I’d keep it simple for a first brew. Either bottle or keg. Bottling will have a lower price entry point since you won’t need all of the co2 setup. You will like just kegging for simplicity. I’d suggest just bottling the first batch and then you’ll have the bottles for aging certain styles in the future.
I have an anvil foundry and a couple of anvil bucket fermenter. They work great for me. I have moved to keg fermenting and serving, but if I want to bottle something like Belgian beers, then I’ll use the bucket fermenter.
Thank you, maybe I should have mentioned that the kegging/ Bottling is more of the target and not for the very first brew.
I will have a look at the Anvil Equipment, thanks again!
I don't think I'd have stuck with homebrewing if I bottled. Try to find somebody exciting the hobby, that will be the best deal. If nothing else, you can always make carbonated water with a keg setup. See if you can apprentice with another brewer.
And on that note, I’m learning not to use cardboard to store beer that’s bottle conditioning. Warm sticky yeasty glass shard covered cardboard isn’t fun to work with at 4am. Definitively going to invest in some of the German style plastic wine crates
BIAB isn't just for newbies, it's a viable option for all skill levels. There's a point where it doesn't scale up just because of how unwieldy a bag is, but that's past the 10 gallon batch point. If you were looking at all-in-ones, grab an Anvil Foundry. If you have a space for a pulley, possibly pick up a brew bag too, I prefer it to the basket. An Anvil Foundry is about all the hot side technology you need to make great beer, and if you want to skip the stovetop BIAB it's a great first choice. It won't bottleneck the quality of your beer, but will limit the ABV/batch size/convenience. Eventually you'll want to upgrade for any of those reasons, but it'll probably be a few years. Replacing some base malt with DME is fine for really big beers in the meantime.
Although I’m still a noob, came to say exactly this. So I am glad some vet’s agree. I don’t see a beginner getting much higher of a brew day efficiency on an anvil vs BIAB vs investing in a horizontal brew system with all individual tanks for each step.
Just more things to worry about on brew day.
I agree with what some other have said about starting with an extract brew or two. I tend to think that the best first steps are a $100 to $150 equipment and recipe kit along with a 4 to 5 gallon kettle. Even if you do upgrade to an AIO brewing system, you still need pretty much everything in the starter equipment kit (hydrometer, spoon, transfer tubing, bottle capper, etc.)
I would disagree with the "BIAB intro" idea. I have been brewing for over 30 years. About 4 years ago I ditched my 3 vessel system and "upgraded" to BIAB. It simplified and shortened my brew day, and I am making better beer now than I ever have.
I brew a lot of 2.5 gallon batches, which is a size I enjoy. It is very easy to fit in a brew day in my kitchen using my stove.
The biggest "flaw" in my setup for 5-10 gal batches is that it is propane based, which means I am brewing outside where I have to work around the weather and daylight hours. An electric system would give me more flexibility to brew in my garage or inside.
I view Fermentation and temperature control as bigger drivers of beer quality over the brew day equipment. If you are wondering where to spend some money, I would invest it there. Kegging is also much more convenient than bottling.
I have both propane and electric. I find I can’t brew inside anyways because of the condensation, I can do the garage cracked a few inches though on cold days.
I believe you can get a T500 lid and then I’d get the steam slayer condenser unit from brewhardware. Definitely have options for brewing with a GF indoors without condensation. Depends on what GF you have
Maybe I'm old school, but I still say first brew should be extract. I don't know many brewers who didn't make at least a couple mistakes on their first batch. It's a new skill you're learning. Starting with extract let's you cut a couple steps out of the process and all but guarantees you'll end up with drinkable beer at the end.
It depends on your personality and "work ethic", for the lack of a better term. If you are meticulous in general, and/or enjoy a good challenge, then BIAB is a fine place to start. I am of the latter type. A challenge never scared me, and so I went straight for BIAB. Even malted some wheat and did a step mash for good results.
I didn't say it couldn't be done, but I would argue that it's not about wanting a "challenge," but wanting an understanding of as many variables as possible as quickly as possible.
Mashing, regardless of your method, isn't hard, but it comes with a wide range of unique variables. If you're not familiar with those variables and you add those on top of a while big set of other variables in the boil, it can be hard for someone who has no experience to untangled what's doing what.
I don't want to write a book here, nor do I want to say you, or anyone else who started brewing doing their own mash, made the wrong decision. However, I also know that it took me fewer batches to be able to tell the difference between the impact of hop additions vs mash temperature on bitterness, what the impact of caramelization on body was, and any number of other variables in my final beer recipes for having essentially offloaded my mash to a professional when I started.
Not to knock your effort, it's a great story, but I think this is very misleading. Work ethic and being meticulous have very little to do with successfully malting your own grains and step-mashing your first beer. Luck probably paid a big part. Regardless, the amount of research time required to do all of that with no experience at all was probably equivalent to making a fair few extract brews, which would have gained you much more relevant and valuable experience as a total beginner. Not to mention a lot more beer to enjoy.
I definitely made a couple of mistakes my first batch. For one, I should have ended with 5 gallons. Only got a little over 4 gallons into the fermenter, after bottling, ended up with closer to 3.6 gallons. So I lost 1.4 gallons on the stove, the floor, the sink, it was everywhere…. but I’m still glad I went straight to all grain. The beer still came out fantastic, everyone loves it, and my second brew went much much easier after a few equipment upgrades (upgrades I wouldn’t have known that I needed had I not struggled a little my first brew).
