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Date: 19 Aug 2006 00:24:21
From: Brian Foster
Subject: Equipment ?
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I'm pretty new to this. 1st brew in the bottle, 2nd brew in 2nd stage
fermenter (glass carboy). I'll be bottling or kegging next weekend looks
like.
I'm looking around for equipment and I'm curious what group members are
using and would recommend if they were just starting out?
I'm certain I want to go the kegging route. Not much of a bottling fan.
Should I be looking for a Refrigerator (say in the 16-18 cu ft size) or are
any of you using the kegerators? I could of had a good deal on a kegerator
from a guy who's "kid got into his" so he was selling it. I can see how
simple it is to make a kegerator from a refrigerator.
I think ideally I'd like to get to the point where I have at least 2
different types of beer on tap and probably one or two fermenting. I can
already see that home brew makes a great gift so then I guess I need to look
at something like a "beer gun" to fill up a six pack or two if I want to
give some away or bring it to party. I'm trying to make equipment purchases
that will give me flexibility and allow me to expand if I desire to.
I've got the brewing stuff (pot, turkey burner, wort chiller, fermenter &
carboy) and the misc stuff. Now I'm trying to concentrate on getting the
equipment down so that I can concentrate on different recipes and just
trying to make really good beer. Houston's climate creates some unique
opportunites. Finding a cool place is not easy. Water out of the tap is >
80'f so I needed the wort chiller. I can see me doing extract and partial
grain for quite a while just due to time constraints that I can devote to
this hobby. Get the kids in college and maybe then kick it up a notch.
So what would you be looking for if you could start all over again? And
where would you be looking? My local home brew store seems adequate for
ingredients and I'd like ot support him (whenever possible) with equipment
purchases too. He has corny keg setups for sale. I seem to be looking at
about $200 for everything I need to start kegging. I looked on the internet
and that price seems reasonable to me.
I found craigslist.org through another post in this group and it's great for
finding all kinds of used stuff, trading stuff, selling stuff.
This is a great NG. Very informative.
Thanks
Brian, in Houston
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Date: 18 Aug 2006 19:15:05
From:
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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Brian Foster wrote:
>
> I'm looking around for equipment and I'm curious what group members are
> using and would recommend if they were just starting out?
>
> I'm certain I want to go the kegging route. Not much of a bottling fan.
>
Kegs, kegs, and more kegs. Gas and liquid QDs and plenty of line to
make balanced taps are good too. I know I use the kegs for
secondaries. I transfer the beer to different kegs for dispensing and
it really seems that that way there is much less sediment transfered.
I guess a fridge is a good thing from what I hear, but I don't use one.
Most of the beers I've been making I prefer at cellar temps or room
temps. Doing that you need several beer lines of varying lengths so
that a higher carbonated beer at a warmer temp has a balanced line. For
me bitters and porters with 6 foot lines at cellar temps work well,
but pales need 10-12' of line since they get a bit more carbonation.
>
> Thanks
>
> Brian, in Houston
Bryan
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Date: 19 Aug 2006 19:43:55
From: Don in AZ
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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First off I would say don't put off all-grain for too long because of
time constraints. It doesn't take that much longer and really takes
the hobby to a new level (at least it did for me).
To answer your question of "So what would you be looking for if you
could start all over again?" I would say:
- Get a fridge. You can get them cheap (even free) or buy them new but
it makes a huge diference for me. I have two fermentation freezers and
one storage/lagering/dispensing chest freezer. This way I can have two
batches fermenting at the same time and not have to worry about what I
still have on tap.
- Kegs. I still bottle a few batches or a small amount of each batch
but I keg 95% of my beer. I have spent way too much on kegs at the
LHBS so if I could start over I would start with going to
www.rcbequip.com as they have the cheapest kegs I have found.
Brian Foster wrote:
> I'm pretty new to this. 1st brew in the bottle, 2nd brew in 2nd stage
> fermenter (glass carboy). I'll be bottling or kegging next weekend looks
> like.
