Big Ed's Craft ale kit: what do you think?

[flowersdie]

Hello all,
First post and all that, so please be gentle with me.

I have decided to take the plunge and invest in a stove top kit. The Massive Brewery website seems to have now sold out of their kit, but I have since come across this.
http://craftalekits.com/products/big-ed-s-craft-ale-kit

The information I've read so far seems to suggest that it is best to get the temperature of the wort down quickly before pitching the yeast to prevent infections etc. The system on the link above leaves the wort to cool for 12 hours overnight. Do you think it would better to buy a kit that includes a chiller or is the above method feasible (bearing in in I will be a total beginner)? The other thing is that I have an unusual kitchen sink tap; I would have to run a hose through my kitchen window from the garden to attach it to a chiller!

I have also found instructions on the brewing on the above kit's website:-

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...Brew_Instructions_v3.pdf?17913961492926524945

 

[HarrowBrewer]

It looks like a good kit, but you could put it all together separately for a lot less money, if you were inclined. The instructions seem pretty decent, I'd avoid washing any of your equipment in soapy water though, and the business with insulating the box for the mash I would think unnecessary. I just wrap my saucepan in three or four towels and it holds the temperature fine for an hour. I don't have a chiller, but I can get a 10 litre brew down to pitching temperature easily enough by dunking it in the kitchen sink full of cold water. If you do get a chiller you can get a simple attachment that will fit most domestic taps to hose fittings:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005J7P7T8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[hoptoit]

Have you considered this:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=61034

 

[flowersdie]

Thanks for the repiles both. What other equipment would I need for the kit in the post above? I'm presuming a fermenting vessel, hydrometer, thermometer, sanitiser etc? And a stockpot capable of holding around 23 litres (as per the mash kits on the Home Brew website)?

Sorry if these questions are naive!

 

[IainM]

What other equipment would I need for the kit in the post above? I'm presuming a fermenting vessel, hydrometer, thermometer, sanitiser etc? And a stockpot capable of holding around 23 litres (as per the mash kits on the Home Brew website)?

For the kit in hoptoit's post, you wouldn't need a stock pot, as the boiler is used to do the mashing and the boiling.

What you would need is:
Hydrometer
Trial jar
Big spoon
Fermentation vessel and, if there is a hole in the lid, an airlock
Something to insulate the boiler during mashing (a duvet would do)
Thermometer
Sanitiser
Hose and connectors to attach the wort chiller to your taps
Siphon, just a tube but preferably one with a sediment trap on one end and a bottling wand on the other.
Either: Some empty bottles, a crown capper and some crown caps
Or: A pressure barrel
You would do well to get the HBC copper hop strainer as well, which will help stop the hops blocking the tap when you empty the boiler, though you could also get a hop bag and boil them in that.

This should be enough to get you all set to do full size all grain brews. I've just ordered the boiler and chiller above, after having done a few kits brews and wanting to move on to all grain.

 

[MyQul]

A lot of what Ian has listed can be sources pretty cheaply at wilko's if you have one near you.