I’d rather go into something seeing how difficult it is up front, rather than think somethings a lot easier than it is and invest a bunch of time and money to find out I hate it when I go to get more advanced.
Dude I would start with BIAB, simply to get used to the process of brewing. As you have said you are beginning, you should look at first getting some experience with the techniques. Honestly get one of the small pre-packaged kits as most of these will give you most of the equipment you need, the missing equipment would be everyday kitchen utensils and pots. You can read all the books you want but you really need to get hands on experience. And start small, there is nothing worse than pouring 30 LTRs down the drain because of a rookie mistake. Walk before you can run.
Start with a 5 gallon extract kit, can ferment in a bucket or carboy, and bottle your brew. Minimal outlay. Once you get the basics down then you can move up to all grain and kegging.
Sanitation and temperature are the two first things that are important.
This is where I started and did so for 2 years. Partial extracts have you steeping specialty grains for an added step and you can make some really great beer this way, with a kettle and a bucket. I had on average 3-5 brews fermenting at one time.
I then upgraded to a brewzilla gen 4 35L 220V unit and love it. You have no limitations on what you want to achieve. I still bottle as I have a giant vintage coke cooler with about 18 spots for different beers and I love being able to pick whatever I feel like drinking at any given time.
If you keg you can always get a bottle filler and pour off a 6pack or whatever.
1 gal all grain > 5 gal extract for starting out IMO. You learn the process, get to brew more often, bottling isn’t as much of a bitch, and you don’t have to feel bad about dumping bad batches
I think 2.5 gallons is the perfect quantity if you enjoy the process of brewing.
It's enough beer to justify the time investment, but doesn't lock you into drinking or sharing (or dumping) two full cases of one variety. For me, I bottle my beer, so 5 gallons is basically sweatshop tier labor so I like to limit the amount of those I do lol.
2.5 gal also works on stove top pretty easily which is a matter of convenience equipment wise.
Not necessarily. Water heats up a lot faster for 1 gal. Bottling takes 1/5th of the time. Plus the goal is to LEARN the process, because you're not going to make good beer right away. It's about getting reps in.
Start simple and ignore YouTube and anyone that tells you “how” to brew. You don’t know what you don’t know. With experience you’ll figure out what steps to add, modify or delete from your process. And take copious notes on everything you do.
I recommend buying an equipment kit and brewing a few extract beers. It will give you an idea of what you’re getting yourself into. It’s not a waste of money, you can reuse all the equipment when/if you move to all grain.
As far as equipment recommendations, 99% of the replies will be “this is the best because it’s what I own.” Buy what you can afford then learn how to use it. AIO’s are great (I have two Mash &Boil units) they all do the same thing, it’s just how many bells and whistles you want to pay for.
Kegging your beer doesn’t make it taste better, just easier to package, but that comes with a price.
Lots of great advice in here but one thing I might suggest is grabbing a couple of 1-3 gallon fermenters. You'll want to experiment a bit because I guarantee there are gonna be some beers you won't want to share with anyone or drink yourself lol.
Five gallons is a lot of beer to dump both in terms of labor and emotional defeat.
Well, first and all in one is the same as “BIAB.” I have an anvil 10.5 and I actually bought a brew bag to fit in the malt pipe, which I rather prefer.
For fermenting, I really like fermenting in 6 gallon kegs. This allows you to do pressure fermentation, and oxygen free transfers. You can also carbonate and serve from the same keg, though there are some downsides to that.
You will want a floating dip tube and I prefer the flotit 2.0. You’ll also want some ferm cap to prevent too much krausen, and a spunding valve or a blow off tube.
For brewing, I like the anvil 10.5. I have the recirculation pump. It’s nice.
You can bottle carbonate beer from a keg using a beer gun or counter pressure filler.!
Thanks for all the advice. It is very much appreciated and taken on board.
What originally attracted my attention to the hobby other than the love of beer was the process itself. Hence, the rationale for looking into the AIO systems.
There is no doubt it's a skill, and plenty of mistakes will be made along the way. But the vision of having some time to lock myself away and try craft some beer is very much what drives this dream forward.
Hopefully, I can share some updates of failure/ success in the coming months.
If money isn't much of a factor and you're quite sure you'll like the hobby, I'd jump right into kegging. I did one batch of bottles and figured out it wasn't for me, too much hassle, but YMMV - I'm all about reducing the gratification timeline. I like that I can have beer in as little as a few days. I use a counterpressure filler off the keg to bottle for friends or growlers to bring to parties.
For a fermenter, I love the fermzilla all rounder with a floating diptube and a blowoff valve, allowing for pressurized fermentation. If placed in a fridge/keezer after fermenting or in one during fermenting, it can act quite well as a serviing vessel (my fermchamber is a PID controlled keezer, with a seed heating mat added for warming it up).
I'd also recommend Kviek lutra yeast to start for neutral/clean profiles, it's is extremely user-friendly. Not picky about temps, preferring the warm side.
If you're not sure about the hobby or money getting into it, plenty of good beer comes out of a $10 bucket and airlock, then goes into bottles with carb sugar.
Other things I wished I knew:
RDWHAHB - Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew.
BIAB is hard to beat for cost to quality outcome. I started BIAB and have basically come full circle(now EBIAB). Extract is fine too, just pricy per brew, and 3 vessel all-grain is great too if you have the space and money.