>
> I'm looking around for equipment and I'm curious what group members are
> using and would recommend if they were just starting out?
>
> I'm certain I want to go the kegging route. Not much of a bottling fan.
>
> Should I be looking for a Refrigerator (say in the 16-18 cu ft size) or are
> any of you using the kegerators? I could of had a good deal on a kegerator
> from a guy who's "kid got into his" so he was selling it. I can see how
> simple it is to make a kegerator from a refrigerator.
>
> I think ideally I'd like to get to the point where I have at least 2
> different types of beer on tap and probably one or two fermenting. I can
> already see that home brew makes a great gift so then I guess I need to look
> at something like a "beer gun" to fill up a six pack or two if I want to
> give some away or bring it to party. I'm trying to make equipment purchases
> that will give me flexibility and allow me to expand if I desire to.
>
> I've got the brewing stuff (pot, turkey burner, wort chiller, fermenter &
> carboy) and the misc stuff. Now I'm trying to concentrate on getting the
> equipment down so that I can concentrate on different recipes and just
> trying to make really good beer. Houston's climate creates some unique
> opportunites. Finding a cool place is not easy. Water out of the tap is >
> 80'f so I needed the wort chiller. I can see me doing extract and partial
> grain for quite a while just due to time constraints that I can devote to
> this hobby. Get the kids in college and maybe then kick it up a notch.
>
> So what would you be looking for if you could start all over again? And
> where would you be looking? My local home brew store seems adequate for
> ingredients and I'd like ot support him (whenever possible) with equipment
> purchases too. He has corny keg setups for sale. I seem to be looking at
> about $200 for everything I need to start kegging. I looked on the internet
> and that price seems reasonable to me.
>
> I found craigslist.org through another post in this group and it's great for
> finding all kinds of used stuff, trading stuff, selling stuff.
>
> This is a great NG. Very informative.
>
> Thanks
>
> Brian, in Houston
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Date: 20 Aug 2006 17:54:14
From: hankus
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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AG is a small step up and really doesn't add that much more time since you
can be setting things up while mashing.The only regret I have after 10 years
is that I waited until my 5th year to leave bottles and go to kegs-DO KEGS!!
Since New Orleans no longer has brew shop we frequently shop at Defalco's in
Houstin and besides being well stockwed he is knowledgeable.Although I am
not by nature a joiner of groups,I urge you to get in one of the local clubs
in Houston and,as happened to me here,club members help to get equipment for
free/cheap
--
Thanks
Hank
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Date: 21 Aug 2006 09:58:41
From: Ranger Steve
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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Brian Foster wrote:
> I'm looking around for equipment and I'm curious what group members are
> using and would recommend if they were just starting out?
>
> I'm certain I want to go the kegging route. Not much of a bottling fan.
>
> Should I be looking for a Refrigerator (say in the 16-18 cu ft size) or are
> any of you using the kegerators? I could of had a good deal on a kegerator
> from a guy who's "kid got into his" so he was selling it. I can see how
> simple it is to make a kegerator from a refrigerator.
>
With your temperature issues (which I share as well living in a hot,
inland California valley) I would definitely recommend getting a
refrigerator you can use as a fermenter. I was recently able to pick
up a medium sized refer from Craigslist for $50 (you can probably find
one for free if you're patient enough). I don't know the cu.ft. but
its about 3' tall and 2' wide and deep. It's just large enough to
hold a 6 1/2 gal. carboy and airlock.
I got a separate temp. controller that allows me to dial in the
temperature to whatever I want. E. G. mid 60's for ales or mid
30's-40's for lagering. My temperature control used to be "whatever
temperature the closet under the stairs" was. During this time of the
year when temps get to be 100+ that could run into the mid to high
70's. This also clears up closet space by moving the fermenting to
the garage creating a more peaceful atmosphere with my wife.
For my kegs I put them in a different refrigerator in the garage that
we use as an extra freezer and place for cokes and stuff. I built a
simple wooden bracket that holds the tap and a drip tray (tupperware
dish) inside the fridge. The CO2 tank is also in the fridge.
