Batch 001--Cold winter is hitting, and we are ready to go

27 Nov. 2011

The source of my initial homebrewing trials will be The Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. After much deliberation (and reading the "For beginner's" section of this book, I have decided to ready myself for the first batch of beer. However some acquiring needs to be performed before we are able to start the fun part.

The following items are needed in order for us to perform any sort of homebrewing:

  • 3-4 gallon pot
  • 5-10 gallon pail
  • 6 foot 3/4" ID clear plastic hose (+ clamp)
  • fermentation lock (+ rubber stopper for lock
  • 3 foot 5/4" OD, 1" ID clear plastic hose
  • plastic funnel (surprisingly it doesn't look like we have one of these
  • thermometer
  • beer hydrometer
  • 1 bottle washer + bottle caps
  • 1 bottle capper
  • 60 beer bottles (not screw tops)
  • household bleach

So while it looks like we have a few of these items in our house ready for use at any time, unfortunately many of the specialised and very important items are not in our possession. Given that we are all graduate students, we'll have to wait a few weeks in order to purchase all of these items. But in the meantime, we'll have dreams of homebrew in our heads.

14 Dec. 2011 So after much searching on the internet, I decided to try the legendary Groupon that offers the Midwest Brewing Supplies' starting kit for $64 + $12 shipping. Unfortunately we need to wait until after the new year to order this kit, but after this wait we'll start the process. Have a great holiday!