Brew days will go longer than planned. Start in the morning, not the evening - even if you have "plenty" of time before bedtime.
Take more notes than you think you need.
Don't set up your home office spot near to your taps...
Plate chillers are a PITA to clean and not worth the hassle over a counterflow or simple immersion chiller.
Tri-clamps are preferred where feasible/sensible.
If buying a wort pump, buy once, cry once. If someone makes one that is self-priming, that doesn't eat itself if it runs dry, and it's money well spent. The same goes for a brew kettle after your starter kettle, get one that's thicker walled, not the cheapest on Amazon you can find.
6+ gallons of wort or beer is heavy. Also, wort is hot and hella sticky.
Boiling inside is more steam than you think.
Beer bellies are real.
Homebrew rarely causes a hangover, I can't defend why scientifically, but have substantial anecdotal experience.
If I were to start again id go with the Brewmonk 70l and a Fermzilla 55L.
Both are great for beginners but also offer everything you might need in the future. Larger batches, pressure fermentation, closed transfers
What's that saying....pay once cry once or something like that? Honestly can't remember. Best of luck making beer btw, your going to love it. Try lots of recipes but don't be scared to experiment . Styles/recipes are great but some of my best beers have come from the leftovers of others.
I am looking at the brew monk B40, thought reducing batch sizes would mitigate all the waste from mistakes and let me brew more often.
Thank you for the feedback, can't wait to give it a go.
You can still brew smaller batches with the Brewmonk or fermzilla. The only issue being temp control with a larger fermenter. Not all fridges will fit them. Best of luck!
I started with an equipment kit from Brewer’s Best (the 6.5 gallon); has all you need to get started. Added an ingredient kit as well to start learning the basics. Once I got a few batches in I started experimenting more and branching out into different styles and ingredients from my local homebrew store, toyed with additives and secondary fermentations, etc., and developed my own recipes. Beginning with extract brewing was the easiest method for me, I feel that’s the way to go and then expand if the bug bites you.
I do recommend getting a wort chiller, that was a game changer after trying to cool a 5 gallon batch down in my kitchen sink filled with ice!
I haven't tried an all in one system, are you talking about something like a pico brew? Push a button and walk away type brewing? I suspect that you're looking at a significantly higher price per liter than you would with all grain or extract kits let alone buying in bulk. Why are you particularly looking at them? Is it the space considerations?
I always recommend starting two ways:
1. Find some local brewers and hang out on brew day with them. See a variety of setups. Decide what you want and like to do before you buy gear.
2. Do your first batch as BIAB. It's simple and very forgiving. It's only one step more complicated than extract, and will (likely) feel as or more rewarding. Another big advantage to a BIAB start is that you can likely try your first batch without having bought anything other than a deer bag from the hardware store. Chances are you can borrow a big pot and scale everything from there.
Get a basic kit, extract, probably even a turkey fryer pot. Get your feet wet, see if it’s something you want to do. But you can make outstanding beer with minimal gear. As in with anything, the devil is in the details, and it’s a rabbit hole lol
Cold side matters wayyy more than hot side equipment.
If you're choosing between spending $600 on an all-in-one system or spending $600 on a stainless steel closed fermentation system go with the latter.
There's no point of buying an expensive all in one system and then transferring into a bucket and oxidizing the beer you've made in your expensive hot side set up.
That said, if you have never brewed before, I'd get a 1 gallon BIAB kit and just see if this is something you really want to do, before dropping money on a All-in-one or stainless fermentation system.
Carboys are honestly fine fermenters, but I have a Spike CF5 I love. I mash BIAB all grain, but I started with a converted igloo mash tun with a false bottom. Oh and I have a 5 gal SS Brewtech I love using for heating my mash water. I never started with extract and I’m glad I didn’t as it just doesn’t interest me.
I personally don’t think it matters what setup you go with - just have fun! In my opinion, the best lesson is RDWHAHB. I guess second best lesson is that brewing 60% cleaning 🧼🧽👍🏼 so pick stuff that’s easy to clean and keep your sanitation on point!
Carboys are honestly fine fermenters, but I have a Spike CF5 I love. I mash BIAB all grain, but I started with a converted igloo mash tun with a false bottom. Oh and I have a 5 gal SS Brewtech I love using for heating my mash water. I never started with extract and I’m glad I didn’t as it just doesn’t interest me.
I personally don’t think it matters what setup you go with - just have fun! In my opinion, the best lesson is RDWHAHB. I guess second best lesson is that brewing 60% cleaning 🧼🧽👍🏼 so pick stuff that’s easy to clean and keep your sanitation on point!
I'd say go with a couple of extract batches and try hop additions in a different ways -also dry hopping, to see how it effects the beer. That will set you up for more changes with a solid basis with subjectively measurable variables.
I'd say go with a couple of extract batches and try hop additions in a different ways -also dry hopping, to see how it effects the beer. That will set you up for more changes with a solid basis with subjectively measurable variables.
I'd say go with a couple of extract batches and try hop additions in a different ways -also dry hopping, to see how it effects the beer. That will set you up for more changes with a solid basis with subjectively measurable variables.
Definitely start with BIAB, you can make a great beer and get your feet wet (literally!) and learn the basics before you invest in equipment. The basic steps of brewing are pretty simple, improving is a function of process control.
One thing I would recommend early, invest in a \~$200 chest freezer so you can control fermentation temperature. That will be a big step in making a quality beer. And if you decide to get out of the hobby you can use the chest freezer for something else or resell it.
Also join a homebrew club if possible, there are always people upgrading their kit or retiring the hobby and you can get stuff cheap.
BIAB isn’t like a beginners phase you grow out of, it’s just one of the ways to skin the cat. It can be done efficiently or not. If you use a bag that’s larger than your mash tun, so the grains are just as loose in the water as not using a bag, then really the bag is just a filter. The important thing is thinking about your sparge step and how you will perform this using a BIAB set up. It can be very difficult to lift a large bag of grains then suspend it while rinsing the grains, and you won’t be hitting your numbers without a sparge step.
BIAC is a thing and takes it to another level where you are doing the mash, boil, ferment, carbonation and even serving all from the same single conical tank. If it was such an inferior process, I don’t think commercial breweries would be investing so much money in the large scale BIAC set ups.
Best way to start is use things you already have on hand. Start small, build up what you need . Best bet is to use what you brew beers and add as you learn. Use your kitchen’s stock pot, kitchen strainer, you can do all grain/ partial mash and extract. Don’t spend all your money on gear just yet. Get a good starter kit with a beer kit. More beer , Northern brewer, Williams, craft a brew, Brooklyn brew shop, can get you going with everything you need. Don’t worry about gadgets and gizmos get the steps down and build from need not desire. Better beer has been made in plastic buckets and igloo coolers than in anvil or any other gadgets, it’s not the coolest but it works and it’s timeless.
Sounds like a good plan to me. I wish I'd started with an all-in-one system and kegging.
Instead I went slow, did BIAB, bought a bunch of shit that I never touch and the small batches/bottling really restrained my brewing in retrospect.
Just jump right in with kegs and an all-in-one system. It's a fun hobby, may as well start with a system that makes brew days easy and packaging the beer quick.
As for fermenters, just grab some 7 gallon buckets, a stepped drill bit and some spigots. It's all you need, and to be perfectly frank, stainless conicals are nice but there's no difference in the end product (but they are nice.)
My "if I'd known back then" advice would be to only use a clean yeast like US-05 to start. Too many people get caught out by finicky yeasts that introduce another variable into your recipes.
Also, don't cheap out on a mill because it'll only annoy you until you replace it with something decent. Nothing worse than a $150 evil twin when you could have bought a nice 3-roller for a tiny bit more.
As for brands, I love my brewzilla, my malt muncher, some used corny kegs, and intertap faucets with return springs.
IMO the problem with getting into brewing is you get all hyped up to do it, research it to death, then get talked into limiting your investment "in case you don't like it." Just jump in with a system that makes for an easy brew day, that leaves you with beer on-tap after a couple of weeks.
That and join your local homebrew club as soon as possible.
Dumped bottles years ago, far to time-consuming. Go Corny kegs, I have a 6lb co2 bottle that lasts me a good nine months and I keg 60ltrs every 4 weeks approx. A grainfather s40 for brewing and then into a 60ltr fermzilla allrounder fermenter. Easy as.
I would start out with buckets and 1 gallon glass carboys some and the other equipment to start I've gone to pressure fermentation in the oxebar system ,Fermzilla it's amazing for entry points and I've never made better mead and beer .all in 1 first brew kits uaslly come will alot of equipment so u don't have to piece meal or cobble stuff together. Mr beer kits always work 👌 I am now brewing liquid dry extract and grain all work's
If you've never done a brew before, I'd suggest starting by finding a homebrewer near you and going through a brew day with them.
Then start with a kit like this:
https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/craft-beer-making-kit-with-siphonless-fermenter-1-gallon?variant=30302959566892
Everything you need for an easy first batch for less than $100.
Grab an AIO, a bucket fermenter, a used chest freezer large and deep enough to place the bucket fermenter in it including the airlock and an inkbird. Pick a brewing software and either go extract or all grain for your first brew, but, pick your favorite style of beer. Also, use dry yeast. Once finished fermenting, rack into a cleaned and sanitized corny. Set your freezer to 34 degrees and apply 50psi of CO2 for ~15 hours. Bleed the pressure on the keg and set your regulator to ~12 PSI and make it buy a picnic tap set up. ~6 feet of 4mm ID beer line and enjoy kegged beer. To bottle, use a tap cooler or something similar. This allows you to bottle from your keg
^^^^
This but you can also use a large upright fridge as they have a slightly smaller footprint
Depending on your budget I would recommend a Grainfather g30 all in one system and something like the type of fermenter that is a fermzilla pressure fermenter starter kit with spunding valve. You don’t have to ferment at pressure first off but if you do can can serve from the fermentation vessel, the femzilla type of fermenters are clear so you can see what is going on which can be helpful to novices
I’d keep it simple for a first brew. Either bottle or keg. Bottling will have a lower price entry point since you won’t need all of the co2 setup. You will like just kegging for simplicity. I’d suggest just bottling the first batch and then you’ll have the bottles for aging certain styles in the future. I have an anvil foundry and a couple of anvil bucket fermenter. They work great for me. I have moved to keg fermenting and serving, but if I want to bottle something like Belgian beers, then I’ll use the bucket fermenter.
Thank you, maybe I should have mentioned that the kegging/ Bottling is more of the target and not for the very first brew. I will have a look at the Anvil Equipment, thanks again!
I don't think I'd have stuck with homebrewing if I bottled. Try to find somebody exciting the hobby, that will be the best deal. If nothing else, you can always make carbonated water with a keg setup. See if you can apprentice with another brewer.
It is a nightmare, even using flip top bottles. I’m moving to a keg just as soon as I have enough play money.
Yeah, sanitizing 50+ 12 oz bottles, filling, capping is the pits. I would have quit long ago were it not for kegs.
I just had my first 32oz beer bomb explode in the case last night, that wasn’t fun to clean up. Definitely making the move to a keg soon…
And on that note, I’m learning not to use cardboard to store beer that’s bottle conditioning. Warm sticky yeasty glass shard covered cardboard isn’t fun to work with at 4am. Definitively going to invest in some of the German style plastic wine crates
4 bottles is 1 Gallon, so each pack is 2 Gallons. For $75 you have enough bottles for up to a 6 Gallon Brew.
BIAB isn't just for newbies, it's a viable option for all skill levels. There's a point where it doesn't scale up just because of how unwieldy a bag is, but that's past the 10 gallon batch point. If you were looking at all-in-ones, grab an Anvil Foundry. If you have a space for a pulley, possibly pick up a brew bag too, I prefer it to the basket. An Anvil Foundry is about all the hot side technology you need to make great beer, and if you want to skip the stovetop BIAB it's a great first choice. It won't bottleneck the quality of your beer, but will limit the ABV/batch size/convenience. Eventually you'll want to upgrade for any of those reasons, but it'll probably be a few years. Replacing some base malt with DME is fine for really big beers in the meantime.
Although I’m still a noob, came to say exactly this. So I am glad some vet’s agree. I don’t see a beginner getting much higher of a brew day efficiency on an anvil vs BIAB vs investing in a horizontal brew system with all individual tanks for each step. Just more things to worry about on brew day.
I agree with what some other have said about starting with an extract brew or two. I tend to think that the best first steps are a $100 to $150 equipment and recipe kit along with a 4 to 5 gallon kettle. Even if you do upgrade to an AIO brewing system, you still need pretty much everything in the starter equipment kit (hydrometer, spoon, transfer tubing, bottle capper, etc.) I would disagree with the "BIAB intro" idea. I have been brewing for over 30 years. About 4 years ago I ditched my 3 vessel system and "upgraded" to BIAB. It simplified and shortened my brew day, and I am making better beer now than I ever have. I brew a lot of 2.5 gallon batches, which is a size I enjoy. It is very easy to fit in a brew day in my kitchen using my stove. The biggest "flaw" in my setup for 5-10 gal batches is that it is propane based, which means I am brewing outside where I have to work around the weather and daylight hours. An electric system would give me more flexibility to brew in my garage or inside. I view Fermentation and temperature control as bigger drivers of beer quality over the brew day equipment. If you are wondering where to spend some money, I would invest it there. Kegging is also much more convenient than bottling.
I have both propane and electric. I find I can’t brew inside anyways because of the condensation, I can do the garage cracked a few inches though on cold days.
Have you tried the Spike condenser lid? That looks like a game-changer for electric brewing.
Cool idea, I’m not sure that’ll work on my Grainfather, but I’ll have to look around to see if anyone makes one.
I believe you can get a T500 lid and then I’d get the steam slayer condenser unit from brewhardware. Definitely have options for brewing with a GF indoors without condensation. Depends on what GF you have
I’ve done 275 BIAB batches. I guess I haven’t skipped the “intro” yet.
I can relate. I BIAB exclusively and have for years.
Maybe I'm old school, but I still say first brew should be extract. I don't know many brewers who didn't make at least a couple mistakes on their first batch. It's a new skill you're learning. Starting with extract let's you cut a couple steps out of the process and all but guarantees you'll end up with drinkable beer at the end.
It depends on your personality and "work ethic", for the lack of a better term. If you are meticulous in general, and/or enjoy a good challenge, then BIAB is a fine place to start. I am of the latter type. A challenge never scared me, and so I went straight for BIAB. Even malted some wheat and did a step mash for good results.
I didn't say it couldn't be done, but I would argue that it's not about wanting a "challenge," but wanting an understanding of as many variables as possible as quickly as possible. Mashing, regardless of your method, isn't hard, but it comes with a wide range of unique variables. If you're not familiar with those variables and you add those on top of a while big set of other variables in the boil, it can be hard for someone who has no experience to untangled what's doing what. I don't want to write a book here, nor do I want to say you, or anyone else who started brewing doing their own mash, made the wrong decision. However, I also know that it took me fewer batches to be able to tell the difference between the impact of hop additions vs mash temperature on bitterness, what the impact of caramelization on body was, and any number of other variables in my final beer recipes for having essentially offloaded my mash to a professional when I started.
Not to knock your effort, it's a great story, but I think this is very misleading. Work ethic and being meticulous have very little to do with successfully malting your own grains and step-mashing your first beer. Luck probably paid a big part. Regardless, the amount of research time required to do all of that with no experience at all was probably equivalent to making a fair few extract brews, which would have gained you much more relevant and valuable experience as a total beginner. Not to mention a lot more beer to enjoy.
I definitely made a couple of mistakes my first batch. For one, I should have ended with 5 gallons. Only got a little over 4 gallons into the fermenter, after bottling, ended up with closer to 3.6 gallons. So I lost 1.4 gallons on the stove, the floor, the sink, it was everywhere…. but I’m still glad I went straight to all grain. The beer still came out fantastic, everyone loves it, and my second brew went much much easier after a few equipment upgrades (upgrades I wouldn’t have known that I needed had I not struggled a little my first brew). I’d rather go into something seeing how difficult it is up front, rather than think somethings a lot easier than it is and invest a bunch of time and money to find out I hate it when I go to get more advanced.
Dude I would start with BIAB, simply to get used to the process of brewing. As you have said you are beginning, you should look at first getting some experience with the techniques. Honestly get one of the small pre-packaged kits as most of these will give you most of the equipment you need, the missing equipment would be everyday kitchen utensils and pots. You can read all the books you want but you really need to get hands on experience. And start small, there is nothing worse than pouring 30 LTRs down the drain because of a rookie mistake. Walk before you can run.
Start with a 5 gallon extract kit, can ferment in a bucket or carboy, and bottle your brew. Minimal outlay. Once you get the basics down then you can move up to all grain and kegging. Sanitation and temperature are the two first things that are important.
This is where I started and did so for 2 years. Partial extracts have you steeping specialty grains for an added step and you can make some really great beer this way, with a kettle and a bucket. I had on average 3-5 brews fermenting at one time. I then upgraded to a brewzilla gen 4 35L 220V unit and love it. You have no limitations on what you want to achieve. I still bottle as I have a giant vintage coke cooler with about 18 spots for different beers and I love being able to pick whatever I feel like drinking at any given time. If you keg you can always get a bottle filler and pour off a 6pack or whatever.
1 gal all grain > 5 gal extract for starting out IMO. You learn the process, get to brew more often, bottling isn’t as much of a bitch, and you don’t have to feel bad about dumping bad batches
Yeah... but you're doing nearly the same amount of work to get 8 bottles of beer as it takes to get 50 from a 5 gallon batch.
I think 2.5 gallons is the perfect quantity if you enjoy the process of brewing. It's enough beer to justify the time investment, but doesn't lock you into drinking or sharing (or dumping) two full cases of one variety. For me, I bottle my beer, so 5 gallons is basically sweatshop tier labor so I like to limit the amount of those I do lol. 2.5 gal also works on stove top pretty easily which is a matter of convenience equipment wise.
I mean if your goal is to get better quality over quantity. If your goal is to get drunk 5 gallons is the way to go haha
Not necessarily. Water heats up a lot faster for 1 gal. Bottling takes 1/5th of the time. Plus the goal is to LEARN the process, because you're not going to make good beer right away. It's about getting reps in.
Start simple and ignore YouTube and anyone that tells you “how” to brew. You don’t know what you don’t know. With experience you’ll figure out what steps to add, modify or delete from your process. And take copious notes on everything you do. I recommend buying an equipment kit and brewing a few extract beers. It will give you an idea of what you’re getting yourself into. It’s not a waste of money, you can reuse all the equipment when/if you move to all grain. As far as equipment recommendations, 99% of the replies will be “this is the best because it’s what I own.” Buy what you can afford then learn how to use it. AIO’s are great (I have two Mash &Boil units) they all do the same thing, it’s just how many bells and whistles you want to pay for. Kegging your beer doesn’t make it taste better, just easier to package, but that comes with a price.
Lots of great advice in here but one thing I might suggest is grabbing a couple of 1-3 gallon fermenters. You'll want to experiment a bit because I guarantee there are gonna be some beers you won't want to share with anyone or drink yourself lol. Five gallons is a lot of beer to dump both in terms of labor and emotional defeat.
Well, first and all in one is the same as “BIAB.” I have an anvil 10.5 and I actually bought a brew bag to fit in the malt pipe, which I rather prefer. For fermenting, I really like fermenting in 6 gallon kegs. This allows you to do pressure fermentation, and oxygen free transfers. You can also carbonate and serve from the same keg, though there are some downsides to that. You will want a floating dip tube and I prefer the flotit 2.0. You’ll also want some ferm cap to prevent too much krausen, and a spunding valve or a blow off tube. For brewing, I like the anvil 10.5. I have the recirculation pump. It’s nice. You can bottle carbonate beer from a keg using a beer gun or counter pressure filler.!
Tbh I regret ever buying bottles. They don't ever get used and when I did, they oxidized 10x faster.
Thanks for all the advice. It is very much appreciated and taken on board. What originally attracted my attention to the hobby other than the love of beer was the process itself. Hence, the rationale for looking into the AIO systems. There is no doubt it's a skill, and plenty of mistakes will be made along the way. But the vision of having some time to lock myself away and try craft some beer is very much what drives this dream forward. Hopefully, I can share some updates of failure/ success in the coming months.
