it's stoopid, but, after you buy yourself a nice setup, and are pretty good at brewing, can you give me any idea what the cost of a pint of beer is? I have no problem investing in a little nice setup, mostly for a hobby, and I love chemistry and have great memories of my Unkle making wine, and this excites me. BUT: I am so cheap, er, frugal that I squeak when I walk. So before my lovely War Department puts the cabosh on this, I'd like an idea. I am the king of half finished projects, and I don't want to give her any ammunition.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Gents: please ignore this question if it's stoopid, but, after you buy yourself a nice setup, and are pretty good at brewing, can you give me any idea what the cost of a pint of beer is? I have no problem investing in a little nice setup, mostly for a hobby, and I love chemistry and have great memories of my Unkle making wine, and this excites me. BUT: I am so cheap, er, frugal that I squeak when I walk. So before my lovely War Department puts the cabosh on this, I'd like an idea. I am the king of half finished projects, and I don't want to give her any ammunition.

It varies. A LOT. You can make a 5 gallon batch that costs $70 just in recipe ingredients. You can make a 5 gallon batch that costs $7 in recipe ingredients.

Cheapest/simplest way to go is a BIAB (Brew In A Bag) all grain medium to low gravity SMASH ale. SMASH is Simgle Malt And Single Hop. If you get your hops by the pound and freeze them, and select a variety that gives adequate bittering and aroma with just one ounce, you stay in the game pretty cheap if you can get your malt for a good price. Yeast will be about $3 to $4 per packet that will ferment a 5 gallon batch but you can save some of the trub from the batch just fermented and use it for the next batch. The equipment doesn't have to be a deal breaker. You will want to make some upgrades after a couple of batches, yeah. Start off with two clean 6 gallon food grade plastic buckets. One will be your fermenter. The other will be for sanitizing stuff. This will be a single stage fermentation. You will need some clear hose in a couple of different sizes. You will need a couple of rubber grommets or a drilled rubber lab stopper. A thermometer. A spoon. A hydrometer is recommended but not absolutely essential. A brew kettle which can be just an ordinary stainless steel gumbo pot of at least 5 gallons capacity. If you use grains it would be really nice to have a crusher/grinder. Then you need to decide... bottles, or keg? You don't want to drink it straight from the fermenter. For bottling it would be nice to have still another bucket for your bottling bucket though you could use your sanitizing bucket. You will need bottles, caps, and a capper. Some clear acrylic tubing for a racking and a filling wand. And you will be buying sugar for the in-bottle fermenting that carbonates the beer in the bottle. A few other small items. For keg, you need naturally a keg, preferably a Cornelius ("corny") keg, a fridge to keep it cold, a CO2 tank, fittings and hose and beer faucet. I like to mount one right on the keg rather than through the door, or use one of those cheesy little picnic faucets. Kegging is way easier and I think the beer tastes better. Two kegs are better than one, for obvious reasons.

It's kinda like straight shaving. We tell our wives that we do it to save money, and it looks good on paper LOL
 
Simple pale ale. ..

Single malt (trad ale)
Single hops (Simcoe )
Yeast starter from fridge (s-05)

I could fill a keg for $15. Cheaper if I buy bulk grain and bulk hops. Probably half that cost if be.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
And Farmer, I might add that the easy way to get started is with a kit. Most 5 gallon recipe kits (ingredients only) run between $30 and $42 thereabouts. A full kit with all equipment except bottles will run about $95 to $105, typically, depending on the quality of the equipment. The best thing about a kit, besides having sourced everything in one fell swoop, is having detailed isntructions and a 1-800 number to call if you are confused or things don't seem to be working as expected. I urge you to do one kit first, before freestyling your own recipe.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
And Farmer, I might add that the easy way to get started is with a kit. Most 5 gallon recipe kits (ingredients only) run between $30 and $42 thereabouts. A full kit with all equipment except bottles will run about $95 to $105, typically, depending on the quality of the equipment. The best thing about a kit, besides having sourced everything in one fell swoop, is having detailed isntructions and a 1-800 number to call if you are confused or things don't seem to be working as expected. I urge you to do one kit first, before freestyling your own recipe.
Thanks so much! I thought that a kit was the way to start. I much prefer beer from a keg, but will probably start with the bottles. I assume you can reuse beer bottles from the store?
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Thanks so much! I thought that a kit was the way to start. I much prefer beer from a keg, but will probably start with the bottles. I assume you can reuse beer bottles from the store?

If they are pry-off caps and not twist-off, yeah. Brown bottles only.
 
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