A friend got interested in homebrewing after all the good beer I was bringing into work each week. He asked me how expensive it is to get into the hobby and unfortunately the answer isn't simple. Each person has a price range and just what they 'expect' is needed to get started. Some brewers start small and build out equipment over time. But what I did recommend was to wait for Black Friday coming up as there will be deals to start even an all grain brewery on the cheap. So, for him and all the other brewers getting into the hobby here is the first post among a few relating to the costs of building out a brewery at home.

Note: Links are unaffiliated. I utilized Amazon, Northern Brewer and Adventures in Brewing as examples for prices. There are great other places to get supplies including local homebrew shops (which avoid shipping delays/costs). Links are mostly provided for ease of use and proof of price for items.

The Starting Line

So in any research it was essential to find out just what was essential to start. The first stage of course being the ability to make beer. This though is going to be dependent on your home's temperature. What at the most minimum you would like to get is:

• 5 Gallon Pot ($20-$30)
• Plastic Fermenter ($15)
• Bottling Bucket ($18)
• Airlock ($2) [Get 2, backups are nice]
• Auto-Siphon ($22) [Get the 6ft hose addition]
• Bottle Filler ($3)
• Bottle Filling Hose ($0.50/foot) [Get 3-6 feet for general use]
• Bottle Brush ($3)
• StarSan Sanitizer ($10)
• Long Stem Thermometer ($10)
• Stick on Thermometer ($2)
• Bottle Capper ($20)
• Bottle Caps ($5/144)
• *Brew Paddle ($3+) [kitchen spatula works]
• *Beer Bottles ($12/24) [You can save by cleaning used

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Please support BrewUnited by using our Amazon affiliate link when doing any shopping there - be it for homebrewing or for your regular shopping!

This reminds me of some of the conversations I have with friends about boat building. The cost is somewhere between $100 and $1,000,000. The hard part is deciding what you want to do. But then this is all part of the fun!!

posted by Chal on 11/11/2015 at 02:26:56 PM

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Tags for this post: cost, black friday, brewery, equipment

Back in mid July, I was contacted by a new potential sponsor for the 2015 BrewUnited Challenge - the BeerBug. Now, you should understand that I certainly had no intention of turning down any homebrewing related sponsor - let alone one that was willing to pledge $330 worth of gift certificates (plus some tee shirts) - so I was more than happy to have them involved. After exchanging some emails with Cassie, their marketing director, we also agreed on having me review a BeerBug.

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Full disclosure: as mentioned above, the BeerBug was provided to me at no cost, for the specific purpose of having me review it. In addition, parasitX (makers of the BeerBug) are sponsoring the 2015 BrewUnited Challenge by donating the aforementioned gift certificates and tee shirts as prizes. Finally, do note that links to the BeerBug site do include an affiliate code for BrewUnited.

With that said, the following review is 100% true and accurate, and is in my own words. parasitX did not suggest any portion of, edit, or even read my review prior to my public post.

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If you're not aware of the product, then you should know that the BeerBug is a nifty little gadget that allows homebrewers to monitor the gravity and temperature of their fermenting beers in real time - either via website or mobile app (available on both iOS and Android) - due to the fact that it is wifi enabled. Those that know me know that while...
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Tags for this post: beer, bug, beerbug, digital, wifi, hydrometer, gravity, temperature

I have been working on a base milk stout recipe that I wanted to use with seasonal flavors. The sweeter base makes for a bed to help out any spice or flavor additions as some can be harsh on their own or seem lacking without the sweetness that gets fermented out. With the holidays coming up and competitions to match it came time to put it to the test. I wanted to avoid pumpkin due to it's popularity and prevalence that wouldn't shine in a competition lineup. Apple Pie is handled better in ciders, Anise Cookies (a family tradition) is a bit too rare for people to understand...but what about Gingerbread?

Sugar, Spice and everything Nice - Chocolate dipped Anise Seed Cookies & More!

The Recipe

Note: This recipe is over complicated right now and I am working to simplify it. Still, it tastes amazing so it has been worth the trouble.