As far as cooling your wort you'll definitely need a wort chiller (or
two) using one as a pre-chiller in a bucket of ice water to cool your
warm tap water down. Using this system I can go from boil to 70f in
30-35 minutes.
Best of luck to you!
Steve
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Date: 21 Aug 2006 10:16:18
From: Mark R
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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"Brian Foster" <brianfoster@houston.rr.com > wrote in message
>
> I'm certain I want to go the kegging route. Not much of a bottling fan.
If you have the space and cash go for the kegging. My love of bottling has
caused more than one batch to have an extended stay in secondary.
> Should I be looking for a Refrigerator (say in the 16-18 cu ft size) or
are
> any of you using the kegerators?
> I think ideally I'd like to get to the point where I have at least 2
> different types of beer on tap and probably one or two fermenting.
If you really only want two then go with the 18 cu ft fridge. I've heard a
few squeeze four in at one time. If you're like most you'll want to keep
adding taps and in that case it might be better to go with the chest
freezer. Space permitting go with the 9 or 11 cu ft. I've got a 7 that I'm
about to convert that will hold four kegs or three and a carboy for
lagering. Mike Dixon had 18 on tap at one time and there are several here
that have taps in the double digits unless I'm mistaken.
> I can see me doing extract and partial
> grain for quite a while just due to time constraints that I can devote to
> this hobby. Get the kids in college and maybe then kick it up a notch.
> My local home brew store seems adequate for
> ingredients and I'd like ot support him
I don't brew as often as some / most (6-8 batches a year) and partials have
served me well for 6 years. If Defalco's is your LHBS then you'll have no
problem continuing as you plan. He does a good volume of business so his
bulk extracts are always pretty fresh. I don't have to worry about storage
of extra equipment or ingredients. When I plan a brew I drive up and buy my
ingredients the day or two before I intend to brew.
With tap water plus 80 and the thermostat set at 76-78 summer brewing here
in Houston is impossible without auxiliary cooling. I wait until fall when I
can bring the thermostat back down to 73 then do the wet t-shirt and fan
trick. And I start with a 5 gal boil so that I end up with around 4 gallons.
Then after the immersion chiller drops the temps to around 80 I top off to
5.25 gallons with chilled water from the fridge. Usually ends up in the high
60's perfect for pitching the yeast.
Mark R
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Date: 21 Aug 2006 08:09:29
From: Ryan Case
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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I have recently gotten involved in wine making and posted a similar
question on that group. I asked if you knew then what you know now, what
would you do differently. I used as an example my brewing experience. If
I had known when I first started what I know now, I would have started
with all grain 10 gallon batches and a brew buddy to split most of them
with.
I am a very very social animal, and while I enjoy brewing on its own. I
enjoy it much more when there is one or two people over while I am
brewing. It makes the time seem to go faster, and it really does make
all grain no harder to do then extract when you and one or two others
know what the other is needing done etc at a certain time.
This suggestion is forced, then, to parrot someone else's. Find a local
club to stop in on. I found a guy there that was looking to brew with
someone, and I also found that the local club had a LHBS I didn't know
about that was 90 minutes away instead of 150, and the bulk grain was
1/2 the price, and they are getting all of their hops for free and trade
hops and harvested yeast within the group.
I also think that kegging is a good idea and went that route a long time
ago. But recently have started bottling some batches again too.
Ryan
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Date: 22 Aug 2006 20:26:14
From: Andy McKellar
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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Ryan Case wrote:
> I have recently gotten involved in wine making and posted a similar
> question on that group. I asked if you knew then what you know now,
> what would you do differently. ...<snipped the rest>
Well, part of "what I know now" is that I like this enough to make the
investment worthwhile; so, I would have started kegging MUCH sooner.
Second, "I know now" that all-grain isn't that much harder than extract,
it just takes longer; so, I probably would have started all-grain sooner.
