tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2510602155400642279.post4660111148771709876..comments2023-05-07T06:09:40.880-06:00Comments on DEAD MAN DANCE: Layman's Beer Making: Boiling to Fermentationbluesunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11995973825892791271noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2510602155400642279.post-66040245003331160362011-02-17T11:45:51.582-07:002011-02-17T11:45:51.582-07:00Nancy, we bought the fancier kit from our local ho...Nancy, we bought the fancier kit from our local homebrew store--I think it was around $150. It came with the SS pot, two food-grade buckets (one with a spigot on the bottom, makes for easier bottling), a 6.5 gallon glass carboy, a siphon, a standing bottler, and various and assorted bits and pieces. We also bought some bottles to start off with, but you can reuse pop-top glass beer bottles from beer you get at the store. <br /><br />I think for the actual ingredients, a batch can run anywhere from $20-$60, depending on if you are using grains that you already had on hand, and how elaborate your recipe is. But remember you are getting roughly 5 gallons of beer!<br /><br />If you don't have a local homebrew shop (though they are actually surprisingly common), I would recommend morebeer.com or midwest brewing supplies. They both have kits of different sizes.<br /><br />mupedalpusher, that kit looks about like mine, but with the smaller bottler and no stainless steel pot. If you already have a large pot, like a ceramic-coated canner (make sure there are no chips in the ceramic, else the hops will dissolve the metal below it), you should be fine with that kit. Looking at the two websites I mentioned above, I can see kits ranging from ~$60 up to ~$450! So hopefully there is something in there for everyone's budget.<br /><br />Also, I would recommend using a kit for your first batch, which should walk you through step by step with it's own specific instructions. Once you get a couple batches under your belt I think very highly of the book "Radical Brewing" (I rated it 43256/10 in last year's "Books of 2010"!).<br /><br />Yikes, that was a lot of writing! Hope it helps!bluesunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11995973825892791271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2510602155400642279.post-74706063647065827662011-02-17T11:28:58.658-07:002011-02-17T11:28:58.658-07:00Hubby's is 50th next month and since I already...Hubby's is 50th next month and since I already gave him his big gift (iphone) for Valentines day, I was considering getting him started at beer making. Is this a good starter kit:<br />http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-kit.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2510602155400642279.post-18195478182552150042011-02-17T11:14:32.209-07:002011-02-17T11:14:32.209-07:00Very helpful. It's something I've thought ...Very helpful. It's something I've thought about trying, but I didn't really want to go to the effort of doing any research. Do you have a ball-park figure as to how much the equipment costs?Nancy R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13088583590240745542noreply@blogger.com