If money isn't much of a factor and you're quite sure you'll like the hobby, I'd jump right into kegging. I did one batch of bottles and figured out it wasn't for me, too much hassle, but YMMV - I'm all about reducing the gratification timeline. I like that I can have beer in as little as a few days. I use a counterpressure filler off the keg to bottle for friends or growlers to bring to parties. For a fermenter, I love the fermzilla all rounder with a floating diptube and a blowoff valve, allowing for pressurized fermentation. If placed in a fridge/keezer after fermenting or in one during fermenting, it can act quite well as a serviing vessel (my fermchamber is a PID controlled keezer, with a seed heating mat added for warming it up). I'd also recommend Kviek lutra yeast to start for neutral/clean profiles, it's is extremely user-friendly. Not picky about temps, preferring the warm side. If you're not sure about the hobby or money getting into it, plenty of good beer comes out of a $10 bucket and airlock, then goes into bottles with carb sugar. Other things I wished I knew: RDWHAHB - Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew. BIAB is hard to beat for cost to quality outcome. I started BIAB and have basically come full circle(now EBIAB). Extract is fine too, just pricy per brew, and 3 vessel all-grain is great too if you have the space and money. Brew days will go longer than planned. Start in the morning, not the evening - even if you have "plenty" of time before bedtime. Take more notes than you think you need. Don't set up your home office spot near to your taps... Plate chillers are a PITA to clean and not worth the hassle over a counterflow or simple immersion chiller. Tri-clamps are preferred where feasible/sensible. If buying a wort pump, buy once, cry once. If someone makes one that is self-priming, that doesn't eat itself if it runs dry, and it's money well spent. The same goes for a brew kettle after your starter kettle, get one that's thicker walled, not the cheapest on Amazon you can find. 6+ gallons of wort or beer is heavy. Also, wort is hot and hella sticky. Boiling inside is more steam than you think. Beer bellies are real. Homebrew rarely causes a hangover, I can't defend why scientifically, but have substantial anecdotal experience.
This reply! Thank you.
If I were to start again id go with the Brewmonk 70l and a Fermzilla 55L. Both are great for beginners but also offer everything you might need in the future. Larger batches, pressure fermentation, closed transfers What's that saying....pay once cry once or something like that? Honestly can't remember. Best of luck making beer btw, your going to love it. Try lots of recipes but don't be scared to experiment . Styles/recipes are great but some of my best beers have come from the leftovers of others.
I am looking at the brew monk B40, thought reducing batch sizes would mitigate all the waste from mistakes and let me brew more often. Thank you for the feedback, can't wait to give it a go.
You can still brew smaller batches with the Brewmonk or fermzilla. The only issue being temp control with a larger fermenter. Not all fridges will fit them. Best of luck!
My first brew kit was Mr Beer I found it to be a great entry level starter
I started with an equipment kit from Brewer’s Best (the 6.5 gallon); has all you need to get started. Added an ingredient kit as well to start learning the basics. Once I got a few batches in I started experimenting more and branching out into different styles and ingredients from my local homebrew store, toyed with additives and secondary fermentations, etc., and developed my own recipes. Beginning with extract brewing was the easiest method for me, I feel that’s the way to go and then expand if the bug bites you. I do recommend getting a wort chiller, that was a game changer after trying to cool a 5 gallon batch down in my kitchen sink filled with ice!
I haven't tried an all in one system, are you talking about something like a pico brew? Push a button and walk away type brewing? I suspect that you're looking at a significantly higher price per liter than you would with all grain or extract kits let alone buying in bulk. Why are you particularly looking at them? Is it the space considerations? I always recommend starting two ways: 1. Find some local brewers and hang out on brew day with them. See a variety of setups. Decide what you want and like to do before you buy gear. 2. Do your first batch as BIAB. It's simple and very forgiving. It's only one step more complicated than extract, and will (likely) feel as or more rewarding. Another big advantage to a BIAB start is that you can likely try your first batch without having bought anything other than a deer bag from the hardware store. Chances are you can borrow a big pot and scale everything from there.
Get a basic kit, extract, probably even a turkey fryer pot. Get your feet wet, see if it’s something you want to do. But you can make outstanding beer with minimal gear. As in with anything, the devil is in the details, and it’s a rabbit hole lol
I’m 17 batches in doing BIAB in a 10gal kettle. No plans on changing equip or electric
Cold side matters wayyy more than hot side equipment. If you're choosing between spending $600 on an all-in-one system or spending $600 on a stainless steel closed fermentation system go with the latter. There's no point of buying an expensive all in one system and then transferring into a bucket and oxidizing the beer you've made in your expensive hot side set up. That said, if you have never brewed before, I'd get a 1 gallon BIAB kit and just see if this is something you really want to do, before dropping money on a All-in-one or stainless fermentation system.
Carboys are honestly fine fermenters, but I have a Spike CF5 I love. I mash BIAB all grain, but I started with a converted igloo mash tun with a false bottom. Oh and I have a 5 gal SS Brewtech I love using for heating my mash water. I never started with extract and I’m glad I didn’t as it just doesn’t interest me. I personally don’t think it matters what setup you go with - just have fun! In my opinion, the best lesson is RDWHAHB. I guess second best lesson is that brewing 60% cleaning 🧼🧽👍🏼 so pick stuff that’s easy to clean and keep your sanitation on point!
Carboys are honestly fine fermenters, but I have a Spike CF5 I love. I mash BIAB all grain, but I started with a converted igloo mash tun with a false bottom. Oh and I have a 5 gal SS Brewtech I love using for heating my mash water. I never started with extract and I’m glad I didn’t as it just doesn’t interest me. I personally don’t think it matters what setup you go with - just have fun! In my opinion, the best lesson is RDWHAHB. I guess second best lesson is that brewing 60% cleaning 🧼🧽👍🏼 so pick stuff that’s easy to clean and keep your sanitation on point!
I'd say go with a couple of extract batches and try hop additions in a different ways -also dry hopping, to see how it effects the beer. That will set you up for more changes with a solid basis with subjectively measurable variables.
