7 replies to this topic

[DaBearSox]

So my GFs soon to be brother-in-law has expressed that he wants to get into beer brewing as I have. My GFs Mom said she wants to get him that stuff for Xmas, so she asked me to explain what he will need. God, is this a hard thing to explain...I mean 3+ years ago I started on the Mr. Beer kit and went on from there...thousands of dollars later I got beer equipment all over the house. Here is what I sent her in an email.

OK!So where to start. It all really depends on how much he wants to start with. It becomes quite the expensive little hobby, I have spent plenty on equipment over the last few years. The kit that Lora got me was called Mr. Beer. Basically it was a small little kit with crappy equipment that used crappy ingredients and left you with sub par beer.Mr. Beer KitThe good thing about that kit is that it is beyond simple and it gets you to learn the process of brewing beer. It is also a 2.5 gallon fermenter rather than a 5 gallon so it takes up less space. This would be an idea if all he wants is to understand the process first to see if he wants to get into it or not.An absolute must is this book:How to BrewThis is basically the homebrewers bible. He will learn everything about it from this book.For equipment we'll first have to know if he has a big enough kettle yet. For 5 gallon batches he'll need a minimum of a 24 quart stock pot, either aluminum or stainless steel. I found my turkey fryer/pot combo on ebay for around 50 dollars. It is easier to brew outside on a turkey fryer hooked to propane rather than an electric stove. An electric stove will take a long time to heat up the liquid and does not achieve a rolling boil well enough. However he can choose to go smaller and add more water at the end to get to his target amount. Most of the next equipment can be found in starter kits that some homebrew shops compile. A very good homebrew shop that I have purchased from before is actually located in Austin. Here is the link:https://www.austinhomebrew.com/You may want to send Kathryn out there so she can talk to one of the guys there to see what all would be needed for their specific living quarters. Also this place would be a great resource to him for any questions he may have.The start kit that I would recommend is this one:Starter KitYou do not have to get the secondary fermentation vessel but it would be helpful if he chooses to get into it like me. For the first few batches though I would say skip the secondary fermentation vessel and just get him a bottling bucket with a spigot. That will give him almost everything he needs (equipment wise) to make his first batch.Other things he will need:BottlesKettleFunnel with strainerIngredient kitAustin homebrew also has a lot of ingredient kits that come prepackaged with everything he needs for a first batch. You can have Kathryn find out his favorite kind of beer and then ask for a kit for that style of beer. He will want to start out brewing with extract. These kits will give him a liquid malt extract rather than extracting the sugars from the grain directly as I do.It is a really hard to know what exactly he will need. It all depends on how much he wants to get into it or feels comfortable with starting out. You may want to get him that book so that he can read it before diving in and then maybe get him a gift certificate to Austin Homebrew supply.Or you could always start him out with the Mr. Beer kit like Lora did with me, it did give me an understanding of how the process works. What it also did was leave me wanting to be able to make better beer so now I have all the equipment that i have.Sorry if this sounds like a different language to you, its a hard topic to explain b/c there are a lot of bits and pieces that are needed for different steps in the process.Let me know if you need more help

Anyone have any other advice on getting a new person in that does not have any experience/equipment into it?

[Deerslyr]

So my GFs soon to be brother-in-law has expressed that he wants to get into beer brewing as I have. My GFs Mom said she wants to get him that stuff for Xmas, so she asked me to explain what he will need. God, is this a hard thing to explain...I mean 3+ years ago I started on the Mr. Beer kit and went on from there...thousands of dollars later I got beer equipment all over the house. Here is what I sent her in an email. Anyone have any other advice on getting a new person in that does not have any experience/equipment into it?

How about having her just get a gift certificate to one of the big internet suppliers (Austin Homebrew, Midwest, B3, etc.) with instructions to contact you for further advice? If he's in the area, could you help him out and "mentor" him on what he needs? Wouldn't want to have her spending $50+ on Mr. Beer if he stops using it after the 3rd or 4th batch (like me). Plus, the "kits" are, pound for pound, more expensive.

[DaBearSox]

How about having her just get a gift certificate to one of the big internet suppliers (Austin Homebrew, Midwest, B3, etc.) with instructions to contact you for further advice? If he's in the area, could you help him out and "mentor" him on what he needs? Wouldn't want to have her spending $50+ on Mr. Beer if he stops using it after the 3rd or 4th batch (like me). Plus, the "kits" are, pound for pound, more expensive.

Not a bad idea, but he is in Austin I am in Denver. I used my Mr. Beer kit for a good 6 months before I finally got a bigger fermentor. I would just scale down recipes to 2.5 gallons. It gave me ample time to learn processes. However I am trying to recommend a bigger starter kit with the 5 gallon bucket...

[Deerslyr]

Not a bad idea, but he is in Austin I am in Denver. I used my Mr. Beer kit for a good 6 months before I finally got a bigger fermentor. I would just scale down recipes to 2.5 gallons. It gave me ample time to learn processes. However I am trying to recommend a bigger starter kit with the 5 gallon bucket...

If he is in Austin... why didn't you say so??? She should just get him a Gift Certificate to Austin Homebrew and he can just walk into the store and talk to the guys there! He can give you a call before he goes in and you can talk to him about what he should pick up. The thing about Mr. Beer v. the 5 gallon kits (which we both figured out) is that it takes just as much time and effort to do the 2.5 gallons as it does a 5 gallon kit. And 2 cases will last much longer... just sayin...Sounds like he has access to an excellent shop and should take advantage of it. I would steer away from the Mr. Beer kit because once he decides he wants more, it's just not compatible with the bucket kits.

[DaBearSox]

If he is in Austin... why didn't you say so??? She should just get him a Gift Certificate to Austin Homebrew and he can just walk into the store and talk to the guys there! He can give you a call before he goes in and you can talk to him about what he should pick up. The thing about Mr. Beer v. the 5 gallon kits (which we both figured out) is that it takes just as much time and effort to do the 2.5 gallons as it does a 5 gallon kit. And 2 cases will last much longer... just sayin...Sounds like he has access to an excellent shop and should take advantage of it. I would steer away from the Mr. Beer kit because once he decides he wants more, it's just not compatible with the bucket kits.

Yea that's exactly what I recommended my GFs Mom do in the letter above. I brought up the Mr. Beer kit because that is how i started but I went about saying that it would not be the ideal way to start.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I started out with a basic kit (primary and bottling bucket) that included everything I needed to bottle some beer except for a kettle and empty bottles. I think everything else was covered. Starting with a kit like this is good b/c I used a lot of that original equipment even as I bought additional stuff to enhance my brewing. If he can get away with a cheap kettle for the first batch or two to make sure he likes the hobby I think this is the best way to go.edit: Austin HB seems like a great shop based on my internet experiences with them. Def send him there.

[Deerslyr]

Yea that's exactly what I recommended my GFs Mom do in the letter above. I brought up the Mr. Beer kit because that is how i started but I went about saying that it would not be the ideal way to start.

Ooops... if I had read the letter more closely, I would have seen that.Any idea what her budget is?

[DaBearSox]

Ooops... if I had read the letter more closely, I would have seen that.Any idea what her budget is?

Well it is her soon to be son-in-law so that bumps up her price range and she lives in Marin County...my guess would be in the 200-300 dollar range.