I have a shopping list...have i missed anything?

[Egon]

Bottle Tops - 100 Metal Crown Caps - 100 Crown Caps - Blue £1.95

Bottle Capper for Crown Bottle Caps (Emily) - Bottle Capper £9.95

Brown Glass Beer Bottles 500ml (12pk) 2@ £7.95

Nylon Bottle Brush 16 inch £1.75

Hydrometer and Trial Jar for Beer and Wine Making £5.95

Syphon Tube Clip £1.95

Campden Tablets for Home Brewing / Wine Making x 50 £1.87

Beer & Wine Fermenting Vessel 25 Ltr + Tap £11.95

Little Bottler (Complete) £6.95

Brewferm Grand Cru Beer Kit £11.95




Now i realise its not massively comprehensive as a decent kit will take ages to get built up, but i'd like you opinions on whats important and whats not. :
(all this comes from home brew online, but i'm looking around, especially at our sponsors, so its not set in stone!)

 

[Smokey.]

Try http://www.thethriftyshopper.co.uk/

If you are bottling I would suggest a second FV with a little bottler fitted.

 

[hairybiker]

I see you only have 24 bottles, do you have more already? Or don't you plan to brew 5gal kits?
I would also add a steriliser (unless you have ozyclean and viadene? See here viewtopic.php?f=30&p=70657)
Campden tabs are not essential for beer making (I only use them for treating my water for ag brewing)
You also have a syphon tube clip but no tube?

 

[Smokey.]

See if you can get bottles from any local pubs or working mens clubs. The father in law has something to do with a private club down the road and has always got me beer bottles in the past and all I have to do is ask if I want anymore.

 

[cosmicnut]

(BTW I'm pretty new myself so please feel free to correct me )

If you are going to bottle I would definatly suggest a 2nd fermenter, finings and a CO2 injector set.

Afer the first fermentation, you either need to

clear down the beer with finings in a second fermenter, bottle and gas the beer. very clear, clean beer but you need a C02 injector and gas as it will be flat.

or

bottle the beer with the yeast still in it, add sugar and go for secondary fermentation where we use the C02 given off by the yeast to gas the beer. This is simpler and cheaper, BUT you will get sedement at the bottom of the bottle with some wastage PER BOTTLE. The smaller the bottle the more wastage you get.

Personally I use 2 litre water bottle. I'm in a hard water area, so I buy the cheapest bottled water (with the lowest dry weight). I use the water in the bottles to make the beer and then re-use those bottles to bottle up the finished article. The only "problem" is that I have to drink it 2 litres at a time :drunk:

My latest experiment is a 5gal keg with C02 injection. This should let me pull a single pint every now and then without spoiling the rest of the beer

 

[Egon]

Cheers guys, appreciate the advice. Smok3y, that link is a godsend! nice one!

I dont have any bottles already, i figured 24 x 500ml would be enough, but doing the maths, thats only 12L isnt it? Hmm, might have to go scavenging!
Ive seen mention of people using hobgoblin bottles but have also seen that they can be a pig to cap...anyone got any experience on this?

i have syphon tube. LOTS! (I work in a food factory as an engineer and have er, borrowed a bit.. :party:

Cosmicnut, i'm still learning so some of what you said i'll have to read up on (clearing down,finings and co2 injection---heh, i have that on my fishtank!! :grin: )
I'm in a hardwater area too, infact i got my water report from thames water and scared myself silly reading it, the bottled water idea is a good one and i can see that drinking 2 litres at a time being a real drag.... :rofl:


EDIT:just landed this on an off chance...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT
That makes a start!!

 

[LewisA]

If you live near a wilkinsons go there for the bottle caps, hydrometer, capper and brown glass beer bottles. Im sure there is about a £3-4 saving there. :thumb:

 

[joe1002]

I would suggest you will need a brewing spoon too, something like this:

A thermometer will also come in handy.

You can get both of these from Wilko's too.

Joe

 

[BrewDan]

I see many good ideas here, I only have around a years experience and am fairly new to the forum.... However, I have noticed the most import thing of all has not been mentioned......

Prepare a big apology for whoever you live with, they won't see you anymore once you get the brewing bug!! And they will have to put up with all the extra space you will take up

It's great though, you will love it, nothing like making your own beers/wines etc! And you are in the right place should you ever need any help

Good luck,enjoy

 

[aneray]

Prepare a big apology for whoever you live with, they won't see you anymore once you get the brewing bug!! And they will have to put up with all the extra space you will take up

Totally agree with the above, spot on.

SWMBO has been putting up with my brewing for 12 years. When we got married on my 40th last October, all the guests knew that there was no point in buying us the usual wedding gifts so we were given money. Up until a few weeks ago most of it was still there and she knew that I have always wanted a decent brewing shed before I go AG. For about a year I have been gathering materials for the shed and up to now they have all been free thanks to Freecycle and scrounging.

During the last couple of weeks most of this money has been spent on building a new fence and double gates along with buying lots of sand and cement for the shed base. Now that the final barrow load of cement has been laid I can now plan my brewing shed which will be a comfortable 16 feet x 7 feet once my friend and I have built it :party: .

Brewing becomes more than just a hobby, it becomes part of your life.

 

[Muddydisco]

I wouldn't bother with the Emily capper. I'd spend that little bit more and get a bench capper. It makes capping so much easier and faster, also it does't matter which bottles you then collect, As the Emily capper won't do wychwood bottles or some other types of bottles due to the shape of the neck. :thumb: