15 replies to this topic

[Nianticcardplayer]

Hello All; I am new to this whole home brewing concept.....I have tried home brew in the past and some tasted good and some tasted like pretty darned bad......I was recently sent a catalog from Williams home brewing and they were advertising the following set up.....https://www.williams...T_P2355C257.cfmLooking at it it seems to have everything one needs minus bottles which I am planning to recycle some Michelob pry off's from the wheat sampler I have.....The questions I have are is this a good first set up? If there was one thing that should be changed what would it be (bigger pot?) and was thinking either the summer ale or watermelon ale for a first brew.Any help is greatly appreciated.. Ron

[pods8]

If you're not the type to want to piece things together then is seems reasonable. There are likely cheaper ways to do it but if you are comfortable spending the dough on this it seems fine. It would take some reading/research to figure out the exact specific components that would work best for you to compile. The pot is a bit small if you wanted to go all grain over 5gal but its not bad if you stay small. Even if you do go bigger you can always use it for an HLT.Edit: I highly recommend getting some star san for sanitizer, I imagine it would help out a lot of new brewers "problems".

[CaptRon]

Hello All; I am new to this whole home brewing concept.....I have tried home brew in the past and some tasted good and some tasted like pretty darned bad......I was recently sent a catalog from Williams home brewing and they were advertising the following set up.....https://www.williams...T_P2355C257.cfmLooking at it it seems to have everything one needs minus bottles which I am planning to recycle some Michelob pry off's from the wheat sampler I have.....The questions I have are is this a good first set up? If there was one thing that should be changed what would it be (bigger pot?) and was thinking either the summer ale or watermelon ale for a first brew.Any help is greatly appreciated.. Ron

That will definitely get you started. That pot should be a good size for a kettle, 32qts is 8 gallons so that will give you additional head space during the boil to help prevent boil-overs. I started out with a 30qt and it was fine, so 32 would be even better.As for the recipe, I would suggest to keep your first few one something straight forward and simple. Like a Pale Ale, or a Red or something like that. But if you want to do that watermelon ale, that is a wheat ale and you can expect to have big krausen production, and might want to consider getting a blow-off tube instead of an airlock so you don't end up cleaning beer off your ceiling, wall, carpet, etc. as the wheat beers tend to go a little crazy the first couple of days of fermentation.Best advice I can give, is to expect bumps in the road but don't get discouraged. It is a great hobby that provides a great end result. Plus you came to the right place, all the guys here are great at helping out with problems.

[zymot]

That looks like a complete kit to me. You can shop around and see what else you might get for your (roughly) $200 investment.I can vouch for Williams Brewing as for a place to buy from. There are others on line. Always put shipping costs in your decision process.Also look around and see if you have a Local Home Brew Shop, AKA LHBS. To have somebody you can call up or talk to face to face is valuable too.I suggest getting one of 2 books:The Complete Joy of Home Brewing, by Charlie PapazianHow to Brew by John Palmer. (you can read the first edition free at howtobrew.com)Either of these books will let you know what you are in for and what equipment you might need. They both have a "Your first batch of beer" chapters that walk you through the basics. For a beginner either book will get you through your first handful of batches.Papazian does a good job a making homebrewing an easy process and makes it less intimidating.The Palmer book goes deeper into the more advanced homebrewing subject.zymot

[chadm75]

and was thinking either the summer ale or watermelon ale for a first brew.Any help is greatly appreciated.. Ron

I too would suggest a very simple recipe. Don't know what's all in your summer ale there but may I suggest a blonde, pale, or cream ale as your first batch? You have to work at it to screw these up!Brew on!

[DuncanDad]

For a first batch I would recommend getting a pre-made recipe kit from one of the online places.That gets your feet wet, (or your whistle as it were).From there, you can grow into adding grains to extract and finely, over to the "Dark Side".I started with a couple of buckets and extract kits and moved on to partial mashes and now, I'm up to 10 gallon whole grain batches and making my own recipes.It's a great hobby that keeps you out of the bars.With "good beer" running 1.50-2.00 a bottle, you might even save a bit of coin along the way.A 10 gallon batch costs me about 40.00. The same amount of beer will run over 120.00.

