First Brew - Looking for advice & suggestions.

[Dale90]

So I have secured a cheap fridge and am finally ready to tackle my first brew. After hours of research I have decided on brewing FWK's at first and concentrating on getting fermentation and kegging right before jumping into all grain. My initial plan is to ferment (most likely under pressure?) and transfer to a keg and serve from the the keg. I am hoping this is not too much to bite off for a first timer.

I have put together a list of items I intend to buy from Kegland and am looking for some advice on if I am missing anything.

• 30L FermZilla All Rounder Pressure Brewing Kit​

• The Big Jumper (Closed Transfer Line Kit)​

• Bronco/Picnic Tap Starter Kit​

• CO2 cylinder​

• StellarSan Sanitiser 500ml​

• Home Brew Hydrometer - Specific Gravity​

• RAPT Temperature Controller​

• 30w Heating Wrap Mat​

• RAPT Pill - Hydrometer & Thermometer​

• Food Grade Lubricant - Haynes Lubri Film Plus 28g​

Any other tips or input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[An Ankoù]

Bottom line is, you don't need any of that expensive pressure fermentation and closed transfer kit unless you're going to start making NEIPAs from kits, which is probably not the best starting point for a beginner. A cheap plastic fermenter fitted with a tap and an airlock and length of tube would be perfectly good enough. It won't go to waste when you decide to upgrade either. The important thing is to get you brewing and sanitisation techniques sorted out. You certainly need a minimum of equipment for measurement and cleaning and also for kegging, but, on the whole, paying lots of money for flash gear isn't going to improve the quality of your beer. Some of the best beers in the world use open fermenters!
My advice, would be to hold on to your hard earned money, buy the kegging gear (I don''t see any kegs and regulators on your list, but I'm not familiar with Kegland names- maybe it's the Bronco) and do a few kits. When you're ready to go All Grain, decide whether you're going to go all-in-one or use a three-vessel system. I would say the pressure fermenter and closed transfer is the last thing you need. I've been brewing for 50+ years and never needed them, but I don't make or drink (or like) NEIPAs.
There you are, for what it's worth, mate. And good look with your first brews.

 

[Dale90]

Bottom line is, you don't need any of that expensive pressure fermentation and closed transfer kit unless you're going to start making NEIPAs from kits, which is probably not the best starting point for a beginner. A cheap plastic fermenter fitted with a tap and an airlock and length of tube would be perfectly good enough. It won't go to waste when you decide to upgrade either. The important thing is to get you brewing and sanitisation techniques sorted out. You certainly need a minimum of equipment for measurement and cleaning and also for kegging, but, on the whole, paying lots of money for flash gear isn't going to improve the quality of your beer. Some of the best beers in the world use open fermenters!
My advice, would be to hold on to your hard earned money, buy the kegging gear (I don''t see any kegs and regulators on your list, but I'm not familiar with Kegland names- maybe it's the Bronco) and do a few kits. When you're ready to go All Grain, decide whether you're going to go all-in-one or use a three-vessel system. I would say the pressure fermenter and closed transfer is the last thing you need. I've been brewing for 50+ years and never needed them, but I don't make or drink (or like) NEIPAs.
There you are, for what it's worth, mate. And good look with your first brews.

Thank you for the reply.
Yes the Bronco kit is a keg and regulator. I intend to brew lagers first but eventually would try to brew NEIPAs. I guess I had it in my head that it was advantageous to brew lagers under pressure.

 

[An Ankoù]

Thank you for the reply.
Yes the Bronco kit is a keg and regulator. I intend to brew lagers first but eventually would try to brew NEIPAs. I guess I had it in my head that it was advantageous to brew lagers under pressure.

Yeah, they ferment quicker and you can ferment them at a higher temperature (within reason) without getting the ester formation you'd expect at normal pressure. But considering you've got to lager (store) the beer for weeks or months anyway, I wonder if it's worth the expense, especially as you've got a fridge to ferment it in. Certainly many "industrial" lagers are fermented under pressure, but I think that;s a relatively modern thing.

 

[bradmcm]

Yeah, they ferment quicker and you can ferment them at a higher temperature (within reason) without getting the ester formation you'd expect at normal pressure. But considering you've got to lager (store) the beer for weeks or months anyway, I wonder if it's worth the expense, especially as you've got a fridge to ferment it in. Certainly many "industrial" lagers are fermented under pressure, but I think that;s a relatively modern thing.

Pressure fermentation is the solution to a problem that homebrewers don't have. Like you said it supresses ester formation that occurs in very tall fermenters (a few stories tall) and also saves some fermentation time which is useful in large commercial breweries so they can get more brews done in a week. Also to be truly effective you need to have the right strain, the right pressure and the right temperature. But you know, hobbyists feel good about spending money on gadgets they don't need and if all those toys contribute to their happiness then that's great for them.

 

[Nick the Knife]

As others have said BY FAR the biggest weak link in your end results will be YOU. And it will be this way for some time. So I can only advocate getting 'fancy gear' if knowing yourself far better than we do you, you're 100% certain you're going to need it & use it.

