The homebrew thread

[Tommythecat]

Some comments:

"Avoid pre-packaged brew kits, especially if it doesn't have the hops separately."

I wouldn't avoid kits for the first few times around. But I would not buy "No-Boil" kits or kits with "Hopped Malt Extract". You can certainly make something with these kits, just not really what you will expect.

"a 5 or 6 gallon glass carboy (you can get plastic, and it is cheaper, but it leeches chemicals and flavors into your beer)"

Not true. Plastic, food-grade buckets are perfectly fine for brewing. The same amount of cleaning and care is needed - do not use a harsh scrub to clean the plastic as it will leave behind scratches that organic material will find its way into, thus "infecting" your next batch (this can include infecting your stout with hefeweizen yeast, not necessarily poisonous).

"a 4-6 gallon stainless steel pot (trust me, aluminum is not a good thing to have in your beer. Steel might be ok)"

Also, not true. Aluminum pots are perfectly acceptable. People brew in converted aluminum kegs and store beer in aluminum kegs. I haven't seen any real evidence of any off-flavers from boiling/storing/etc in aluminum. I've seen stainless steel named as the cause of metallic off-flavor more than aluminum (improper passivation - flaws in the chromium oxide layer - something aluminum does naturally).


Beyond that, I would highly recommend John Palmer's "How to Brew" which you can read online at:

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Introduction

The best intro to homebrewing around.

[Jared]

Thanks for the comments.

Plastic buckets are certainly cheaper than glass, and much less fragile.

Aluminum will certainly work fine, and over the short term it's not a problem at all. However, based on some things I've read regarding long-term health problems, it's my preference not to use it. On the other hand, there's nothing conclusive, and I could just be paranoid.