Build your own brew kits

Did you end up getting one of these kits and now 8 years later are a master brewer? Lol


I’m interested in starting home brewing. I also would like to know why people are starting with bottling vs kegging. Outside of the $450-$500 for a sixth barrel and a kegirator does it matter? I don’t want to bottle.

 

Haha nope. Like most of the hobbies I want to do, I balked at getting started. I still drink beer, but still can't brew it.

 

Bottling isn't that bad, but if you brew enough, you'll most likely get into kegging. I have a three keg homemade kegerator and still bottle some batches; I like having variety!

 

I’m kind of just interested in kegging. Is it harder to do or just more expensive?

I just feel thats the way beer should be enjoyed lol.

 

Kegging requires more equipment (Co2 tank, regulator, some sort of kegerator, and the keg connectors/beer lines/faucet). Kegging takes less time but you are still cleaning the fermenter, and then cleaning the keg when it's emptied. Oh, you will probably end up getting or making some sort of keg cleaning equipment too. In the end, you'll probably enjoy kegging more, but bottling isn't that bad, especially to get started in your beer making adventures.

Just remember, making beer is like most other hobbies; you'll spend money on the hobby that isn't 'justifiable', but it's what you want to do to keep sane...

 

I want to learn to brew to save me money, but not on the beer I drink.

I want to eventually open my own place and if I can brew, it saves me the $50K+ a year I have to pay a head brewer

I'm actually not really excited to do this but feel like it's a necessity.

To me bottling or canning (which I would prefer to can but apparently it's expensive) is not the way beer should be enjoyed. I want it in a keg. I feel like that is the only benefit to homebrewing. If I want beer in a bottle or a can I can go buy it at the store, for much cheaper, and much less time investment.

 

That's one of the funny sayings in homebrewing groups - "I told my wife I would save money doing this!" hahahahaha

Honestly, you will eventually save money but it takes a lot of batches to recoup the equipment costs.

I don't want to discourage you on this; it takes a lot of money to get a brewery open, and then a lot of hard work to keep it popular and making money. It can be done, but chances are you won't get rich from it. I guess it is better than trying to open a winery, which takes a small fortune to get going...

When I started homebrewing I didn't have a ton of money to throw at it so I did extract batches at first while trying to figure out where I wanted to go with it. During that time I looked at the different options of all grain brewing and thought out what I wanted for equipment while searching craigslist and facebook marketplace (there are some good Facebook 'homebrewing' groups out there that I learned a lot from). I slowly ended up with the final setup I still use today:

• Propane burner (a good one will save you time and propane); my first one was a cheapo one from Cabelas and I found a Blichmann Hellfire on CL for $50.
• 10 gallon Rubbermaid water cooler 'mash tun' with false bottom; another CL find, then ordered a SS false bottom from Amazon and valve kit from a brew supply.
• 5 gallon 'hot liquor tank (a five gallon insulated water cooler); I bought this new from Home Depot for like $25 and added a valve ball.
• 10 gallon 'Brew Built' SS brew kettle (got on sale/closeout at my LHBS).

Plan on a brew kettle AT LEAST three gallons larger than the batch size you plan to make. Typically for a five gallon batch (I look at five gallons going into the keg which holds five gallons), I start my 'boil' with 7.25 gallons and after typical losses (evaporation from the boil, leaving the junk from the boil behind, and thermal expansion). I plan on going into the fermenter with 5.5 gallons, then the trub left in the fermenter gives me about 5 going into the keg. If it's an IPA with dry hopping, then you may want to adjust that batch for 6 gallons into the fermenter since you'll lose volume from the hopping.

You'll find equipment cost for larger kettles, etc. aren't too much more than what's needed for 5 gallon batches; a buddy of mine ended up with 20 gallon mash tun and brew kettles and makes 10 gallon batches at a time - a little more work/time for double the beer is a good tradeoff!

Then onto kegging, also patiently search on CL for used kegs, they often show up for around $40-50 each in good condition; don't get into ones missing parts...You'll need at least one Co2 tank, two is better: one for 'force carbing' newly kegged beers, and the other for 'pushing' the beer in the kegerator. IMO, having two is nice so when one runs out, you have another to use until you get a refill. The connectors are usually ball lock or pin lock - one is no better than the other and about the same cost; I would recommend choosing one style and go with it for more consistency with your equipment. Ball locks are more common, so I would go that route.

The kegerator: I converted an old refrigerator into a three faucet one which can easily be done but it doesn't look nice in a family room or 'home bar'. If that's where you're going, then spend the money on a good one (or search CL as they turn up there too). Keezers are a good alternative too but you have to lift the kegs high to get them into it. CO2 lines, manifolds and regulators will be needed and don't go cheap on the regulator - cheap ones leak and that means lost CO2 which can add to costs. Get decent faucets ('rear sealing' like Intertap or Perlick), and stainless steel will last much longer than chrome plated.

Then you need to look at beer line cleaning, and keg cleaning; I built my own keg cleaner (lots of plans out on the interwebs) and ended up spending the same (maybe a little more) as a common consumer grade one, but mine does have lots more power...

In the end, I feel all grain brewing does taste better than 'extract' brews, and all grain ingredients do cost less per batch but takes more time on brew day. I have my process down to 3.5 - 4 hours from start to finish (for me that means beer in fermenter and all brew equipment cleaned). A typical wheat style beer (my wife loves those) costs me $22 for a five gallon batch; IPAs and other 'bigger' beers will cost more as there are more ingredients going into them (grains and hops, sometimes specialty yeast). $22 seems like you're saving money when compared to most 1/6 kegs of 'craft' beers run at least $80, but you will probably spend $500 to get all of the needed hardware, not including the kegerator - that's going to eat into your Tacoma goodies budget!

Let me know if you have any more questions; hopefully I gave you a bunch of good (long winded) info.

 

You won't discourage me. This is my passion and I know it's what I want to do. It's also why I live off half my income and invest the rest

I appreciate your thorough response and hopefully you don't mind my noob questions.

Is it important to go propane burner over electric? I may replace my current electric stove and move the old one into the garage.

For a kegorator I was thinking something like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Arctic-K..._5c-UaK41_pno2l0YF8D6gX0F3Q1HFDxoCBVIQAvD_BwE

I think it would just be easier to buy a set up but a buddy of mine converted a chest freezer into a kegorator and that may be more cost effective because you can get more than 1 keg in it. I do also own a second fridge/freezer. if I can convert that to have taps coming out the front that would be nice. Because I could probably fit 3 corny kegs in there.

You mention beer line cleaning. I used to work at a local brewery here. Gonna be honest, those lines were never cleaned (that I know of at least). Is that really a vital step? I know physically cleaning the kegs is important as well as maintaining all other brewing equipment is vital.

How do you maintain the temperature during fermentation? Ideally I was wanting to do this in my garage and not have it in the house but it looks like that's not realistic if ones garage isn't HVAC and temp controlled. So I'm assuming most folks need a place inside to maintain the proper temp.

Don't worry about my Tacoma goodies budget, I sold it so I could accelerate my house pay off so I can invest for my brewery