[tonyp]

I recently purchased this Complete Home Brewery Kit from William's Brewing after researching tons of starter kits for about 3 weeks. It is awesome! The brew pot is HUGE and the quality is excellent. Everything in the kit seems top notch except for the dial thermometer, when clipped to the side it isn't long enough to reach the water even when boiling 4ga (its an 8ga pot) so you have to reach down into the kettle to get a reading which is quite uncomfortable at a rolling boil.

The only extras I had to order was a 6ga glass carboy, the carboy drainer and a jet bottle washer (which is amazingly easy to use). So far it was money well spent and the people at William's were extremely nice and helpful on the phone, overall a great experience and I highly recommend using them. Oh and they threw in any adapters i needed for the faucet! Nice touch!

Just brewed up my first test batch of Irish Red Ale last night (just an extract kit) and can't wait to get deeper into the madness! My Wife and I had a blast and she seems just as excited as I am to start creating our own recipes.

Hope this helps someone else just starting out.
Thanks!
TonyP

[hamiltont]

Well Tony, it sounds like you're off to a great start!!  It's awesome that your wife is equally excited.  Welcome to hobby!!  Cheers!!!

[mabrungard]

Tony,

I'm hoping you have realized that you don't need to use the thermometer to assess the temperature of your boiling wort!

Its good to hear that you found a good deal.  I'm hoping that you have a local homebrew store (LHBS) to frequent since that is where you're more likely to meet fellow homebrewers and ask questions that will make your experience even more enjoyable.  If you don't have a local LHBS, there are plenty of web-based vendors that will do you good. 

[tonyp]

Thanks guys!

I actually have some experience with home brewing, about 12 yrs ago I used to brew at a friend's house every other month or so but never owned the equipment to do it at home. My wife bought me a Mr. Beer kit as a gag gift a few years ago and after finally breaking it out and trying it a few times I got the bug again, and here we are...

I do realize you don't need to check temp on the boiling wort but I was testing out the thermometer when I found it wasn't reaching the water. I plan on moving directly to extract with specialty grains for my next brew so it would be nice to have one that reaches down into the water during steeping. I also need to pickup a scale, any recommendations?

I live at the Jersey Shore (Toms River/Seaside) and I think the nearest LHBS is in Freehold, I plan on making a trip over there pretty soon. I used to live in Princeton and miss the Princeton Homebrew shop, Joe is a great guy!

Also, my wife is an expert gardener and she's already talking about growing hops and grains come springtime! Looks like we both got bitten by the bug!

Cheers!
Tony

[hopfenundmalz]

Tony, two things.

The couple that brews together can have a great time and share many interests.  It works for us.

There is no such thign as a "Complete Homebrew Kit".  No such animal.  I am still buying new gadgets and bling after doing this hobby for 18 years.  Just my observation.

[Slowbrew]

My wife gave me an inexpensive 5 lb/??g scale from K-mart or somewhere.  It takes a few passes to weigh out 11 or 12 pounds of base malt but it gets the job done.  There are lots of options out there and prices run the gambit.

For my thermometer I using a Green Egg dual temp, remote read thermometer.  It woks great and saves having to go outside to check how the temp is coming along every 5 minutes.

Welcome back to the obsession!!

Paul

[euge]

An ordinary bathroom scale and a bucket to weigh out grain when you start doing all grain brewing.

For the smaller stuff like hops and mineral salts a postage scale can be found for cheap on amazon.

Welcome back to the obsession after your long hiatus!

[oscarvan]

Beg to differ Euge.....don't think the bathroom scale knows the difference between 1.5 and 2 pounds....

I would get something like this.....

INSANELY LONG LINK SHORTENED.....

This particular one goes to 11 pounds... I use a large stainless steel bowl ($6 at local restaurant supply) and weigh out 4 pounds at a time.....

But, they are also accurate enough to weigh out hops. (.05 oz resolution)

[tonyp]

Oscar that looks like a nice scale, thanks for the recommendation.

Just out of curiosity what are all of you using to store grains/hops? I'd rather not use anything made of plastic and have been looking around for glass containers.

Thanks!
Tony

[weithman5]

a good digital scale will read within 2 tenths no sweat. our wrestling team relies on that. however, a good scale for weighing babies will work too. should be able to get used for not too much. 

[euge]

Beg to differ Euge.....don't think the bathroom scale knows the difference between 1.5 and 2 pounds....

I would get something like this.....

INSANELY LONG LINK SHORTENED.....

This particular one goes to 11 pounds... I use a large stainless steel bowl ($6 at local restaurant supply) and weigh out 4 pounds at a time.....

But, they are also accurate enough to weigh out hops. (.05 oz resolution)

It might or might not. I don't worry over much about a half pound of base grain in a 12 gallon batch.

Regardless this is what I actually have:http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=310291111761&index=0&nav=SEARCH&nid=77792289398

Works well.

[Steve]

We're glad your back to brewing.  Doesn't it feel good to have your own stuff?

You and your wife will enjoy growing hops and other brewing herbs.  It's very rewarding to use your own grown.  If you want take a look at images of my hop trellis and hops growth on my website http://web.me.com/sespach/KettleandCask/Photo_Albums/Photo_Albums.html .  It was in Zymurgy's Gadget Issue last month.

The spring or bar scales are the best, but if a digital is all you got, you got enough.  I love to use the metal scoop to get the grain from the bag into the hopper of the scale.  The best part of a digital scale is the tare feature to zero out after each addition into the scale.

Best of luck!

[oscarvan]

The spring or bar scales are the best, but if a digital is all you got, you got enough.

Isn't a spring what provides the resistance in a digital?

[tonyp]

We're glad your back to brewing.  Doesn't it feel good to have your own stuff?

Thanks! It sure does, I haven't been this excited about a hobby in quite some time!

You and your wife will enjoy growing hops and other brewing herbs.  It's very rewarding to use your own grown.  If you want take a look at images of my hop trellis and hops growth on my website http://web.me.com/sespach/KettleandCask/Photo_Albums/Photo_Albums.html .  It was in Zymurgy's Gadget Issue last month.

Best of luck!

Nice picts! Thanks for sharing, my wife is already jealous!

We live on 4 acres and she has a huge herb/vegetable garden (totally organic) and she can't wait to start planting.

Is it just me or is the homebrew community only filled with the nicest most helpful people you've ever met? I don't think I've met a single person who wasn't gracious and kind and willing to share. Thanks to all of you for being so great, its most appreciated.

Thanks!
Tony

[tschmidlin]

Is it just me or is the homebrew community only filled with the nicest most helpful people you've ever met? I don't think I've met a single person who wasn't gracious and kind and willing to share.

You should see some of the other online brewing forums

Welcome back to the hobby!