Type: All Grain
Style: 2015 - 30C. Winter Seasonal Beer
OG: 1.064
FG: 1.027
Alcohol: ~4.9%
IBU: 32
Batch Vol: 5.50 gal
Bottling Vol: 5.00 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72%

Amount Name Type Addition %Bill/IBU

5 lb	US 2-Row	Grain	Mash	37%
3 lbs	Munich Malt	Grain	Mash	22%
1 lb	Caramel 120L	Grain	Mash	7.4%
1 lb	Flaked Oats	Grain	Mash	7.4%
1 lb	Flaked Rye	Grain	Mash	7.4%
0.5 lb (8oz)	Chocolate Malt	Grain	Mash

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Tags for this post: Gingerbread, Spice, Spice Beer, Winter, Holiday, Milk Stout

When I first tossed around the idea of this competition, there were some naysayers. I was warned that organizing a competition would be a lot of work, that it would be difficult, that it would be a pain. Then, as the idea evolved into the eventual form - and even after we first announced - the pushback, if anything, got stronger. Why use this format? Why be so restrictive? Why use these grains? Why not allow other hops? Why go with these styles? Didn't I understand that flaked wheat was a stupid, devilish requirement, that it was impossible to make a decent IPA - let alone a drinkable Kolsch - with even a single grain of C60, that there was no way that someone could produce anything but a drain pour of a Strong Scotch Ale in such a timeframe, that you just can't make style X, Y, or Z without ingredient A or with the inclusion of ingredient B?

But I really believed in the concept of forcing brewers to rely on skill and technique to overcome a restrictive set of ingredients in the pursuit of brewing great beer - even if it took them out of their comfort zones to do so. I'll admit, I took a lot of pleasure in discovering that I was far from alone in finding this to be a fun concept; we ended up with sponsored prize donations of over four thousand, seven hundred dollars in retail value, and we exceeded our registration...
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Tags for this post: beer, competition, brewing, challenge, winner, winners, prizes

Hey all, I have been busy the past two weeks as I have been working on upgrading the biggest piece of my brewing equipment...my home. Hitting the limits in how much I can do in a condo, timing couldn't have been better for me to move up to a full house. Beyond trying to handle cleaning and organizing, I have also been brewing for multiple competitions as well as the barrel project which I will be posting details on along with a short blerb for each in this post.

Gingerbread Milk Stout

One beer for three competitions, though only one with awards, seems like a good bit of efficiency to me. I had two 'holiday/winter' beer competitions as well as one 'dark beer' competition. Combining them together I went on to modify my Milk Stout recipe to something less common than Pumpkin or Apple Pie. So I came up with the idea of Gingerbread as it seemed the spices would go well with the roast and malt flavors. This is done fermenting so the post will be up sooner than later.

Citrus IPA

Part of the Reddit competition I am doing two beers for, the first one is an American IPA. While having access to a stupid amount of both amazing and terrible IPA's from living in San Diego, I wanted to try my hand at it in order to learn more about hops and other yeasts I haven't touched. This is my second go at an IPA,...
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Tags for this post: Dunkelweizen, Barrel, IPA, Milk Stout, Holiday

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Tags for this post: Oktoberfest, festbier, beer, German, lager

Part 5 - Open Fermentation

Continued from Part 1 - The Dunkelweizen Clone, Part 2 - Mastering the Yeast, Part 3 - Decocting Mashing, and Part 4 - Yeast Blending.

There always seems another thing to go out and try between the myths and methods behind brewing. Even with just focusing on Hefeweizen yeast I have managed to get through more than 12 brew sessions experimenting. Living in Southern California, everything has to be potent and powerful when it comes to flavors. A balanced beer isn't all that popular no matter how challenging it was to make it. So I go to find a path to focus just on Ester production and this time with Open Fermantion and Fermenter Shape.

