[silvajff]

Hi everybody!!

I'm new to brewing, and I'm only going to be able to start brewing when on vacations in middle September 2018 (I work on a Cruise ship), however, I'm already looking for materials and all the stuff needed to turn my garage into a home brewery.
I'm from Portugal, and I have 2 stores that sell brewing material to my country, SS brewtech being the most appealing brand (so far).

My budget is around 5000euros (something like $5,858.37) to spend in my materials.
I would be bottling my beer.

Do you by any chance have any suggestion of the must have brewing equipment that I need in order to do a proper beer? ( I am interested in starting with ales).

Thank you all so much.

Cheers From Alaska,
João Silva

[ulander6206]

Greetings and welcome to the hobby.

Others may have a different idea, but here's mine. You can get into the hobby for a relatively small amount of money. We do small batch (approx 10 liter), brew in a bag brewing. Our equipment consists of a SS kettle that holds about 20 liters, a bag that my wife made, an immersion chiller, a bottling wand, scale for measuring ingredients, refractometer, capper. Brew in a bag is a simple but effective method - especially for starting out. In my set up, the immersion chiller and refractometer are nice-to-haves. You can check specific gravity with a hydrometer - cheaper solution but effective. You can use an ice bath to chill your wort rather than the immersion chiller. Look on the net to see the method in action. See also a recent article in Brew Your Own on small space brewing. You might be able to use the ship's kitchen for a brew. I'm sure you would have all kinds of help. Good luck and have fun with it.

[soymateofeo]

can you give more info such as where you will be brewing, how much space you have, and what you have access to for heat (gas, electric, outdoor burner?)

If you are in a condo in manhattan, that changes a lot compared to a farm.  I like brew in a bag (BIAB). I started my buddy that way and his beers are off the chain from the get. Maybe something more automated like a grainfather. It really depends on what your situation is.

[James K]

If you are going to bottle you need a bottling bucket and bottles for sure. I recommend swing tops. You did not specify the batch size but I would start with glass carboys from the get go, not plastic. You can get 3 or 5 gallon ones, 6.5 gallons if you plan to make bigger batches.
If you have the money (which it seems like you do) go automated electric. I would. Other wise you will need to buy a burner, a pot, gas, mash tun, etc.
if you want to actually brew, mash in, and then boil, you are goin to need more equipment than a right out of the box ready to go system like grain father.
There are also less expensive electric systems too though. But it all depends what you really wanna do.

[silvajff]

I will be brewing out of my basement in Portugal, It's quite big 50m2 or 538.196 square ft.
I have also access to my outdoor garden from the basement.

I was thinking to start with 7 Gal batches, but I would like to buy something that would allow me to do bigger batches later on.

Thank you all for your feedback.