[Deerslyr]

Initially I was thinking that it was a bit steep in price... nearly twice what I paid. But then mine didn't come with a pot or an IC. I suppose that between the two items, they can justify the price. I agree that you should keep it simple first time out the gate. What you want to do the first time is get your "process" down. Take notes. Figure out where you had issues and where you didn't. (i.e., what went well and where did you think you screwed up) When you have gotten that first session under the belt and you aren't sure of something, come back HERE and ask questions. We are the MOST helpful board out there on the net.

[djinkc]

Good advice above. That seems like a decent setup to start with. If you are any kind of a DIYer, a lot of that can be made for less. But if you're itching to get started or don't like to tinker a bit go ahead and buy it. One thing I would suggest is trying to find someone to watch brewing. Or even split a batch if someone around is willing and has a 10 gal system. IIRC May 2nd is big brew day and there may be a group brewing where you are.It can be done by just reading about it but it's easier watching once or twice. And it might give you some ideas and rethink if the equipment in that kit is what you want.If you put a little more info in your profile you might find a member that lives close by or a local club that's close. Have fun with it

Edited by dj in kc, 20 April 2009 - 03:18 PM.

[Cliff Claven]

I'll second DJ's comment about putting a location in your profile. Someone may be able to set you up with a brewday or tell you where a LHBS may be. I would call Williams and see what they would charge to upgrade the capper from the wing style to the bench style. Either kit you suggested look good for a first brew. My concern would be with the watermelon. Sometimes the flavorings are not the best. Go with the Summer Ale 1st, then the watermelon.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Welcome to the board!! I think that kit looks really reasonable especially for a beginner as well. I did some searching of some of the bigger homebrew places, morebeer, midwest, northern brewer and this kit seems to offer the most for the cheapest price. I think its really great that it comes with in Immersion chiller and hey if you think you are happy brewing 5 gallon batches even with all grain an 8 gallon pot will do good. Hey the kettle even has a ball valve, now I am not a pumps and such guy but that is an advantage too in case you take off in that direction. I think DJ gives great advice about watching someone else brew and the others have as well. I think its a good starter kit, if you think you are really going to stick it out then $180ish is a pretty good price. Good Luck, let us know what you do too.

[djinkc]

Tell me you have it ordered

[Nianticcardplayer]

No have not ordered it yet...I am in the process of looking at some of the other beers, the guys have listed....I was leaning towards the summer ale because at least according to the williams site its a beginner to intermediate and the watermelon was listed as a beginner as well. I will check the other's though.Ron

[chuck_d]

I used to tell people to get Papazian's book, now I recommend Palmer's as the first book for a new brewer. I usually recommend they buy two books, one How to Brew, and one recipes book. I now recommend Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil & Palmer as the second book to pick up for new brewers. As for ingredient kits, I don't know if they've changed their policy, but Williams Brewing doesn't include a list of their ingredients, so I don't recommend them because you are limited in what you can learn. Other places will tell you what's in the recipe packages so you can learn more quickly the influences of different ingredients.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Don't worry about the recipe too much, check the recipe forum there are a bunch of good ones and they are not that hard to follow. I am just about done making my first beer and it was easy enough, putting things in at the right time and temp is about all there is to it on brew day and the recipe should tell you all of that. Make sure you get fresh yeast, or dried yeast. Don't worry about starters first the first time either.+1 on John Palmers book.+1 on getting star san (get a squirt bottle for it, it makes sanitation super easy)I wish I had seen that kit when I bought equipment, I need a bigger pot.Cheers,Rich

[DubbelEntendre]

For what you are getting, the price tag is very reasonable. If you are unsure of whether or not you are going to enjoy making beer, it might be a bit of an investment. I stepped into the hobby starting off with a basic kit and then cobbled my system together from there.+2 to "How to Brew" by John Palmer - I read half of that book before I even though about making my first batch. Then I re-read the "Your First Brew" Section.Welcome to the board.-Dubs

[earthtone]

...cobbled my system together from there.Welcome to the board.

+1 Ghetto brewing!!! That setup looks like a good middle of the pack place to start man, I'd add a better bottle or carboy later and a mashtun later.....etc. It's a good place to begin cobbling a system together!here's my system man, it's basically a couple bits more than what you are getting from the above link.