Nice beer making tools?

[Clarifixer]

My son's birthday is coming up and he is just starting learning about brewing beer.

He has a starter kit with basic (probably cheapie) tools, but I'd like to get him something nice that an experience brewer could not live without. I know nothing about making beer even though I like drinking it, so I'm calling on you guys with some experience to give an inside scoop. I'll be surfing the 'Net for stuff, but would appreciate some guidance on good sources, web sites, etc.

Lessee, maybe a titanium capper or carbon fiber keg sling........duh....

 

[Flatland Dave]

Go to http://store.homebrewheaven.com/storefront.aspx and see all the stuff "needed" to make good stuff!

They have been around a long time and know their stuff.

 

[Cameronl]

best mail order company is Williams Brewing http://www.williamsbrewing.com/

their starter kit is truely complete (minus the bottles) for beginning extract brewing. Most starter kits have just a bucket for fermenting with an air lock, a couple of tools and bottle capper. This set has hoses, two buckets (need to rack the beer from one to the other to get it off the crud after initial fermentation), a good boiling pot with a spigot (a LOT easier than siphoning) and a wort chiller (crash cools the wort [pre-fermented beer] after the boil so you can pitch the yeast sooner. Most basic starters tell you to dunk the whole pot in a sinkful of ice. too slow. I really like this setup.

The only thing that would make this better is a kegging set up. Bottling the beer is tedious. I have a dedicated fridge waiting for the day I get my kegging stuff.

 

[mdbeck1]

I did this for a whle and decided that capping the bottles was a pain. So I replaced all my bottles with the wire cam caps. It made bottling it a lot less of a pain.


If I start back up I'd like to get one of the copper coils to cool the Wert. It speeds up the process to get the beer started.

 

[larry4406]

I did this for a whle and decided that capping the bottles was a pain. So I replaced all my bottles with the wire cam caps. It made bottling it a lot less of a pain.

I made that same progression as well and decided that cleaning and filling individual bottles was a pain so went to 5 gallon Cornelius kegs and C02 bottle.

Seriously, for your first few batches, start with syrups to get the hang of it. Then move onwards to dried malt extract (more control). Finally graduate to all grain (most control).

Regardless, the best thing you can do is to ditch the dried yeast and use liquid use such as Wyeast in the slap packs and step it up for pitching strength before addition.

 

[TJCooper]

http://www.northern brewer.com is an excellent source on how to for the beginning homebrewer. They also have a forum where you can ask questions and get answers from seasoned brewers.

 

[Clarifixer]

Great stuff--thanks, guys. I might get into this myself!

Regardless, the best thing you can do is to ditch the dried yeast and use liquid use such as Wyeast in the slap packs and step it up for pitching strength before addition.

Larry, I'm don't know what that "step it up for pitching strength" means. Could you elaborate? I just ordered Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Home Brewing from Amazon so I'll probably stumble across it, but experience speaks loudest. I probably ought to join a brewing forum, too.....

 

[TJCooper]

When making a high gravity beer (O.G. 1.060 or higher) you need to increase the number of yeast cells by making a yeast starter.
Preparing a yeast starter is easy - you mix a very small batch of malt extract wort (without hops), briefly boil and chill it, then ferment it in a flask a day or two before brewing the main batch. The yeast cells from a single pack of yeast will reproduce in the starter, increasing in number from a few dozen billion cells to hundreds of billions.

 

[JSBriggs]

Tool related, I've got this Indestro bottle capper that was my Grandparents.

-Jeff

 

[z28snksknr]

A nice big stainless (not aluminum) brew kettle would be the single best upgrade if he doesn't have one IMO. A 6 gallon pot would be nice to have. 2nd to that would be a keg setup - 5 gallon Cornelius keg w/ CO2 bottle & regulator.

I still use my first "starter kit" without many upgrades, although I made sure I got glass fermenters (another option if he is using plastic buckets currently). Some bottle brushes to clean stuff good makes a good "stocking stuffer" type gift.

 

[Jota21]

search here: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/

 

[SMKS]

My preferred site is http://www.midwestsupplies.com/

I believe this is the kit I ordered to start with. I've since added a few other pieces. I bought a cheap stock pot locally for brewing.