Just starting off...

[Hillsey]

Hi Everyone,
After a long wait, I am finally going to start some brewing. I want to do all grain and keg it. Can anyone give me some suggestions for getting started and what equipment I need to start buying? I'm looking at purchasing a Grain Father system and also a Kegerator... any thoughts? I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks.

 

[wereprawn]

Those Grain Father gismo's all but drink the beer for you i think Hillsey. :chug:

 

[slcmorro]

Grainfather, Hot Water Urn (for sparging) and a chest freezer that holds 3+ kegs plus a CO2 bottle, reg and even just a picnic tap and you're laughing.

 

[HBHB]

+1 if you're thinking of going down that track.

If not, an urn a bag and a few bits n pieces and you're right to go with BIAB. There's lots of ways to get started & you're in the right place for help along the way.

Welcome to brewing.

 

[MartinOC]

If you're just starting, I'd suggest investing in a LOT in yourself by reading & learning as much as you can. Knowledge will make you better beer than spending a lot on equipment first-up.

There's plenty to get your teeth stuck-into around here. Any questions, ask away! Always folks around here willing to help-out.

Welcome to the Vortex! :beerbang:

 

[GalBrew]

All you have to do is read. I would start with How to Brew by John Palmer. Sure it is a touch out of date, but it will give you a good grounding in the basics if home brewing. Brewers Publications have am extensive list of great books and of course AHB is a great resource. Grain and Grape also do brew demos.

Take your pic. I read and researched for about a year before I did my first BIAB. There are many ways to skin a cat.

Oh, and be prepared to spend a bit of cash.

 

[Blind Dog]

You can start out in all grain for under $100 for a 19L Big W pot, sheet of Swiss voile from Spotlight, HDPE cube (which can double as your fermenter), silicon hose, bottles and ingredients for a brew or two.

You could spend $6000 on a BM, fridges, kegs, taps, CO2 etc

Or just about any point in between

On the assumption you have the budget to start with the set up in your 1st post, it looks a pretty good way to go. Make sure you get proper ball lock kegs as you should be able to get 3 in a kegerator, but only 2 pin locks.

My advice would be to visit a site sponsor or reputable home brew shop with a decent range that includes the kit you have your eye on to talk through what you're after. They may even be able to demonstrate if you call ahead

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Buy a GOOD grain mill. Spend the money once and once only. They can be a big ticket item but a good mill will out last every other piece of brewing equipment

Or you could build one, they are not as complicated as you would think.

The next best thing to owning a mill is to get your grain pre-crushed from a decent home brew supply place. Some will make up a grain bill to your recipe and crush it all for you. This will make it easy to try new recipeis with having to buy larger amount singularly

 

[Nizmoose]

I'm apocalyptically jealous about the amount of money you're able to put in the brewing envelope

 

[marksy]

Make sure you are able to make good beer first, its a big cost buying all that gear only to make beer that taste bad.


You can buy kits from your local HB shop, that will include bottle capper, caps, fermenter, a brew kit, sugar, yeast, instructions, thermometer, bottle brush.

Less then 150bks mostly.

 

[seamad]

fermentation fridge

 

[brewermp]

My advice is to not start brewing....



Until you have done some reading.. If you don't take the time to learn about beer brewing you may face throwing out beer and get sick of the hobby really quick.. Read, brew, read then brew best advice I can give.

Also there is too much things to learn to cover in one post.

John palmers free book is the best for noobies

 

[beercus]

You need to start off slow and work your way up. Go buy a brewing kit from your local HBS. Do a few kit and kilos, then go buy a 20 L big W pot and do some extracts. This will teach you good processes including cleaning, bottling etc. once you have done that then move onto all grain.... And then to kegging. This should be a good 6-12 month process.

I do not think there are fast tracks in this game...

Beercus

 

[superstock]

As seamad implied----------- a fermentation fridge----------hard to make good beer consistently without one, or 2.

 

[droid]

a buddy system would be nice for new brewers at each level or moving from one level to the next, like they do for the preps in their first year at school. they get an older buddy to kind of look after them a bit and sit with them to complete tasks etc - very god <edit> make that "good" transitional tool

unfortunately I don't have enough brain cells to set up such a thing

but there are plenty of intelligent/organised people on here with plenty of knowledge, even just a brew day buddy to check over things would be cool

 

[stux]

I would skip the K&Ks.