Finally, I would probably have gotten a third fridge and a temp
controller for fermentation purposes while I still had the funds and we
still had the floor space; now, it may be a while before I can manage that.
I doubt that I would have changed much else. I definitely prefer
all-barley ales to wheat beers, Belgians, or lagers, so I doubt that I would
be making any different beers than I do now.
--
-- Andy McKellar
Dallas, TX
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Date: 23 Aug 2006 05:18:36
From: Dick Adams
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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While sipping on a homebrew, Andy McKellar <mckellar@airmail.net > wrote:
> Ryan Case wrote:
>> I have recently gotten involved in wine making and posted a similar
>> question on that group. I asked if you knew then what you know now,
>> what would you do differently. ...<snipped the rest>
> Well, part of "what I know now" is that I like this enough to make the
> investment worthwhile; so, I would have started kegging MUCH sooner.
Absolutely! Kegging is the way to go. If you need to bottle
from keg, buy or build a counter-flow bottle chiller.
> Second, "I know now" that all-grain isn't that much harder than extract,
> it just takes longer; so, I probably would have started all-grain sooner.
Right again, amigo! All-Grain may take longer, but the beer
is so much better!
> Finally, I would probably have gotten a third fridge and a temp
> controller for fermentation purposes while I still had the funds
> and we still had the floor space; now, it may be a while before
> I can manage that.
This is a very significant issue. Unless you are prepared to
build a Big Bertha (http://tinyurl.com/9r5km} equivalent, fridges
are a great convenience - and they will make your beer better.
> I doubt that I would have changed much else. I definitely prefer
> all-barley ales to wheat beers, Belgians, or lagers, so I doubt
> that I would be making any different beers than I do now.
I would have
- put a spigot on only one pail;
- built a large cabinet for storing equipment, grain, and supplies;
- started all-grain immediately; and
- kept better logs from day 1.
Dick
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Date: 23 Aug 2006 10:15:37
From: Mark R
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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"Dick Adams" <rdadams@smart.net > wrote in message
>
> > Second, "I know now" that all-grain isn't that much harder than extract,
> > it just takes longer; so, I probably would have started all-grain
sooner.
>
> Right again, amigo! All-Grain may take longer, but the beer
> is so much better!
I won't get into a long drawn out battle, been done, but just the fact that
the brew is AG doesn't make it better than other brews. Many award winning
extract brews will back up that argument. I will give credit to AG for being
much more flexible and varied when designing recipes. That's part of the
reason I moved to doing partials.
Mark R
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Date: 23 Aug 2006 18:23:43
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 05:18:36 -0000, <rdadams@smart.net > wrote:
>> Second, "I know now" that all-grain isn't that much harder than extract,
>> it just takes longer; so, I probably would have started all-grain sooner.
>
> Right again, amigo! All-Grain may take longer, but the beer
> is so much better!
Not necessarily. It is possible to make extract beer that is just as good
as all grain beer. What all grain gives you is a lot more control over
what you make. However, there are lots of cases where an extract beer beat
all grain beers in a competition.
I would hesitate to tell someone that they need to go all grain in order
to make better beer.
>> Finally, I would probably have gotten a third fridge and a temp
>> controller for fermentation purposes while I still had the funds
>> and we still had the floor space; now, it may be a while before
>> I can manage that.
>
> This is a very significant issue. Unless you are prepared to
> build a Big Bertha (http://tinyurl.com/9r5km} equivalent, fridges
> are a great convenience - and they will make your beer better.
Quality wise, I think the two things I've done over the yeast that made
the most significant improvement to my beer have been getting a wort
chiller and getting a fermentation fridge to control temperatures. So
I definitely agree.
John.
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Date: 23 Aug 2006 10:32:25
From: Ryan Case
Subject: Re: Equipment ?
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> I definitely prefer
> all-barley ales to wheat beers, Belgians, or lagers, so I doubt that I
> would
> be making any different beers than I do now.
>
Sounds oh so familiar. I am just not a fan of beers with wheat in them
for some reason.
Ryan
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