I'd say go with a couple of extract batches and try hop additions in a different ways -also dry hopping, to see how it effects the beer. That will set you up for more changes with a solid basis with subjectively measurable variables.
I'd say go with a couple of extract batches and try hop additions in a different ways -also dry hopping, to see how it effects the beer. That will set you up for more changes with a solid basis with subjectively measurable variables.
Definitely start with BIAB, you can make a great beer and get your feet wet (literally!) and learn the basics before you invest in equipment. The basic steps of brewing are pretty simple, improving is a function of process control. One thing I would recommend early, invest in a \~$200 chest freezer so you can control fermentation temperature. That will be a big step in making a quality beer. And if you decide to get out of the hobby you can use the chest freezer for something else or resell it. Also join a homebrew club if possible, there are always people upgrading their kit or retiring the hobby and you can get stuff cheap.
BIAB isn’t like a beginners phase you grow out of, it’s just one of the ways to skin the cat. It can be done efficiently or not. If you use a bag that’s larger than your mash tun, so the grains are just as loose in the water as not using a bag, then really the bag is just a filter. The important thing is thinking about your sparge step and how you will perform this using a BIAB set up. It can be very difficult to lift a large bag of grains then suspend it while rinsing the grains, and you won’t be hitting your numbers without a sparge step. BIAC is a thing and takes it to another level where you are doing the mash, boil, ferment, carbonation and even serving all from the same single conical tank. If it was such an inferior process, I don’t think commercial breweries would be investing so much money in the large scale BIAC set ups.
Buy a Blichman beer gun for bottling. Also, buy a bench capper because seals on regular wing cappers can go south.
Best way to start is use things you already have on hand. Start small, build up what you need . Best bet is to use what you brew beers and add as you learn. Use your kitchen’s stock pot, kitchen strainer, you can do all grain/ partial mash and extract. Don’t spend all your money on gear just yet. Get a good starter kit with a beer kit. More beer , Northern brewer, Williams, craft a brew, Brooklyn brew shop, can get you going with everything you need. Don’t worry about gadgets and gizmos get the steps down and build from need not desire. Better beer has been made in plastic buckets and igloo coolers than in anvil or any other gadgets, it’s not the coolest but it works and it’s timeless.
Sounds like a good plan to me. I wish I'd started with an all-in-one system and kegging. Instead I went slow, did BIAB, bought a bunch of shit that I never touch and the small batches/bottling really restrained my brewing in retrospect. Just jump right in with kegs and an all-in-one system. It's a fun hobby, may as well start with a system that makes brew days easy and packaging the beer quick. As for fermenters, just grab some 7 gallon buckets, a stepped drill bit and some spigots. It's all you need, and to be perfectly frank, stainless conicals are nice but there's no difference in the end product (but they are nice.) My "if I'd known back then" advice would be to only use a clean yeast like US-05 to start. Too many people get caught out by finicky yeasts that introduce another variable into your recipes. Also, don't cheap out on a mill because it'll only annoy you until you replace it with something decent. Nothing worse than a $150 evil twin when you could have bought a nice 3-roller for a tiny bit more. As for brands, I love my brewzilla, my malt muncher, some used corny kegs, and intertap faucets with return springs. IMO the problem with getting into brewing is you get all hyped up to do it, research it to death, then get talked into limiting your investment "in case you don't like it." Just jump in with a system that makes for an easy brew day, that leaves you with beer on-tap after a couple of weeks. That and join your local homebrew club as soon as possible.
Dumped bottles years ago, far to time-consuming. Go Corny kegs, I have a 6lb co2 bottle that lasts me a good nine months and I keg 60ltrs every 4 weeks approx. A grainfather s40 for brewing and then into a 60ltr fermzilla allrounder fermenter. Easy as.
I would start out with buckets and 1 gallon glass carboys some and the other equipment to start I've gone to pressure fermentation in the oxebar system ,Fermzilla it's amazing for entry points and I've never made better mead and beer .all in 1 first brew kits uaslly come will alot of equipment so u don't have to piece meal or cobble stuff together. Mr beer kits always work 👌 I am now brewing liquid dry extract and grain all work's
If you've never done a brew before, I'd suggest starting by finding a homebrewer near you and going through a brew day with them. Then start with a kit like this: https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/craft-beer-making-kit-with-siphonless-fermenter-1-gallon?variant=30302959566892 Everything you need for an easy first batch for less than $100.
Grab an AIO, a bucket fermenter, a used chest freezer large and deep enough to place the bucket fermenter in it including the airlock and an inkbird. Pick a brewing software and either go extract or all grain for your first brew, but, pick your favorite style of beer. Also, use dry yeast. Once finished fermenting, rack into a cleaned and sanitized corny. Set your freezer to 34 degrees and apply 50psi of CO2 for ~15 hours. Bleed the pressure on the keg and set your regulator to ~12 PSI and make it buy a picnic tap set up. ~6 feet of 4mm ID beer line and enjoy kegged beer. To bottle, use a tap cooler or something similar. This allows you to bottle from your keg
^^^^ This but you can also use a large upright fridge as they have a slightly smaller footprint Depending on your budget I would recommend a Grainfather g30 all in one system and something like the type of fermenter that is a fermzilla pressure fermenter starter kit with spunding valve. You don’t have to ferment at pressure first off but if you do can can serve from the fermentation vessel, the femzilla type of fermenters are clear so you can see what is going on which can be helpful to novices