Picking out a Fermenter

It was one thing to want something and another to pull it off. Stopping by a homebrew shop there was little actual options for fermentation vessels. Checking online didn't result in anything better as everything seemed to be the usual cylinder. Creativity knows no bounds though as I broadened my search to just plastic PET containers. Lo' and behold I come across my projects savior, The Gamma 2 Vittles Vault Plus! I had planned on picking some of these up for grain storage when I got more space so for $20 I couldn't pass up this as an option. The lid is air tight so I could drill and use an airlock if

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Tags for this post: dunkelweizen, hefeweizen, open fermentation, adventure

The purpose of my last brewday was to put together my Christmas beer for this year. I'm lucky enough to be part of an email list containing some knowledgeable, accomplished brewers, and this year, we're all brewing up an assortment of Christmas beers for a swap. I'm excited to be a part of this, but I'm also a bit nervous, as I want to be sure that my offering is respectable.

My entry was supposed to be a big, caramel-heavy brew, so I put together a recipe that aligns pretty closely with an English old ale. Maris Otter, some layered British Crystal malts, a little honey malt (because that stuff is amazing), Target hops, a little table sugar to dry things out, and my favorite dry English yeast - WLP037 (Yorkshire Square Ale). I planned to reduce some of my first runnings to syrup, maybe employ a longer boil - all in all, I wanted this beer to be an absolute caramel bomb.

WLP037 is a Platinum offering from White Labs that is apparently a bit divisive; people seem to either love it or hate it, as the yeast has a touch of a Belgian like character to it. Sadly, it appears that I am in the minority "love" camp, as last year, White Labs elected to not sell the yeast... and it looks like they made the same choice this year; I suspect that they may never sell it again. Fortunately, I keep a culture of this yeast...
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Tags for this post: yeast, starter, vitality, viability, old yeast, wlp037

Sorry on the delay for the usual Friday post, but just by the title you can guess just what might have kept me busy this week. About a month ago I got into a group project with other local brewers, mostly with QUAFF members. The lead of the project managed to get ahold of two 55 gallon bourbon barrels that had been used to age Maple Syrup. These are usually reserved for founders of the aging project and so I jumped on this as a rare opportunity. Better yet, we already had the cooperation of a local nanobrewery, Arcana Brewery, to let us use their system and fermenter as it would be quite a bit of work to pull 55 gallons out of homebrew gear. This post is a bit more just documenting what we went through than any particular topic like I usually do.

Planning and Scaling

It's one thing to have a good idea and another to pull it off entirely. We had a good planning session together where we worked out the styles of beers and the recipes to scale up. The initial contenders were Old Ale, Breakfast (Pancake) Pale Ale, Breakfast Stout, and Barleywine. After some heated discussion, we ended up closing it down to the Old Ale for the first barrel which we modified to take Molasses instead of Dark Brown Sugar or Treacle to go with the Maple. The second barrel was going to get a Breakfast Stout where we really

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Tags for this post: Barrel, Bourbon, Bourbon Barrel, Maple, Molasses, Old Ale, Scale Up

Initial recipe for my unTraditional Bock:
8lbs Munich - light
3lbs German Pilsner
1lb Crystal 60L
1lb flaked wheat (toasted at 300F until golden)

Mash low at 143 and boil for 3 hours to build flavor and color

0.25oz Perle and Challenger @60
Irish Moss @15
0.25oz Perle and Challenger @15

Saflager 34/70, use Brulosopher’s quick lager method

After looking at some more recipes and letting the initial take simmer in my mind for a bit, I was on edge with using 1 full pound of Crystal 60L. At ~7.5% of the total grist, it seemed excessive even though many recipes seemed to have around that much of similar malted grains, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I was worried about a cloying caramel sweetness that would over power the rich deep malt backbone from the Munich and Pilsner. I also dropped the wheat because I didn’t want to fight haze with all the starches from the wheat and hoped that 4oz (just under 2%) of well toasted flaked wheat would add a bit of oomph to the beer, oddly the color of the wheat didn’t change all that dramatically, but the smell and taste sure did. I then bumped up the Munich and Pils to get OG more in range stylistically according to BeerSmith and increased the initial bittering charge of hops to again keep it more in style and to balance out the slight increase in gravity.

I then started to question the mash...
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Tags for this post: bock, traditional, BrewUnited, challenge, untraditional, lager