Hi, I have for the last couple of years been making my own elderflower champagne, cider and hedgerow wines and have decided that it is time to diversify into home brewed ale. Fortunately with Christmas and my 40th birthday on the horizon i am in a position to ask for all the necessary equipment to be gifted to me 😛

So from those with experience could you please supply me with a list of all that will be required to brew my own beers at home, and i want to use whole grains and hops not one of the kits that come in a tin. Budget is quite flexible as all my friends and family will be contributing to this so as many options as you can give would be really helpfull, oh and a decent easy to follow book would be good as well.

Thanks in advance.

* Singletrackmind to the Forum *

Brew in a bag (BIAB) is probably your best bet for starting out on the all grain journey. You only need one vessel for the actual brewday (plus a fermenting bin) and there are lots of internet sites/fora which will help out.

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=35

I’ve been brewing for a few years and have a three vessel setup, basically a scaled down version of the kit you’ll find in a real brewery. I can brew 50 litres at a time and was brewing yesterday. It’s a great little “hobby” which can get you hooked easily plus you make beer which is a nice bonus 😉

great thread here, one of my favourites on stw. There is lots of links for kit etc, peterfile put a good list together for kit

brew your own beer

Graham Wheeler brew your own beer book is pretty good

lots of info here
brewing forum

pretty big list of stuff needed

mashtun
Large vessel to boil in
some means of heating said vessel propane or electric
Fermenting vessel
bottles and capping
or kegs
steralising stuff

other stuff I cant think of at the mo

or brew in a bag system

I have for the last couple of years been making my own elderflower champagne,

Sorry for u-turning the thread, but I’d love to know how you’re doing that.

Sorry for u-turning the thread, but I’d love to know how you’re doing that.

I’s pretty much the easiest drink in the world to make. Hot water, sugar, lemon juice and zest in a bucket – leave until it goes foamy, bottle, leave for a bit, consume with gin and frozen raspberries.

I appreciate that they’re probably comparable in their heterosexuality, but surely that’s pink lemonade?

Well “champagne” is probably exagerating a bit, but it does sound better than “sparkling alcoholic elderflower drink”, any way if you want to make it you’ll need:

15-20 elderflower heads in full bloom
900g sugar
6 litres of warm water
juice and zest of 4 lemons
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
pinch of sparkling wine/champagne yeast

dump the whole lot into a fermenting bucket and leave for a week, strain through a muslin cloth and bottle in fizzy drink bottles or flip top (Grolsch style) glass bottles, leave for a further two weeks then drink in the sun with friends.

Cant vouch for if its any good but this just needs a bit of coiled copper to make the chiller and you’re away.

http://m.instructables.com/member/Chard/

What trout said, but for brew in a bag you don’t need the mash tun, although you will need said bag. Chiller is good but not essential- in countries where water is at a premium, homebrewers tend to use the “no chill” method.

Hi

I brew for a living and can point you in the right direction technique wise/ troubleshooting.
As for kit , Home brew shop best place to start or with a Massive Brewery stove top kit.
BIAB seems the simplest method , if not the most efficient.
Cleaning and sterilising is the most important aspect .
Brewsmith online calcs for recipes and Murphy and sons for water analysis and treatment recomendations
HTH

Home brew shop best place to start or with a Massive Brewery stove top kit.

Always good to see Massive getting some love! Steve’s a top man, and his kit’s very good as a way to get started. I’m not totally sure if he’s making many at the moment, however, as he’s rather busy with something else. However, drop him a line and ask. As above, he’s a top man.

I’ve been using one of his kits for a year or so, and nowadays turn out 20 bottles of very quaffable stuff. Best if you can leave it to condition in the bottle for at least a month, in my experience.

Thanks for the replies all, i have just checked out the massive brewery link and the guy is no longer doing kits, which is a shame 🙁 so does anyone know of any other on line retailer that does similar as they were obviously so popular.

so does anyone know of any other on line retailer that does similar as they were obviously so popular.

There isn’t one that I’m aware of but if you check out the mega-thread that has been mentioned you will be able to piece together a kit off eBay for minimal fuss!

I started off with the Massive kit – it was overall very good & I might not have bothered if I had to figure out everything for myself! The grain bags he supplied were shite though and I soon wanted a bigger stock pot.

I’m loving the enthusiasm guys, thanks so much. I’ve had a rummage around the internet and seen this could someone please glance over it and see if it looks pretty complete. Going to sit down and read through the mega-thread tonight.

Seems like a hell of a lot of kit for the money! No pics on that link but if it’s the same stuff as listed elsewhere on the site bundled together then it looks like quite a discount for buying the kit. 3 times the capacity of the Massive kit as well (and a proper – albeit plastic – boiler with a heating element). Looks like everything you’d need to get started except they don’t mention muslin hop bags (but they are only pennies anyway). Can’t comment as to the quality though.

Well i think i’ll get the missus to get me that for christmas then, can add a few other bits to it for my birthday as well. Thanks for the help.

Does look like a very good deal for the price.
One thing I wonder about is the peco boiler, if it’s what I think it is then it’s old school technology; there is a more modern version of the same thing available with digital controller, for around £115-£120, but then at that price I’d say it’s a bargain worth starting with