Hello.. and a few questions

[Chacmool]

Hi all,

Totally new to this homebrew lark but thinking of going straight into extract brewing. Just wondering if a few more experienced heads can give me some pointers on equipment.

Would you recommend starting with a stock pot or is it worth investing in a boiler? Also if I'm using the stockpot do I need to get a wort chiller or can I just stick it in some iced water?

In terms of fermenting do I need to get some sort of heating belt or can I trust the Irish winter not to go all Siberian on me.

Lastly, does anyone have anything good to say about those Coopers Ox-Bar PET Bottles or should I just up my drinking rate and collect some glass ones myself.

Any replies greatly appreciated. Cheers.

[imark]

Welcome. Extract is a pretty good entry point.
I do all grain now but when I was extract brewing I had 18L pot. Ice, fermenting at room temperature and used a cheap crown capper.
Plenty of good advice here. My advice... Jump right in.

[mr hoppy]

Started with extract myself.

If you don't have John Palmer's "How to Brew", check his website / book - he has a great explanation of how to start with extract and how to move on from there to steeping.

[Bzfeale80]

I got 48 coopers ox bar pet bottles with a starter kit I purchased from home brew west last year along with a heating belt. If the temperature of the place you will have the fermenting vessel placed is relatively steady 18-28 degrees then you might not require a heating belt. I have my fermenting vessel in the attic space and the temperature can fluctuate a fair bit during the year. The range of the yeast will determine if you need a heating belt in the winter time along with the type of beer -  lager/pilsener/ale/stout/porter.

The only problem I had with the pet bottles is that some of them deformed due to thermal shock - hot water hitting cold bottle when cleaning in a sink. I also stupidly thought I could use a dishwasher to clean them and out of about 20 bottles I think about 4 were out of shape and wont be possible to use again as the top of them are not circular but elliptical 

If you plan on doing a batch of strong beer that requires a significant aging period it may be wise to invest in some grolsch type brown glass bottles with swing tops. I have read on other forums that some bottles don't seal properly with crown caps.

[Greg2013]

Hi all,

Totally new to this homebrew lark but thinking of going straight into extract brewing. Just wondering if a few more experienced heads can give me some pointers on equipment.

Would you recommend starting with a stock pot or is it worth investing in a boiler? Also if I'm using the stockpot do I need to get a wort chiller or can I just stick it in some iced water?

In terms of fermenting do I need to get some sort of heating belt or can I trust the Irish winter not to go all Siberian on me.

Lastly, does anyone have anything good to say about those Coopers Ox-Bar PET Bottles or should I just up my drinking rate and collect some glass ones myself.

Any replies greatly appreciated. Cheers.

Welcome to th craft and the site. I am also a newbie so this is my advice for what its worth. If you are going extract thas a great choice, if i were you i would buy an equipment kit such as the one below as an example. Then you have everything pretty much covered to start. "KISS" is the golden rule i wished i had followed, Keep It Simple Stupid(not to intimate that you are stupid).


Just start with the basics until you can judge if brewing is a good fit for you, then you can upgrade but you will still use a lot of your basic kit stuff. The coopers bottles are very handy and for a beginner i would advise these at least for the first one or two batches,unless you have a reliable stock of good strong brown bottles ?

Anyway don't want to confuss you, have a look below and that will give you an idea of what you need to start for now. The first is a good extract kit setup, the second is for a kit and kilo setup but might be of intrest as well.Cheers.

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/extract-brewers-starter-kit-p-1097.html

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/coopers-microbrew-starter-kit-40-pint-starter-kit-p-813.html