Greetings from Louisville!

[mbeck]

Hello!

We tried brewing an altbier once about 10 yrs ago. Sadly, it didn't turn out well. Likely due to us not knowing what we were doing. We've been toying with the idea of brewing again.

So I was curious about some of the equipment available now. I was hoping to find a way to be able to experiment with recipes, but with more efficient equipment. So I looking for recommendations. What are the pros and cons of what is available?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

welcome, well depends on your budget and space really, most here will say go with brew in a bag and a propane burner set up if trying all grain but first how big or small are you will to go?

 

[CRUNK]

Welcome to the forums I agree with Ozark you really need to figure out what your budget is first a small recommendation if you have a home brew shop near you that has high turnaround rate the kids nowadays are worth trying to see if you even like Brewing and they're very inexpensive if it turns out okay and you enjoy it then you can figure out what your budget is and look into building a system

 

[jmcnamara]

Agreed. You probably have a stock pot laying around already. For probably less than 50 bucks, you can get the ingredients and other equipment you need to make a 1 or 2 gallon batch

 

[mbeck]

welcome, well depends on your budget and space really, most here will say go with brew in a bag and a propane burner set up if trying all grain but first how big or small are you will to go?

We would like to do 5 gal at a time. I was reading about some of these indiegogo and kickstarter launches. Have you used any of the temperature controlling devices? Do they work?

Do you have any pointers on how to reduce the brew time? Taking a whole day was tough when we tried before.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

so your thinking all grain?
if you were near by I would build you one. but just to clarify something they don't tell you on those new set ups, most are geared for European 230 volt and thats a big difference than the 120V here, the time to heat up would make you mad using them with a 120V plug in,

I use the 240V home made set up my self and it requires a 30 amp spa panel and GFI plug to run it, you could use a drier outlet only as a last resort but you will not be happy with the 120V versions and I would not recommend one for wanting to save time

 

[Mase]

Welcome! Great group of very helpful folks around here as you can already tell. Like Jmacnamara said, if you've got a stock pot around the house and a Brewing starter kit, you'll be off and running. Here's one from Northern Brewer (5 gallon batch kit) for $180.00 and comes with your choice of an extract brewing kit. I bought this package and the great thing about it is its scale-ability. I got the kit and it came with the Caribou Slobber and we just finished that beer last week.

 

[mbeck]

so your thinking all grain?
if you were near by I would build you one. but just to clarify something they don't tell you on those new set ups, most are geared for European 230 volt and thats a big difference than the 120V here, the time to heat up would make you mad using them with a 120V plug in,

I use the 240V home made set up my self and it requires a 30 amp spa panel and GFI plug to run it, you could use a drier outlet only as a last resort but you will not be happy with the 120V versions and I would not recommend one for wanting to save time

Did you use induction with your homemade set up? What all did you add into your setup?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I would first try some extract kits, doing a partial boil, their really not bad at all, get a cheap 5 gallon pot and just use a campden tablet for the chlorine on the stove or even an induction burner

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

oh I have an advanced herms 3 pot system worth about 3K not for the beginner

 

[CRUNK]

I myself am pretty partial to the blichmann products, but the prices are not cheap. Just the temp controller for the tower of power is nearly $600.00

 

[Mase]

I myself am pretty partial to the blichmann products, but the prices are not cheap. Just the temp controller for the tower of power is nearly $600.00

Love me the Blichmann products, but took a different path for now, with the exception of my Hellfire burner (loving it). Purchased the Spike Brewing brew kettle and a Cooler/Mash Tun and just ordered the parts to upgrade my SS stock pot (5.5) gallon with a three piece ball valve and a thermometer.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I'd say I've got the DIY poor mans version a keg with ball valve and gas burner doing biab all in the one vessel a great way to learn the craft and cheap as chips.

If you know where to look you can even get your kegs for free.

Not that I did...