As while one can say it's wasteful to get fancier gear than you need - you might just know that this is what you'd feel better about and buying a cheap plastic bucket fermenter now for your initial first brews - will be wasteful as you know you'll be hankering for the 'fancier' gear in no time at all.

Depends on the spare funds you have in the big picture it might be peanuts and its true one might be better off having 'more' gear than they need than less. So really depends on whats right for you both now and moving forward.

Just be aware that there's a reason you see so much barely used home brew gear getting sold off - as folks buy up everything under the sun and THEN realise that regardless of if you're using a generic plastic fermenter or a $5k+ SS AIO system - there's a lot of cleaning, prep & elbow grease involved.

Personally I'd find a nearby member selling off their quality gear - or place a wanted ad up - snag everything you'll need at a huge discount to new prices and generally pick up a lot of knowledge in the process. But I'm a cheapass. Best of luck.

 

[HLBrew]

I'm inclined to agree with the other guys somewhat but for maybe some different reasons, however, an all rounder is a good purchase because you can ferment with or without pressure and it's much easier to clean than a conical. This will be important if and when you get your first spoiled batch and you're trying to work out what caused it. Not to mention the saving of elbow grease. What you can also do with a pressure fermenter, and what some craft brewery's do, is ferment without pressure until the final stages and then allow pressure build up towards the end and use that Co2 for carbonation. I think (and I'm not alone) that you get a slightly different mouthfeel from the natural carbonation than a forced carb. I've also heard some say that finishing the fermentation under pressure can be helpful in cleaning up diacetyl because it enables slightly higher fermentation temps. Useful for some beers and not others. Also, it's a hell of a lot easier to dry hop without pressure so keep that in mind if you get to doing that.

I disagree on the closed transfer comment though - oxygen is every beer's worst enemy. Certainly it's more of an issue for hoppier beers but it affects everything. It's easy to do a closed transfer and it's those little things that will get you closer to producing commercial quality beer. The only time you want oxygen anywhere near your beer is when you pitch your yeast then you should do everything you can to keep it away. Same with sunlight - be mindful of that with the allrounder. It can take as little as 30sec for sunlight to cause perceptable levels of trans-2-nonenal and turn your beer to wet cardboard.

I'm a big advocate of a rapt pill or similar, also saves some mucking around and reduces potential spoilage risks when monitoring your gravity. I wouldn't rely on it for your OG and FG readings but it gives a pretty accurate picture through the ferment.

Which ever way you go you're sure to enjoy it and produce plenty of tasty beers.

 

[Nick the Knife]

I was just checking some of the items and while valid cases can be made for using a basic fermenter, get better gear later the OP's allrounder kit is $100, so we're talking only $60 over a basic 30L fermenter - with a lot more functionality & future scope. Closed transfer kit is under $30.

My only suggestion would be the RAPT pill & controller ($70 & 100 respectively) - I can see that @HLBrew loves them but I'm not sold that knowing the gravity mid brew is really worth that cost, especially as you'll likely have a very good idea when your brew is finished & want to leave it on the yeast cake a few days extra to clean it up - there's no reason to rush to get it out of the primary.

Seems like a lot more potential issues over say a simple external temp controller - STC-1000 you wire up yourself for $15 or even a pre-done Inkbird one. Sometimes simple & bulletproof is better than something a tad flashier.

Small peanuts but if the brew is in the fridge and pitched at vaguely correct temps I dunno if you will need a heat mat - as it'll be exothermic during the ferment but depends on the style you're doing I suppose.

 

[Dale90]

I was just checking some of the items and while valid cases can be made for using a basic fermenter, get better gear later the OP's allrounder kit is $100, so we're talking only $60 over a basic 30L fermenter - with a lot more functionality & future scope. Closed transfer kit is under $30.

My only suggestion would be the RAPT pill & controller ($70 & 100 respectively) - I can see that @HLBrew loves them but I'm not sold that knowing the gravity mid brew is really worth that cost, especially as you'll likely have a very good idea when your brew is finished & want to leave it on the yeast cake a few days extra to clean it up - there's no reason to rush to get it out of the primary.

Seems like a lot more potential issues over say a simple external temp controller - STC-1000 you wire up yourself for $15 or even a pre-done Inkbird one. Sometimes simple & bulletproof is better than something a tad flashier.

Small peanuts but if the brew is in the fridge and pitched at vaguely correct temps I dunno if you will need a heat mat - as it'll be exothermic during the ferment but depends on the style you're doing I suppose.

I think I am sold on the all-rounder. Like you said its not that much more than a basic fermenter. I will do my first few brews without pressure fermenting. Maybe I will never move on to pressure fermenting, but I'm happy to pay the extra now and have the option.

Likewise the heat mat is only $10, I thought I'd chuck it in just in case.

The temperature controller and the pill I guess there are cheaper options. The thinking behind the pill was that it would assist me with working out when fermentation was complete. The fact that it linked up with the temperature controller a bonus.