If you wanted to make beer without making wort first then go for FWK (fresh wort kit)

Otherwise, sure grab a grainfather, be aware that making good beer is possible, but not automatic

 

[Nizmoose]

I would also agree skip kit and kilo, I skipped it and the only difference is that I didn't make a few average beers before my first great one. A good start IMO is to grab a hopped kit and do a boil with only flavour and/or aroma additions. It gets you used to the boil and chill procedure as well as hopping and I also think adding some specialty grain is a good idea. You can do the whole thing in a 6L pot on the stove and it makes great beer. Coopers Pale Ale hopped tin (international series) is a great base for that kind of thing. Before you do this, as others have said, read, read, read. Knowing the ins and outs of the process makes the doing sooooo much easier.

Heres the first beer I ever made, its simple easy and made a great beer, to put it into perspective I started in April 2014 and did my first All grain batch in November, it doesnt take long to progress.

21L Batch
200g Crystal 60L
Coopers Pale Ale tin (1.7kg)
500g coopers LDME
350g Dextrose (not entirely neccesary)
Us-05 dry yeast
20g Cascade @ 5 mins

this was a cracker of a beer and was made in well under two hours, get 3L of water to 70C, steep your grain for 20 minutes, remove the grain bag, bring it to a boil, chuck your cascade in, boil for 5 minutes, done. If you have any questions regarding the recipe or process then it means you haven't done enough reading to start. Make sure that before you start your first batch you have not one question about ingredients, why theyre used and how, the process, when to do things and why or the equipment, what you need and when.

 

[TheWiggman]

If you haven't already find someone in your area who does all grain - regardless of how - and spend a brew day with them. You'll have a much clearer picture on which path you want to head down and the basic techniques by doing this.

 

[Blind Dog]

This: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/38674-move-to-all-grain-for-thirty-bucks/

and this: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/60922-2-pot-stovetop-ag-with-lauter/ (but with only 1 pot as my stove onyl has 1 decent element)

are what got me back into brewing after a very long hiatus.

Both are cheap as chips, both are simple, both are able to produce excellent wort and either one is likely to start you off on the slippery slope to brewing addiction.

You can ask your grain supplier to mill the grain for you until you can afford / want your own mill

You will need to sort out a decent method to keep the fermenter stable at 19C ish for ales or 10Cish for lagers. A fridge and temp controller is ideal and probably necessary for lagers, but a $4 bunning's flexi tub with water and with ice bottles changed twice daily saw me through last summer in Sydney.

If you have any doubts, then I just reckon you're better off starting simple and cheap, learning as much as possible, working out what you like to brew and why (e.g. for comps or for yourself), working out exactly what you want to achieve and how involved you want to be in each aspect of brew day and later, then buying the big stuff just once. If a $19 stock pot or $15 Bunnings bucket become obsolete, i doubt you'd care, but it'll presumably be a different story for a $1000 grainfather.

And jumping straight to all-grain shouldn't be an issue, so long as you learn about each process first and carefully apply that knowledge

Whatever route you take, enjoy. Its fun

 

[moodgett]

I would also agree skip kit and kilo, I skipped it and the only difference is that I didn't make a few average beers before my first great one. A good start IMO is to grab a hopped kit and do a boil with only flavour and/or aroma additions. It gets you used to the boil and chill procedure as well as hopping and I also think adding some specialty grain is a good idea. You can do the whole thing in a 6L pot on the stove and it makes great beer. Coopers Pale Ale hopped tin (international series) is a great base for that kind of thing. Before you do this, as others have said, read, read, read. Knowing the ins and outs of the process makes the doing sooooo much easier.

Heres the first beer I ever made, its simple easy and made a great beer, to put it into perspective I started in April 2014 and did my first All grain batch in November, it doesnt take long to progress.

21L Batch
200g Crystal 60L
Coopers Pale Ale tin (1.7kg)
500g coopers LDME
350g Dextrose (not entirely neccesary)
Us-05 dry yeast
20g Cascade @ 5 mins

this was a cracker of a beer and was made in well under two hours, get 3L of water to 70C, steep your grain for 20 minutes, remove the grain bag, bring it to a boil, chuck your cascade in, boil for 5 minutes, done. If you have any questions regarding the recipe or process then it means you haven't done enough reading to start. Make sure that before you start your first batch you have not one question about ingredients, why theyre used and how, the process, when to do things and why or the equipment, what you need and when.

+1

Another tried and tested kits and bits recipe is dr smurtos golden ale kits version. That was my second ever beer I made and it set in concrete that making your own great tasting beer is possible (my first attempt was bigw tin and kilo sugar and was woeful) great recipe, easy process and starts giving you an understanding of why boil, hop additions etc. I think the main thing is getting a beer that isnt going to fail and put off a new brewer and learning the steps without throwing yourself in the deep end.