Maltose Falcon, checking in.

I just brewed a Belgian Abbey Dubbel today using 8 lbs Belg Pils, 2 lbs Munich, 1/2 lb Caramunich, 1/2 lb Special B, 1/2 lb Flaked Barley, 60 minute single infusion mash at 154*F, later addition of 1 lb 40 srm Candi Syrup, 1 lb 90 srm Candi Syrup, Wyeast Belgian Abbey Ale yeast, 1.75 oz Tettnanger 4%AA FWH, 0.5 oz Czech Saaz @ 8 min, 1/4tsp Grains of Paradise @ 2 minute.  I know the Grains of Paradise are not to style for a Belgian Dubbel, but I just wanted to experiment a bit since I've already brewed this style a few times prior.

To the point, I'm going to Copy & Paste this reply I sent to a friend a few months ago since they posed a similar question.  The product checklist at the end is full of hyperlinks for your convenience.

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Hey peeps,

The absolute minimum equipment I would recommend for a bare-bones, partial boil system:
Kitchen Stove
3 Gallon stock pot (for boiling your extract with water & hops)
6 Gallon food grade plastic bucket with lid and airlock (for fermentation)
Auto siphon (to move your fermented beer into a bottling bucket or keg)
5 Gallon food grade plastic bucket with valve spigot (for bottling)*
Bottling wand (attaches to valve spigot for easier transfer into bottles)*
Star-San sanitizing solution and an alkaline cleaning solution (e.g. Powdery Brewer’s Wash aka PBW)
Caps and capper device for your recycled bottles
Hydrometer (to measure sugar levels before and after fermentation in order to determine efficiency and ABV)
Thermometer (to verify wort is cool enough to pitch your yeast)
* The Bottling wand and second 5 gallon spigoted bucket is not necessary if you are kegging.  You can also bottle directly from your fermenter, though your beer will likely contain more sediment and you’ll want to use pre-measured compressed and hardened sugar drops placed into each bottle since you would not want to actively stir priming sugar into your fermenter for fear of introducing contaminants and/or oxygenating the brew (and you need to make sure you have the proper added sugar level per bottle in order to make sure your bottles won’t explode from too much CO2 buildup).  To fill from the fermenter requires two people, where you would use the auto syphon to fill bottles, kinking the line in between fills to stop the flow.  Can get messy.


Now, for a proper full boil extract based brewing system that can be expanded to a moderate efficiency all grain system with the purchase of an additional 5 gallon stock pot and nylon bag for “brew in a bag” style all grain brewing (this is what I’ve been doing lately while I wait for my electric brewery to come to fruition):
High Pressure Propane Burner with Propane tank (I use this one, Pete uses this one)
6 Gallon+ stock pot (for boiling your extract with water & hops or for mashing all grain brew in a bag style)
6 Gallon+ food grade plastic bucket with lid and airlock OR 6 Gallon+ glass carboy with bung and airlock (for fermentation)
Auto siphon (to move your fermented beer into a bottling bucket or keg)
5 Gallon+ glass carboy for secondary fermentation (or to use for a separate fermentation on, say, apfelwein!)
5 Gallon+ food grade plastic bucket with valve spigot (for bottling) OR just get a Cornelius Keg System and forget about bottles for now.
Bottling wand (if you’re going the bottling bucket route)
Immersion or Counterflow chiller (to bring your hot wort down to yeast pitching temperature in a reasonable time)
Star-San sanitizing solution and an alkaline cleaning solution (e.g. Powdery Brewer’s Wash aka PBW)
Caps and capper device for your recycled bottles
Hydrometer (to measure sugar levels before and after fermentation in order to determine efficiency and ABV)
Thermometer (to verify wort is cool enough to pitch your yeast)

Here are a couple of package options (none include the stock pot):
Bare Bones: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html
With 5 gal (secondary or apfewein) Carboy: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-kit.html


If you want to go all glass, which will protect you in the long run from potential contaminant issues that stem from the microabraision that occurs on all plastic fermenters over time, but is also a little more difficult to work with in general (more difficult/dangerous to carry/move), you can piecemeal a system with these:
23 L (6 gal+) Carboy
Carboy Bung & Airlock
Carboy Cleaning Brush
Star-San No Rinse Sanitizer (a must!)
PBW Alkaline Cleaner (removes beer skank/stone from the inside of your carboy)
Caps and Capper (if you’re bottling)
Keg system (if you’re kegging, also pick up some growlers for shorter term portability)
Immersion or Counterflow Chiller (can easily build your immersion chiller, but NYBS offers them at a fair price)
Thermometer
Auto Siphon

Some ideas for you to chew over.
Happy brewing! =]
~M.

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senorcafe said:
Im going to be receiving the joy of home brewing for christmas and im wandering what supplies i can pick up before i start reading

i assume i will need

• a heat source
  
• a large pot
  
• a bucket
  
• a fermenter
  

Whats a good source to get grains, hops and yeast other than a home brew shop, there's none in my city

and am i missing anything, and suggestions on set up

thanks yall

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Heffy said:

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senorcafe said:
Im going to be receiving the joy of home brewing for christmas and im wandering what supplies i can pick up before i start reading

i assume i will need

• a heat source
  
• a large pot
  
• a bucket
  
• a fermenter
  

Whats a good source to get grains, hops and yeast other than a home brew shop, there's none in my city

and am i missing anything, and suggestions on set up

thanks yall

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I assume you are doing extract. If not you will need much more equipment.
Either way, you will need a wort chiller. They can be made pretty easily. The immersion style is best for beginners who don't have a valve on their kettle.

Also you definitely want a hydrometer. Otherwise you will have no way to test the alcohol content, or confirm that the beer is finished.

Also I would recommend Star San as a sanitizer. It really is the best product on the market for homebrewers.

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NO Extract for me i wanna start with the raw grains and do all the fun stuff
to my understanding extract beers dont taste as tasty no?

enjoy the links very much

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Heffy said:
Extract beers can be fine.
Usually steeping specialty grains in the boil improves the flavour.

If you want to go all-grain you will need to buy or build a mash/lauter tun.
This is quite a bit more work than using extract, but it's worth it IMHO. I can post a pic of my mash tun tomorrow if you like.

I know where you're coming from though. Dumping cans of syrup into a pot feels like cheating.

P.S. I would go steel for the mash tun. Plastic Gatorade type containers work but I personally don't think much of them.

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senorcafe said:
ive been reading and in all the teks i see people force carbonating their brew

why force carbonate?
how do you naturally carbanate your beer..... isnt that what the yeast are for (other than alch)?

joys of home brewing should be here any day now

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senorcafe said:


im trying to keep to a code of natural beer as i start out remaining simplicit but still gaining quality beer

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senorcafe said:

thanks sooo much man! thats an awesome amount of goodies

ive been pointed towards joy of home brewing so i got it but it should be filled with valuble info

ill be back with ?s but for now im sittin stale waitin fer mula and time

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